student council representative motion to open public comment motion I'll second ises anybody have a comment motion to close public comment out of your F okay um motion to enter executive session motion second designed to be basically time see most of these it okay Don that's what I'm just like okay I'm not jump ring agenda uh includes a rather long list of routine business items including compensation rates staff appointments professional appointments annual meeting calendar Investments of funds approval of unaffiliated Staff members non certifi Affiliated staff members staff members uh certificated tenured faculty and certificated non-tenured faculty um they're um that's all i' like to say about that um on the regular consent agenda there is employment contracts for David Sylvester um chriso and Chris sard believe those three are all there correct yes uh and then there there are two hips uh we'll be talking about those uh when when David uh Sylvester gets a chance to to speak I wanted to spend uh some time uh talking about um uh the the preschool expansion uh aid grant um most of the districts in this County already have this grant uh we do not um and uh we're looking to just go over some of the details of of that Grant just so people have an idea what it's all about state of New Jersey funds this important program the preschool expansion Aid that's the tune of $124 million Statewide there are 290 275 districts involved with it uh there's a new program uh for those who are not yet in the program uh they're going to budget uh the state budget is at about 20 million additional dollars um and um that's really where it stands there are 21 counties uh there are district throughout the state that don't have this uh some of them are interested uh but we'll wait and see the program is designed to cover the cost of three and four year-old children who do not have individual education plans students with individual education plans are the responsibility uh of the Board of Education it's a mixed delivery program which suggests that some programs can be run within the building While others other sections are run by local providers such as rainbows uh rainbows of learning this program is designed to serve students both with and without IEPs uh we estimate that we would have approximately 85 students eligible for the program to include those with IEP is the way we came up with a number and the way the state recommends you come up with an estimate is take your first grade class uh and double it uh that would be your Universe of eligible students uh and I do think that's probably a reasonable way to do it cleff size is limited to 15 students and they're looking for approximately three perhaps as many as four uh children with IEPs in that in that group um this is a full day Program full year program 6 hours a day 180 days per year the district must select one of four curriculum models uh to be in the program fortunately uh one of the programs uh that is on that list is a program we use which is called the creative curriculum so there's very little concern in the um curricular World here funding for the grant uh support students without IEPs the district madees responsible for classified 3K students and and that that's no no surprise um the K3 certificate is acceptable in the program it's not required in the program it's acceptable in the program and special Edge certificate is not required in this special program but uh again the the K3 the prek K3 works the uh specializ is still fine um but um you do need the prek part of a certificate one of the critical um requirements involves the number of free and reduced students this is where we run into trouble um unfortunately this is an area we are placed in the last of four tiers because our free and reduced lunch is only eight little over eight not quite 9% I believe so um uh that puts us in the bottom tier and one of the ways the state determines funding on these programs is uh through uh you know the the uh pre-introduced lunch that's a little bit of a disadvantage uh but some of the districts who have been funded um have somewhat similar um numbers as compared to to what we have so there's still a shot I'm a little concerned with the the low figure of 20 million but but we'll we'll work on that the per uh student funding for the program is as follows in District 145 um 551 per student uh for students assigned to provider programs is a little bit more 16355 uh the PA program can be a phase in Program full enrollment is required within 5 years of the start um but uh I've been in touch with uh Elaine um how say her last name bu thank you I do apologize I keep messing that up thank you though um but um Elaine was telling me that they are very interested in it they have two uh classrooms that are primed for it and they also have a large meeting room that that could perhaps house uh two more sections we are thinking that we may be able to free up three classrooms here in the in the building uh which would give us enough classrooms to run the full program phase the full program in possibly in U in year one that that's um that's important there are several Staffing requirements uh that uh we should be able to manage without major difficulty including hiring of certified preschool teachers um trained assistants Early Childhood supervisor which could be a shared position of among other districts Early Childhood coaches again which could uh be shared please note that some of these positions can be part-time coordinated with neighboring districts or assigned using existing staff so we have some some options in that regard um the applications for this program are coming out on um in July the applications are due in August funding determinations will be made in September and you can start the program in October or later so um I've also spoken to to Kevin Newman uh who's very interested in this program matter of fact my understanding that when he was in hope they applied and didn't get it um perhaps because of the size of the school perhaps because the you know the socioeconomic conditions in the in the municipality I'm not sure but he did say he did not get that so just for the board because you know this is a noral um part of the board meeting any questions from board members to I do um sorry the so for how long so at any point the state could just decide to stop funding they could they could so and we don't know that what do we do so what's the backb like the program what one of the yeah the I think when you think about the magnitude of the program uh uh and the condition the fiscal condition of the district uh the the idea of continuing the program without any funding would not be closable in my hum opinion right so once's the 20 million is it 20 million every year to these programs or these are ongoing my understanding it's an ongoing funding program that is my understanding yes and they're they're planning on Jamie if you look at the way they're talking about this they give you five years to roll it out right uh they are planning on continuing this program forgive me if I just don't trust the state with no I I I have two two concerns okay one is I I understand that that they they sometimes take funding away an example is our tutorial grant that we got last year uh for uh grade three and four uh in school uh instruction you know for students who needed some little remediation uh this year we're looking for the program and what they gave us is a a list of best practices for the program no money just best practice so that that is that is a problem I think this is a little different than that this is a major initiative right now you know in the $150 million range not quite that much I I I think it is here to stay for a while uh and I do think they believe in it I believe in it so is this instead of is this in instead of giving the schools funding now like the S2 cut like we're not getting State funding so now this is the new funding is to get preschool is that kind of what the I I don't know I I think this is a dedicated uh initiative by by the department I will I did want to add one little thing though Jamie one of the things that Chris talks about and I I agree with him uh is that this what we're dealing with here in Frankfurt is um social economics that the state is looking uh for us to handle a lot of things locally that you know isn't really feasible for us at this time for a lot of reasons uh and um it could be that this could be a phase in phase out program I don't think it will be uh but I do think that Chris's concern about the state feeling that the if you look at the funding in the county and you look at the bottom 25% that's where Frankfurt is uh and the idea is the state feels that that we would be funding our we don't need it we could do it ourselves and that isn't the local view by any stretch of imagination or should it be uh and I get that I really do get that uh and we need to have conversations about how we and again I won't be here but how we plan to deal with this as as years roll out uh I do think that our families and our students deserve of us to give this a shot this in my own opinion uh and um I think people should know from the very beginning that if this money somehow dries up uh I don't think will happen for a while um the program would have to take a different term completely that that's my humble opinion the overall goal of this program is to just get kids prepared for kindergarten Yeah well yeah there's a bunch of things that you would do in a prek program one of the things is you would be you're getting children prepared particularly in the socialization in third grade and in fourth grade for children who aren't in third and fourth grade programs kindergarten is a is a tougher task three and four year I'm saying no excuse me uh they three and four year olds here we we graduated them already uh three and foury old children were're preparing them for for for kindergarten we're also taking an early look at their uh their academic abilities very basic academic abilities we're looking at their socialization skills and we're working on those uh and so it's it's a it's a package of things we're we're looking at I'm a believer that early childhood education is critical if you if we can do it I really believe in it and um I I just think my opinion is we would to give this a shot and uh Kevin agrees and um I think uh we're already in relatively good stad because we we can do a little bit of room here and we have a a good partner who's very interested in doing it not that we'd have to do go with that provider but we have someone who's very interested in it and uh has done a good job in other areas for us and and understands I I went over some of the guidelines for she already knew I have to tell her anything she would it only be fair to go to the other dayare providers in the area to ask them if they would want to participate as well because we we would Acorn Landing if if it's free here you're not sending your kid to Acorn Landing you're bringing your kid to Frankfurt for free and that lady's business is that's and that that's been an issue that has been discussed in other districts that's absolutely true um the the uh right now I believe the other program in town I believe that serves as a sus bage I believe they do is that sound second home yeah second home does acorn Landing that's a much smaller one is yes thought so uh is it yeah that that could be and that certainly isn't and what are the guidelines for those um facilities to have uh proper equipment well well insur there's a couple things that that go into this one is a square footage requirement is um 9950 Square ft which a relatively good siiz classroom uh it also needs to be near but not it doesn't have to have a classroom in the excuse me a bathroom in the classroom but that needs to be near um when you have a a three-year-old going to the bathroom you have to send some an adult with the with the child obviously uh those are the major things uh we are allowed to do to add into the grant uh dollars for uh um minor renovation you can't build an addition but you can you can renovate a room you can add some equipment uh pardon Furniture appropriate Furniture those kinds of things can be part of the grant as I understand it uh we we did the um the webinar took care of the webinar uh which was revealing to some degree but not totally they never are uh they're just a you know a taste of what you're going to get into uh when you get into the real application they could go into great great great detail on it just like we found out Preschool teachers like did have you talked with our Preschool teachers how are they feeling about uh we we we have talked to them about it and uh they seem to be understanding and receptive to it okay uh one of the things that they're concerned about is our our our existing program growing uh out of out of our range if you will with numbers uh we have seven 177 in each of the classes uh and a couple possibilities on the on the horizon so you know some of the children of course will be graduating to kindergarten or moving on to kindergarten uh and that'll everybody moves up and it'll redo the numbers a bit but yeah and then what happens if the external facility decides that this is not something they want to pursue the following year right so how long are they signed up for and then what if they pull it and say you know I'd rather go back to yeah they they private they could I think I think it's unlikely I do think the the idea of reaching out to more than one facility is important and we will do that I think we have to do that in order to be fair I also think that there is uh at the kind of money that they're talking about 16 I think it was 165 or 163 I have 163 163 uh for the for the vendors uh I think they can they can do pretty well those kind of dollars um and except knowing that they have to hire a certified teacher so it's not like all that money is just their tuition money they but they don't have to hire them at our our numbers they can hire them at their dollars you know they don't they don't tell you what you have to pay them no they do not not that I no not that I let me just answer that I not that I know of I don't think they do um I think that's a local choice and also you know if you think of a program in Bergen County with the salaries in Bergen County versus a program down in Burlington County the salaries are different uh and um it's just the way it is so yeah I do think that's the case but I so the grant takes care of the the salaries the equipment the the cost to run the whole program it should although although what Chris is worried about is that 100% my my understanding is some of the money in the first year this is what I'm told by the county yeah is that you can use up to I believe 20,000 towards Transportation but after that transportation is not included uh now that is a major concern of mine certainly something that really needs to be answered because that would most likely cause a delay in the implementation of the program when to start um because I you know under this transportation is required for a three-year-old who should be in a car seat this 85 kids about 85 kids here right how so each bus stop now you have to have somebody buckling a three-year-old kid into their car seat the parents are allowed to come on parents are allowed to come on our buses to come and put them on but not on the the school craft or whatever as come on we allow we do it every time I'm just thinking of the length of a route now you have and I'll tell you I'm a chatty Kathy sometimes so I'm going to get on that bus and be like hey Mrs Gardner what's going on oh yeah it and I'm standing there talking but then there's me that's behind the bus waiting that's like what is taking this lady so long to get this kid in the bus you know and it's going to be a a time frame there you know like so if we're trying to keep our buses under an hour now you have now you're picking up 85 kids which is you know what a great number of our young kids are G the morning and afternoon well current preschool doesn't provide busing unless you have an IEP so they all have to right to sign off went the busing sign off we still got to provide the busing and car seat and that's going to be it and then you you know your car seats here by the window but Johnny got on and he's now you're leaning over Johnny to get into I mean it's is that car seats though for 3 years old you believe it's car 50 car seats say 30 the one I tell you the one question they didn't answer for me is whether for whether the other students not the IEP students uh are what the transportation issue was on that the details in our webinar it's a 1 hour webinar it was sketchy they usually are when we get the the actual application the training then will be very appropriate eight hour training or something or typical so we'll get a lot more detail when we we get when we get to that point there are issues there's no question about uh I think what they're looking to do as we hinted that before is infusing the responsibilities for transportation back to the local that that would be typical so we're applying for this or we going to vote app well we would certainly not do this without a full approval this is so and this is for 180 days a year so just quickly if if a facility took 30 of our kids they're getting $490,000 for18 80 days a year um their facility probably runs 12 months out of the year so they're getting so the parents would pay for the other months or say you work in education and you don't need that summer month they need to they that they need to sustain on the 500 thou 500,000 minus the teacher salary even if you say I mean they were dropping off at those facilities as well we're picking up the homes dropping off at those facilities with our buses mhm that has not been determined yet but we do some of that already right Chris on yes we we we already do some some of the details I I just don't know because I don't it hasn't been released yet I I don't I for me I mean it's worth a shot with the reduced lunch and us being in the lower tier and that's probably going to you know could knock us out of this the state could say you don't even qualify for this so then we don't need to have a big discussion on it right I mean and if the state grants it to us do we have to take it or we could side no thank you uh I haven't heard anything about that I I could check on that work we know um like I said almost every District in county has it to some degree um some I think are still phasing it in um but I believe all but two others have it just reading that J yeah we just got it just got it yeah and and over just got it June uh June 6 or June 1st is like the oh no June 12th June 12th the last day of school is the day that it we're having a whole open house eight or seven hours and can come and go and that's our opening day so if there were 55 students I'm saying we're putting out 30 30 to other programs so that brings 800,000 into the school for for the in District students that would come to the school would bring $800,000 does that really help our budget we can't put grant money in a budget anyway um well it it would just become a preschool I I guess you could consider it a grant you can put some I mean would we spend $800,000 in a year on those I wouldn't be surprised well if you need salar you're allowed to yeah you cannot so you need to hire somebody straight out of college you need like really everyone has to have the a center so you have to have enough furniture and Center for that curriculum that you pick so if you're picking this is annually so the first year yeah but then the second year you're getting 800,000 you already bought the furniture you're not buying new furniture so in in the first year yeah there are but it can only go towards the pre it's not helping our budget busing too for the bus busing well busing is only in the first year they give you an allowance for $20,000 in there so if you have kids that are classified they're part of the account but you don't get the funding from the grant for those students that comes out of your regular budget you are able to offset some other expenses with the grant for upkeep of the spaces whether it's custodial cleaning the nurse you can Pro share of the principal yes some of the principal expense can get prated that program no yeah so there are certain expenses to try and offset not significant but there are Lighting electric electric yes calculate based on square foot but yes so there are some items you can offset but little and so so voting on this is in the in the um this will probably be June there's no vote on oh there's no vote on it this is this is informational um we I would imagine that if the board wanted to take a vote on this it would be in July we don't have a meeting in July Mr right but that's right did we last year we had to have one last year yes yeah that because I we probably will know a lot more maybe maybe a little bit before July but when those serious detailed meetings go with all the state bureaucrats this was a a little more of a pep rally than a than a a detailed you know program just was so one one thing to consider is that susex wage and Lafayette our sister sending districts to High Point do have this currently Lafayette rolled it out in January susex wanted CH before that I they had before you y and um how do they not have free lunch how do they how do we not have so many free lunches people aren't applying for R could be some some aren't but we've always been pretty much about 8 or % total so uh we could push that I don't think it's going to go up enough matter okay we can certainly push it and try to encourage people again this is I Men last month I said I was going to talk about it this month gave you all the details a couple times now just sharing it so we can have an open public discuss right all right so now we're going to talk to Mr Sylvester about things two things I do um Frankford Township uh meeting we have one tomorrow night I believe May yes 17 we're going to talk about our budget a little bit and then uh teacher appreciation we I just wanted to go on thanking uh the PTA for incredible job they did again this year and um just amazing what what they did and uh agree every day something new they did a wonderful job so even Mr Mooney got a few carnations thank you I were an unbelievable amount ofation yeah that was awesome hundreds yeah what's that they sold hundreds of carnations yeah I don't remember I wish I remember the exact number yeah it's amazing all right Mr Sylvester you're up with the principal's report all right uh so the month of May was pretty busy uh we had the spring musical Annie Jr there were four presentations of this musical two during school assemblies and one on both Friday and Saturday nights uh congratulations to Mrs Leighton Tom morone and Heather holl Heather holler as well as all the other staff members who participated um to put a wonderful production together we started State Testing last week uh we had Ela on Monday May 6 and Tuesday May 7th in the Middle School followed by our fifth and eighth grade students completing their science Testing on Wednesday and Thursday we will continue our testing up in the Middle School in math on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday followed by our third and fourth grade students taking their test uh State tests next week and then another week of makeups or actually sorry take that back Middle School makeups are next week as well um our Governor's Teacher of the Year miss Jamie wolf on Friday May 10th we were able to recognize Miss Jamie wolf as ftss teacher of the year at the annual Governor's educator of the Year awards ceremony Jamie has been a dedicated teacher at FTS for the past 10 years leading our staff as the vice president of the ftea being a lead for our eth grade trip and being a beloved teacher for all her students um there is a brief blurb Miss Wolf's commitment to the school students and parents and Community is beyond reproach she strives to make a difference in the lives of her students by simply asking questions and showing genuine interest and care for each individual as a result of the personal connection she has nurtured many students return to Frankfurt to visit Miss wolf during their high school years and Beyond to thank her thank her for preparing them so well this incredible educator epitomizes the criteria and honor of being educator of the Year here for Sussex County her positive attitude and passion for teaching is contagious among her colleagues Miss wolf considers teaching to be a privilege and that is shown every day in her classroom and Beyond Miss Wolf's unwavering dedication to teaching is demonstrated time and time again through her commitment to her students community and her own professionalism she was always looking to improve herself through professional development and research based practices she Beyond deserving this award of this award she is an outstanding educator and should be recognized for her efforts uh the summer enrichment program ran their annual clothing drive this uh this past Saturday uh community members were able to drop off bags of used clothes to the school who then donated them and the school re received money based on how many pounds of clothing were donated um that was led by Miss Jess lato and Mr Greg Simons Jess do you know how many pounds of clothes I don't Mr was supposed to contact them today so I don't know um if he was able to get a number yet or not right uh the great serial race is going to occur on Friday May 17th the ftaa is pride the FTA pride is hosting the annual grade serial Domino race this event benefits local food pantries and will be live streamed through our Facebook let's see if we can get our cereal boxes to circle the school the pta's 8ighth grade dance will occur on Saturday May 18th this event will kick off with pictures of at struck park at 5:00 p.m. followed by dinner and dancing at the Glenbrook in wage we will have our Middle School spring concert on Wednesday May 22nd the distinguish distinguished Scholars Program showcase will be on Wednesday May 29th the fifth grade spring concert will happen on May 30th and then may is the month of field trips on May 9th the kindergarten went to the growing stage on May 20th and 25th 21st our fifth grade students will go to Camp Mason May 15th minor game for the fourth grade May 15th Miners game May 23rd 2 grade to turtleback zoo May 24th 7th grade The Stokes of school school of conservation May 28th 4th grade to Sterling Hill Mine Museum May 30th 6th grade to Medieval Times May 31st 1 grade to the planetarian um we also had two cases of harassment intimidation and bullying this past month and we received our grade report for the 2022 2023 District uh harassment intim ation and bullying our report card was a score of 72 out of 78 which is is rather well thank you I just wanted to also mention obviously we coordinate uh what we say so that um what I'm saying David doesn't repeat what he say is I don't I I had already said uh but we're whatever either one of us is saying we're both saying just so people understand that that we're both behind all the statements that we make because uh but they need to be coordinated so we don't repeat so thank you um and just one thing uh to the board and I know I had I think I text Mr Money Mr Sylvester um at the miners game the chaperon are to not partake in any alcoholic beverages being sold at the stadium well that's a great fundraiser I guess at the stadium um our chaperons need to resist the urge to partake drink beer Andor over in DCH partake at all it seems that you have to say that yes um okay so then we have the board committee section um Communications and public relations we have tonight's board meeting tomorrow night is a PTA meeting the as they said the camp mation trip the 20th and 21st 20th to 24th Angelic SLA testing for grades three and four um we have on the 22nd the art show open house from 6:00 to 8: and the Middle School spring concert from 7:30 to 9:00 um we're closed on Memorial Day 527 5:29 DSP showcase 5:30 fifth grade spring concert um so then it moves on to policy and curriculum so uh Charlene is going to give a little update um so the majority of the curriculum committee meeting was spent on talking about the prek program which Mr M has already reviewed um we spoke briefly about the cycle classes that are going to be put into place now that the consumer science program is not going to be there um it looks like there are four classes kind of on the table for discussion um music appreciation and fifth grade and then six sth and eighth grade we'll be doing digital literacy financial literacy and career in college readiness and then at the next board meeting there's going to be a presentation of the new K through 5 Science Program which is is called Mystery Science so we'll get more information on that next month at the meeting thank you Charlene um next we have Finance physical plant and transportation and Mr Lard has a sewer discussion uh yeah just a brief update we received letters from both the township and the burrow uh regarding the sewer connection they're asking us about connecting our interest um I guess there were some interest by the county to connect the homestead and I don't know if that does that include the the state police facility as well not sure it it includes a bunch of County Properties count not the state police okay um so at this point I've been researching you know the discussions from back in 2008 or n when this originally came up um certainly there there are no meetings scheduled at this point we got to talk to the engineers and we're looking into the permits uh regarding our current septic systems whether or not they still can be grandfathered for uh one time in kind replacement just so I have all of the information uh I've been emailing with the town about the costs uh to connect usage fees how that's calculated how it's adjusted over time but at this point we're in early stages of discussions I mean as the business administrator uh and when we met before with the town one of the big questions is or two of the big questions was a how to pay for the install because I'm expecting it to be well over a million dollars in in all likelihood that's not an official number it's just a a guesstimate based on how construction's been going um and how with that in mind that's not just a straight tax levy item so it' have to be some sort of uh bond is likely so there's a lot to be figured out in that front uh as well as when this was originally discussed there was going to be a big Pump Station on our field which was going to use up a significant portion of this upper baseball field which would render it not possible to have baseball on it um so that was another concern so these are all things we got to discuss as to if we're going to connect you know when the connection would have to happen how it's funded and how it's going to be configured because it would be a major project trenching through the school uh modifications and then how it's going to affect our Playing Fields so more to come thank you as as it goes when those do happen here we'll get the facilities Finance facilities uh we'll be participating in that as well and the fire drone lockdown Z to be determined um so that brings us to the consent agenda consent agenda the following items have been deemed to be matters of routine business and we V voted on by one motion a motion to uh vote on the consent agenda this the annual consent first yes because this is question for you so um number 6B it says designation of financial depositary bank depositary for school funds there's no conflict of interest that's like our personal bank right no okay need a motion I need a motion I'll make it second resolve that the Frankford Township Board of Education accept the recommendation of the superintendent of schools to approve the above identified annual consent agenda items number 202 45134 4 through 20240 513- Kathleen Adam yes Jamie Armondo yes Caitlyn Fredo's absent Mandy just yes Jennifer N yes Mickey Perez is no longer on the board so I'll say Charlene molar Jesus um John tiger is absent Leif Anderson and Jesse vaugh is absent that's right that's yeah I just made him Jesse it's Jesse absent um that brings us into the regular consense agenda and the following items are matter of routine business and will'll be voted on in one motion um can I get a motion I'll make it second resolve that the Frankfurt Township Board of Education accept the recommendation of the superintendent of schools to approve the above identified regular agenda items numbered 2024 0513 -9 through 20245 13-36 Kate Adam yes Jamie Armon yes Caitlyn Fredo is absent Jennifer N yes Charlene molar yes John tiger is absent Jesse Baugh is absent Le Anderson yes Mandy Jo yes motion to go into the second session of public comment I'll make it second any public comment no motion to close public comment second um other items for the good of the order Kate yeah um I just want to recognize and say thank you to Kathleen and Michael steinhart uh for donating $100 to the FTS Tech educational program thank you any other items of discussion our next regular scheduled meeting is on June 10th 2024 motion to adjourn thank you everyone