hey sunshine check with Adam hello hey Adam you hi guys all right adequate notice of this regularly scheduled meeting of the Frenchtown board of education has been provided in accordance with the open public meeting act by notification to the Hun County Democrat on January 11th 20 24 a copy of this notice has also been posted at the public school at the municipal building and filed with the burrow Clerk and we'll stand for the pled aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Mr Blackburn here black is joining us remotely tonight Mr dery Miss Howard here miss miss clein here miss nahara miss pello here Mrs nent here and since we have um no members of the public present um we will move on to the board secretary report Essa is there anything specific you wanted to mention no I don't think so I think everything we didn't have any any um items of Correspondence the enrollment is listed our next few meetings and we will have be having some um budget discussions later on um that's it okay U moving on to the minutes we need a motion to approve the minutes of the December 19th regular session removed second any comments or questions on the minutes okay all those in favor I I oppos and then we need a motion to approve the January 2nd meeting the next so second any comments or questions on those minutes okay all those in favor I Iain okay we'll move forward to Jim's report all right good evening everyone so we'll start quickly um just with harassment intimidation bullying we did not have any incidents um reported or identified this month we did have um one situation that we did have to use discretion in um but aside from that um it's been Qui and not home fromont as we continue um you know to continue to do a lot of the positive reimbursement um things that we're doing here um so certainly no um no violations of student conduct um and security drill on the 21st and fire drill on the 6th in December okay um do have a motion to affirm the hi report seconded comments or questions on that all those in favor I those are obain and then um we need a motion to approve the resolution for school board recognition month yes thank you all for you're doing appreciate that okay we so recognized do we have a first and a second so so moved second okay all those in favor I opposed or obain okay um and then we need a motion to approve the 2425 school calendar so mve seconded okay all those in favor I opposed or abstain I should have let Jim comment on that sorry go ahead Jim we're going to do that after the fact yeah so just we had talked last month um we had presented um uh a a draft calendar um we did adjust kind of what we spoke the last time that December 23rd half day was eliminated and the ngj EA week where we have conferences we decided first time in a few years Frenchtown has always done it the week of Thanksgiving we're going to move it up coinciding with the end of first marketing period um during njaa week so we're hoping to have facilitate some better conversations Tim timely conversations um with our parents and students and team um with that one thing you have in front of you is the um D calendar versus the C calendar when we did did have a chance to meet with the team with the snow days and things going on um we did have a chance to meet initi there was a Monday half day Tuesday half day Wednesday full day before NJ EA Thursday Friday off now it's going to be so talking with the team the team really like there's some flexibility in their contract the way the language is so we just would like to make Monday a full day Tuesday half day conferences at night between 1: and 7 p.m. and then a half day Wednesday going into Thursday and Friday being off the njta convention so that's just a small subtle change and that's reflected hey Jim um are the conferences only on the 5th or they on Wednesdays the 6th as well or is that justmiss yeah we we've Tuesday the yeah and Wednesday six just just a half day early dismissal instead of making in last two years I believe we've had the Monday half day giving the teachers the afternoon to prep for Tuesday conferences um they're in favor of full day Monday having the conferences with the half day on Tuesday and then um having an early dismissal then on Wednesday great thanks Jim yep um I just also wanted to note that there's a tyo for December um it says 24th to 31st school so but it should be 23rd to 31st got it okay so we'll make that [Music] adjustment okay this time I'll speak before um then we need a motion to approve to revise 2324 calendar okay so in that calendar motion sorry moved a second I'm confused sorry the 23 24 or the new 2425 we're this this motion is for a revision to the 20 to the current Year's calendar 23 24 you wanna speak don't have a copy that there you go us um so simply with that we had a 12:30 dismissal this past Friday with a professional development in the afternoon so with the um closing of school we didn't have that opportunity so all we're asking is to move still be a school day but just have that opportunity for professional development again so we're just shifting that to the first so we would communicate that out to the families as soon you know as soon as that's okay with everyone here um and then the 28th the existing calendar sorry so that'll be a half day it would be a 12:30 dismissal with PDN would been reflective of what would have happened on January 19 first March 1 March 1 we're going to give families enough time to prepare for that um we're hoping that that's enough time and then on the 28th of March that's the early dismissal before going into the holiday that was not reflective in in reviewing calendars and going over this year's versus that that was something that our team caught um and that's consistent with their contract so we're just looking for that adjustment any other any questions on that and you'll communicate that yep timely this week absolutely okay all right all those in favor I opposed to abstain okay 8.5 um a motion to approve the attached 2324 Mo MOA between um Boe and law enforcement officials so moved second okay comments or questions on that there were some there were some definite changes this year um from from last what were the big shift um Jim you want to speak to them yeah so I think first off there as Kate and I talked and I think you've been a part of this for a few years there's been um not a lot of change with it this year over the past um year or so they really put some effort into it and it's time for a change um so I did include in there that front and back but I'll just share we had a meeting with um local police if you should it was good to have revisions go over um with members of our safety team and um director gner as well as officer officer cleta part of it um and I think what's what's going what's new is that it's a brand new thing right there's something we can refer to we're not going to have this memorized overnight yeah type of thing but we now went over the sections this is what we went over and looked at them had a share of perspective I think things things that stuck out stick out are always the HIV harassment intimidation bullying pieces um just what we need to do um I think electronic devices that's you know certainly a topic and what that entails now with all the new age stuff compared to what was written five years ago from Vapes and things like that they're all included under electronic devices so some of those pieces um one thing I think is also was part of our discussion I think is very good if a student does hand in something like that for instance we have a vape dispenser in our building if summary if a student does hand that in there's no questions asked and there's no entitlement of the school to certainly share that or a VAP dispenser mhm dispos sorry disposal sorry so this is stuff that you're talking to the police about that they're going to talk to the kids about or this is just how we set this is just how we this MOA is an agreement that how we work together as school and police like um and then how each person's role and sometimes their collaborative roles um for instance like an HIV we have 10 days if a report goes out we have 10 days to get a report um completed and ready to go for instance now there's a revision in there where if the police um it turns into a police matter then we can St like that 10 days is can be paused while they do their work while we do so things like that again we're we're really truly lucky where we we don't have a tremendous amount of those type of incidents but things like that this is for the wi population um there's things in there that don't apply to us for you know schools that might have officers in the building and so forth um or class 3es or things like that that we don't have um but those are a lot of that language you know a little bit about um you know they have body cameras on them now right French police has them versus 5 years ago or I don't want to quote that but they haven't had it in the past um where they do now so I think things like that um we've had our agreement too already with the fact that we as a school have cameras right we have a policy on surveillance and there's times that potentially if they need it they could come up and he could be a partner to them in some in helping them in some way shape or form um so things like that and those are all agreed we're very um it's documented who's seeing that who's participating and things like that um that's that's a that's a different agreement than the mo MOA that I'm that we're talking about now um but it really just goes into a lot of those for instance like honestly like middle school and um there's been incidences of like sex thing right and so with where does the school where's the school line where's the police line and and then where at what point are we contacting parents so it's pry prescribed guidelines of how to interact and work with that um so things like that and I think it was just good for us to have that discussion and be aware of these things and for us to refer back if we do have a question about something in a particular situation refer back and make sure because there's a number of new things in there um and although we went over them and reviewed them you know we got we want to make sure that we're staying ab brast and and just to clarify this is not like a creation of municipality it's a hand it's handed down from the New Jersey Department of Education yeah so um you know these meetings are just to kind of see what's new and you know what I mean we're lucky and that 95% of this will'll never need or use hopefully but um you know it has to be in place I'm glad to hear that Sergeant Eckles and coleta were part of the conversations I know both of them have gone through the school safety trainings over the last year the town's invested a lot in them and they're kind of like individual trainings and it's also nice just because they're like police officers in the community who parents know the students know they participate in these school activities so it's nice to see them kind of engaged in so many different ways in the school where you don't feel like they're just you know just like only you know about the police work but they really step in and in multiple ways and I understand that like we're trying to elevate Sergeant uh eeko U Down the Line into a future role so it's nice to have a relationship there he's engaging in the school yeah for sure I mean I can't you know I opened up that meeting just being very transparent just talking about how positive the relationship is with the and and officer Kevin and officer Eric and Ellie call you know he's got his new title but some of the students know him you know like that so it's very it's just a great um just it's great to see those interactions um they do have opportunities where they come and just pop in the school during the school day to your point um so and a lot of the school activities and they're you know I don't want to say 100% but they're pretty close in all their participation with our fire drills and um security drills so it's really I'm I'm super proud of that and thankful for them as well um for being you know a part of that and it's great also for our safety team to be that as well I think it's just really good empowerment and knowing that you have a role as part of this team you know trying to make everybody safe as we possibly can okayy Jim yes um will any of the changes in this uh memorandum trigger conforming changes in our policies um we we may have a couple as we're looking in the comprehensive Equity plan um if there are I'll certainly bring that to your attention um but at this point I feel like most we have covered um like looking at our review but we may find we may uncover another one or two along the way um we'll certainly bring um I I certainly can bring that to our attention as we get down the road if there's something that would align with that all right thanks Jim any other questions and comments on the m all those in favor I opposed to abstain okay and now finally we have a motion to approve and designate Dr Richard Catz as um Mr hinton's Mentor so moved comments or questions on that is that mentoring mentoring him and being the like positivity coach or whatever what is he no it's Jim Mentor he's not he's not an employee here Dr Catz is uh Jim's Mentor um because he was just licensed so for how long Tak to have a mentor so at least one year so since last February he's been a part of working with me um so we're just um making the Border everyone on there people with professional licenses their first year they they go through a mentorship program Bas teachers administrators they all go through a mentoring program so Jim just got his certification so he's within his like first year and his contract requires that his mentor is agreed upon by both the board and the administrator so we're just following through on that requirement and is Dr cats assigned to you or is it self- selected or is the board select how does work so the it's um want to get this right njasa um for um gives you basically a couple choices as the candidate um and sometimes you you know which is nice it kind of gives you a bio and gives you an opportunity to you know choose someone you think um you you know benefit from growth from um that type of thing so um and not always does it work out you can choose one and maybe they already have too many other people or so forth so it was um a choice of a couple um and it worked out for me that I was able to work with them so it's been you know it's been super helpful I I can't tell you I think I think it although it's required I think it's been great um on on a number of levels just as as another person kind of contact and a resource for sure and hopefully a lifelong resource I talk about like some point it's going to end and you know I hope he's still there on the other endex not that we don't have a really good local group and so forth but sometimes it's good to hear a perspective a little I'm a business administrator Mentor so with my mentees it's kind of once a mentor always a mentor yeah build a nice little Community to yeah that's great I had no idea we did that but that's awesome that exists yeah and teachers as well what is the it's is it just the first year awesome all right um all those in favor I opposed or abstain okay quickly I'll do rundown all right so just want to say again thank you to all our school board members um as we recognize you guys this month um we really appreciate you know time away from the family and all those things to um support students especially fat so thank you for that um snow days return in 2024 what is that right um I feel like we haven't had them in a couple so thank you for those adjustments on the calendar um because that'll certainly help our team and our students [Music] um what else I want to say um I just also wanted to say with snow days as we talk about the police I just wanted to really can't thank enough like the communication among local superintendence um our town right DPW um the police and helping us in making the best calls too they they're they're a player in that um if you don't know that you should know that and and say thank you to them because um it's helpful and not everyone want to be up at 4:30 in the morning in 445 buto so we appreciate their assistance and helping in doing trying to make the best decision which we know is always tough um this just recapping as we talk about um kindness awards for December just want a really big shout out to the fourth grade class I am going to name her GES real quick um that's uh I RI my paper Ruby Ariana Liam Solomon Jace Mia Arthur and mclair aiel Ryan Al Margo Al andette and I think it's just really awesome to hear that you know and it they they all got together on their own and decided to do a card their teacher when they knew there was a family situation going on with that teacher um that was something totally done on their own so we really couldn't Mr bont Miss zigy and so forth it was they just they did it you know um they they made us change our approach of every grade level and fourth grade got it for December so kudos to them um sportsmanship Awards um this month we continue to do that um this month was Luan clementin brayan Sophia Emma Dennis Al Briana and Juliana so kudos to them um we really continue to um not only um you know model it but just you know really teach students how to you know just make those best choices that they can and you know that work school we learning every day and so forth um so just appreciate the teachers and the students who are you know following through with those actions really turning into really great peer leaders um wanted to say kudos to Kate Miss yard um for Martin Luther King Jr activities um we did I of dream board downstairs I think um if you didn't have a chance check it out there's some really um interesting quotes from our students students are Priceless um and you should check it out but some of the things that I just saw I thought were great were you know students were dreaming of you know for a house and two dogs um to be a pro alete to be rich um to graduate um um and I really really just thought this one also someone put to have really good mental health somebody put there and I just thought that was really telling I don't know if we would have saw that a few years ago um and I just you know Kudos who to who put that but definitely check that on your way out tonight um where is this just uh right outside the gym on on your way out so if anybody else wants to come in and check it out um I think it just just timely I think there's really a lot to gain from it uh yoga Loca return this uh week with our recess sessions we got um another one tomorrow and then we'll have a couple more in in February so miss Bonnie's been doing great with our students um doing a little checkin on zon regulation too um before and after so that's it's been a hit um Middle School Club this homework club has really turned into a really nice tie with the basketball Club um we really second marking period just ended yesterday so we were really you know just talking to students stud making that push try try your best if you have if you have a 75 right now let's let's try to make that an 80 right if you have an 85 right now let's try and make that a 90 right trying really getting them the last four five six weeks of school um Team approach everybody working um really got to see some peer leaders jump out of that group which was really neat and it was a great combination to see students go up and participate in homework about the 20 10 30 40 minutes and then head down the basketball Club um kind of BM the basketball club's coming to an end tomorrow but volleyball club starts Thursday so I'm hoping to have I think the whole team's hoping to have that same effect um as we pair them up moving forward um French employes um again continues support for security drills fire drills and so forth um and they were part of our Mo MOA um director gner and I met with a vendor following up with the solar signs so we're just we're getting some quotes right now so we're hoping to move forward with that as soon as we can um so that's where we're at so as soon as we have some quotes and some pictures to coincide I think um we'll be hopefully moving forward um preschool so preschool we've kicked off you know with our preschool right um we only have a certain amount of students so we have our French towns um preschool for now and you know hopefully with the idea that maybe we'll grow out our universe we we know it as in preschool um term pre preschool application Grant World um terms um but we have implemented the things that we some of the resources and people that we do need to be a part of um this application so um you'll see on there tonight um Ashley senica is working with us in our instructional coach role um and then um Jennifer egy who's with us already she's going to be that um Community parent um coordinator basically um and we'll be starting to meet with some of our preschool meetings we'll be S having some open house opportunities again as we go through um this spring hopefully you know next few months here Jim is preschool full now it is not full per se um yeah it's not full how how is it compared to sort of where you envisioned it now like how how are we doing with that so we have a quite a bit of I I I don't want to I'll get back to you numbers I feel like we have eight or nine for next year right coming in in next year's group are the applications open for next year they are res School applications are open yeah so just so if you don't know that make okay we haven't done any followup since the open house January that's my so you're not okay so we'll make sure that you're gettings maybe Outreach I'm say that anecdotally not yeah they usually put the sign up front too yeah we usually do have a banner up there you're right by you know when we we did put it out in this week's update so Friday or Thursday or Friday Friday's update we put out preschool kindergarten Round Up um so yeah typically we do so we either put that on the um Banner or put and even if we don't fill the numbers for the Frenchtown residents we're not allowed to take people in from other municipalities right not um notless we each me our universe right 90% of the universe us what that is but is 90% of our 16 so it's 14 and a half students would be 19 90% so 15 kids no it's I don't where you getting 14 and a half from well 10% of 15 would be one and a half children okay it's not it's two clom but it's is our universe is actually so it's 22 actually 24 is our but then our state number is it's double your first grade enroll that was reported on October right last so which was just reported it would be these our next year's Universe would be twice our first grade our first grade is six kid this year this year's the previous year is what we went off for the oppostion of this so it doesn't change year to year based on enrollment it just it's what it is what follows the first grade follow the first that's that's the state formula so because there's so few kids in the first grade this year it's going to make us not have as many kids in the in the preschool next year I'll let you know when I go to the administration meeting February 8th Wonder February 9th one of those days preschool kids go here they'll they'll be more likely to say so when we did the initial application we had our current second grade right which the numbers were hard General Ed weird I know why it's just I can yeah that's that's just the state formula for that application some of you being dense but is the number what it was when we applied or does it roll change every year with the changing number of the first in other words I believe it changes every year with the change of the number which is affects the funding which is what I'm concerned about as well yeah yes drastic right we got to find some first graders so our universe is 24 the street for next year for the 2324 application yes and we haven't been asked yet to prepare our budget and do our and I hear it doesn't fall in line with the budget even though the budget documents have pea funding in them so I'm learning um and it's been a tough learning curve because you don't get straight answers right so yeah so dress has been meeting dress sorry I said if anyone can get it I feel like it's you I'm asking a lot of questions so Teresa has been meeting on her end and then I have a meeting uh first week in February to follow up like what we look like um you know down the road knowing our numbers are right now and then so that's the max People based on that number that's the max you can take in it's the max we we it's our universe but we would we would that's where we would open up our second classroom that's where we have the the collaboration opportunity with Milford YMCA down up in Milford it doesn't mean that if we have six kids in first grade we can only take six kids for preschool next year but it's based on that number it's based yes the application was based on second based on that number but it's at least twice that many for your us this is the formula for free free funding that's what we're talking like that doesn't the formula itself does not limit our ability to have that's I guess what I'm asking above and beyond the formula can you take kids above and beyond that yeah to what cap so the cap of 30 stud 30 students 15 students in a class CU you only can have 15 does that include the YMCA 15 students per classroom one one classroom I didn't know if that classroom downstairs was considered a double classroom for so big I wasn't sure you guys were it doesn't matter how big your classroom is 15 students so we have 12 here right now how many are there in Milford YMCA right now zero zero so there's nothing have not been able to grow that this year so we would only grow that after we have after we filled up and then we have so that's a question because that's that's the ongoing question speaking my understanding is no right now my my understanding is they would encourage us at a certain number in next year's to then stop here and start growing there those are some things we still need some final answers to right because because we fund their classroom with the money that we get they need to tell us which we haven't gotten answer from them is to what is the minimum number of students based on the per pupil amount you're going to receive what is the minimum number of students you need to actually operate a classroom where you can just break even so I have a question do you know if any of the um the other local districts who have been receiving this money um do have any of them started a second classroom no yeah interesting okay my understanding though is that Kingwood is cap from just knowing a couple of parents who are trying to get I heard that that's almost impossible to get into yeah well it's much yeah they only one because if they don't have if they're not getting the funding and they don't have the room for another classroom yeah and they don't have there's because there there is minimum classroom size requirements so if they don't have with a bathroom inside of it or a waiver within a certain so there's there's facility requirements if they don't have the facility requirements to open another classroom they very May well be kept because they don't have the facility but they have to make a plan if they're not meeting their Universe with the classrooms they have in District they have to make a plan to meet the universe that's what the fiveyear plan is right so thinking about it less from a school perspective but from a parental perspective say I'm a parent in Kingwood and my child can't go to Kingwood because they're capped Frenchtown isn't yet at its Max would that parent then be able to Choice into Frenchtown no unless we get to 14 students and then they can take the 15th seat because we can 10% can be from our it's overall Universe not for classroom right it's 24 scenario where the king would kid could come to French if we had it's out of 30 so we had 24 kids from Frenchtown enrolled between here and Milford then the following six no it would have to be less 27 kids from here to Milford French Town Base the following three could be choice and and and also but push out conc not take those kids because then if you would get a kid who comes in who's from French town we would have to they would have boot that they want you to keep seats for the potential special ed students that well we're working on that as well because no because Frenchtown students would have to go to the Milford program it's not just the Frenchtown school but there may be some benefits to the Milford program that they might not get here which is before and after care hours right because and after hours are lied and they have other before and after care availability so there's really the we're putting it out there that the parent would have the choice of which program they want yeah and my understanding is that the Milford YMCA also has special certification as daycare as well as prek so they're able to actually interact with like help a child in the bathroom whereas here in prek they're not able to do that only a nurse is able to do that so certain kind of like certificate certification differences do exist between the two programs I'm not sure how that applies yeah I'm not sure if that's the case actually there was a question among the parents at the open house and it was explained by the woman who's representing the Milford YMCA and she explained that their Staffing would have and maybe you know like their staff they have a different it's kind of similar to they're not yeah they can actually like help children seems like potty training because you'd have right I'm just saying that our classroom would probably have to follow the rules of the the school yeah I think we've been told that potty training is a requirement for them to enroll because the teachers cannot interact correct yeah even even but that's under ours which is funding that program so the same that special does that no it doesn't apply it would be right I just yeah no me two and a okay [Music] um all right we were at preschool I I was talking a little bit about Buzz around about the preschool thing people ask all the time is a lot of people have a lot of questions about that and I think as you hear Thea and I still don't have yeah some questions or answers that I feel like we can go yet with I think in the next few weeks we're going to be able to do that um we are accepting right now um and we do have a check box on our form that says the Milford but a lot of that's still a little bit to be explained in year one here we're we're going at the p so um the questions that we have and the answers that we're trying to gain yet um but yeah does it does the lack of information you're getting from the state make you more hesitant to recruit more parents and students I would say no yeah I think I don't I don't I think I think we want to I think this is a I think this has already been a great opportunity for the French toown students already existing getting opportunity for Universal preschool right right I think that's awesome and I think we're just hoping to gain some more um information and be able to you know get out to a larger group I think we're um we don't always know all the answers just yet um but I think we're we're we're with an open mind that we will and it's not so so much even the lack of information as it is the inconsistency and information as well yeah so there are many districts that have had this funding for years right and you we go to them and they're actually the districts that are starting to present some of this information to the ones that are new or coming in because we all have questions yeah and when we ask them questions and we hear their presentations it's inconsistent with what we were told directly by Doe when preparing our application and doing certain things so it's confusing to us and we're not getting straight answers so we're trying to understand why they're allowed to do it differently and we're not allowed to do it the same way or where the lack of communication is helping with is that what you said she was doing yeah she has a role no she's the she there are requirements no Ashley is a um a teacher coach she's a that's a requirement under the Grant I have yeah she's just a she's a teacher that's in the classroom teaching the teacher she's a m she's a master she's an instructional she's she's CH and Mrs ller work together she was our previous preschool teacher that resigned and has returned has returned in aart much faster yeah yeah nice I only asked the question because I like as as someone who has a child who's in this age range and is constantly around other parents um and also knowing that secret garden which offers essentially prek has a weight list that's double digits you know I think there's quite a lot of parents who whether Frenchtown is actually free next year or not could potentially use additional information so they understand how to enroll their children when to enroll what they can expect if they have to pay or if they like or if they don't because I think right now there is at least there's if I'm confused you know what I mean like and I'm on the board and and you guys have I feel like had enough exposure to me over the last six months of like I'm the nerd that goes like really deep on stuff well once you're in you're in like there's been no District that I'm aware of that is no longer in the program so it's free we we're actually told in the letter that you you have you can't charge tuition a lot of parents in French town with very young children for kind of recent transplants which there are many aren't aware of to get more numbers that's exactly what we need for the school to grow in order to increase know so like that's why I was like is it creating a hesitation in us to kind of go out and recruit these parents and these children because I would understand if it was honestly because if we're constantly getting different messages you're like what do I tell the parent you know like but it doesn't sound like these are things that really I mean the parents need to know about yeah I mean it shouldn't right I mean you're have you've got the preschool we looking for kids right right the quality of the program the Staffing of the program the philosopy that's not changing yeah n i mean these these are these are things that are giving like administrators like we'll talk about the budgeting part of it when we get to the budget discussion because that's a whole another but all residents of French toown with preschool age kids should know that they have free preschool available at French school for yeah I mean that was that was purposeful for why we did our open house right um and you did a great job of social promotion on that one we yeah and we have we are going to be doing another next probably I I don't want to in the next six weeks we're probably going to do something again to bring people in right it's um so I think that'll be an opportunity and I'm hoping the reason why dressa has a meeting this week with her PE with her group and then I meet first week so I'm hoping by towards the end of February early March we'd be able to have something and have some really tangible information um you know thank you for what you said about the team in October and I think we're going to do that again um but yeah we're hoping to get some more answers but again I think already I don't think there's hesitation because we just have a group right now that has you know a really great opportunity families really benefited from that in French town and I'm hoping trust I'm just hoping we continue to build on that I wish would be easier for us if we had more because the question for us is about opening the second classroom if we had 20 kids that came through the door were like yeah let's open classroom this is why I would strongly encourage us to potentially make a few more additional kind of Outreach moments as a community because I do think there's a lack of insight and knowledge about what's going down going on in Frenchtown and Elementary and there's quite a few new young parents they're just like ban outside and then you have a little free the top of the one that we always put out there anyway we had it up we took it down with the SN like started you know but it was up through most of October November yeah it's like I can updating the website so like parents actually know what it is where it is I think right now there's no way to like you can just call and like my husband was doing the calling and he's like well they don't have anything it's not you know I think it's just having a space where these individuals can go because this is also the time where the other fre school programs are actually asking you to commit for September they like Secret Gardens or in like so this is the moment to like do the recruitment otherwise if we start in March April we actually miss out because folks will have already had to make a decision of where to put their kids I mean it's a marketing it's a marketing thing I'm just I'm just piling on here but I think that I think if it were marketed can we help that there would be there would be I think there's demand out there I think people just need need need to know could like we put out Facebook posts about that or anything that or is that not allowed um it's allowed but I think we should have one to share yeah you know um and and maybe I mean even if you're thinking six weeks out for an open house maybe you could come up with that date sooner rather than later we can start advertising it even if we even if it's six weeks out really yeah I mean I think it comes down to will we have the answers that we need to go and be in a group like this or do we you know are we going to sit there and not be we're still going to be in the same boat right that you need all so at the very least we are here and we have more answers to give even if that's where it is a few weeks and people are getting those applications the I'm like I'm almost like screw the answers have the applications ready for people um so if you um you know if you selected date and create a post um then you know we can share it far and wide I hate to put more work on you so if there's something that we could do to help create the post or anything like that I don't think it has to say much yeah totally yeah come to our open house in March again the child has to turn what age by what month five by October October could he just say say like something like do you know that French toown offers free preschool I can name eight yeah I mean we already had we had we had one we did everything different date yeah it's okay but there was no application for folks to like fill out yeah it was like a preliminary kind of open so now that's on Facebook I guess it was it was back in October de we were trying to see see ultimately we could have opened up the Milford opportunity genan one right if we had the numbers but we'd never so one of the things that Jim and I have been talking about is like how do we go out that registration so the way I Envision it is that it's not an application right when you come to kindergarten you register in the district that you go to so it's really a registration application an application indicates that we have the ability to reject you and we don't right you're you live in Frenchtown you register at your school for preschool children your children not apply because apply indicates that you have a choice yeah right like kindergarten or first grade and when you and when you move into a a a town you register yeah like this is where you're going you know so I think we have to because we're so used to having an application mindset that it's really not an application it's a registration form it's like you know you kind of you apply for a preschool program here you register for Universal preschool right right you know which is different right so I have the registration right so instead of reg reg registering when you're five you're registering when you're three yeah okay yeah and that registration is open yeah I mean I might just screenshot our update and put on like that we did last week yeah um to your point it's not getting outside of our Frenchtown Community per se like yeah our yeah registration saying it's getting it's going for our pre through eight but it's not going outside of that yeah and there's probably maybe somewh the oldest one the oldest child or4 in their secret garden there's also that question Secret Garden and there's a weight list like I I almost don't think Rosalie would mind you [Laughter] know okay where where are we them yeah I'm I'm going to wrap um just REM just just that you know it is kind this week this week um so I think believe it or not um so it's last year we did had an approach this year um we basic we're going with different approaches really catching people random acts of kindness throughout the week um so we're just trying to catch students and staff in in the moment um so we have some people that are watching um and I'm hoping that we're going to try that approach and see how that go goes obviously they're embedded into um character Ed lessons this month as well um so that was it great kindness challenge is on so that's all I have thank you thank you okay um so I just have a couple of things um one is um that we have the um the resolution for the school regionalization study on our agenda tonight um this was taken directly from Holland Township who's the lead in the study um so that is up for approval coming up um we also um I wanted to talk about two other items that are or I I guess I'll I'll speak to all three just wanted to speak to our district goals um and these are the um I'm sorry not our district goals our board goals um these are the goals that are specifically for the board um and they are on page two of our agenda um the first one needs to be done um we'll be discussing it at our February meeting so what I think will do is I will send I'll you know Jim and I will have a conversation and I'll send everybody some kind of examples or a draft of what um an evaluation for Frenchtown might look like um and we can make some changes at the February meeting and see you know based on um you know our conversation there uh create a final draft and then move forward with the evaluation process which will happen in beginning of March or April um the other was to prepare to um Implement a strategic planning strategy um and to begin with um Teresa I wanted to ask if you would be willing to find out what the what um New Jersey school boards is offering still for that this last five years ago or I guess it's almost six years ago when we did our strategic planning we used New Jersey school boards um they were reasonable um I thought I felt they did a good job I think the committee was very happy with the work that they did and the way they ran the meetings so I think we should start there just because um I'm hoping that they continue to be a coste effective um option for us um so that's where we'll start and then moving forward from there um the idea will be to really try and do a lot of Outreach over the coming months so that moving into next year we have a lot of people um already like pre-investment a bit about helping with doing that Outreach so um you know we'll be ready to move forward in the coming months with that um the negotiations um we are meeting for the first time in February um so we will update the board as that um moves along um and then our fourth item is um to increase public recognition of students and staff and this is something that we carried over from last year and um if people want to kind of think about that um I would love to do some more brainstorming on that I um you know the one thing I did do is we had um I I said to Jim when we have our teacher of the quarter is it I guess Mar so we'll be coming up again teacher of the markeing period I said like it would be great if if I could come in and just say thank you and just be there um which I did or another board member could do that um but I would love to think of some other ways to recognize our staff and students um I I am not sure that asking our staff to come out to a board meeting to be recognized is great for them um so I I just would like to for us to think of other ways we you know we've done a lot of things like um you know by breakfast for the staff or or things like that but if we could kind of brainstorm about that that would be great and and have maybe further that conversation um and as far as the students go um it's the same kind of thing um we have had students come to board meeting um sometimes I think they are excited about doing that just to present something that they've done um you know maybe we can consider doing that like once a year or twice a year or something like that but um again if we could recognize students that would be great I did the same morning we had the um uh teacher of the markting period i attended a the honors breakfast for the middle school so that was fun um we can do things like that but again just kind of brainstorming it's it's difficult because um we don't have a budget for rec you know for recognizing but um and we don't again I you're saying specifically for the board to recognize people for the board to recognize teachers and students um you said I mean it's a public recognition so that's be are that refers to the whole Community right yeah I mean with like positive stories about you know this sort of catching kids doing something right that sort of same idea of like one something when War warm fuzzy stories about Student Success teacher success something you know yeah just yeah like I'm on social media kind of thing or or yeah or light on a local press there's no lot of local presses there there isn't we we used to have a local newspaper and we used to we had a relationship with the reporters yeah that doesn't exist anymore social media though that mean people shareing yeah that's that's the only way we get to and the town does have some like events that are very kind of community oriented I do wonder if there's an opportunity for members of the school board to like set up a booth in celebration of a recognized teacher and student and like or work with the council to announce you know like one day of the year this cap audience like or something like that yeah yeah right We can brainstorm on this it's a good I think we we can think of some ideas I mean yeah if like you said tapping into a already existing event Poss just for a minute taking a moment to just recognize just to identify who you are or something um the whole Community is already there yeah concerts back to school night thinking I'm not all right um K jump out of a c there you go yeah let's let's continue to brainstorm about that I think it's I think it's important and um just Mak good idea yeah okay um so then we will need a motion to approve um the resolution for school regionalization efficiency program so a second any comments or questions on that okay all those in favor I I opposed or abstain okay moving on to policy we need a motion to approve the second reading and Adoption of sports related concussion and head injury policy second comments or questions okay all those in favor I I opposed or abstained and then do we have a motion for to approve our consent agenda items 11.1 through 11 7.3 okay comments or questions on our consent agenda and what was Brett's position the custodian facility manager yeah and Patricia's special ed assistant she yes she she is so she's leaving yeah yeah confirming one to this knew this year he was he was TI sum July one do you have a replacement in mind we um we put out post and collecting resumes are there is there a response there has been a response it's very strong response and it's also very Weir I just imagine it's tough to recruit for that's that's why I asked yes any other comments or questions on the consent agenda okay then we'll need a roll call Mr Blackburn yes Miss Howard yes Miss clein yes Miss pello yes Mrs nent yes okay um we have the bud right um is there any other new business before we move on to the budget sucession I have one for us that I want to kind of introduce to the board I try to do my best to put my thoughts in writing I figured it would be the most effective way to do it I T to off ramp sometimes uh and forgive me because I'm going to read this but I may run out of breath because I've found that like I'm hitting six months pregnant and it's like it's a you've noticed that I'm just I didn't conr but I run out of breath after this paragraph is what's going to happen here so I um it's been I think five months since I've been on the board and trying to consume as much information as possible and I just wanted to first like Express sincere appreciation for like incredible efforts our school has made in navigating challenges posed by the pandemic just learning about everything that school has been through and the positive environment I think Jim you mentioned it earlier for mental health has been really immense and you hear from parents and students alike that this is a good place to be in that it feels safe that it feels warm it feels welcoming and we see it also in terms of like our policies on bullying and harassment how low the numbers are each time you know we look at it it's one case all year so far um I really appreciate the devotion and the time efforts require of School faculty even like thinking about like it's kindness week we're going to do random acts of kinds and like these are efforts that really take a lot of thought and investment um and I I want us to recognize them and and to commend Jim for leading the way there um secondly I also want to acknowledge the outstanding progress in our special ed program uh I have spoken to quite a few special ed parents who have all just praised it endlessly and said that their children um are really excelling at Frenchtown Elementary and so seeing the dedication to creating a supportive inclusing learning environment here is really impressive um and it's it's just nice to mention to people oh yes I'm on the school board and they're like oh it's you know the special ed program is amazing and I think Jim also you deserve absolute credit for that te yeah it's I'm sure it's teamwork but it really is um you you hear it as you as you get feedback from people in town thank you um as we celebrate these successes though I think it's also essential that we address some areas of opportunity and concern so I've spent you know like the last five six months kind of looking and trying to get a bit more understanding on not just our special ed program as well as our kind of what's the climate of the school but also what's our academic achievement kind of Realm and so looking back the preco the 1819 school year and in years prior French Elementary consistently exceeded state that Ben marks and tests with over 60% of our students meeting or exceeding standards in math English science and I went through the past decade of board presentations and goals and we often took a lot of pride in how well our students were academically doing and we cited exactly these tests as proof and I think it's important for us to kind of look into the past two years and see that we've had a significant decline across the school a 19% drop in English 26% drop in math and a 30% drop in science so this puts our students on par the state average scores and we are not meeting the state targets right now and I bring this up because the declines are not in line with changes in the test they're also not in line with Co drops in hunon County which are around 90% they're not in line with neighboring schools either so Holland Kingwood Alexandria Clinton looms and Frank INF are a little bit further out but they're all surpassing our performance some by double digits and I think this is significant as many of these schools actually tracked behind us prior to 201819 so I mean if I'm a parent and I am a parent but if my kid kind of was a a and b student and then a year or two later became a CNB student I'd want to look into it and try to figure out what's going on and so that's why I'm bringing this up to us now what's more I think I've had a few conversations with Frenchtown graduates and their parents and with the Frenchtown representative on the Bal school board and this is where I think it's it's kind of getting tricky because it seems that our kids are entering High School less prepared in English science and math than those from other sending districts and I think we have to kind of face into that reality and say what can we do so that said I would also be remissed to not acknowledge the unique challenges that French town has had and maybe some of the neighboring districts have not so we've had massive State funding cuts which I know I don't have to mention to anyone in this room you guys are aware of it we've had significant teacher turnover in the last 5 years we've had around 40% of teachers change and a new ad Administration which takes time to adapt so such big changes are bound to impact any school it's not a surprise that we have some adapting to do but I feel like we have a really strong Foundation to work from we've got a super invested superintendent we have a loved faculty we have a positive student body that's engaged every day in school and I think we have a lot of Frenchtown families that are really eager to see their children grow so in light of this I want to propose that we as a school board start to talk about academic discussions and academic achievement in our monthly meetings and start to track our progress same way we look at Hib reports we should talk about what is the academic health of our school every month and I kind of went back to like it's the role of the board to set policies create conditions distribute resources that help Jim and the school staff improve student achievement and we can only do so if we're frequently engage in achievement conversations so as a first step I propose that we consider and this is again open to discussion completely but investment in a resource that would help us better track student progress so we actually know what we're up against and what we're doing currently French Elementary doesn't use academic achievement tracking tools such as I iel and linkit it's not built into our budget yet three of these all three of them were praised by superintendents in the most recent SBA panel on academic achievement is pivotal in helping them better optimized performance for their schools I think these tools would help us provide a more comprehensive and continuous measure of success more so than standardized tests ever could and it'd be useful to not just teaching an admin staff but the board in having an accurate monthly metric for how our students are doing so in closing and I'm sorry this is super long but I wanted to like be clear-headed about it is I urge us to be proactive and hold spaces at our monthly meetings to consider with Jim and the public how we as a board can act together to ensure FES has what it needs to turn around the academic Trends we're seeing and while I get that we could wait until the 2425 planning I also think like to create these goals focusing on academics I also kind of feel like it's our responsibility to face into it now because the issues exist now um and our students every single one I meet are like so bright so capable and I think they deserve our attention and support and if there's anything we can do to create an environment in which they are better performing I think it's our responsibility to do so and lastly I want to say that I have full confidence that just as we've excelled greatly in enhancing our school climate our special programs I think we can take on the current academic showfall we're seeing and drive a positive turnaround which year so now I'll sit back I would love to hear what you guys think I know it's a kind of a a big subject to bring up but I also don't know any other form at which to bring it up than our monthly meetings and I'd love to have these discussions more frequently I think my first question is I'm not sure what that discussion looks like exactly um and I'm I'm not sure that as a board that's not a sort of micromanagement of our Administration and our staff so I I'm that's my one concern um with that is that to have that kind of monthly discussion feels like we're sitting in on a um you know staff meeting um and um you know that that would be my my concern um again I'm not sure what a conver a monthly conversation about instruction would look like exactly I would say it's about instruction I would say it's about academic achievement and in the most recent SBA session on this um the superintendent came in and spoke about how do they work with their boards they said that this was a subject of conversation monthly that they checked in on performance monthly similarly to how we check in on like how are we doing with HIV for example I think they're probably I'm not the expert on this right so I'm assuming that SBA has policies and procedures that are board appropriate and not micromanagement but that's still bring up this subject as something the board should be cognizant of because some of the decisions we might be making in budgetary exercises for example would have a down effect on education as my guess of course all of the decisions would go to jym and you know the School faculty body wouldn't be up to us to make the final decisions but I think being able to ask how are students doing and are they progressing in a positive or A negative way and what can we do as a board to enable JY to make some decisions that kind of lead to positive momentum is I feel like our duty I would uh sorry this is Adam uh I would agree well first I would say I think Kate makes a good point about about micromanagement but I I don't see that as what this that that his suggestion is micromanagement I think it's it's it's tracking right it's it's not trying to influence curriculum or anything like that it's trying to you know understand where we are um and uh uh and and track our progress um but I think I think V is right in the money I think we're at we're at a crisis Point um and I'm not sure what else what other options there would be I mean you know getting the uh the standardized testing results once or twice a year is just too tectonic um and our you know our school is shrinking too quickly and our you know our our challenges are are not waning at all um so I think I think this is a a sensible and um a wise approach given where our school is right now I'll give you a a kind of an anecdotal story which is the the house next to us is for sale and so we were trying to convince a couple of our friends to move there who have small children and as like a I'm sure this is not the primary reason but it's like one of the reasons why they were like no we're not going they were like look at your Zillow schooling and I was like what what are you talking about and on Zillow there's like on the bottom the good grades rating and for a lot of like people who are looking and evaluating homes they might scroll down and look like what's the lock ability score what's the good grades rating and we've fallen from seven out of 10 three years ago to three out of 10 and while that's just like a surface uninformed opinion I do think it is becoming a bit more of a public perception and then when I look at some of the data I'm realizing there are some places where we we have not performed as well as we used to and as a parent as a Frenchtown resident as a board member I want to be clear right about it and say what can we start doing to help reverse some of these trends in a way that isn't you know like getting in Jim's way but actually helping him and as a board supporting him to be able to kind of make the same adjustments that he's made in climate in uh special ed towards the academic kind of conversation weren't you saying before that there's some issues with that with that information because of the size of the school it can't really be read the way that it's put out there because the numbers I was that was the first meeting I ever attended and I wasn't totally understanding what you guys were talking about out but I know that you spoke to that some of that information is not necessarily true well when when you look at the standardized test scores it's hard it's hard to look at them in in it's hard to look at the data because our numbers are so small that is true um per class but not for the schoolwide to totals the schoolwide totals are stable it's over 100 kids and those Trends it's absolutely reliable right right right so how like what kind of levers could the school board pull to make adjustments like other than budgetary budgetary is important because allocation of res if there's I mean let me just I I want to just say that I agree strongly that uh a deeper focus on academic achievement is is really needed both in the short term and in the long term so you know I really want to be of helping you know for in a strategic long term making sure that that's front front and center but in the meantime I do agree that we're in a a really kind of almost Tipping Point situation and and I guess my question is um you know I I I want to understand what the root causes are like I don't know why yeah and so any kind of um conversations in the board that could help us understand I mean I'm I'm let me let me say I'm less interested in sort of the micro month by Monon looking at data because I don't think it changes in a month-by-month way and I think it is an administrative burden potentially however I do think having focused conversations on what's going on academically where the you know what's working really well what isn't how resources can be refocused in particular kinds of Staff Development or you know I don't know if it's a softw whatever whatever um I would be very interested in in just understanding what the problem is like what what what's I don't think we understand the problem um I'm would you agree with that um yeah I'm I'm trying to think like historically um when we've had um conversations about instruction and academic achievement um you know how how those conversations have happened um and and where it's been the most use useful um and generally I I agree with you generally it's not from test scores and and things like that one one of the things that we used to do that I I feel like was helpful was we had um you know staff members basically report out on a program like we you know um we had our language teacher come in and speak to our language program and what you know her struggles were what she thought was positive what her what her needs were and the question would always be at the end of those conversations like if we could give you one thing what would it be and um she or he would would tell us that those those were kind of those were constructive I think um I just don't I again I my my concern is not sure what that conversation looks like like if we could Define you know let's talk let's have let's have this conversation every month like you know let's hear about what our math program is and what our math what our math needs are one month let's hear about what our Middle School needs are another month that kind of thing I I think I just don't I mean I'm a completely green board member right so all I've done is attend as many of these academic achievement sessions that SBA offers um I do wonder if because this is such a pivotal moment for the school and like some of us are completely new and then as you say Kate like this is a new thing at Frenchtown you've never had to really like turn around like a such a big drop but I wonder if getting some expertise potentially from school board members well on who served on boards where there was kind of a reinvention and reinvigoration and a shift and a and kind of a a a turn from negative Trends to positive Trends if they would have some lessons for us to learn from instead of digging in our own history but looking into like who's done a turnaround a bit academically and what could we learn from how they're board behaved it may it may help inform us because it because I like I don't know all I know is that like this is a large part of what we're supposed to do is Ensure academic success students that attend the school by supporting Jen and the faculty and so we're seeing a negative Trend we could wait to set goals in August and September or we could say hey something's happening let's start to figure out a way to face into it because I do think it impacts even things like pre and how many people want to like register for pre in French toown versus you know like paying for Secret Gardens Etc so that's why I want us to start having the conversation even if next month the conversation is less about Jim and honestly more about us saying here's other boards and what they have done with any of these particular tasks trainings Etc help us try to figure out how to tackle this issue you know like it doesn't even have to be something that's on gym it could be actually on us to figure out what we could potentially do I think a good place to start with would maybe be to have um our field rep from New Jersey school boards come in and talk about academic achievement and what the boards role is in that um I think that's a good starting point and a good is that Gwen Gwen Thor yeah that's a great idea Kate yeah so why don't I reach out to her and see um and she's got you know I I actually been to uh um talks that she's given on academic achievement that have been good so um she's got a lot of a lot of background um so I will reach out to Gwen and um try to have her come to if she can make at our February meeting not our March meeting and she can Pro she would also I suspect would be able to tell us like you know if we're wanting to have that conversation what that conversation should look like at a board level so that would be great I participated in a couple of sem seminars she done I like watch them online she seems yeah she's really great she's really nice um she's the one who did our strategic planning last time so um ideally if we can go with New Jersey school boards she would do it again that'd be great yeah yeah she's good she's who I'm going to reach out to for strategic planning do you want me to include it sure please would be great I'll I'll reach out to her as well um but yeah that would be great thank you tra okay so I think I think we all agree that that's a good place to start and need and move from there thank you Adam so we'll move on to a 2425 budget discussion so um I put a a very preliminary um draft in the folder I'm sorry I I did not it was a very crazy day and I apologize for not being able to give you physical copies um of that but it is in the board um file thank you for being environmentally conscient yeah because it would be a lot of people um there's a I I would I also intended sending an email out to the board to notify you that it was there and that is not on me I did not do that they say hey there's there's a folder that says 2425 budget and there's uh like three documents in there so one is the projected Revenue the others is the um the Appropriations as we're building them and new information the information we have now and any new information that may become available um as we go through the next couple of months and then I also did a um sort of a um on what's available so the state software is also currently available where I actually take the information here and a lot of other information and I actually um submit it uh to the state in this um application that they they give us and there is other information that they give to us as well in that application um one of the items that um of information that was there that I was not uh expecting um was an enrollment adjustment so which file should we be looking at I so for this one I would for this particular discussion I would say it's the tax levy one it's the one that Exel yes the EXL sheet what's it called here I'll help you tax the tax levy calculation found it thank you um so this one is very very preliminary because um the ratables in the top left are identical because the 2024 ratables have not been um certified yet so that number is still yet to be known at the top of this because there's there's a lot of new board members um that haven't seen these documents I'm going to kind of go through them in a little more detail at the very top across the top you'll see the 23 24 the 23 24 so that represents what the the general fund tax levy was The Debt Service tax levy in the center those are the actual dollar amounts that make up the the tax levy portion for Frenchtown Elementary School general fund is the tax levy that supports all of the academic programs all of our um our our build building function you know supporting our building um all the support services all of our special education programs everything that says brench toown is a public school um that's the general fund that is a tax levy generating fund and The Debt Service fund is also a tax levy generating fund so the 110,000 1869 um was actually I think that number is wrong I think that should be 113 so those numbers numers are um what made up the year before okay and The Debt Service is for bonds that we had we passed a referendum back in 2013 to do some um very four specific facility upgrades um to the building and we are paying for them over a period of time so that is um that's what debt services so there's principal and interest that we have have to pay back on the bonds each year so on the bottom then um where it says 2425 these are the calculations on the availability of tax levy for preparing the 2425 budget so the 2% tax levy so the amount that we could increase our budget within the 2% statutory cap is 46,00 42 which makes the general fund tax levy um 2,325 2016 and The Debt Service is 110544 that's the amount we would have to pay in principal in interest during the 2425 school year um and then the next one is the enrollment adjustment which is not an error it's actually very close in number but the enrollment adjustment is $ 46,48 which is an amount in addition to the 46,000 on the 2% that we could um ask for in tax levy and I also didn't incre change that percentage the enrollment adjustment is that dependent on our anticipated enrollment numbers or is it the enrollment adjustment is the most difficult one to explain and and understand so the state has has its own projected uh enrollments and it's it's called um weighted enrollments and they waight the enrollments based on grade level so a kindergarten student is weight at 05 a one through five student is weighed at uh I think it's one and a a a six through eight student is weighed slightly more than one and then a high school student is weigh that doesn't apply to us but there's a different weight for high school student and that's the likelihood this person will follow into the next grade yes so they So based on actual enrollments that the school district reports on every year we report annually our actual enrollments the state has it has their own calculation where they determine the weighted enrollment for each School District if their weighted enrollment number if our actuals are exceeding their weighted enrollment they will recognize that our actual numbers are more than their weighted number got it and if whatever we're reporting causes their weighted number or their projection to increase more than what it's been they will allow allow you to increase your tax levy to account for that increase in enrollment got it so and of course adjustments are possible correct it's almost like it makes up for what you didn't get in a prior year it's almost like a a makeup of understood I believe okay and I can show you the reports that it generates it and it might make more sense to see the calculation um I'd be glad to to give you there's a calculation in the budget software that shows um how it's calculated so they give you the adjustment plus 2% because they're saying if that should have been in your tax love you the year before we're going to allow you to also increase it by 2% so that $46,000 is increased by the 2% as well um and then there is um banked cap which is another ability to tax above the 2% that if you don't take all of your ability in the previous three years so in other words if we don't take this enrollment adjustment all of it it would become Bank cap for the next three years so we would have the ability to kind of tap into it in the next three years if there was a need and and we you know we felt like we needed to to um take that additional amount that $117,000 was generated in the 2324 budget cycle because we got um we initially we were going to take that amount and then we got additional stabilization Aid through the 2324 cycle so instead of taking this in addition this tax um increasing the taxes by this almost 18,000 we Ed the stabilization Aid to offset um that tax number and then we it now it's there as an ability to tap into for the next three years so that would expire the last year we take that as 26 27 yes okay so none of these are required it's just you know it's a it's a matter now of us determining what our needs are right like what where where we want to allocate our resources and what we think the best way to allocate our resources in conjunction with um affordability on the tax levy so those numbers what the rates are and how it will increase is heavily driven by the ratables so as the ratables change so last year in 23 24 even though we only went to the 2% there was a there was a large increase in the tax the taxes for the town because the ratables actually went down so there was the the tax rate then increased to collect almost like you know just the same amount of money so as the rateable Chang the rate changes and that has an effect so will the the reassessments have a big effect on the rbl the reassessments I think will have a positive effect on the rbl for us and it will decrease the rate right I I have heard that some people are getting some increased tax bills but I I don't know exactly how that works but I know that it shouldn't only be for this year based on the rate that they're that's in place right now next year when they set the rate and the rate goes down because the ratables have increased there should be a leveling out of that tax bill okay that's what I believe for for for a lot I hope for some people I hope that's the case um so the revenues if we look at the revenue projections what I did here and don't look at the tax levy number on here because that's an automatic plug from what the um the expenses are like plugs the tax levy if you don't have enough Revenue um so uh the question here is the pilot payment so I kept that number the same not knowing what that is so that the municipality is supposed to have preliminary pilot revenues to me by the end of January so by our February meeting I'll definitely have a more solid number there I'm sorry I'm interrupting what doc right now the 2425 revenues the budget Revenue draft number one and you've highlighted the pilot the 50,000 is what you're talking about there yes and that was last year that was last year's amount but it was actually lower than that that was the budgeted number so right yeah okay it it came in about 10,000 lower but that's the budgeted number okay um you'll see that we don't have tuition from individuals that was for what supported the preschool program so we can no longer collect those revenues um there's a decrease in the uh withdrawal from the maintenance Reserve because that withdrawal was for a specific purpose in that particular year um that doesn't exist in the school year but we can talk about how we can use Reserve money um as we go along um the state aid numbers uh are the only change that we are seeing currently is with the equalization Aid and the decrease in the re Equalization Aid is the in that $ 23,8 47 is what I'm projecting to be our state aid loss for 2425 which is our the last round of S2 so you know S2 was that law that decreased the state aid so this is our 2425 will be the last year of state aid law so that's what I'm projecting um as part of the phase out so the number at the top the budgeted fund balance that number is so much different because of um what I spoke about before is the stabilization Aid so we had gotten an additional like 40 it was about 47 ,000 I think in um stabilization Aid last year that is not a recurring Revenue so um that is part of what's affecting that number I did budget this this $45,000 that's in here right now is the excess Surplus from the 2023 school year so if you have what's called excess Surplus in 2223 you have to appropriate it as a revenue in 2425 cuz your 23 24 budget's already set so it flows through the fund balance and then gets put in as a revenue in 2425 so that's what that number is and the board I could probably work with that number a little bit maybe another $10,000 the board typically adds $110,000 as budgeted fund balance as a um some money that's left over in the current year to help support the next year's budget and we kind of average we've been averaging that number around 10,000 so I could probably work with that number um a little bit more so are there any questions right now as far as re there are some miscellaneous revenues that is interest Revenue um some of it is for the operation of our before and after Care Program um and there are some just some little bits of money that you know come come in and out I have to double check the rent proceeds are for the um Frenchtown actually owns a small bus and we're it is at the maximum number of years but they've just extended the life of of a bus that to be on the road so uh what's happening with that um that's been happening for quite some quite some time is the Delow Transportation consort rents it from Frenchtown elementary school and they use it and they use it every day and it's getting used and that's greaten it does yeah I saw it the other day it goes by and I haven't seen it in a while and i' I when I saw it last time I was like I wonder if they're ever going to change it still F French yeah they've been even even though we own it all of these years all that they've paid us is the $3,300 but they also maintain it if it needed tires it got tires if it inspections it was inspected and everything is um handled by them they're just paying us rent so I I need to confirm with um the transportation supervisor to see if it's going to continue to be on the road in the next year and see if we still have that that will still be in play Teresa you school choice Aid doesn't change it does change school choice Aid does change and it's the most volatile Aid that we get like it seems consistent like could that be no well the projection you don't know what that's going to be Lally why it was that it's been as low as like $90,000 wor so depending on your enrollments that's another one the reason that it fluctuates so much is because if you got funded in the current year for more students that you rewarded in the current year they do an adjustment in the following year so or the other way if you have less students