it so uh no we that long two minutes gotta not like call the meeting in order start off the pledge of alleges please appli aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all adequate notice of this meeting is advertised at Ed Park Press and the beacon on January 11th 2024 and revised and advertised May 9th on 2024 and by posting the notice in the for River Lal Harbor Post Offices and by following a copy of the notice in the Leaky Township Clerk as required by the open public meeting act roll call please Mr Bell here Mrs armado absent Mr conedy here Mrs Walker here Mr armado absent Mrs uh Claus here and Mr Peters pres we have a quorum right we're going to go into executive session be it resolved that an executive session be convened for the purpose of discussing confidential student matters including but not limited to harassment intimidation and bullying confidential legal matters including but not limited to the current case load and confidential Personnel matters the subject matter of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides the L length of the executive session is estimated to be approximately 60 minutes after which the board shall reconvene and proceed with business at 7:00 p.m. action may be taken motion motion second all in favor I I okay we resume our meeting like to start off go right to a report of the superintendent please and good evening thank you you're welcome okay can everybody hear me okay um so normally we start out uh by especially in our May board meeting we start out by recognizing our two us um student representatives and unfortunately they couldn't be here and this is going to be their last meeting so even though they're not here uh I want to thank Anthony and Charlotte for spending the last nine months with us and providing us with such informative um student reports and I also just want to point out not too long ago I don't know exactly how long ago but um there was a policy implemented that compelled Boards of Education to have student representation up on the de and how many years have we had that many I can't even think how far back when we did it so you know it's we we like having our students uh join us and uh we're so appreciative of their involvement involvement um so today we were supposed to welcome uh Kayla Fitzpatrick who's the sgaa executive board president and Senor class oh you are here would you like to join us up on the deos sure or are you not ready to do that whatever you like come on up come on up so Eric strain you are the senior class president and Caleb Fitzpatrick conations they not here you take their place assume your leadership positions so not to put either one of you on ready FR here that right thank you no okay fine not not to put either of you on the spot but would you like to say anything I would just like to say that I'm really excited to work with everyone and to uh be in this um spot so yeah same here sorry about that I did not know you were with us tonight all right so and I know you won't be joining us for the June board meeting so we'll see you in September yes all right awesome another round of applause okay so we have a lot of uh presentations tonight we have seniors of the month we have staff members of the month but before we do that I do want to um talk a little bit about the budget because a lot has happened and since December I feel like things have been happening day by day week by week um so last Tuesday the board held its fifth board Workshop which is fantastic because prior to last year we weren't having board Workshop shops at all and it's an opportunity for the board to talk about the budget um interact with uh the public by accepting public comment um and our last one I'm going to say was was very productive so during that meeting we discussed the advocacy that has been going on and it's been tremendous as has been our media coverage I don't know if you've had the opportunity to see uh some of the articles that the Asbury Park has posted um printed uh along with Jersey Shore online and I'm happy for that because um they hadn't really been covering our story this past Thursday was a big big day for legislation with the passage of Senate Bill 4161 and I'm going to talk about that in a minute but I want to give a huge shout out to giata D'angelo are you here tonight there you are um and Logan edworth right here yeah great stuff um G and Logan were in Trenton along with uh Mike Ryan are you here where's Mike Ryan there you are all the way in the back um with Mr satell and Mrs D'Angelo I think you're all here oh yeah right in front of me right in front of me um and so I just have to applaud especially our students because it is it was my fifth time in tre and my first time I was I have to I'll be honest I was terrified I didn't know what to expect and these two were expecting to go first and because the bill was in negotiations with the governor and the legislators they had to wait the entire day and it was you know they brought their lunches and at one point I walked past them and they were in another room eating their lunch it was it was awesome um but they waited all day and they provided testimony that was fantastic and um with your permission I have to ask your parents um I'm going to add that to our website so that everybody can see and and watch your testimony it was fantastic so another round of applause to you okay so what does Senate Bill 4161 do for us first of all there was a lot of confusion because it was Senate Bill 4161 and 3081 it's now 4161 it was just combined because language was changed and I'm not going to get into the rig moral of the why behind it but it's just Senate Bill uh 4161 so Thursday's action move the bill to a final vote that happened yesterday the bill was then approved by both houses of the assembly and then we just learned about an hour ago that the governor did in fact sign the bill uh in fact we just talked about it and we have his statement here so assuming that nothing in the bill changed since yesterday the bill has two Provisions the first is that it restores 45% of a portion of our lost state aid and second it allows us to increase the tax levy up to and it's really important that we emphasize up to 99.9% now obviously we've done some preliminary calculations making some assumptions and even though it is going to restore some monies uh to us it's not entirely going to cover the deficit unfortunately so we have a big task ahead of us uh our job now is to analyze what it all means um because in addition to the governor's statement the bill was uh released so we have to analyze that make sure no changes were made and then from there figure out what will be restored to us in terms of our lost state aid to close the deficit so yesterday afternoon the finance committee met to start having uh that discussion and start talking about applying um those Provisions to our deficit to see what it is that um that we're going to be able to do so obviously we're going to keep you updated as we move forward in this process I mean our finance committee has met nearly every week for the past uh I want to say eight weeks um so the last thing I want to say is another bill that was passed alongside this one was about timelines because we know that May 7th was the day or maybe you don't know but May 7th was the day that we were supposed to present a final budget which we could not do because our executive County Business official who's responsible for approving our final budget did not sign a budget because we didn't have one because we have a deficit um the bill that was passed allows us to manipulate that timeline a bit and we're I'm going to say that I'm going to take a guess here and we've had this discussion that what's going to happen is that we have to make some decisions based on the understanding of that bill then we have to represent a tentative budget which we will do here in another uh board meeting and then shortly thereafter well after that then the EO approves the budget and then we present the final budget what that time looks like and what we're required to do is still unclear we don't know is it going to be 2 weeks is it going to be 1 month uh is it going to be by July we don't know that so I don't want to guess and I don't want to give anybody false hope um but as far as we're concerned the bill is good news in terms of restoring some state aid before I make two more comments I just want to say that our community our School Community has been amazing with the phone calls the texts the emails the testimony um you know we put our our signs up at each of our schools we've updated our websites so and there's a lot more out there but at least for this room I want to say thank you and Beyond to all of the people that have helped us with this advocacy your voices were definitely definitely heard and I know this because on Thursday I had a conversation with Senator Amato um and he did in fact tell me that Lacy was well representative in terms of advocacy so kudos to all of you yeah and then the last thing I want to say is looking around I suspect that some of you are here to speak on behalf of uh specific uh staff members and I'm going to say you all have a right to speak you all do um but I just want you to know we are doing everything we can to restore as much as possible in terms of programs but most importantly staff so I'm not trying to dissuade anybody from speaking um but you know with this timeline having been extended uh we still don't have specifics but we know we have to move quickly so speak respectful what's that speak respectful yeah so we just ask you to just be respectful understand again we're doing everything we can um working within the parameters that were just given to us um so we just ask for your patience as we navigate uh this new information um and you know like we've heard information changes daily and while I am confident that his statement tells us that nothing has changed in the bill uh we have yet to go through it with a fine tooth comb so okay um like I said we have a lot of presentations and I do want to get to them so I now turn it over to Mr King for our May and June seniors of the month congratulations thank you Dr prayer thank you Board of Education members everyone in attendance tonight it is a great pleasure of mine to introduce not only the may but also the June seniors of the month so we have a busy docket here our first senior of the month is senior L come on down here we are celebrating May's senior of the month our first senior of the month is Lori Deo here's a video on her accomplishments hi I'm Lori and I'm proud to be named May senior of the month at Lacy Township High School congratulations Lori on this well-deserved recognition of senior of the month congratulations Lori on being named Lacy Township High School student of the month some clubs I've previously been a part of include Challenger League where I participated for 2 years I've also I'm completing the OCC program here at Lacy Township High School and I've previously run the Lacy Township prom boutique last year when the prom boutique fell through even after you had collected so many gowns and spent your free time preparing I knew you would not let it go and there you were bright and early this school year insisting that this year was going to be the year for senior prom boutique the main thing I do outside of school is I work at an assisted living facility where I mainly work with people with dementia and Alzheimer's Lori was the first student that uh I was able to put a a name to the face when I first came to the high school she uh she has a great sense of humor she's very engaging and she's an outstanding role model and a fine representative of lacy Township High School my favorite memory here at Lacy Township High School was completing an internship program my sophomore year where I mainly worked with the 18 to 21 special needs students I first met you 3 years ago when you were interning in Miss bannon's 18 to 21 transitions program I was inspired by the way you interacted with students and staff I knew you were something special then and the more I got to know you these past three years the more I realized what a unique strong and heart-driven student you are now that I've completed the OCC program I'm planning on joining the national council certification for activities professionals where I can become a certified activities director and work with people with Alzheimer's and Dementia congratulations Lori to well-deserved honor good luck to you and all of your future endeavors well Lori Deo I see you you are seen and congratulations on winning senior of the month thank you for letting me be a part of your story you are an inspiration best of luck in your future endeavors [Music] all right congratulations Lori our next sen of the month is Jackie W Jackie come on down all right make sure he gets his award play your video our next May senior of the month is Jackie Wang here's a video on his accomplishments now hello my name is Jackie Wang and I'm proud to be named mace senior of the month at Lazy Township High School Jackie I can't think of a student that's more well-liked and respected by their peers everybody loves Jackie you're always there to help out and your brutal honesty is always appreciated even if it's painful you always keep it real outside of school I like to stay active particularly lately we've been playing a lot of basketball and I love to go to the gym it's Bing season right now you came into this St Academy quiet reserved and know you're leaving confident in your own abilities I got to tell you Jackie not only have you gone to the gym to increase your physical ability but your mental ability has also increased I got to tell you having you in class these last two years your Junior and Senior year you're a rock star an absolute rock star my favorite memory at lths is winning the SE perch competition for States and placing a at International competition as well as participating in the cardboard canoe project for stem which was a lot of fun designing the cardboard that took a while actually took a very very long time but we were the dragon Warriors and we had some awards and we had a lot of fun you're an outstanding person with great character one that I truly admire every single day you do the right thing regardless of the situation that's something that you could definitely take out of here and nobody can take that away from you I got to tell you I'm extremely proud of the man you are After High School I'll be attending NJIT as a part of the architectural program and I'm considering majoring in either engineering or Architects and minor is up for grab Jackie it all started four years ago as you as a freshman on camera during their Google meets and it was really hard to figure out what type of student you really were but you're awesome and you've excelled in so many areas including wooding the state robotics moving on to International with your team and I just wish you the greatest success at NGIT so congratulations Jackie Wing I'm being named senior of the month Jackie one more time congratulations on student another month go [Music] Highlanders our last senior of the month for May is our vocational senior of the month and it's Jesse L Jesse come on [Music] and our vocational senior of the month for May is Jesse lar here's his video hi I'm Jesse L and I am proud to be the vocational student of the month for May congratulations Jesse L for being named vocational senior of the month Jesse you are one of those rare talents teacher occasionally comes across if only there were more people like you the world would be a better place a lot of what I did throughout high school was football and wrestling those were my two main sports I went to training for both of those after school um I did a lot of wrestling after school my Junior and Senior year I was wrestling 5 days a week at times six days a week at time 7 days a week at time sometimes even more spent a lot of time working out um I used to be in the weight room here every day now I go to a different gym but every day after school I used to come in and I used to work out in our way room it has been my pleasure getting to know Jesse this year as a uh student taking us history to honors uh Jesse has a lot of interesting perspectives to share and is very well read in the subject of history and current events and contributes positively to our classroom environment and our discussions both academically and socially I'm going to miss having students like you in class you always have a smile on your face and your enthusiasm and work ethic always l those up around you I wish Jesse all the luck in the future and congratulations again on being uh named vocational senior of the month Jesse you are destined to do great things I wish you nothing but happiness and success and remember you still owe me a wrestling match yes conr thank you all right you guys all right at this time we're going to transition to our June seniors of the month we have two of them as well our first senior of the month for June is Madison English Madison come on dad family here so round [Music] Applause here we are with our June seniors of the month and our first senior of the month is Madison English here's a video on her accomplishments hi I'm Madison English and I'm proud to be named June's senior of the month for Lacy TP High School Madison congratulations for winning senior of the month today we are here to congratulate Madison English for student of the month I could not think of a more Diversified student athlete and involved Community member to win this Accolade all throughout my high school career I've been a part of Lacy's choir and drama club I also participated in tennis softball and P mediation as well Madison you are an amazing academic student in the leadership academy of humanities and you are just an amazing athlete having a student athlete represent us again this month is a great honor you always push it to the Limit academically your projects are great your artistic achievements are great and we couldn't be happier for you outside the school I participate in travel softball and I'm also part of the antlers volunteer group for the Elks MADD is known to help throughout our community not only through programs such as National Honor Society which outreaches throughout Lacy Township but also programs in the community that are outside of school such as antlers one of my favorite High School memories is just being a part of drama club specifically there I met so many amazing people and friends that I honestly consider family so that's honestly probably been my favorite memory of the high school you know Madison in the leadership course you were part of so many projects and I have to say just having the experience to work with you to see you present four major projects last year in front of large crowds and handle them perfectly to understand how to present projects and how to work with others around you not to mention what you're achieving in your personal time with sports and art arts and what you're doing to make your school Community better and your Capstone project it's just really a pleasure to watch and we're really going to miss you after high school I'll be continuing my education at TCNJ and possibly in 2025 going into the Air National Guard but lastly and most important since we know our community is about pride and tradition I'll let you in on a little secret Maddie English is our lazy L pleasure to work with you and to collaborate with you we will miss you good luck in your next adventure and challenge we're always here if you need us always remember Maddie that once a lion always a lion and best of luck at TC andj congratulations and our final senior of the month for June is Logan Brash Logan come on down Logan all right we'll make sure Logan gets his gets his important as well SL our next senior of the month for June is Logan Brash congratulations to all of our seniors of the month this year you've all done a great job good luck with your future endeavors hi my name is Logan Brash and I'm proud to be named June senior of the month at Lacy Township High School congratulations Logan Brash on being named senior of the month congratulations Logan Brash on being names senior of the month I'm a part of the stem Academy National Honor Society and I've played basketball all four years at least Township High School you know Logan ever since you came in as a freshman you were always confident in your own abilities one thing I really admired watching you since your freshman year growing to your senior year I got to tell you your confidence level actually increased but it's one that really fits you you're confident in the classroom on the court and out of school that level of confidence is going to take you extremely far and I can't tell you how proud I am of you of everything you've accomplished over the last four years I'd say some of my favorite memories are playing sports and making those memories with all my friends as well as I'd say all the dances as well and just any activities I got to spend my friends in high school well you are very deserving of this honor as you are an impressive student in the classroom as well as out um it is been a pleasure watching you grow and learn over the last two years uh I first met you as a junior in my US History 2 honors course and if you remember we had um like a really special group of kids like a really small group of kids and we had a lot of fun this year as an AP student uh you have really set yourself apart you have a lot of really interesting perspectives to share and it's been really lovely watching you grow into a young man I'd tell you some of the things I like to do outside of school are hanging out with family and friends going to the beach playing pickup basketball just anything that I could do stay active so you know Logan even when you were a junior last year in stem 3 we did leadership presentations and you took that with stride one of the biggest Parts I could possibly tell you is because of your confidence you were had the ability to be able to knock those presentations out every single time absolute pleasure to have class After High School I plan on attending the University of Delaware majoring in kinesiology once again congratulations to you Logan you really deserve this honor and we're very excited to see where the future takes you so congratulations Logan Brash on being named senior of the [Music] month Dr PR Board of Education members it has been a true pleasure presenting the seniors a month this year they are a small representation of the amazing students we have in this building I'm proud of each and every one of them so uh it was my pleasure to share that with you yeah right come on up we have our first job come on up come on come up here come up here grab your grab let's go we're going to work let's go all right okay come on over here all the way over come on over yep there you go all right so part of your duties is going to be to describe what's going on for for the month so we have some words here I'm going to take care of that so that'll be your job when come to next year and then you present the unsun your Awards so this month to take you off pressure off of you I'll read the descriptions and you two to present the awards to our okay all right so first news from the SGA SGA met on May 14th sophomores please check out the lths and ltms homepage for information and links for the the commencement sales and lawn signs banners and websites for juniors we had a very very successful uh junior prom on May 2 side note a great Junior Prom it was awesome dancing the entire time food it was awesome uh thank you for all the shs that help make this night so special uh the kiss of senior goodbye fundraiser will be wrapping up during the start of June and for seniors June 13th is the prom and Senior events are being worked on uh mental note to seniors you must be in school June 14th that's not in the notes those are my notes so make sure that happens next next SGA meeting will be in September the exact date and time will be posted when the school resumes in September okay now it is time to award our unsung heroes for May the youngsung hero for May 2024 is Joseph deaden Joseph your here up Joseph Round of Applause for family here well Joseph plays a lot of sports for our high school including football and the fall indoor track during the winter season and track and field during the Spring season every time Joseph walks into a room he turns every room he walks into a positive habitat Joseph is also willing to help out a friend in need whenever they me be in trouble Joseph loves to show his school spirit all around the school and loves to show off his sports team with his Cowboys and Yankees gear academically Joseph is in very good academic standing and participates in class whenever he has given the chance to congratulations to Joseph deetta for being our unsung hero for May job nice job and as with the seniors of the month we're also going to do June's unsung hero as well the freshman class at the student government Association sgaa has nominated Dylan Graham as the recipient of the youngsung her award for the month of June Dylan is Dylan here okay what we'll get Dylan his award certainly um Dylan is a person of Great Character and always puts others over himself he is never afraid to stand up for what is right and is a true leader a member of both the LA Township High School wrestling and soccer teams Dylan is a phenomenal team player he supports his teammates and respects the players of the opposing side it is for these reasons that sja selected Dylan as aent recipient of the unsung hero award for June congratulations to Dylan as well you sit back down all right thank you good job all right Dr BR that concludes my presentation for the evening all right all right well that makes me sad I don't know what we're going to do in June no seniors of the month in June but but congratulations to everybody another round of applause for our Manu and to our unsung heroes Round of Applause to both of them as well all right in May and June we are going to have both of our uh so tonight we have our staff members of the month presentations but we'll have that in June as well and like I say behind the success of every student is an amazing teacher that helped him or her get there so I'm not sure if our staff members of the month are here but is Don benna with us no not here and how about Jamie Sano no neither one okay I think it was a little confusion because our board meetings are usually on Thursday so what I'm going to do is I'm going to read um a little bit about them we're going to show their uh staff member of the month video we have that Mr liel and then we'll make sure that they get their certificates and maybe even have them join us uh in June so do B is a math technology teacher at the middle school and she was nominated by several of her colleagues who said this about her Dawn shows up every day to ensure that her students are thriving and learning motivating those who are struggling her care and concern for her students has helped keep them on track in not only her class but in other classes as well Don has single-handedly plan bring your child to workday activities at Lacy Township Middle School for the past few years she worked so hard to make sure that every child visiting the building had a magical day filled with games activities prizes and ice cream she is kind and looks out for others it is for those reasons and so many more that Don has been named May staff member of the month congratulations Don and Jamie Sano is an English teacher at the high school also nominated uh by her colleagues who said this about her Dr Sano is one of the most dedicated staff members at Lacy Township High School she is a core member of the LH Academy the lead instructional data coach for our department and a freshman English teacher she wears many hats at all times but she never Cuts corners on any of her responsibilities she models what it means to be someone of integrity and she expects the same from her students never letting them settle for mediocrity if you walk into her classroom at any time you can see her students fully engaged in the lesson of the day it is for these reasons and so many more that Dr Sano has been named May staff member of the month congratulations all right here we are at the high school getting ready to celebrate another staff member of the month let's go in the [Music] room all right we have an announcement to make each month in the district St are recognized for being amazing staff members teachers all sorts of roles I am proud to announce that this month Dr is our staff member of the mon thank you serve this thank you I nominated Dr Jamie Sano for a staff member of the month for May it was an easy choice for me um Jamie is somebody who goes above and beyond for everybody um her Integrity in the classroom that she holds um not only herself her peers and her students too is really commendable um she's always in there doing something engaging something fun motivating kids to be better than uh they were yesterday she is somebody that is a go-to in our department she has done so much for us the uh the whole school year and she really is somebody who deserves this recognition uh Jamie I'm so happy for you congratulations we're here to celebrate the staff member of the month uh we're going to surprise Miss Benta in our MTH class uh we're going to celebrate her accomplish we reconvene I need congratulations we're celebrating thisa for being named step Member of the month congratulations so two people get uh selected in the district the entire district for being staff member of the month and you're nominated by your peers and then voted on by mon congratulations oh thank you everyone thank you now I'd like to thank everyone for the nomination it was very exciting to be nominated I think I may have won something student of teacher staff member of the this thank you everyone thank you to the community for sending us you wonderful children we love them so much thank you to my partner Miss mcer she makes me better every day I hope I help also make her a little better thank you to our kids thank you to the boss we're we're roll Predator okaybye goodbye n don BNA for a lot of reasons um one reason that we nominated her was that the middle schools had a really tough year um and following you know a really traumatic loss for the school Don was an amazing example for everybody of you know just empathy and being there for each other um both for the students and for staff members and I think it really impacted a lot of people in both of those categories um but that's not the only thing that Don does she does so many more things so we celebrated bring your child to workday at the middle school and Don has over the past few years slowly begun to organize more and more activities um for the children who come to visit and it's become like an amazing day where from morning to you know afternoon there's something for these kids to do every minute of the day and it's you know some of the best days that they have so my daughter comes she had like the best day ever and wanted to come back the next day and then your daughter came too and they had so much fun and it just makes the school such a magical place so we really appreciate John all of her enthusiasm for everything always and we will make sure that um they both get their certificates all right so we have two more Lacy Nows um and I usually thank Mr merman after the fact I want to thank him ahead of time because him and his students he and his students uh do an amazing job with our Lacy na they used to be called the Lacy minute uh but we've far surpassed the minute which is it's 5 minutes okay there we go we're going to call it the Lacy 5 minute no that's why it's the Lacy all right go ahead Mr Li you all may be seated this court is now in session can you clarify part of the plea deal yes it was to truthfully testify against El Kerwin and detail all the money i' had given him on the charges of honest Services mail Alice not [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] he a [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh the drama I'm I hope I a b one bad thing never stop me we're going to work at the team right together yes [Music] [Music] than [Music] [Music] all right I think I may have to send that leasy now to the governor and the commissioner of Education all right um I don't have any other comments um but I know that before we continue with the rest of our meeting if there are any students that have homework and would like to exit stage right now would be the time to do it you can stay but yes [Music] [Music] [Music] congratulations congratulations I didn't know you were going to be on the board with us [Music] congratulations good [Music] night folks in the back we have some room up front if you want to come up front and have a seat thank you one first this one have a good [Music] night how are you okay next we're going to move on to public comment an audience member wishing to make a comment will raise his or her hand when called upon upon State their name address or affiliation and attention they make a statement if you're a student please do not uh give out your address to say you're a student okay please comments will be address to the board president comments will be made at one issue at a time comments are limited to 5 minutes no audience member May shall be recognized twice until all who have wished to comment have been recognized this portion of the meeting is for public comments only there will be no questions answered the purpose of this this meeting is to perform our business in a public everyone is intelligent public comment if there is a question for the board there's an established chain of command to follow do we have anyone for public comment go ahead I'm a sore could you do me a favor could you go to the microphone so we can hear you thank you so much can you hear me okay I'm a sophomore oh gosh at the ly sship high school I went to the Senate meeting last Thursday and testified on behalf of our staff and students thank you my mom also came with me along with Mr satell and Dr Perera thank you a lot and of course my partner in crime Logan thank you of course for eating lunch with me too it was a hard day anyways I testified on behalf of our staff and students I arrived at 9:30 a.m. but didn't testify until 5:30 p.m. although the bill was passed to get us some of the funding back that we have lost unfortunately it doesn't give us all that we need we need you the Board of Education to figure out how to fill the Gap we need our teachers sports clubs and most of all I need Monte I hope you make this happen the students of lacy Township High School deserve to have a fulfilling High School experience and deserve to live freely without having anxiety on whether or not their favorite teacher is going to be gone tomorrow or next week we are nervously waiting for your response and whether or not we will have our teachers please help us thank please help us excuse me thank you for your time and for letting me speak today and another special thanks to Dr Pereira thank you thank you [Music] good evening I'm a student of the Lacy Township I'm the student of lacy Township Schools I had the amazing opportunity to testify for Senate bill a461 in the New Jersey senate budget and Appropriations Committee on Thursday I was there from 9:30 in the morning until around 6 6:00 at night um this bill passed and it's now up to you to take the right action for those who don't know Bill a461 gives the school uh I think Senator zwicker said $1.44 two million back um unless the school board raised taxes up to 99.9% you as a board need to do the right thing if that means raise tax taxes so be it this is this school district these kids cannot afford to lose these teachers that give them an outlet make them feel welcome thank you for your time thank anyone else public comment yeah [Music] [Music] everybody John satell uh L Harbor um as with uh the two who just spoke um I also went to Trenton and I spoke on behalf of lazyy Township and it was a very nerve rcking experience standing up there well sitting in the chairs and waiting I think we could probably write a dissertation about oprra but we'll not go into that one thank god um it was very nerve-wracking experience okay so we're up there trying to figure out what we can say to the Senate to get them to understand what lazy Township is having issues with because there are other schools that do have the same issues as we have too we need to now that the bill is passed we need to look at this and use this as an experience right we've now gone through the worst part of the S2 budget the worst part of it is done what we're asking you to do is to look at look at what's given back to you do the right thing do the right thing for the children in this Township do the right thing for everybody here education is the number one priority for what you are here to do on the board seat these children need their teachers they need everything that they can get their hands on teachers and education the experience in the school don't let them falter because of a budgeting issue again now that we've gone through the worst part of this you're giving some of the money back I had the pleasure of talking to Senator Amato and I had the pleasure of talking to Senator uh zwicker who was a a sponsor of the bill and they were extremely impressed as well as I am and as well as everybody else in this room should be these two children that had the the the get up and go to go and speak at the Senate to speak at these meetings this is what the future is the children that are here and making sure that they have that voice making sure sure that they have what they need to be successful in the Lacy school district is what's needed so I'm asking you to do what's right for every single student that's in this community pass do what you need to keep every one of our teachers that we can and I am going to be a little selfish and I'm going to say Mr monu is one of those teachers that needs to remain in Lacy Township unfortunately earlier today I heard from one of our dear friends that is a teacher in forkid River School that she got the letter that she has been dreading and that hurts it hurts really bad because that's going to be a very devastating loss to forkin River School um I'm hoping that we're not going to hear more of these so please do the right thing do the right thing for your Educators do the right thing for your students thank you thanks for your coming [Music] [Music] you have three minutes left Mr R the clock started Maurice is Clock of Doom right um Michael Ryan executive officer of the LTA good morning ladies and gentlemen of the board I want to start my comments tonight by spotlighting two very special Lacy students we've all heard tonight I couldn't be more proud of giata D'Angelo and Logan Edgeworth I watch them both step up out of their comfort zones to advocate for what's right they spent the entire day on Thursday last week in trying to address senate committee in order to pass legislation to restore our funding congratulations and thank you guys super they did a terrific job and truly showcase our wonderful students here in Lacy are capable of I also want to thank Dr Pereira as well now let's turn our attention to why we were in TR last week as we all aware we're facing a $7 million deficit after already cutting 27 staff members I want to say that again already cutting 27 teachers we are still down 7 million our district had formed an S2 committee that committee comprised of excuse me some board members upper admen building Administration and staff that committee was tasked with brainstorming ideas as how we could seek out fine ways to help restore funding our LTA members took that on task and ran with it we drafted and sent letters to local and state leaders we flooded phone lines to legislate legislative offices so much so that they turned off their phones two weeks ago Thursday and Friday we met with parents and parent groups to help get the word out we met on county level with other districts to spread the word we spoke to retiree organizations we even sat down with nja President Sean Spiller Vice President Steve Bey and secretary treasur ped Robinson about our plight in Lacy then we were directed to a piece of proposed legislation that could help us out as Bill 4161 Senate Bill 3081 this bill allows the district's opportunities to go above the 2% standard tax increase in order to make up for lost funding now there are many that are against this legislation which would allow districts like ours to raise 9.9% while I completely understand their opposition to this and obviously this is not the way we wanted to have restore our funding but this is the path that lays before us this is the path that we need to take this is the path which saves our schools many people hear 9 9.9 and have sticker shock but let me break it down the average $287,000 home could see a monthly increase of around $35 per month that's about $420 annually not taking advantage of this opportunity presented before us puts us at class sizes at 40 plus pay to participate Sports and extracurricular activities loss of courtesy bsing to and from school and cuts to special ed programs we as LTA have done all we could do at this point this board constantly speaks to how students come first this this is the opportunity to prove it it's not an easy decision to make but making it allows you to lie your head on your pillow at night knowing you may have made a tough decision but it's the right one for our students I ask you now members of the board how will you vote on this when it comes time thank you thank you anyone else for public comment [Music] anyone okay public com [Music] closed board commune report like to start M Claus okay I am going to read um the April report and then I'll do this month um we' we've been meeting every other week at least um so this is going to be a little lengthy um we started April 11th uh we had a Township liaison meeting um in attendance was uh myself Dr Pereira Miss uh ornsby um Mr MTO and uh skip Peters filled in for Jack until the regular meeting started at 4:15 we just talked about the budget overview mua funds um we l a discussion on that uh for next year the pilot program we discussed that um we're looking into recouping uh 5% of the funds um and um we're just going to see how we can get that uh back to us uh from the apartments that we have in town um crossing guards we talked about that and security Dr Pera led a discussion on the need to further further help from the town Miss Laray stated she was revisit the conversation in January uh we also talked about the extra question uh for September and discussion followed then we had our regular facilities meeting um again this is all going to be repetitive because we have been meeting so often so a lot of this is already taken care of and done um we had the preschool facilities upgrade Grant award project Miss ornsby led a discussion on the ward of the facility upgrade project at milpond approval of the project will be subject uh to the resolution that was on the agenda in April and that pass um School dued brightly replacement Miss Orby led a discussion on the replacement of our facility rental and repair and maintenance ticket of the Software System uh the stem room project um the update um uh is at the time we were looking to get some money back for our countertops presently we did negotiate and uh we received money for that the fire alarm project again um the work is complete but the punch list um from the contractor we were still working on that to get some money uh returned and that's still in process actually right now um HVAC update Miss Orby leted uh a discussion on the status of the project that is start to set in uh in June spring recess update uh Miss Orby led the committee and an update for Mr Smith on all the projects that'll be completed over spring recess we then talked about Finance um hours worth of Finance so we got have seen it already um about the 2025 um budget we also talked about uh cost Savings in that conversation Revenue drivers uh we l a discussion on the need to start um Revenue driver possibilities we talked about like naming um you know the auditorium or um you know the fields and things like that to try to bring in uh Revenue we talked about advertising on the bus buses we talked about leasing our land um so you'll see that to come in the future we also had a discussion on the September ballad um and discussion followed contracts Miss Orby led a discussion about finalizing the ba and assistant superintendent contract discussions followed uh non-aligned raises Miss ornsby led a discussion about the importance of the non-aligned staff raises and the discussion to be reopened at this time all non-aligned uh we are holding all increases due to the significant layoff so just to make make everyone aware it's across the board um athletic trainer subate Dr pra um let's see Miss uh Orby led a discussion about the need to update the substitute rate for the athletic trainer um the rate is 4334 um Insurance Miss Orby led a discussion about the need for insurance archaeology service firm to research insurance coverage from 1977 to 1981 for a lawsuit that was filed against the district the services will be subject of the resolution on the April agenda security um njsg M OC ssif security Grant uh Miss Orby led a discussion to the committee that we were awarded the grant of 9,615 uh bus aate agreement Miss Orby led a discussion that the need for shared services agreement with Manchester school district for a bus ride to our school for the to the uh Regional school with one of our students this agreement was on the April agenda and Lacy Recreation uh we discussed that they could use our buses um and that was also on the agenda in April okay that was it for that one then we had another meeting April 17th again we talked about the budget at length um the $7 million deficit so at that time we were in a different place than we are today and let's see okay May 6th um it was myself um Mr conned Dr Pereira Miss Orby and uh Mr armado uh we talked about the rod grants um I just wanted a little bit of information um because it's been a while since we talked about it um Miss Orby stated that we're still waiting for final approvals approvals for the state fire alarm system I just said that um we're getting a credit um and we're still in negotiations for that I already talked about the stem project that's pretty much done um HVAC project Miss Orby Miss Orby led a discussion to the committee about the project this is expected to start June 1st and I believe it's the main office and the guidance correct main office and guidance for June 1st yes okay um prek project update Miss orens be let a updated uh committee on this updated uh status on this project um the district had a kickoff meeting May 7th this project is protected projected to start June 24th um the new prek facilities expansion Grant funds we discussed that um the committee uh we had an opportunity to apply for funding for the preschool facilities to get the district full Universe within the next 5 years okay then we had a synergistic update really the only update that we talked about in the meeting was that um we can monitor um the use um through an app um for board members and uh facilities and the committee um but we did also have an update with synergistics at our budget workshop last week um and um they were they came under what they projected but we still made a profit from reducing our utilities um to about 30,000 so the next meeting he's going to talk to us um about the plan moving forward how we can save more money uh we also talked about the referendum Dr PR L discussion on that um and roofs and AC are our priority at this time Finance again the budget talked about that um then we also received a donation for $220,000 from the rotary so we were just talking about the um you know what would be the best place to put that money to help our students um diler fishing training uh Miss Orby led a discussion on that um the quote was on the resolution for the May agenda and it's just a renewal facility rental fees uh Miss Orby led a discussion on the rental fees the committee did not want to raise the fees at this time policy finder update Miss ornsby provided an update on policy finder discussion followed uh Food Services for free and reduced lunch um we tried to come up with some ways uh to get more people to apply so um Miss Orby said she would talk to Mr England about um you know locking out the parent parents on the portal until all the applications are are complete we're just trying to make it more people apply for this program um lunch and after care prices uh Miss Orby reviewed the pricing for 2024 25 committee the updated pricing um is on this agenda okay uh stuff the bus that's from seab breze uh Miss orens be led a discussion on the seab breeze using one of our staff buses to stuff the bus again they had a great um turnout last year so we're going to approve that also we had one more meeting yesterday um it was more of what if let's hope the bill will pass so it did pass but um as of yesterday didn't so we discussed again um just some you know what would happen if it passed um we also discussed uh having another Finance meeting probably next week so we can get the ball rolling on um you know where we think the money should go and the um you know to raise it above the 2% cap and the salary increases we talked about that we're holding all increases right now and the cafeteria bid on the agenda um we reviewed the bid which is May 14th on the agenda and I think that's it I think think I think long enough thank you yeah I'd like to thank the finance committee for all the meetings they've been having they've been really working hard with this a um Miss Walker would you like to do sure culum please my minutes are a lot shorter for curriculum because we have no money so uh we have very short meetings um on April 9th uh we had a curricular meeting uh Mrs Amato Mr Bell and myself met with Mr zalinski uh we talked first about a high school course approval modeling with mathematics um Mr zalinsky discussed this course request with us um highlighting it's going to be a third-year course option for students who would not normally take Algebra 2 in their junior year of high school this course centers on many practical third year mathematical applications and Concepts one of the goals of the course is to develop skill and confidence in math that will allow these students to pursue a fourth year of math in their senior year we then had a discussion about a a novel that was brought brought to our attention um entitled the absolute truth Diary of a Part-Time Indian it was brought to our committee um by the public and um we're we're actually reading uh this book right now and then we will be discussing it at our June meeting and recommending to the full board whether we are going to approve that board to stay on our list or um take it off let's see um technology was really busy in April they did updates on Real Time they download uploaded and prepared for the SAT de tests State Testing preparations they had to get ready for so they were really busy community relations they had uh we held the hope and healing night on March 25th they had good attendance um the adult this was an adult's only program and um let's see I know I'm going to be crossing over into May here we also uh discussed the March 15th health and wellness day for the staff um we got a lot of positive feedback that was received from the staff that attended and then in may we discussed um the committee uh the LTS stem trip to the Smithsonian museum in Washington DC um the trip is funded by the stem students themselves and they chared their own private bus stem students will view various exhibits at the Smithsonian that have made historical contribution contributions to the field of study for stem the Lacy Township High School robotics Club um they're competing in the 2024 International SE perch challenge at the University of Maryland um on May 31st through 6 um June June 1st they're going to it's an overnight trip we want to wish them a lot of luck in that competition um let's see we also talked uh in our May meeting Dr Pereira joined us for the meeting and she led a discussion with Mr James Rossi from Insight Health this company would provide a means for the district to streamline Health Services for our students and their families Insight provides the district with a dashboard that allows them to connect families with the appropriate therapists or doctors as recommended by the district for the particular situations so we're going to be investigating this further and look to see if we have any grants that could possibly pay for this service and there's one on our agenda tonight and there's one on our agenda tonight thank you we also had a brief discussion of a cell phone policy for the district we uh M Dr Pereira presented an idea of ways that the student students particularly in the high school would lock up their cell phones during the day that would allow them to be used in case of an emergency the cell phone policy would be further explored by the policy committee and it was just a brief discussion just to get the ball rolling I'm already watching reactions I didn't want to look up parents are clapping his his their heads down um let's see the Cedar Creek autism program are going to the Field of Dreams on May 23rd um we talked about the es uh the summer esy program uh Cedar Creek will be used for that program this summer and uh NJ under technology njla is underway in four of five testing schools and the advanced placement testing is taking place at the high school mental health and wellness night on April 29th was a success had better attendance than last year and then Dr Pera just presented the sad news about the budget to our committee and um that was our committee because we have no money so thank you Mr conned for uh policy he met on Wednesday April 10th it was myself Claus Mr Bell Dr Carrera um discussion was brought up about bar letters um for uh performing art students um had uh uh m ento in with a conversation and discussion on that uh couple mandated policies he already voted on last meeting um was the curriculum content um couple he's just changing uh uh wording uh protected uh categories and replaces um with the uh HJ C uh codes and everything else uh guidance counseling um other mandate policy that we already voted on code of ethics for that one and then sportsmanship uh H Heating is actually quick so that was for April and then for May it was myself his Claus Mr Bell Dr Herrera and the uh cell phone uh discussion um have a probably a little bit more information um more to come yeah more to come um it could go either way um so nothing's been finalized or anything on that yet but we see in here size of it um talked uh policies for tonight uh school organization was uh updating schools and grade uh alignments everything else that way uh then p1140 educational equality this is all just wording changing um nothing uh crazier comprehensive Equity plant policy equal opportunities uh and then equal play on opportunity complaint procedure and then the Equal Employment anti-discrimination Practices changing wording in there as well and then that is all that we had thank you Yonder pouch check it out just an option y Yonder y o n d r Dr PR I have no other comments no comment board comments Mr Bell been quiet down there yes sir I'm asleep no no I do appreciate uh being part of all of this and again thank you to the Community uh for reaching out so much uh to uh Tron and uh again just looking forward obviously we as the board want to do everything for our students that we can um it is a tough year uh we have to make tough decisions and I'm thankful I'm the new man uh in town and I don't have to take the brunt of everything thank you m CLA sure um yeah we you know just being the chair for uh Finance it does put um you know it allows us to have a lot of discussions um about where the money should go and shouldn't go and uh we really want to restore everything and bring back everybody that's our intention just so you know um and you know I feel we should really take advantage of this increase that we can um and then build off it from there um I know some of the other communities don't want us to raise taxes at all um but we don't really pay that much compared to other County so I I think it's time um that we do put back in it's the only way to to keep staff right now um so you know I'm I'm fully supporting uh raising the taxes um so you know hopefully it works out for everybody we can't save everybody we know that everybody knows that but we're going to do our best and we're going to try to do what we can for the students for the clubs and the sports and try to keep them engaged especially after the year we had we we don't want to send anybody home early at like 1:30 so it's important for me to to um you know to go as far as we can with the raising taxes okay so that's where I stand Mr con me thanks uh congratulations students seniors staff members uh Logan giot thank you um to 99.9% has a taxpayer no um has the parent of kids here that you all uh educate it's a no-brainer um I don't want my kids in 40 plus uh rooms and everything else um this year it's not over we're still working hard probably have a meeting Ed a week if they uh pushed it and then we're looking into next year so this is a temporary fix um it's not the end be but it's a start 9.9 yes unfortunately so that's it m Walker um first of all I just want to welcome um Caleb and Eric for um joining our board um they're going to be great additions and congratulations and thanks to Anthony and Charlotte for spending the year with with us um it's so nice to have them not um like M Dr PR said um it used to not be mandated now it's mandated by code and um we did it long before that and it's funny how you'll bump into people who are adults now and some of the parents that sat on this board um as student representatives and you know it's fond memories for them and they you offer such good insight to the board on what's really happening in the schools as a student perspective so good luck and we look forward to having you um want to thank the community and thank you guys for going to Trenton um all of you um and Mr Ryan up there wherever you are um it is it's frightening to get up I mean first of all I'm impressed that you get up and speak to us and there's only what seven of us up here or nine but to go in front of the Senate I mean your legs must have been shaking so I really admire you and thank you for doing that for the community um also um when it comes to the taxes hey you know I'm retired I'm one of those retired people that fixed income um but do I want to see taxes raised of course not however we're here for the kids and our kids deserve a great education as Lacy offers and they also deserve to have activities and sports and whatever we can keep in place for them them because that makes those kids uh they keep focused and they stay out of trouble because they're busy doing what they're doing here and they become good citizens in the future so we need to really and I know this board is committed to really working hard to try and bring everything back as best we can so just be patient with us thanks I'd like Mr Ryan the two students of this chn here please stand for a minute Mr Ryan stand up Dr PR could you please stand how about a round of applause again for the extra mile thank you so you count five people and five people made a difference last week in the vote between today and tomorrow I want you to come November all of you should be standing come November when you vote remember who put us in this situation this board has worked pely night day weekends to try and come up with a budget that was even now we have Expo involved correct and now she has to approve before we can send it to the county and we're working tirelessly to get this to work on my election signs and I'm up in November says students always first and every decision I make in this chair and in those meetings is students always first and taxpayer is always second all right and we're making a decision students always first so I'm 100% for this to bring everybody back as possible cut the class sizes back down bring back the all the classes and the class trips and whatnot that are going through on that so yes I'm supporting this also 100 don't forget these five people stood in front of people and spoke when you go into the election booth in November you could speak also just by yourself you have to stand in front of a crowd just remember what this District went through what this town went through and why one town away they're bragging about their brand new drumbo Tron let's come look at it one town away 6 M 5 miles from here there's a town out there on their field bragging about it and why in Lakewood they're bragging about the new pickleball courts and the new tennis courts and new this and new that what is the difference between a student barnegate a student Lacy none why should we have to fight and cut and the whole nine yards for that when they're down there bragging about this and that the whole nine yards I just can't understand why the life me why we're getting picked on and what we did wrong all right and that's it thank you okay going move on to new business are you guys ready yeah good yep all right first we're going to do um meeting minutes A1 page two can I have a motion please motion Cony second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes but I need to abstain on 955 136 289 299 that's the next one did did you say one and two no no just one sorry that's okay Peach two I'm sorry A1 Peach two i u Mrs Walker um yes but I have to abstain on 41824 the regular meeting and executive session I was absent okay thank you uh Mrs Claus yes Mr Peter yes page two list of bills A2 can I have a motion please motion second roll call Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes but now I'll say on 955 136 289 299 and 283 300 thank you thank you Mrs Walker yes and I'm abstaining on Bill number 95583 thank you Mrs CLA yes and Mr Mr Peters yes I obain on OC VTS 21121 0 thank you Pages two and three transfers A3 and A4 can I have a motion please move move second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conedy yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes Pages 3 through 7 finance and Facilities A5 through [Music] a16 I'll move a second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conedy yes Mrs Walker just one second I'm voting no on number 13 and yes on the rest thank you uh Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes thank you Pages 89 tuition and transportation a17 to a21 move second can have a roll call please who Moved I'm sorry I did thank you uh Mr Bell yes Mr ConEd yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes thank you Peach 9 a22 just 22 y oh I can't motion can I second Peters yeah I can you can what's the number I'm sorry a22 okay roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conedy yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes P 9 10 a23 to a24 policies and regulations can I have a motion please motion second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs claw yes Mr Peters yes page 10 hibs 8 25 to a26 can I have a motion please move second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conedy yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes page 10 B donations move second can I have a roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes and thank you you Mrs Walker yes and thank you Mrs Claus yes Mr beers yes and thank you very much page 10 C programs SL curriculum move second that's just one and two right yes okay can I have a roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes and good luck Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes thank you page 11 through 17 certified Personnel D1 through D16 discussion I'm sorry can we have a discussion sure I'd like to table number 13 please can I have a motion please to table number 13 yes I'll make a motion second 13 and 14 oh and 14 I'm sorry 13 and 14 a motion to table number 13 or 14 please this is the recommendation of the attorney yes I'll second roll call please Mr B yes uh Mr conned abstain uh Mrs Walker I have to obain on 14 what about 13 13 um I can't find my 13 I lost it you lost a 13 it's after 12 uh 13 I Can Vote Yes uh Mrs Mrs Claus yes and Mr Peters yes flip that there it is there it [Music] is so we go back to D1 less 13 and 14 correct right should I do a D1 through 12 and then 15 through 16 sure that's easier problem can I do a motion for D1 through 12 motion I'll second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes can I have a motion for D4 13 I'm sorry 15 and 16 motion please all motion second Peters roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes Mrs Walker okay bear with me here yes but I have to abstain on D15 Mr D Mr Brandis Mr lintner Mr O'Neal and Mrs mloy and D15 Mr M medinsky thank you um Mrs CLA yes and Mr Peters yes Pages 18 18- 26 e noncertified Personnel sections E1 to E8 move second can I have roll call please Mr Bell yes uh Mr conned yes but on E7 I need to abstain on Mr rmo please thank you Mrs Walker yes Mr uh Mrs Claus yep and Mr Peters yes okay I have two walk arms um they're both for uh grants that we would like to um submit for uh one is uh fy4 cops School violence prevention program Grant up to $100,000 through the Bureau of uh justice assistance so it's asking to move the board approv submission of this grant uh motion move second Peters right Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes Mrs Walker yes uh Mrs Claus yes and Mr Peters have discussion on that sure can you read that again for me was that $100,000 for security uh it's a school violence prevention program for Grant up to $100,000 up to 100 okay yeah thank you so much yes yes okay second walk on uh it's a another cops hiring program up to $40,000 per year per school resource officer for their salary for a threeyear period And it requires a 25% local match so I'm asking that the move the move that the board approve the submission of this grant this is also through the Bureau of Justice I have a question on that yes when you say local match is that the township or the school District that's the school district okay I'll move that can I have a second please second roll call Mr Bell yes uh Mr conned yes uh Mrs Walker yes uh Mrs Claus yes and Mr Peters yes thank you would you like to back to the priv session um already that I know would you like to private session sure okay this time we're going to go back to private session to discuss some personal matters we'll be back to finish thank you so much the only way have left is adjournment after private [Music] session not yeah action will not be taken after we come out of private session what's that that's it no votes motion to return motion second second second R call no we don't need a call all in favor rookie move nice meeting all of you for all