call a meeting of the Manan abine Regional School District Board of Education to order of time is now 6:30 the New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or agreed upon in accordance with the provision of this act the badwan abine Regional School District Board of Education advertised this meeting on on April 25th 2024 in the Asbury Park Press in Star Ledger these notices were sent to the municipal Clerks of the burough of madaan and the township of abine and the Madan abine Public Library these notices were also placed on the district's website can you please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance United States Amica stand na thank you we have call Miss pus here Miss Martinez here Mr McGovern here Mr Monon here miss SC here miss barell here miss wari here Mrs goalie here miss pal here we are going to have a short executive session the public meeting will start start at 7:00 um I do have to read something be it resolved that a closed session be convened for the purpose of discussing privacy personnel and legal matters the subject matter of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides although the board cannot guarantee a the length of the executive session is estimated to be 25 minutes after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with business action will take place I have a motion in second to enter into executive session I'll second all in favor we are now in executive session we will be back for 75 can I have a motion in a second to restart the public meeting thank you okay um I wanted to make an announcement before we go forward just that the the gate between Cambridge Park and the the path I'm sorry the gate on the path between this school and the the neighborhood that Lloyd Road school is on that be closed at some point because it's very very dark back there so I don't know if anybody parked over or Road school just a heads up on that um all right thank you um can I have a motion oh no we have no minutes excuse me um can I have a motion in a second to accept the correspondence to the board is listed a [Music] motion um okay so oh the board president report that's great um well first thing first um thank you for coming um I I did want to since we have a lot of people that don't always come to to board meetings I did want to introduce us um so my name is Diana pel and I a member of the Maran aing Regional School District Board of Education also the president of this this group and I wanted to introduce the board members first because we have both board members and staff here so we have uh Mr Monon and I don't if you want to wave or something uh just Mr mon all right Mrs Scott uh Mrs filus Mr McGovern myself you know um this is scru um this is this is Martinez and Mrs wari so and the oh my God I skipped and Mrs skie sorry um and then so then I also wanted to introduce so that's that's the board elected and then there's also staff we have uh well we have our our board attorney Mr ruin and then our superintendent Mrs Perez and our business administrator Mrs case and our assistant superintendent for C or just assistant superintendent Mr Le okay going through that so uh moving on through the board's Facebook profile we post about school activities and achievements of staff and students this week is Teacher Appreciation Week and we are highlighting the teacher of the year and education support specialist of the year at each school so make sure to follow mwan abine Regional School District Boe for updates in addition I did want to highlight that the Matan High School boys track team had a big front page spread in the sports section of the Saturday's Asbury Park Press for their strong showing so far in Mammoth County this year mtan high school has a history as a track Powerhouse so this is very exciting for the boys involved as well as the high school and the district as a whole um also wanted to highlight a few upcoming events for the board um tomorrow we will be awarded certified board recognition at the monoth County School Board Association meeting in addition the New Jersey Schoolboard Association spring conference is this Friday and the meeting of the Garden State Coalition of schools is on the 22nd hopefully if you plan to attend any of these you've already signed up because I'm not sure if it's still possible in addition check your Boe important dates list for tons of District happenings including concerts Awards ceremonies and then in June the moving up ceremonies and graduations okay finally prior to really getting going with the meeting I wanted to review how this is going to work tonight with us and all of you folks who come who wish to speak so there's the Brer presentation which is made by the administration to the board and the community and that'll start in a minute um during the presentation board members may ask questions pertinent to the slide that's up and can also ask questions at the end uh once the presentation is over we will move to the agenda which includes a number of items for the board to discuss related to curriculum and instruction student services personnel and finance the next step is public comment on agenda items and additional matters all members of the public will have a chance to speak if the administration or board can answer questions we will we can talk about programming but are legally and contractually limited and what we can say in regard to spefic specific Personnel just giving you a heads up and we're very interested in your opinions so then after that we will vote to approve or disapprove only the action items that were on the agenda so that's the budget travel the rehire list the tax levy schedule it's it's a smaller list everything else that was discussed will actually be voted on at the next meeting which is the regular Action meeting that will be held on May 23rd um with that next I would ask for a report from the policy committee from its chair Miss Martinez um thank you Miss pal uh so I had asked uh well right now we are finished with the privacy policy um which really is just about um as we spoke about reporting and and in classrooms and privacy and whatnot um so that's being finished up we wanted to get through budget and then we're going to revisit um which we've been discussing a lot the hasard of scout chart and um then once we have gotten that with admin's help to help us do that um then we're going to go into facilities um there's some stuff that needs to be done there as far as renting monies um process and all that so those are the two on board for right now moving forward right thank you um then moving on can we have the superintendent report just the bud your presentation good evening uh this evening we will be presenting the next year's annual school budget for your approval this evening I would like to introduce Miss case our business administrator and also board secretary and Mr Leman our assistant superintendent of school administration so the agenda for this evening we will go through the process we're going to discuss the formula history over the last few years revenues Appropriations comparable efficiency standards cap on the general fund local tax levy tax impact and looking ahead good evening so when we take a look at the budget process we definitely follow a timeline and it starts at the beginning of the school year so in October we send out information to Administration so that they can start getting prepared for the next school year as we take a look at that at the same time we're prepping to have a meeting with doe for a mid-year review that midyear review goes over where we are and where we'll need to be for the future as we continue over those next couple of months uh we're preparing and working with the Departments while we're working with the Departments we're also reaching out to our vendors for new contracts where we'll be and going out for requests for proposals and and bids at the same time the state then has their governor's address at the end of February once the governor has his address within 48 hours we do receive our state budget allocation for us we were looking at a flat allocation so we besides what we would receive in preschool preschool is part of just one of the factors of our Cate a allocation after we've received that we're waiting for preschool to provide us their budget workbook that budget workbook also gets released within about 3 days after and we have about week turnaround so while we're trying to complete the local budget we're also completing preschool which does have an impact on where things will shift while we're trying to create that they can request changes from us that can impact the local side of things so from that point on we have about 20 days to then go ahead and provide the full tenative budget to the board once the board approves the tenative budget we were required to send that back to the Department of Education by the 20th of March this Year by the 26th and they have about a month's turnaround to tell us what changes they see that they want us to change with that once we have board approval we are able to then go ahead and advertise it in the Asbury Park Press Asbury Park Press because it is a legal ad takes about 5 to seven business days which is why we're required to change our date from the first meeting that we were going to have at the end of April until today we are required to have our budget hearing no later than May 7th and then we are required to have it luckily we'll hopefully approve it tonight but we have until May 14th and then uh we go ahead and start all over again for next year any questions so would you say that it's extremely difficult to have all of that happening kind of at the same time right trying to project what funds you're going to need while you're still waiting to find out what the state is going going to be sending or maybe cutting although not in this case yes it's a very very tight turnaround timeline for what we have to happen in a very short period even even to even for this you know the state especially county by county for them to have 53 budgets all at the same time within 30 days and then to not have it work with with the paper and trying to have everyone in I don't know if anyone takes a look at the advertised budget but when you do we are all over cuz they're just trying to finish in anywhere in the newspaper that they can um I was asking just to clarify I me the just for the benefit of everybody that the I mean um the state of New Jersey Department of Education is involved in this and then we always say we send it to the county who's that at the county the county is the Department of Education so each the Department of Education each has a county and that County takes a look at it on their behalf if there's any other questions it can move up further of the chain we wouldn't know about it we strictly work with whoever our Representatives so with that this is just a state aid history at the bottom you'll see we were just shy of 13 million in in 1920 and when we received the preschool expansion Grant uh the first year was about 1.5 million and that was incorporated into that 14.5 as we go up the chart you'll see that most of our money that we received is increased were because we were increasing our enrollment for preschool education as we get to the 23 24 school year that is the first time ever that we received uh an increase not only in preschool expansion but in special education categorically any questions on this slide before we go forward this case I just want to verify that the preschool funding is through a specific Grant correct so that it's not coming out of our normal state funding no that's just one portion of the state funding only allocated for preschool General Ed we still are required to have in our local budget for preschool disabled correct um and so the money that we received through that Grant is solely used on prechool um the program and that that number includes so the 5 million yes is in the 19th yes the rest of the budget is calculated on a weighted average uh lowest per K highest for the high school age students and that is how the remainder of the funding is calculated okay thank you and one more question for the preschool expansion funding that oh sorry sorry um that doesn't include special education which you said but also it doesn't include um transportation costs for those children to get to school correct the state determined that that is our [Music] requirement so this is the breakdown of the state aid what we highlighted in green the special ed categorical Aid security Aid and preschool Aid were increases we will be using th those increases specifically for the those categories because as we get through the budget presentation you'll see that those are the items that we had a heavy increase um in special ed security and then preschool lead that's like Miss case already mentioned I do want to point out that that Transportation Aid the 9 54,000 um that's just a portion of what we spend on Transportation the total transportation cost for this current school year was 5 million can can I ask a question about this slide I know we like to talk about like different can you hear me I'm sorry I'm sorry I'll speak louder um in the back we like to talk about the different buckets of of money right that we would receive like Transportation versus preschool versus um the special education right they can only be used for those services and is this kind of the same breakdown right Equalization which I'm sure you'll explain to us what that means can only be used for certain things versus Transportation versus right corre these are the different buckets of money so these are the revenue sources that the state determines by weighted average what we are equivalent to as per the state so Equalization is the money from local fair share that we receive that has been increased because of S2 so other other districts that that have lost money due to the fact that they have to tax their towns higher we've received money in that area just not in this particular year in this particular Year we're showing growth in special ed categorical again it's all based off a weighted category based off a grade level based off of need and then the same thing for security and then preschool Aid is a completely different whole entire budgetary process they have their own enrollment everything because that's outside of the other categories that you're seeing listed thank you Cas just to um further clarify um if we just say we had extra money in one of these categories could we use that in another category yes and the reason why is because if you see transportation is is this is the revenue portion of it right so Transportation you've only received shy of a million dollars but you are spending 5 million so you have to come up with revenue from another area to cover those additional [Music] expenditures so it will also be available on the website as well tonight so um to answer your question to miss um Miss Fus that with the security Aid we could use the funding um in another category however we as a as an admin and also with the board um we committed to increasing and utilizing that those funds for specifically security okay non-discretionary versus discretionary so what we'll do is we'll Define and we'll we'll go through some of the bullets so nondiscretionary means uh it's mandated we don't have a choice so for example non-discretionary spending would be on transportation out of District tuition utilities legal costs auditing fees lease payments buildings and grounds operating expenses tuition reimbursement Aiden Lou just for clarification for the board in terms of Aiden Lou it's a fixed cost set by the state and changes annually to transport nonpublic students that gets divided into two equal payments to families we paid 114 so 114 114 pupils in the first payment and in June we'll pay 184 184 184 PS which by the way marks are highest ever keep in mind we don't transport any nonpublic students so that's the non-discretionary side the discretionary side which means we do have some choice but there's limitations so discretionary spending would be up things like this curriculum and instruction HR human resources personnel now Athletics extracurricular Information Technology Program resources school supply budgets professional development Professional Services and security those be considered discretionary um just to clarification just so the public knows so when we talk about Aid and Lou so that's for community members who choose to send their children to private schools so um if you choose to send your child to St John vien and it's over the 2 and2 miles we have to pay that parent what it would have cost to take a bus correct so you're saying that we had 114 community members first half of the year and another 184 community members that we had to pay aen L out to which is roughly uh just shy of $1,200 this year it's a per pupil cost so it's not actually the cost that it takes us to transport it's whatever the state determines the cost will be paid roughly three 400 300 families $1,200 well the $1,200 payment is broken up into two payments so it would be $600 and so we paid $114 pupils $600 in the first part of the year and then there is the eligibility for a family to provide us the data in the second half of the year and with that we've had an increase of up to 184 that are eligible at the current time Goa because I don't know that most community members MERS are aware that we actually pay families what that what it would have cost of us their children correct yeah forgive me I just picked up my phone to do the math it's a a little over $220,000 yes um can we take I'm sorry we can keep going with the slide but can we take the quickest break so that folks that are at the door could maybe come around there's a lot of room over here if you're concerned you can't see the screen it would be a lot to move all of this but but please like here we'll just take a moment then maybe people want to move over so they can see there's even open chairs over there thanks can I question sure yeah yeah yeah come over here love here we got kids over here yeah make room this take take advantage of the ample room [Music] please chair [Music] [Music] pleas the folks at the door especially come on in you can see are there people at the hallway they should come in we got [Music] room all right okay well thank you thank you everybody it seems like folks are generally where they want to be thank you okay um I'll go back to the questions that do other board members have questions about this I have a question I just wanted to also say that um the board approves tens of millions of dollars I think it's like 90 something million dollars right so we just want to make sure that we can also hear and pay attention to our questions so I appreciate um the patience so I have a question about the auditing so we pay for auditing every year yes so so an outside can you explain a little bit about how that works sure so there's a a request for proposal process about uh every 3 to S years and they come in annually to audit the audit the whole entire district from what happened from the prior Year from a budgetary perspective uh they come in they review payroll they review purchase orders they review contracts they review anything we go out for a competitive bidding request for proposal and then uh the more you get right the more they take so we have had um every single year ours company right now is Supply including is there anything else so can can you just go over the difference between the last several years of what they call a finding which is what the auditing firm determines is an issue or a concern that has to be addressed sure uh so when I came aboard there was a corrective action plan for seven audit findings uh that means you have from about the time of March until June to try to correct those findings because that is when audit comes out and kind of gives a presentation to the board to let them know what has happened and and things for you to look out for uh some of those things that we needed to correct were General ledgers uh paying payroll on time paying the state on time for those payroll taxes uh just having more of an accurate timely basis and as of this last year we had one audit finding that last finding is right now we have uh too much money in the lunch account and that lunch account balance cannot be used for the negative lunch balance that we have throughout the district it has to be used uh for the sole purpose of growing the program so that's typically replacing ovens stoves uh the way a servery line works so we will look into seeing what we can do about the schools that need assistance with that and that would be the last one currently we went from them finding up to seven things wrong that were actually detrimental to the budget to having one thing and it's it would happened to be a surplus in one area yes and we had a surplus uh due to when when the pandemic was here everything being free and so not just reduced but free as well and so uh not having to provide the free and reduced Federal was giving us an absorbent amount of money as a reimbursement uh they are no longer doing so and we have had that excess from that point on we also applied for a as many local grants as we possibly could and we were awarded those as well helping us with a profit margin uh so we'll continue to look for those grant opportunities however right now that is why there is an excess Surplus any question did you say that we have a negative lunch balance yes what is that can you clarify that please sure so that's whenever um a student has a negative balance on their account uh typically it's due that they're getting lunch and there's no money on the account and they do not they are not yet um categorized as free and reduced if you haven't fill out your free and reduced lunch app you can do so at any time during the school year uh we currently that app has been going on through pay schools for the last 2 years next year we'll be pushing it to Genesis since there's a little bit more familiarity with that um we did move that because there were no way for parents to decide what they wanted or didn't want without really going uh crazy with our old student information system real time so we switched our student information system as well as we switched to pay schools so that parents had the flexibility to say what they do want what they don't want please use that app because it will let you know if there is a negative status you can send your students in with cash or with a check or you can go online there is an app so you can see everything that they're purchasing but right now yes that negative lunch balance is in excess of over $100,000 thank you is there any way to collect that and can you describe like are these maybe families that can't pay the balance or is there a way to know there is a way to know uh currently the way the policy reads is that money does not nothing happens until they're in the 12th grade so we need to take a look at changing that but what we're trying to do is we work with the principals and the guidance counselors so that if we see anything they're getting some of those so that we can reach out to the families uh as well as we've been pushing negative lunch balances through any of the email accounts that we have to try to just Rectify those issues some now are students that have graduated and are no longer here and we can't send collections or anything for that no so we're just going to correct we will be responsible for that balance and then we obviously we can't not give a student lunch so even if they're a negative balance we feed correct so if a student is in a negative lunch bounds they are required to receive Food however they are not uh allowed or eligible to purchase all card snacks just back to the uh my mouth's picking in this microphone anyway okay the uh a look that 112 is that inclusive or exclusive for the 184 in exclusive thank so as we take a look at where our budget was every year the department of education does a taxpayers education spending guide look back at the prior school year so that for us that would be the 2223 school year in that year our budgetary cost per pupil was just shy of 16,000 the state average for our enrollment of 3500 plus students being a K to 12 was 19,000 we were the sixth lowest out of 95 districts so with that that top number when you look at the administrative cost the operations of Maintenance and the extracurricular those costs are encapsulated in that 16,000 so admin rate of cost per pupil was just shy of 1,900 per student and we have a regional maximum permitted limit of 40 2400 with that if we had sent a budget to the county and it was over that amount they would automatically say it's a fatal error and send it back to us to rectify the issue so with that the state median for that 2223 calendar year was about 2100 so we were about 300 under making us the 47th lowest out of 95 light districts as we go further through this one of ours is Operation and maintenance cost per pupil which is just shy of 1,500 our state average is 2,300 we are the fifth lowest out of 95 these are some of the first things that when I got here I looked at and we have been doing a good job with this however it's also one of the areas when a budget is in crisis that you go to you go first to operations and maintenance and technology and as we look at this number here we already know that we've been in that area and taken some of that funding in in order to take care of other areas of the budget as we go into the extracurricular cost per pupil we pay a little over $400 our state average is for 22 23 was $354 so we're almost $100 over making us the 81st highest out of 95 and as we go through a little bit more detail you'll know that this is not one of the areas that has a decrease any questions I can answer administrative cost can you tell us exactly what that is sure so administrative cost for a district equals out the the superintendent office the business the business administrator's office principals directors supervisors throughout the district as well as technology so in this case what I'm hearing you hear you saying is that the extracurricular cost for pupil we do spend a good deal and we're not looking to cut that for next year thank you um Miss case just a few questions I just want to make sure I understand so when we say that the state average is 19,000 per child we're only spending 159 which means that we are are spending Less on our kids but not necessarily in a in a negative way so that that number is not just just talk to that cuz sometimes that that number could look like sure so negative so what happens with a local tax levy is that we can only go up 2% of a flat rate so our flat rate may have been less less than our other enrollment factors that are like us um so they might have the ability to spend more money where we have a different ability to do so however for this it tells me that we're being effective with how we're spending our money we just need additional Revenue if we wanted to increase that factor thank you so I just want to verify that um it's important because we're spending the money wisely or at least stretching it as best we can correct correct what that means thank you a question so back to the administrative cost per pupil um the way I'm looking at it is that we're spending 1,872 um but the we could spend up to 244 correct so we are spending significantly under that and then out of the state we are 47 so we're right in the middle yes the whole thing correct all right so taking a look at a per pupil way that we will spend the money in the new school year for the 2425 school year over about 61% will go right into the classroom so that classroom coverage covers salaries benefits textbook as well as subscriptions as we move into Support Services that's the purple that's about 16% that will take care of guidance attendance special services team as well as subscriptions and other like materials that go with it administrative cost is about 10% and we just went over that again it's the superintendent's office the business administrator's office as well as principes directors supervisors and technology that little small one that's yellow that's our legal cost so that's about 2% um we don't often see that number so low so we are very thankful for operations and maintenance that's just shy of 10 and again salaries supplies subscriptions that we need and then extracurricular takes just shy of 3% compared to the other L slot is there anything I can answer about that um just to confirm so the special education costs are reflected in the support services correct correct they're pulling so that that's our second highest spending Falls within there miss case can you just explain what's in in the legal a little tiny section there what would be considered in negotiations uh special services litigation and then anything employment related um the reason I asked that is because when Mrs PR was hired nine years ago um we did have quite a bit of litigation outstanding and since Miss pres has been here that is the number that we're at now so um we thank her for that and and at that point she was assistant superintendent of special services but that was our area so we did do away with a ton of litigation and knock on wood we haven't had any sense so just wanted to know what that was was in that legal part thank you any other questions so we just wanted to take a look at where we are currently this year and that's the red line and then where we are next year so we actually are putting more dollars into classroom instruction next year we are just shy of putting some support services money administrative we will get into further in another slide there is a reduction legal costs we are about the same operations and maintenance about the same and the same for extracurricular we are the same and equipment we are the same so they both remain so what does that mean when we look at the overall budget and where do our Appropriations or our expenditures go they go into these related categories so program cost was 32.2 and that'll move up to 32.5 for a change of 1.14 % employee benefits we have seen double digits across the state uh we are not alone in this Factor we do go out to make sure that we are getting the best price possible and we will continue to do so with keeping the benefits equal to or better than what we currently have so that did have a huge significant increase from 15.4 to 17 uh so a 10.99 the state average was over 15 and prescription alone was 20 to 35% increase so that's a net cost out for maintenance and operations we do have a slight decrease transportation we do have an increase as we will be needing to transport more students next year administrative cost you have a significant decrease of 12% and we'll get into further details about that later tuition we do have an increase that is for out of District placement tuition where we pay either a public or a private placement and that went up about 7% and then Capital outlay does have a significant decrease as we did finish Renovations on pbridge Park case can I ask so as far as the benefits are concerned that is money out of the employer and the employees pocket or just the employer just the employer okay so the in increase in healthcare is on our end to pay and then do they see an increase on their end or it just depends on the situation depends on the employ okay thank you I don't know if I can ask you this might put you on the spot do you think that the healthc care benefit increase was one of the most significant factors of why certain decisions had to be made within the budget absolutely absolutely the um the school employee health fund it has uh less than about 40% of the districts involved in it and it is driving costs um again we do go out to bid so that we can get the best price um but every single District throughout the state has seen significant increases we actually already received an email from the Department of Treasury letting us note that we will see double digits for the next year and that is unusual for them to send us something so are out but they are seeing uh quite a significant increase uh some of them like I said were in prescription one of them being 190% increase in injectable medicine um so they are giving us some details because they did take money out of that pot for the state to kind of make it they don't have additional funding because they took it one time and they don't have anything to replenish it and we do feel those increases I had a question in this case uh I see as as far as tuition goes for out of District um and if you can't answer this now I completely understand uh I know that there were some mention that staff are allowed to have their students if they're not in our town attend our schools for free I was curious how many people that is is that making any issue for us that would have nothing to do with this uh this is only for out of District placements any staff that are coming in it is part of our policy it is part of a contract and there is no tuition cost gotcha do you think that that's causing any dream for us on our expenditures the added District placements or the staff better okay thank you I I had a quick question about added District placement this is probably more for the benefit of the audience um but can you quickly explain what that means like can like what's an added District placement we're going to touch upon it right on the next slide perfect EXC excellent question anything else before we move on great so um we saw an increase with added District placements and that's what we're going to discuss a little bit here we did have an increase in add of District placements projected for the next calendar year it's at plus 10 um and that is due to whether a student is moving in and they were already placed in an out of District placement we need to continue that placement review with the team and determine if it's an appropriate placement we also have students that um we are not able to meet their needs in District and sometimes the child study team alongside the rest of the the team which includes their teachers where we have to determine if that student needs to be placed at a district in accordance with their IE IEP over the last two years with special education we've added additional programs to try and reduce that cost and keep students in so while we have an increase with students going out we also have a number of students in District which requires us to add additional programs so over the last two years we added an Autism program a multiply disabled program in our K to 5 buildings our 6 through 8 we um added an ER program which I included the AC the Acron it's emotional regulation impairment at the middle school and at the high school if we have an increase in students that require special education you're also going to have an increase with and projected enrollment for related Services which include speech occupational therapy physical therapy or nursing in addition to that um the district over the last 7 to8 years we have been partnering with effective School Solutions while it is a um program that we would like to continue and we're projected to continue for next year at about $480,000 they serve 36 students between the Middle School and the high school providing intensive Clinical Services for the student and also for the families we are able to retain those students in District because those students could potentially be out of District students and another placement that has Clinical Services that is at a savings of 3.7 million so while we spend the money internally you're actually actually sa you see a savings an average cost I think um for you to know like with added District placements you've seen it on the agenda they can range anywhere from $70,000 to $120,000 with the transportation costs per student so that's why you see the increase of the 7% so the the 120,000 we talking about that's per student that we would be paying yes okay for the additional so while 10 out of District students does not sound like a lot it's we're looking at a million dollars essentially yes so bottom line keep the students inct saves US money in the long run to keep the students in District so out of district is significantly higher than services in District so we so on average so if we have we have close to 600 a little over 600 students that require special education and related Services out of that 600 we have maybe 64 projected for next year so we're at a good number in comparison to the number of students that we actually serve in our you we have 600 currently 64 meaning extra so would be at 664 or that 64 is representative of the 600 the 64 is represented so what we what the team does is that they are working with the directors and the principles in terms of strengthening the programs because the more programs that we create then we're able to retain our students keep them here and the goal is always for them to be involved in their natural learning environment their home schools and in the community so we really we really are reluctant unless we need to um to send a student out but the team does a great job I'm proud um in terms of making sure that they are staying here in their home so we mentioned that there was an increase in school safety um Aid so we continue to collaborate and we have ongoing discussions with both aine Township and mine burough um while the district increased the funds for school security we potentially will be using that that funding for technology cameras potential class three officers and one SRO so we currently have one SRO um the goal Remains the Same that we have visibility um in our building um throughout the district for all seven buildings so our NE upcoming meeting with the towns are scheduled um this week on [Music] made so talk about the budget implications for personnel recognize that nearly 85% of the District budget is directly related to cost of salaries and benefits the budget president ation it's driven by numbers and financial data however Staffing decisions are also considered on a very human level we know that we're making decisions for students but we're also making decisions on people's livelihoods and their careers uh making it very personal for us this does not get lost on us when we make these difficult decisions we'll take a look at some of the numbers that are listed on the slide so the first one in terms of reduction of staff from the next school year we have District administration with 2.5 listed so this means that we're going down 2 and a half positions um this would be one supervisor position the de of students and then moving you know in terms of Athletics from an athletic director to an athletic supervisor that salary savings counts5 teachers there were 11 certificated teaching staff uh positions that were reduced certificated support staff that's one position just for definition and Clarity purposes a certificated support staff person could be someone who serves in child study uh like a school psychologist or learning consultant could also be a school counselor they fit into that category clerical there's four that would be uh building secretaries which would represent secretaries from different locations across the District central office so that's that the board office central office um two non-bargaining clerical positions um through reservations and attrition there's Savings in that location uh the ible uh Service delivery model where there's a change let me describe what that means a little bit for the board so over the previous two school years so this will be the 2122 and the 22 23 school years we've made organizational changes in favor of the budget this included reducing Administration leadership positions of an assistant superintendent a high school assistant principal an early childhood assistant principal and director of assessment and data so those positions have been reduced in the previous two years in addition last year we moved staff positions out of Esser into the local budget and reduced a tier 2 counselor and a social worker that it had been funded specifically through Esser so specifically that the service delivery model student interventions is what we're talking about in that particular bullet so to be clear to to the board student interventions are still taking place this is going to look in a different format for next school year here and we will continue to address learning gaps through a multi-tier system of supports and these support systems look different based on the needs of students that are in place to maintain help for students rather than individual teachers who may be collectively known as interventionists working with selected students in the class or in a separate learning environment support will now impact more students within the instructional classroom setting what this is going to look like it may look like small groups working on targeted skills with one or more teachers you may see an in-class tutorial there'll be more time reviewing Concepts and content with the group we're also working on a plan to see if there's an opportunity to provide help before or after school for students the takeaway is that interventions will continue in terms of classroom size so obviously the next logical question next appropriate concern would be is class siiz being affected by any of the listed bullets above um so there's minimal change in overall numbers due to reduction and sta however family gring into the district is something that we do continue to monitor when it comes to numbers and class size it's important to share with the board um taking all the information that we have stated in this slide and consideration that we will be appropriately staffed for the fall so we will be staffed we have filled vacancies from retirements and resignations internally many staff members who asked for changes in assignments who to be transfer the location have been honor honored as much as possible taking all those things into consideration it's a lot to account for in a single slide there's a lot of information there so we'll we'll pause so the board can process for a moment uh ask any questions that that you may have um I have a I have a question about the uh the interventions so um if if if I was one of my child children was receiving let's say uh getting pull out you my my kids are Lloyd and Ms and and aren't currently but if if they were and they were getting PAB before what would their experience be like in the upcoming so under this model so we we first we started looking at student data um throughout the school year so whether it's done through schoolwide assessments grade level assessments loal assessments within the classroom we look at data we continue to monitor where students progress is but in terms specifically what is it going to look on in terms of teachers those interventions will take place in the classroom so there may be an additional teacher coming into the classroom helping out teaching staff working with those students and really focusing on what skills are needed for students is there a special time of day for this so in our elementary buildings we're looking for a dedicated period probably 30 minutes where that instruction would happen so students continue to have math language arts literacy and then a period built into the day where that support would be allotted specifically to work on skills so it's currently happening we have a pilot program going on in one of our schools this year we are looking at some of the successes and some of the things that we need to grow with in that particular opportunity and then ruling it out through our three K3 buildings and then at l Road so yes there's going to be dedicated time for that program so you're saying we're already doing that at one of our schools yes currently happening yes and so that that model is working again there are things that we need to address in terms of making it better but there are definitely some strengths with it and we anticipate as we look at numbers CU this is a lot driven by data that we're going to see some of the successes coming out last SCH and is I mean I don't know if one of if the school that's doing this is at a k through three yes so a third of our students are getting this already yes so Ravine Drive school has been buil yes okay well we'll hear from the audience later Mr leedman um I have a question question about you brought up the SR funding in this um slid so there's been some questions about using that funding while we had it and maybe it was to delay up in four teachers in previous years that we were able to delay can you speak to the funds maybe how they were used not all of it obviously was used for salaries but perhaps some of it was and then also um is this unique to our school district in terms of how those funds happen to be used and you know at what time when they were dispersed to us how they were used sure so a majority of the funds were spent on one-time costs that would be things like curriculum and instruction materials um items that we would need to use to reopen schools in uh the fall of 2020 2021 so those onetime purchases were encumbered within s funds there were i' mentioned two positions that we used s funds for CU those were specifically ocated for example a tier 2 counselor that was a specific requirement within Esser to have additional school counselor to welcome students back to school so we knew that there was a need we hired for that need we anticipated that need not moving into the local budget and so that position came out of it uh in terms of how other school district so other school districts were afforded the same opportunities um some school districts I'm sure did something similar to us where it was onetime purchases other districts perhaps did not and decided to uh roll that money in to Staffing which was a a reasonable short-term solution but long-term implications they find themselves in a position now making difficult choices Mr Leman I just want to go back to the uh pull in push out so this is not unique to us the state is changing what this looks like is that correct or no no that this is is a local decision so this is a district decision while there are districts neighboring districts in the county and in other counties who are looking at similar models it's not a decision that's mandated from the state and pushed down to the district and what would be the reason um that we would decide to change from push in pull out obviously scores are always on our radar reading math so what would be the reason for the change how do we address student need how do we do better for students so we're constantly and that's not just with interventions that's with all programs and services that we do across the district how do we service students better in a more effective Manner and so as a leadership team as working with principles and directors we're always asking those questions how do we do better and so when we look at plans of how do we move forward year to year we look at what we can do best with what we have and so data is a a part of it that helps Drive decisions but when we talk about testing scores and I mentioned this to the board in October we had done our uh required testing presentation well it's important and we're told it's important that's not the end all be all thank you appro go on sorry um approximately how long like I know since I've been here um push in and pull out is been around a long time correct that type of model not necessarily new um I know I've been here at least 12 years we've been doing it my kids came through um moving forward are can we go over maybe at least on a board level and then of course I know staff will have their own um a little bit of a breakdown of what that program really would look like um more detailed I know we've asked a lot of questions and expains just wanting to make sure that all of our bases are covered kids are covered um and hoping that a year into the school year that we get some data back that we see some positive results from switching up this programming um so yeah the more information we could get on that that would be awesome as far as how this would be delivered yes so we can share more with the board and we we know the the vision and expectations of the board is to do what's best for our students and so as we share more information with the board gives us uh feedback what the programs look like we can definitely move forward with that direction yes thank you and my question comment was following up on Miss Martinez is wasn't there some mention about best practices and perhaps pull out even though we're used to it and it's been used for so long that it's not necessarily the best practice to support our students is that so or no yeah so there there are mod model that we we currently work that do work for students for select groups of students and then there are models where we've been doing it for a while and we're not seeing the growth that we would hope to see and so that's why we look to see what other opportunities are available working with our staff through our students so yes there there are B practices that work in multiple models so finding what's best for our kids is really what we're charged with and the thing that concerns me is how do we make sure we're doing what's best without jeopardizing the education of the students who are perhaps students that it's tried on in the meantime is there a backup that we're trying new things while keeping some of the old to make sure our students are taking care of there is so it's finally that middle ground where we're showing Pro proving programs and opportunities for kids to get them to the point where they're showing growth um when we have a model that has success and we can replicate it um and that's what we attemp to do so but we're constantly so in our business we're constantly reflecting and seeing how we can grow and having those conversations with building leadership is crucial as well um they're in the building they're working with teachers and seeing what success looks like so their feedback is equally important as well which we can then share with the board can you connect the docs a little bit on U multier System of reports to the sorry can you connect the dots a little bit on multi-tiered systems of support and the pushin pull out intervention model what that actually looks like like in the classroom or outside of the classroom so I'll give an overview um so there's a three tiered system where tier one intervention would be what's happening in your regular classroom so your classroom teacher working with students delivering content identifying when there's a need uh so maybe it's a missed a skill they have to review a concept so that tier one's happening within the classroom tier two so moving up a level where there's we identif identif more needs of students based on specific skills where you can start to have that pushin model or pull out model which currently exists pushing in more so next year working with smaller groups for tier two and then tier three becomes more intensive we're recognizing the boots become smaller the gaps may be wider and we're trying to identify what works best for kids in terms of what's the next logical intervention to I to to address the issue and then bring them back into that model where they're going back down into the lower level lower tiers in order to effectively demonstrate they they got the concept they got the skills can I just come back to so the eser funding just because there was a lot of um questions out there on social media on the Esser funding how that funding was spent I know you just went over it but just for the public to better understand as you mentioned a lot of it was onetime cost and I know there's all spread sheet that leads everything out um but essentially what those costs were cuz we said it was very little staff two staff members you said I think right in addition to a supervisor as well yeah um what it was spent on is Internet services hotspots Chrome books PPE cleaning supplies um health screening summer programming and summer programming was also um you know salaries academic programs supplies before and after tutorial program academic educational programs um web- based as well as um Technology based um to help us ining lost um mental health um programs PD extra staff um then we also did PD and offered resources to our staff to accelerate um The Learning after the loss um we also did PD over the summer for staff parent education programs and then as we mentioned as I mentioned the extra mental and physical health programs we offered so there was a lot of one-time cost so because I know there's a lot out there that it was spent on staff it was very little staff and was correct majority on onetime costs out of need in order to bring kids back in the 2020 yes that's that's correct Mr Lan am I correct in saying um off of a net so in N uh 2020 into 2021 coming back into the buildings you know it was we needed a lot and quick and um moving forward have we 21 22 23 now we're in 24 we have backed away a little bit from the services that were obviously heavier in the beginning backing away a little bit as needs maybe are a little bit less for the children that's correct that's a good way to put it there was a lot that we needed did immediately and I would add to that that there was a lot of unknowns as well so tried to speculate what would happen not only to welcome students back but to see how the rest of the year would look and then moving into the following school year now that we can look back we have obviously we have some clarity looking back but yes you're right in the moment it was what can we do now in order to start to move forward so where do our Revenue sources then come from our Revenue sources the most is 67% that comes from local tax levy that is from both towns the second is the state aid the state aid portion is what we described before also including the preschool expansion money for about 24% Debt Service is just shy of 3% and that is from past referendums that went out to bond so this pays for the bond payments as well as the principal on those then we have grants that we've received those are mostly federal grants like Title One title two title three title 4 then we have extraordinary Aid the state allots us the ability to go out in May for a reimbursable amount based on our extraordinary students so that is in anything that is in excess of 40,000 for public the under an IEP and then anything for a private over 55,000 we then receive that money back in the next school year around the September October it is Pennies on the dollar uh the state typically spends about $600 million on this and over 600 districts can go for these same funding uh so the dis the state has not increased this funding so we have seen while our costs have gone up we have seen a increase of what we received back uh the rest of it is miscellanous cost uh due to shared services those shared services are tuition in transportation joint share items like that the second one underneath that is Medicaid reimbursement also known as semi that is a requirement by federal government for us to participate because we have over 40 students eligible for Medicaid due to that they require they give us whatever the dollar amount is that they decide and we can only go down 90 up to 90% of that we just ask that anybody who is eligible for a parental or Guardian sign off for us to do so because that would increase funding throughout the district from the federal government as it is a reimbursement for health related expenses and then any questions on that um I did have one cuz I curious about the um the grants again hopefully I'm not putting you on the spot but on Title One um I mean that's all federal money so title one I'm under the impression it's gone down title one has gone down slightly um since the pandemic free and reduced lunch apps have decreased if we can see an increase in free and reduced lunch apps uh we definitely know that we have the numbers we're just not receiving the that back and when we get that back that determines how many buildings are eligible for funding and that funding can be used for intervention type Services throughout the district so right now that funding has followed the old frame and reduced launch apps okay so what I remember we were talking just us and it was that that that so it used to be clip wood and Lloyd and now it's CPW and MD ma right and then soon to be high school so everybody needs to fill out that form yes please please to bring in federal money Miss case can you just explain very quickly and easily what title one really is what what does that mean title one is a supplemental for whatever the federal government determines a poverty level so that's why they use the preum reduced on that basis and one other piece to the free and reduce which we've talked about um just educating the people that it's not just lunch that there's a lot lot of really good benefits that go along with that so filling out the form will not only help them with lunches but in a lot of things in school and without or out of out of and in right like sat plus the other thing that it assists with is uh the district can receive e- rate from federal and the way we received that is based off of that level so the higher it is the more we're eligible to receive back as a reimbursement I know I know we it has to be called free and reduced lunch but it it you know it's it's confusing cuz it's not just lunch people think well I can buy lunch it's not a big deal but it really is tied to so much um so making that aware for the public pushing that out like we had mentioned is important knowledge to have do you happen to know the threshold for what constitutes a I will I will add it to the website there is a survey that's going on right now uh that is available able on our website please feel free to fill it out it is for the federal PBT card over summer and it is from K to 12 so that also can give us a good indication of where we go in the future and do we have any plans in place to really do Outreach to get the community to apply for this because I feel like it's a really important source of Revenue that maybe we probably are entitled to but we're not necessarily we don't have the documentation for it so next year that's where we're going to move the apps to Genesis to hope that while everybody's more acquainted with that for filling out their other information that this would be helpful and at any time if you need a paper copy or anything else they can be found in the buildings or the business office or on the website but also working with extracurricular activities in addition to that working with um individuals that are responsible for extracurricular activities so for example the coaches um you know if it's a club but getting others involved so that they can complete the application with them because they kids the kids will get their parents to complete it more than we would so I guess the moral of that story is if we want more Federal funding in our district we need people to fill out that free and reduced lunch form um because oh yeah that's right we talked about this and I wanted to bring it up that Mrs case has sworn that even if every single family in the district turned it in that her office will process every single one of those applications because I mean we we may or may not be eligible but we should all fill in because then we you schools like lloy brog would actually probably be designated as title one again and have a lot more resources so there is the healthcare impact that we spoke about prior that was that 17 million that goes the almost 11% increased for next year this is a state mandate one of the state mandates uh was that chapter 44 was instilled a few years ago and what used to happen is there was a grandfather policy that was called chapter 78 and why is this important it's important because every time everybody talks about someone retiring in we talk about breakage we used to have breakage but with this model there isn't any longer and here's why so if you take someone who used to contribute 15,000 to their healthare because it was based off of their premium and their salary and then they're typically when the retiree leaves it's a couple not a family plan so then now the new person that's being on boarded can potentially have a smaller salary but maybe maybe we be coming in at a family rate well that employee contribution now went to a singled digit source and it could potentially be say $5,000 so now you're looking at a $10,000 differential just right there and what happens in the future is that raises are typically between 3 and 4% but Health Care has been double digits so when Healthcare Rises faster than salary does that means the district is taking on on almost that full 11% increase and this is due to chapter 44 that is State mandated and so the responsibility is just shifting from the employee to the employer and it's just creating a higher financial burden throughout the budget any questions on this I had asked you earlier is this mandated or do we have a choice and and you already answered that so thank you you're welcome all right so let's get into the tax impact by the town so this gives us a little indicator of where we were in the 2223 school year and where we're going into the 2425 school year Mammoth County decided to be part of a pilot program in 2013 where every property in Mammoth county is assessed on an annual basis due to that assessment last year on an average home value in Matan we were about 413,000 this year we're about 493 so about an $80,000 increase per home in that middle column you'll see the school tax rate it has decreased over the last 3 years however when you take that tax rate and divide your home by $100 and then multiply by that factor that means on an average home value we went up $18 a month in Matan or $216 a year annually now while you do see this increase we are still only eligible for 2% on the flat tax rate from the prior year as we move into aine same concept we went about a 55 ,000 increase on the average home value so you do see the school tax rate decreasing however since home value is increasing that's an increase of about $13 per month or $160 annually Miss case I did want to comment or question on this because I'm not sure if I'm reading this right so the taxes go up in the community um um meaning and I'm just speaking generic a Manan our taxes as a we're all homeowners we well we all pay taxes somewhere but um so our home assessments went up which then means that you're tax more on that amount correct yes so the the town is taking in more taxes due to my assessment going higher but am I from this slide that what we receive does not increase is that right we can only go up to 2% so if the it was a $1,000 and we have 2% we can only go up $20 for the whole school year and then that gets divided by the towns based off of enrollment correct which we know enrollment is obviously going up so there was a lot of confusion or conversation about that um over social media and I just want to make sure I understood cuz there were so many different ways to look at it so our houses go up our taxes go up the money goes to Madan aine so that money is taken in by the town yes but we're not allowed to get more of that the school district is Notre well I say we mean the school district is flat meing we 2% okay which is concerning due to enrollment and so bringing in more but we're staying stagnant at two correct more students does not mean more money to the schools unless there's a significant enrollment and then it's a waiver right we are not at that Cas I have a question about how do the school district actually receive the monies like what what's the procedure for the school district is eligible to ask for up to 20% upfront uh most school districts do not nor do we uh we ask for the general fund side so the operating cost of the district to be divided for 12 payments right one payment per month and then for The Debt Service portion which is what we talked about for the referendums that we're paying off the bond right so that principal the interest payment we're asking for that 30 days before it's due and so I I noticed too on today's agenda we have a payment schedule for both towns yes this is the third time that I've seen that payment schedule on an agenda since I've been on the board is there is there a pro is there like a scheduling I don't know is there a making sure that the payments are how are the payments coming in in a timely manner most of the time can you elaborate on that there have uh for one town there has been two months that there has been a significant DeLay So you're not getting paid on time no from one of our towns got is it madaan no um so how does that affect us or the district being able to has there ever been time you didn't get paid in time and then you couldn't purchase things in the one month in which it occurred we had to work with an exorb amount of vendors to offset the interest that they were trying to have us pay really payment the district was late purchasing items from a vendor and they wanted to charge interest because the funds were not available to us because the town was late on a payment yes so did so that interest adds up obviously well we had it removed but it wouldn't yeah um um what about has has there ever been any other lack of payment or maybe have one other month where there was a lack of payment uh in the beginning of the year so the funds just didn't come uh they came they bounced and then they were replenished so you got a bounce check from one of our towns yeah can can you tell us the amount of that just shy 3.5 million 3 $5 million check F yes thank you so miss case I just want to understand um and and Mr Ruben um our attorneys here because I just want to make sure I understand so the town takes in tax money which is not their money they're just holding correct so the town takes in money from the homeowner and then that goes to you know they're the middle person to immediately then put it you know however we wire it or check or whatnot to to the district so that is not money that is the townships they are just the middle person to get it to us yes they're the collection portion there's a statute they're required as well as we are to follow which is how we know we can ask for 20% upfront in the beginning of the school year however like I said uh we do and most towns do ask for that equally dis first throughout the year and we ask for it you know typically by the third business day of the month so that we can ensure we're ready to go for the first payment uh the first payroll of the month lastly there's there's no such thing as the homeowner pays the school district the homeowner pays taxes to the town the town then cuts to the district so there always is that process the middle man yes okay is there any ramifications for a late payment or insufficient funds I mean is there any what recourse does a school district have if they're missing you know purchasing something at a discount or an interest payment that we shouldn't have to incur Mr rubben you want to take that one miss Bari the question is what what consequences are there to us if we can't make a payment on time if no what are the consequences of like we I mentioned that we have a payment schedule for the third time on the agenda just to make sure that we're collecting the statutory requirements from the town so is there anything we can do as a district when we're either getting late payments because it's affecting some of our out what we can do is discuss in close session what our range of options are so I as your attorney I can sh some with not something that's appropriate for public discussion thank [Music] you so as we take a look at the budget as a whole this is our full local tax levy proposal and like we talked about before the general fund is the operating cost of the budget so that is shy of 62 or $63 million uh that differential is broken out between madaan of 20 million and Aberdine justy of 43 million as we talk about the debt service fund that again is for past referendums that we have Bond payments where we will be making principal and interest payments for the next year that is about 2.3 uh we did receive within the last two years some additional funding from the state of about 300,000 to offset this cost um that is a plan that they created themselves so the total taxes to be raised for the 2425 school year are just a little over $65 million any questions on that I do have a question sure I was curious I remember us going out for referendum for the air the HX system a few years ago what else is left on The Debt Service and for how long there's two Bond payments um there's one from 2016 and then uh right as I was coming on we were redoing the debt so that switched from a 2012 bond to a 2022 and we saved about a million dollar so so we do look at the assessment of where Debt Service is where interest rates are and if we can actually take the bond that is left over and reassess and save money so when will that Debt Service be paid off uh we have some in 2028 and others in 2032 I want to say I could be off a little by a couple years so just a quick recap history on the budget in terms of waivers and use of banks cap or Bank Capital so again we've talked about this this evening the 2% increase on the general fund from the local tax levy um reasons for waivers Andor using band cap would be increased enrollment that send to from relationship which would not be us cuz we currently have a we have high school Regional District we don't Ascend to a high school deferred pension liability which is an older law is no longer appli to school districts unless it's needed and then Health Care increases and then of course the the amounts of unused waivers so should you not use a waiver you can bank that money for up to 3 years for future use and if it's not used within those three years then then that money is lost so we just wanted to create a comparability chart and this comparability chart is over the last 3 years and going in or the last two years and going into the next year so the last two years are in light green light blue and dark blue and then looking into the next year that is in Orange so our tax levy like we talked about is around that stable 2% and our staff increases are a little uh closer between 3 to 4% and then uh the NJ School boards Association settlement throughout the whole entire State as we'll get into the next slide you'll be able to see that all 21 counties are anywhere between 3 to 4% so we are around the state average and then we wanted to give a little indicator of the Consumer Price Index so while we are a school not all of our vendors are School related and so when they're working with us they are driving costs up so from that fiscal year of 23 we were around an 8% total increase and we're just shy this year of a 3 and 1/2 to 3 and 3 and a/4 increase and so you'll see that it's very challenging to stay within that 2% bracket when we know that all of our expenditures are increasing at a faster rate than what our revenues can increase this is a a comment not a question but that the this this chart really speaks to me a lot because not only does it talk about our expenses as a district but it also talks about our staff's expenses you know as homeowners or or rent ERS and they know they have to buy food they have to have cars and pay for gas and that well I mean this is probably just a call to action to everybody to talk to the state is that the idea that we are stuck with 2% when everybody's expenses are going up four five 8% two years ago I mean it it behooves the district to pay their staff and increase that's more than 2% I I have not seen in the njsba settlements I didn't see any District that just raised uh you know when they did their settlement just raised it 2% so we're not being I mean I don't know the district is not being fiscally irresponsible by settling for a higher percentage it I mean it'd be crazy not to um so that's [Music] my this kind of speaks to what you're just talking about little difficult to see here but when we post it online it'll be easier to see on a personal device so what this is showing from New Jersey school boards Association uh all 21 counties over the last 3 years um increments that were settled by um contract and so as you when you look at the numbers you'll see that we progressively move in the threes 3% settlement rates there was one County Sussex County who started out in the twos the first couple of years and then they progressed to a three uh and then when you look at Hudson County where they settle over 4% so the purpose of sharing this with the board is to really emphasized the previous slide showing that while we have a 2% cap that school districts across the state of New Jersey are selling contracts at 3% or greater uh which is important to keep in mind when we're trying to balance a budget so just to be clear Mr lean we're talking about raises correct so in terms of looking ahead um our responsibility is to look for alternative funding through grants um we are actively looking and work um with our administr team in terms of applying for any particular grants that we are eligible for our strategic planning adhering to the goals and um keeping that at the Forefront we're maintaining ongoing communication with legislators advocating for fair funding for schools um we participate in the Garden State Coalition which we have a meeting um within the next two weeks where we have an opport Unity to Advocate um for fair funding and meet with other legislators uh our shared services we look for opportunities to share services in terms of um some of our programs whether we can um take some tuition in on some of the specific programs we have that uh maybe some of our neighboring towns may not have and of course again we'll highlight the free and reduced applications the importance of our community completing them um so we can process them all right so where does that lead as we look ahead and we look into our challenges the funding formula is going to change there was a 7-year reform and we know that that is on the docket for the Department of Education to look at that is another reason why we are looking forward to going to the Garden State Coalition because the commissioner will be speaking and we do want to hear about what his future plans will be for the Department with that we did speak already about the 2% budget cap and the challenges that we face within it and we also would behoove us to speak about the unfunded mandates uh one of the ones that are recently coming up would be the fact that we need to have all of our Ela and math curriculum ready to go for September of 2024 that was a requirement for our budget to be approved and we had to show how we were going to maintain that as we look forward we will also have to cover our state budget obligations those are typically payroll or pension payments that will go back to the state we take a look at our state health care benefit increase and we will continue to be present and listen to you know not only what the Department of Treasury is saying um but really reach out to our broker and work with other providers to see what will help us keep our benefits equal to or better than but with watching the bottom dollar and so we will always keep the scope of what our student needs are driven throughout the district and as we're doing that we'll also be taking a look at our building needs and space as we've done so in this building on the other side So within the next 48 hours most likely tomorrow you will be able to find the budget presentation that you just saw today as well as our userfriendly budget posted on the we on the website if you go on the website and you click on departments you go to the business office on the left hand side you will see budget there will be the last 3 years there for your review on that same page there is the district approved contracts and they are all there and County approved any questions I have I just have a question about the Mandate so the curriculums the two sets of curriculum that have to be ready for September what is there a cost associated with those yes how how what what are the costs associated we have to pay to write curriculum and also of programs so you have to pay St correct and then what are the other I know that there's a few other things that the state has mandated recently by legislature for example I think I read one of them was brief curriculum so those are all added costs that the state is mandating but we have to incur the costs correct we do so the last slide is the our legislator's contact and our governor Murphy I'm sorry it's okay um I wanted to follow [Music] sorry guys I'm just going to yell annoying now all right can you hear me so I wanted to follow up on something Miss wari was saying so I was at a town council meeting and I was wondering what our relationship with the town is because when we're talking about the payment information it was stated at that council meeting that they have no idea about our budget or what impacts us and I find that alarming in the sense that they're making decisions with tax abatements and stuff like that where our enrollments going up but we're not seeing any more money come in for that [Applause] difference my question I guess is is there anything we can do to kind of improve that relationship with the town in order to so they can see the concerns that we're facing as a district uh yes so right after the budget gets approved there's a schedule that's called the a4f we do bring that over to the town along with certified minutes so that they are well aware of what the whole Levy is for the year as well as what the approved payment schedule is uh the other thing towns have done is created a a on on both fronts right on the board front that would go to each of the Town meetings as well as in the reverse where the town would provide aais on at this meeting oh sorry Miss case you actively meet with the towns now and have always correct yes since I started we meet with both towns monthly and then we meet with them together on a quarterly basis thank you in this case my understanding is is that they have been invited both towns to every single meeting that we have and they do not come is that true I don't know if they're here but but in the past but they have our yes because part of our requirement when we have a meeting is we also have to post our schedule or post any meeting notification at the town because to follow up on Chris's concern as I know much of this audience has a concern is the immense amount of building that's going on and the tax abatement that's being put in place and we don't see any money and as a board member and as a towns person as a homeowner I am so incredibly concerned about how our school district is going to manage with all this influx of children and us not having the money to do what we do so [Applause] [Music] well we do have representation for tonight here from one of the towns so I just I don't want it to be that it's both towns but there is representation from the towns here tonight so this is our call to action for our community we've listed um who your legislators are who you can contact in terms of helping us advocate for fair funding um so we'll leave that up for the community to um take a picture of that um you can actually looks like you can actually uh personally text Governor Murphy um with this information so um I don't know where that's going to get you but um but it is available for everyone any other questions oh I guess I just wanted to plug again the other piece that that's the state funding and also if you want Federal funding or federal funding that that the biggest piece of that is the pre reduce launch application and having as many people as possible fill it out yes thank any other questions regarding the I know this took a lot of extra time outside of regular District duties for everybody so I appreciate the time and effort okay um moving on um we have a we have a agenda um CH will give be a chance to get settled because then we're going to go into the curriculum instruction agenda