what about okay for that matter would third grade have the same number of teacher slots as it does this year like classrooms yes in fact I believe third grade at St going to be going now I don't have the count in front of me but essentially it's the same okay okay yes come to the podium um but I do want the simple math is that another teacher is going to be in that [Music] classroom hi my name is Valentina and I live in aine and I here to save Mr Mr Ley Mr Ley you are the best teacher and you deserve nothing but the best we all love you so much and we are here for you because you are the best teacher I ever [Applause] had I have never had Mr Ley as a teacher but I have had him as a coach in softball and he is so so kind and nice he cheers me up when I'm sad and I have a brother I I want him to have a chance to have him in school we all love Mr Ley thank you hi my name is Olivia binski and I live in Aberdine there are many nice things that I could say about Mr Ley he is nice smart kind and amazing and many more he is also willing to take his time and Coach my softball team the huskys he always cheers us on I really wanted him as a teacher in third grade but sadly I didn't get him I am in fourth grade now and I really miss him but I want other kids to have a chance to get him most importantly he made me want to learn please please don't fire Mr Ley thank you thank [Applause] you hi my name is Michaela Thompson and I'm here because of Mr I would not have made it through third grade if it wasn't my regular teacher Mr chett when he comes in my class he will say something funny and make me and my classes and my teacher laugh please don't let him go children children are the message the messages um we leave for the future to tell of a time we see not we will not see for we are the future and we need to be able to tell about Mr we and all the wonderful things he brings to us don't let him go thank you for letting me speak today about Mr Ley thank you hello my name is Tara I live Tara I live in aine and I wasn't sure if I was going to speak tonight but after seeing these kids I felt compelled because a few weeks ago we received a letter that said schools are the heartbeat of every Community but behind those schools are the teachers who are the heart of the community and the kids they Inspire the kids they make the kids Thrive they are invaluable to all of the kids when my daughter goes out and sees a teacher in town if will light up her day more than anything else that happens that day if I run into a teacher and I go back home and I tell her hey I run into so and so it will light up her day it is a disservice to cut teachers to cut services to the kids and to sit here and tell parents that everything is going to be the same it'll be minimal impact I'm I'm sorry but no one here is going to believe that because we all see what will happen and may not be next year it may not be in 2 years maybe it'll be when my son who's two hits kindergarten at store and I see the effects of what's happened since my daughter who's currently in first grade um you know how much she drive and what happens then maybe it won't either way we're here to speak up for our kids because they are important the teachers are even more important because they are what makes them Thrive and my daughter who was in first grade came home before this all happened and asked I hope I get Mr leevy in third grade and she has no older siblings she doesn't really know him but that is the impact that he has so I strongly urge you to reconsider the cuts that you are making to the to the teacher cuts and to the service cuts that will ultimately impact our kids thank you thank [Applause] you hi my name is Mary caros I live in madaan I stand before you as both a parent of a ly Road student and a Ravine Drive student and as an educator from another District I wrote this also before you guys address some things so just keep that in mind I'm here to speak today about um teacher and staff cut in today's teacher shortage we should not be cutting teachers we should be keeping teachers you say that classroom sizes will be minimal but you're cutting 11 teacher let's say hypothetically there are 20 students in a class that would be 220 students who need to be moved throughout the district I'm sure that number is larger I can't find that to be minimal changes in classroom sizes especially when student behavior is unised also you said if students move into 10 Town it would change the sizes right well we know that that's going to happen we have new buildings being built and not for nothing but all the older generation is moving out and my whole neighborhood has become young families that are moving in to say that interventions would be taken um care of in the classroom is unreasonable and showed that you were disconnected from being in the classroom let's say a teacher now has 27 students in a room including those behaviors that they now have to make sure are behaving themselves they are not reaching the wide range of Learners every day in every single subject I think the world of our teachers let's not burn them out and not for nothing that's what you're headed toward your headed toward teacher burnout I look at the uh Administration for example how can us in a small District have so many administrators at the top and I know other people have said this earlier um I haven't had a chance to look at all of them but maybe we could cut some high salary positioned so that my children and my children teachers are't infected we need to do better um for us that are paying so much taxes to live in this town um because we don't want to be delivering a mediocre education because then people aren't going to want to be moving in here and we're going to get into a bigger problem so thank you for your [Applause] time hi my name is Reagan King and I live in madaan Mr Ley is my softball coach and he is so loving caring and funny and kind and he is an awesome awesome at coaching softball and he loves everyone you are making a big mistake thank you thank [Applause] you all right Jamie from aine I'm back to finish so I started is there anybody else that hasn't spoken everybody else was right oh no no go whatever okay she gave me permission sorry um like I said I started this uh petition and it was received very well again like I was stating we have 500 kids in Strathmore which is the core of what the Mr Le would know with probably some at w Road um 400 is a huge number it shouldn't be ignored of just people that said in their thing that madaan aine or Cliffwood never mind the millions of Staten islands like myself that never changed where I live for me to calculate or the Oldbridge people or anything like like that this is a big number it should not be um ignored um you guys mentioned an auditor I want another auditor because clearly after what happened with the security referendum something's not right because you would say that that guy Ved at that as well big mistakes were there um S2 money should have never been used for a salary and if you guys did that that was your bad I thought that was for gloves plexiglass s uh sanitary things to keep the school open the vents and all that stuff so we can circulate air not to be calculated in into an every year thing which we weren't going to get um how are we letting people go when I thought and I could be wrong I saw reasons for certain people over the next 3 years um do these Cuts don't make us look desirable I said that already um what can we do how do we fix this how could we come up with an idea to not let Mr Levy go and work on a way to get our teachers back because nobody's offering a solution just besides these Cuts it's really sad when we're always cutting from the bottom when the bottom people make the top people look good so right now you look like fools because you're going to hire people that aren't going to put in what this man did um May 9th I hear that the people of the state of New Jersey are getting together to possibly restore some funding back to certain districts I want to know if we get any money back where that money is going to first and again it could have stipulations such as that 2% Levy being adjusted I want to know what our plan will be and I want to be prepared for that because if anything can be changed it should be changed because this is what we want these kids stayed up late they told you what teacher they want you guys to ignore it and get three figure salaries and everything else and keep cutting these Low Bottom teachers that's going to get us no place and lastly I don't want to play devil's advocate here but I saw on the page and I store what happened about a referandum for this it could have happened but I don't blame you guys for not bringing it to us because in the mess last year but you guys who strive on giving the parent the word and input didn't give us that chance and I don't know why we vote on a school year in November when that's so far in advance when you can't tell what the next year is going to look like so whoever and I know this has been forever this stuff should go back to the April to look at the next year and so on and so forth um I really don't have much more to say besides I call for a review and reconsideration of the employment of Mr Levy into our district district and I hope that none of this is perceived as anything different than the parents calling into action what they want for the kids I hope this doesn't if an opening comes up and Miss elevia applies for it there is no well you made a big snc so there I would look at that as retaliation if he wasn't rehired and we have the funds and he fits the description of the job so I would just like for everyone to be aware of that and do not do this you are doing a disservice to the community that you are chosen to serve and if you can't get together with the town I don't know what else to tell you y'all should clear out they should clear out and we should start over because something ain't right the math ain't math favorite teacher go because we love you Mr Le thank [Applause] you my name is Abby um I'm in abine um so many things to say about Mr Ley but I only have 3 minutes even if I had 3 hours it it wouldn't be enough to talk about this wonderful human being my girls met Mr Ley when he was a camp counselor at summer friends and the relationship that was made was truly a gift my daughters didn't have the wonderful experience of having him for a teacher but we know what he has done not only for the district but for the community when we found out he was being laid off my husband myself and my children were in complete shock how can you do to a teacher who not only helps in the school but outside of the school and to cut him like this is a true dis is truly disheartening not only for the children but for the parents of the entire Community please rethink this decision please fit it in the budget to keep Mr ly I am sure if we if you all did a little bit of digging and you probably be able to F find a solution since this is going to be a very big mistake please reconsider and please let us keep this leing thank you it looked like it was Tippy for a second my name is Ashley I'm in Madan and I have three children within the district um I had some concerns as far as having the intervention is removed from the schools we said earlier that there was going to be help before and after by who with um additional help within the classroom Again by who one teacher with more students every child's needs are different if you're already working with an interventionist because the need has already been determined then how is putting them back in a position that didn't work for them benefiting them you mentioned this win thing and said it's at Ravine they have one special a day don't have switch classes other than for their specials and any other time if their win period for them is at the end of the day when they're span is already gone how proactive could that possibly be that that's our comparison Lloyd has switched classes multiple specials at times in each day the middle school and high school have switch all of their classes and still have specials so where is that time being built in that it's actually going to possibly benefit that it was mentioned earlier about fiscal responsibility for a summer theater problem program there's a bigger issue why are we having jobs posted for curriculum when we have two people whose that job that is how is it physically responsible to spend over $2 million in a new administration building and not repair issues on our schools and maybe relocate Administration to empty classrooms or renovate the old gym at the at M's to offices that would have been much cheaper you have toilets that don't work bathrooms that have been closed holes in walls and ceilings mice behind lockers sewage that comes up in classroom floor Dreams water damage from excessive brain students and teachers desks and chairs are broken and still being used where is that being considered and that's being fiscally respons [Applause] responsible just I mean for what it's worth it I think part of our presentation did note that facilities and um management does get cut quite a bit from bu it's not the numbers it's disgusting how are you guys uh Jed Zai I live uh here in iine uh I'm here today to voice my displeasure for the termination of 16 staff members these decisions not only impact the livelihoods of our dedicated Educators but also have profound implications for the quality of Education our children will overse amid growing concerns of student population increases bless teachers will only in increase class size which is shown to be detrimental to learning replacing our existing teachers with pullout teachers is not the answer okay I like many were caught off guard by the letter sh out 2 weeks ago I was not aware of pending layoffs and sadly no nor were the teachers affected while we all agree a balance budget is necessary why was the community not notified layoffs may take place much earlier why was a preliminary budget not sent out to families for public scrutiny why wasn't a referendum at least suggested to the public with all due respect last November you asked voters at abine and mwan to pass a school referendum for school security a referendum with a budget that was riddled with errors it took community members to review this budget to find these errors why did the community not receive the same transparency for this budget why was the community not given options to help save these teachers jobs prior to layoffs the community deserves to make these decisions the public deserves the right to scrutinize the programs you decided to keep versus the teachers you decided to lay off I was insulted a frequently asked questions flyer came out after the the decision to terminate these teachers was already made frequently ask questions you didn't give the the opportunity to the community to ask questions I also felt the flyer was trying to guess like the public a little how much the 85% or around 85% of of salaries actually goes to paying the incl classroom teacher salaries these are the people we entrust to make the difference in our children's lives these are the questions the public has the public wants to know why temporary Co relief funds were used for children uh teachers salaries to start with even though you said that that wasn't everything that the the Esser funds went to you acknowledge today that partly they did go and cover teachers salaries the public wants to know why haven't we prepared for this for the last 4 years and why were we cut off guard when it ran out we knew we wouldn't get this funding forever the public wants to know why it's okay to spend $15 million on a new school administration building if you knew we wouldn't be if you knew we'd be in a funding crisis in the impending years these are the questions that we wanted to answer not your frequently asked questions we sent out why didn't we lease buildings if we thought that we were going to have a problem pay teachers down the line that's being fiscally responsible as a parent I can't in good face sit idly by and not speak up and watch our te teacher population train it's not good for my children and we have zero positive consequences for the children in our district not one person sitting on this board could look me in the eye and saying that layoff teachers will have positive any positive impact on our children now one of you could say that and each one of you were put in your this position to have positive impacts on our children 16 staff members lost their jobs to my knowledge I only know one and he's standing in the back of that room I'm sure all 16 have left positive marks on the students they taught but Mr Levy was different he was the heartbeat of strathore he told my daughter during the pandemic and still this day has a special B her whether it was playing guitar on the classroom which many kids mentioned or dressing silly during a uh during a theme day Mr Ley stri to put a smile on each child's face he gave his all to those students and that is why so many parents are here today his care and compassion for the children extended far beyond Strathmore whether it was as a camp counselor during summer camp or volunteering to coach the 2014 Manan Huskies travel softball team this guy did everything for the children in our community and you're letting them go just yesterday otes to me on a Sunday morning he showed up to cheer on my girls girls that he doesn't even coach on his free time for an a game things like that mean the world to the girls in this District I'm s for Mr Le Ley losing his dream job a place where he went to school and learned a place he gave his all to day in and day out I'm sad for my two younger daughters who will never have the opportunity to have him at Strath more or pass him in the hallway to get a high five and I'm sad for the community they are losing a great teacher and a mentor to our children I'm confident Mr ly you'll move on to another district and impact the lives of hundreds of children to come I'm just disgusted it's not going to be here [Applause] [Music] [Applause] than excuse me Tiffy Stenson some of those items please I mean okay really quick Tiffany um the uh I did want to address that the um uh central office used to be in this building and uh Transportation I think occupied right here and uh all down that side when my when my sons were were going here that half was classrooms this half was not and now it is um that it speaks to at least I don't really want to have an argument here listen I'm not having an argument about that I'm talking about fiscal responsibility right if we knew that coming down the line that these funds were going to run out and we weren't going to be able to pay our teachers wouldn't it be more fiscally responsible to least something I okay I understand that and I think you in instead of spending more points milon to build the building and then gut it all out Lord knows how much you guys spent on that case can you speak to this please leing versus buying also a permanent yeah it's Capital funding versus buying for the rest of Eternity the money that we used uh to offset for Cambridge Park came out of the capital reserve account which can only be used for capital projects there was a no tax impact but that could not be offset for any salaries in any future years okay um so Capital does not include leasing though correct I thought at leing is operating operating yeah um can I also comment because this is this is very serious when somebody says we're replacing teachers with pull out that is concerning cuz that's not what's happening um what's Mr Le can you can you you have extra please do you have extra teachers that don't teach right now um Mr Leeman can you just explain that again please so the the plan is to specifically to interventions have those interventions done within the classroom with existing staff for what I think would be best and this is a suggestion from the board earlier during the presentation is for our team to put together a presentation specifically with what the plan what like that would help clarify some of the questions of the board of the community of the staff um that would be best serve for us and I think that would be some of the questions of comment that would be awesome thank you and and lastly the budget process this is what we do every single year at least for the 12 years I've been sitting here um nothing has changed as far as when to roll it out when to review it and um public and you know depending on the state but but this is a a normal occurrence every year right and know I'm I'm expecting that um Mrs Miller may have been talking about back when um a long time ago when when they were all in April um you know for example when I was a kid but I did want actually for what it's worth and I'm so sorry just a sec um if Mr Ruben could speak to for a second um what we can and can't put out to a referendum because it's not just anything well you you cannot put out cannot go out for a referendum for anything that is necessary for to provide a thorough and efficient education for sure what what qualifies as uh eligible for a second question when it comes to educational matters really depends on where you pck that level what qualifies for a free appropriate P for a um thorough and efficient education um I think to try to telescope about a 1 hour lecture into a little sound bite here for you but the main takeaway is for sure you cannot go out for a second question for anything necessary to provide a thorough efficient education so probably not teachers salaries not of necessary to provide a through an effici through an efficient education but yes on something like hbac obviously um wait hold it's for matters that are not necessary to provide a thorough and officient education [Music] okay Tiffany Stevenson ay um as an educator for over 18 years now I cannot believe that I'm actually hearing you say that you're getting rid of the basic skills program um telling um the public and the board members that this is okay and that the students will still get what they need that is not the case a tiered system is not what students need I can tell you that is very difficult I have to now plan an additional seven to eight lessons each week um my class size has increased and I have to manage their behaviors and what they're doing along with trying toach teach a small group also when it comes to State tests we often talk about the bubble students the students that we think might pass the test with a little extra help well I can't really focus on those students and the students who are behind adequately at the same time so one has to go so it's either I work with both of them but the time that I work with both them is cut in half or there is actual a pullout program that works with these students daily or multiple times a week to do what I cannot do as one person in the classroom I will also say that I have seen the state test scores and that our ranking has gone down substantially and that some schools are doing better than others but I can tell you if you put this tier system in all your all your schools will take because this is a program that sub substantially helps the students in need on another note completely different um on the school lunch um deficit um and how to get people to fill out those sworns maybe um in the beginning of the year when we have to click on all those things to find out who our students teachers are we have to fill out that thing thank you no no it's okay do you want to talk yeah go ahead hurry up one more time let's go our names are Abby Rachel this is a big mistake letting this because he is very important to us and makes us smile every day he's the reason we want to go to school and even though he isn't our teacher he still feels like it please don't let Mr Le go [Applause] just one I just want to say one thing if we owe all this money if money is owed to us from the the student that was a great idea that should be part of and if the town of aine owes you guys so much money I'm sorry I owe lab court $10 um every day in my mailbox I got a harassment letter I don't understand what the problem is that you guys can't get on the same page as the other guys and it has to be stop the RS versus the D's because that Ain anymore and if you guys don't it's going to be a repercussion I know you guys don't get peed and it's some threat but you guys won't be sitting here because eventually we're all going to get sick of it y'all that we fought hard to get in will be out and the scenes for them next I know it should have happened already but it will happen this is not right this is a uh an injustice to our community and you guys really at the end of the day look like the fools and I know at the end of the day you go home and say oh well it's done but remember you throw those kids you see him in the back this is not okay and it will not be forgotten thank you just to clarify at this time everything does not owe us I mean that was that was they paid um always on time for what is yeah yeah just so people know just to clarify that we're not saying that ay knows US money right now because they have paid on eventually it just wasn't on time um and did you know as we discussed earlier did cause some issues um and then other part oh yes I think we we mentioned um either we mentioned or somebody else mentioned about the idea of the towns having Liaisons and us having Liaisons to school dist you know Vice vers I'm sorry it's getting late um I think that's a really good idea so I agree and this Stevenson's idea about putting it on the forms on Jes is there anyone else who wishes to speak okay seeing that thank you thank you everybody thank you really app I just have a clarification question about there was um a question about the any job postings that came up between now and the end of the year or the new budget and also about an insinuation of retaliation can can we just clarify how that process works of applying for an open position yes please um oh sure I'd be happy to speak to that so should there be a vacancy which would typically be created by someone retiring or resigned leaving open position we post which means we advertise for that position that position gets advertised within the district internally and externally so candidates currently work here have an opportunity to see that posted people outside the public can see it so anyone interested in a position would have to fill out an application online on the Bish website and then we go through the interview process superintendent that makes a recommendation to the board and the board approves thank you okay now um I believe we're moving on to the vote on agenda items Miss P are we going to have a chance to just follow up or or just last thing comments or anything is that now later or um I guess there could be discussion before before we vote not necessarily discussion but just a few things that I would like to bring up well okay that would be yeah is this now is that okay so yeah this would be the timei to the vote okay no just a few just a few points um on the other end of the referendum my concern is that we may have to go out for referendum for building so the the thought of uh going out for Staffing um right now I'm looking forward to what we may have to do moving forward for for getting on to our buildings so that's that that's coming down the pipe um and I um just wanted to say that the way the board uh dates work and I just wanted to be on record that our contracts for administration have to be in by February of every year and we don't see Endor no budget State money funding until the end of March so um and that's not our time um schedule that's the state so just wanted to put that out there as well thank you and lastly can you just clarify what the board's role is in I mean that's kind of important right yeah I mean to clarify that that yes um we're the the action items on this agenda are to approve the budget and to approve the rehire list um and uh you know setting the dates I mean there are some other things but that that um this is maybe Mr Le can even speak to that that I mean the the board doesn't get to just make changes Mr rubben Excuse me sorry the question is what the role of the board on on this matter personel matters on personel matters sure um it used to be years ago when I started practicing back in the the 70s that the board could do whatever they wanted uh they could appoint whoever they wanted they could terminate whoever they wanted uh they could listen to the recommendation of the superintendent if they wanted to they weren't required to all that changed in around the mid 90s when they changed around the role of the board of the superintendent and the Personnel process uh where they took away control of the Personnel agenda from the board and gave it to the superintendent the board has no legal power to vote on any Personnel matter unless it's presented to them with an affirmative recommendation of the superintendent number one number two non-renewals which used to be voted on by the boards um are no longer voted on by the boards that's an action that's taken by the superintendant people who are non renewed have certain rights to challenge that which are aely represented by their professional association here who can tell them what that's all about um so in a very small nutshell that's the role the role of the board tonight is to vote on to accept or reject a propos renewal list that the superintendent is recommending you're reacting to her recommendation this evening thank you I think a lot of us appreciate that clarification um does anybody else have anything to say before we vote okay see none um should we go with the um they the voting are we doing all the agendas at once yes please so this evening you would be taking action on curriculum and instruction item number a Personnel items number one through 3 and finance items 1- six Miss Vias I have to abstain from travel under curriculum and instruction and I want to again make it clear that under personnel number one we are voting I am voting yes to the appointments of the recommended staff but not voting on any non-renewals at all everything else yes so noted there are no non-renewals on the agenda it's not an agenda item at all y Miss Martinez yes uh but just like Katie said I have do St from travel um yeah for the conference thank you so noted Mr MCG I got up stay on the travel but yes so noted Mr mon yeah thank you Miss Scot yes Miss BR um soing instruction yes yes under Personnel for number one appointments I need to and then yes for everything else so noted Miss wari yes Mrs goie abstain C curriculum and instruction travel and yes so noted Miss pal yes all items V thank you um do we have any unfinished business any new business you see none uh we have to go into a second executive session 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 it the length of the executive session is estimated to be a while one hour after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with business action will not take place may have a motion in a second to go into executive session all in favor thank you --------- the curriculum and instruction there's action item for the board to approve this evening so we're asking the board to approve the recommendation for travel the action item for travel includes administrators to attend the njasa spring Leadership Conference this month and then for select number of board members currently listed for the October School boards convention so A is for action item B this is non action item B under other we're asking the board to consider the ram approving the Six Flags grade adventure trip for high school students to attend awards ceremony there's a revised U school trip date for Cliffwood students uh so the the trip was previously approved by the board was just a date change and then the third trip that's listed for Cliffwood students is the third grade students to attend their third grade picnic uh item number two we're making a recommendation to the board to improve our participation in the New Jersey trout in the classroom program for the high school for the 2425 school year um I do want to point out there there's a cost that happens to fall on the next page so the cost for the program is $200 it's at the top of page 202 and then item number three we're asking board to approve the recommendation from the superintendent to approve the non-resident student enrollment for the 2425 school year as in this listed on the agenda that concludes curriculum instruction can I have a motion a second to accept the agenda due to the um action items I'll second is there any discussion about the curriculum and instruction agenda any questions I know we went over some of it during the budget okay all right moving on um the the uh the student services agenda no action items under student services but we're considering asking the recommendation for with the regular Action meeting that the board approve the bedside instruction for the students is listed on the agenda that concludes student services okay is there any any questions about the student services agenda is listed okay moving on to Personnel Personnel there's action items for this evening we're asking the board to approve the following items for Action to approve the staff rehire list for the 2425 school year we're asking the board to approve staff array change for 23 24 24 25 as listed and we're asking the board to approve the resignation as listed so those three items are for Action items for the committee over the whole to be approved at the ram we're asking the board to consider item a resignations and retirements there's one resignation listed one retirement listed we're asking the board to consider leave of absences for the 23 24 school year the names list Ed with their reasons and effective dates it's the bottom of page one and continues onto page two of nine nothing under C1 under C2 extracurricular activities for 2425 the board will see that these are fall athletic programs there are no names listed we anticipate having names listed for the regular Action meeting that's on the bottom of page two continues on page three of n so on page three item number three for summer 24 staff recommendations um there are uh names listed there are some tbds that will be filled in for the regular Action meeting this is for extended school year and high school credit recovery program continues on top of page four item number three summer Theater Workshop recommendations this is to staff a summer theater program for the summer 2425 school year item number four curriculum and instruction this is for summer curriculum developers or curriculum writers the postings and the positions and the hours are listed on pages four five and the top of page six of nine we anticipated having a majority of the those names to the bo for the regular Action meeting on the same page we're on Page 6 of n we're also asking the board to consider the title one family night with the staff and verses listed item number five hope instruction for the 23 24 school year with uh student IDs subjects and dates and hours is listed on the bottom of page six page seven top of page eight of nine on page eight item number six staff right changes we're asking the board to consider for approval the three staff members that are listed for array changes item number seven college student observers two staff members listed who are working on internships on page N9 of n nothing listed at the moment under volunteers or instructional assistance and substitute teachers item D is the hip report item two is a staff member for additional responsibilities for the 2324 school year item number three one staff member doing student dissertation item number four the district mentoring plan that's a required approval each year for the board we'll have that uploaded to the board folder so the board can review that item there are five home instruction teachers for 24 25 school year and we do approve all teachers uh so that way anybody could be available should they be needed to do so in item number six is another required plan the nursing health plan for 2425 school year that as well will be listed will be uploaded to the board F there for consideration prior to the next meeting that concludes Personnel can I have a motion in a second to accept the Personnel action items all motion okay um do we have any discussion I know I have one question um I think there's quite a bit on this one um the uh item number two in the action items uh Dr R still um is currently serving as the Dei coordinator so U now if he's going to be the acting director Personnel what happened to the district's Dei efforts um maybe Mr pres speak that or believe whoever so th those responsibilities are dispersed to other administrators in The District central office and in the building level I give you a perfect example and you can you refer to the district strategic plan if you look under personnel there are some Dei elements that are listed under Personnel so the director Personnel would be responsible for those that was something that we had projected out for 5 years any way just it's a natural fit so there are a lot of things that can be done in Personnel human resources that clearly align to Dei goals uh and if it doesn't fit on your personnel then it will um fall to some other District administrators because that's definitely a group effort um M I just wanted to verify um Mr Leman so I know we have a larger group um that are here tonight so um all of the blanks and tbds and there's no hi reports because this is our discussion meeting and then all of that will be filled in for the Ram regular Action meeting at the end of the month so uh we're not approving blanks and it looks like that but it's it's just that this is uh a snapshot of what's to come and then we approve at the regular action correct that's correct so I wanted to bring up something just because my role on the board of being fiscally responsible and what I'm going to say is not something that's very popular so I just want to say I do have concerns about summer theater and I will say that I'm a parent who has had a child when I look at the amount of money it's costing us to run summer theater it's over $30,000 to run a summer program um and that would be all well and good if our costs were covering it but our costs are not covering it um if we take a look um as further digging that I've done I found out that this is a part of a contract that we already have with their teachers and when we take a look to negotiate a contract there are so many more important things to do than take down take a look and not take down take a look at a summer theater program that provides so much joy to so many children but from a fiscal responsibility my question is what can we do to take down this cost and one of the things we individually started knocking around was um is there can we increase the fee because the fee is so low compared to the instruction that students are getting but there's also a concern on our end that if we charge more we'll less people be able to financially participate and then we won't have money to still cover so I just need to say out loud that I am very concerned that a summer program is costing over $330,000 and that has nothing to do with the benefit and how wonderful and how many families in this community have had children love this program I'm just looking to be fiscally responsible and I'm curious if anyone else on the board would like to comment on that I would just like to ask if um this year's cost is uh significantly um more than in the past so for um if you look at student cost the resident student cost is it working now sorry so last year we were um the resident student cost to participate in the program was $235 for the fee that's increasing to $300 non-resident students are able to participate in the program as well it's it was 335 last year we increased it to 3 350 we can review the um the cost and go back and work with the staff um we're at a net where the district is contributing to Summer theater $1,725 for this 2425 school year but we can go back and revisit them cor that's with the increased fee right that's correct okay so so the the year prior um the year prior the district was contributing 15 ,000 okay prior to that 16,000 prior to that $8,000 and it's an average cost of to run the program is an average cost between 33 to $34,000 so what we're contributing what we're projecting to contributing now is less than in the past so is it save yes okay but we did get some feedback and so in terms of like the non-resident student costs because we all know that to participate in any extracurricular say was dance they're charging a lot more money so we are potentially revisiting the to increase the cost for non-residents as opposed to the resident M pess can you clarify how long is the program like how many weeks does the program run over the summer it's five week program or half a day and just to confirmed so the um charges the fees that we collect for registration and the ticket fees there is a ticket fee correct that does not cover in full the cost of the program so the district is putting in additional funding on top of that what we take in um I just wanted to say and and I'm I'm I'm with Lori on that and this is one that I'm uh completely torn with my nieces nephews they all did Summer theater and theater and and I love the program I really don't want to get rid of this but I really know we need to figure something out um so I appreciate um looking into this um is there grants or anything for these types of programs Lindsay is anything Miss case there's there's for this not many right now not for not for particular for summer most are school-based gr um again I just reiterate that we I really don't want to get rid of this um but please can we um figure out so that it's reasonable as far as Finance so I appreciate that thank you we'll revisit and then um share out at the rant thank you and we have nothing on the policy agenda so then moving on to the finance and transportation agenda in this case okay uh bear with me it's 29 pages so for this evening we'll be looking to take action on items 1 through six so one is public hearing adoption and the tax levy two is the fiscal year proposed approval three is the authorization to implement next year's budget four is the tax levy certifications form A and B referred to as the a4f schedule five is the adoption of the tax levy schedule and six is the payment schedule listed on page three that ends the action items for this evening as we go on deeper into the budget we'll be looking for action on items 7 through 81 for the regular Action meeting number seven is it's request for proposal season so we are looking for speech language pathology applied behavioral analysis and behavioral consultant Services Audiology Services a school phys occupational therapy nursing Services comprehensive in school therapeutic program Landscaping before and after care inclusive of the Middle School uh the demographer study and then starting on page nine is the payroll for April as well as the bills list for May transfer funds for the month of April the board secretary's report for April certifying all all major fund status for the month of April and then we go into the business office regular Action meeting for the next school year so the open Public's meeting act so knowing what our schedule will be for the 2425 school year designation of approved tax shelters for the district annual appointments as you'll see listed there is no cost this is part of our regular positions and while other districts do pay a stien for some of these position uh for number 24 approval of depositories in which we bank with the authorized signatures that go along with that the representing of requests for grant funding the line item transfers for the regular school year following the uniform minimum chart of accounts delineated by the Department of Education the district qualified purchasing agents so you have a higher threshold for bid the New Jersey Cooperative bid maintenance program program for the next school year uh we use Ed data services that helps us because they go out to bid from December to December really holding and Firming up pricing for US the proc procurement of goods and services through the state agency for the year the performance of goods and services for Educational Services Commission of New Jersey as well as Maman ocean ed Service Commission huan County and Somerset we do have a list of all of those those because they all go out to bid for a different purpose so this just gives us the ability to go with the best vendor for the right price our appointment of insurance brokers for the year we are required by state law to have an ASB bestus project management it is a semiannual report the board's attorney for the school year the special education attorney for next school year the negotiations attorney for next school year auditing services for next school year Advocate is a custodial Service Company contract monitoring air Mark has been approved for the 5-year bid prior however we are required to approve this contract yearly this does come off of the monthly bill from aark so if there is a flat cost and they assist with the contract continuing disclosure agent we do need this because we are um we do go through the annual audit every single year and then there is a requirement to go ahead and sent it out federally so that we have a bond rating for any future cost that we might go out for for bidding and bonding systems 3,000 a lots us for our accounting software our personnel and our payroll system our student information system known as Genesis our individualized education information system IEP direct the district work and facility use software known as flow path our district Pest Control Management e- rate that we spoke about earlier our policy services for next school year claims auditor for next school year a custodial of record for next school year we did go out um there was going to be an increase of cost to pick up our garbage so we worked with the bore other school districts and went out to bid for a cost for our garbage pickup actually having a 0% increased so we're thrilled to be working with Haslet uh our Google backup service for the next school year our endpoint security software for next school year firewall replacement Genesis information that we spoke about earlier G Suite Enterprise our internet service our content filtering service our Microsoft licensing service our phone service for internet as well as phone our point-to-point network service shortel Mel support requirements for our Communications and our website renewal our wireless telephone service our wireless network maintenance and support as well as renewal for maintenance and repair of our district owned Vehicles nursing services that you'll see delineated in 70 and 71 are with our education service commissions so if our RFP cannot provide us the service we do have another eligibility way to get those services in District chapter 47 report just dictates the cost that we're going into whether it's a renewal award or permitted by contract our in local agreements with the township of aine and the burrow of Matan our shared services with both Towns at 75 and 76 and then it'll be for 77 our fire and evacuation drills for the month our bus evacuation drills that required twice a year our approval of attendance of the Garden State Coalition meeting and the people that will be present for it our approval for next year's inter Scholastic a letics association's membership our sale and disposal of assets anytime we have an asset that no longer has a value we do put it on the agenda so that we can say we no longer need it and then we do our best to sell it we've done it with buses we do it with technology equipment anything within the district that we can that someone will Lively pay us for and number 82 is our purchasing manual and 83 is our standard operating procedures manual if there is any anything that has a TVD in it it will be filled out before the next meeting okay um can I have a motion and a second to accept the finance agenda action items on motion okay uh I had a discussion question um the uh I just wanted to to make sure I heard it right that the uh the before and after Care Child Care Program will include Middle School this year yes went out in the bid documents to also include the Middle School okay great um and then um oh did anybody have any questions about that part yeah what are you talking about we can okay what I was asking was the before and after care um for the um upcoming school year uh it was quickly mentioned that it includes middle school as well um which had not previously and so that was that was what I was clarifying and the answer was yes um I I just wanted to make a quick clarifier um so this I had said to miss casee um because I've been around long enough I know this is our long agenda in in to renewing our uh all of our vendors so I had I told her or asked her to please differentiate between new and old and thank you for the change in color um it just helps so that we're not not having to read through each line item cuz we forget from year to year these are all the same companies just new contracts CU they're year to year but nothing new that we would need to really delve into so um it looks overwhelming but it really is not new per se correct I was going to take further did I say that right I did have a question about one that does appear new is the um demographer study um I I was just was curious when was the last time that we did that that you know sorry Miss Martinez I believe it was I think it was in nine years ago at least yeah when it was prior to Dr Micah yes wow and and what will that tell us generally a the demographer study generally speaking it will look at both communities and um help us assess an increase um if we anticipate any increases in enrollment so our last demographer the study indicated that it was at zero what has the actual increase in enrollment been since that study n years so it's 9 years and we've gone up probably 2,200 students students 8 100 students in busing along let it be on record I ask for a new demographer thank you um and then I had one more question and then I'll let everybody else ask their questions was um again just double checking the um on the appointments for um all these positions that are generally filled by administrators um um are any of these stien in as in do any of these are they associated with a stien so I don't fall over those words the administration does not receive a stien for those additional duties okay I think that was all I had do other people have questions um seeing none now we will move to public comments finally right um [Music] [Music] well there's something I have to read I know you the the Board of Education okay the Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on batters of interest to the school Community individuals wishing to speak must State their name and Municipality of residents not your whole address just a town um comments are limited to three minutes duration but an individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard all statements should be directed to the board president and no par participant May address or question board members individually all speakers are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of others whose legal rights may be affected please note while it is not the board's intention to stifle comment on matters of legitimate concern the public should be aware that if their statements violate the rights of others under the law of defamation or invasion of privacy they may face personal liability to the injured party if speakers are uncertain of the legal r ifications of their comments the board urges them to seek guidance beforehand from their own legal adviser now in addition I wanted to say I for for folks that have been to others of our board meetings since I've been the board president we're going to keep it a little more structured this time than we often do um where uh the person speaks States their comments States their questions is done and then if we can then then the administrators or or the board would answer the question at that point and then we'd move on to the next person thank you hello okay I'm actually happy that you're doing that because um remember last time I came and we did have a little bit of back and forth and I felt like I didn't get to answer ask all my questions because we did have a little bit of back and forth so um my name is Cindy santur I live in Aberdine Township and um you guys all know me I pretty much come to all the meetings um so um Mark Bishop um he gave me a question unfortunately he couldn't come today okay and everyone knows who Mark Bishop is he was the guy who's the head of the the opposition to the center uh education expansion so he said I wanted to make it there but I couldn't today I wanted to know where the money goes if the annual assessments result in more than 2% increase so he wants to know um if you don't get that extra money cuz I know my taxes went up about $6,000 in 3 years and I know that out of that $6,000 you guys aren't getting it all cuz you showed it where does that money go like is it going to the township like do you know there was where I mean that's mostly a question for the town because they do uh oh wait wait wait like does it go to you guys oh yeah okay all right I get it um okay and then um I'm happy you guys mentioned the demographer because I'm really good at researching and I have people who research with me and we did pull up that study and that study actually showed a decrease in student population like 5% 7% 6% and um we actually know that's not true because you just said that you guys grew by um 12200 and um one of the things that were really big in that demographer study is the Glass Works student impact so basically what the demographer said is that by the time Phase 2 was done including the retail um Glass Works would would um have about 252 students um impact the district so that's a really big number I'm wondering how true that is considering um they haven't even finished phase two and they just got rid of all the retail so they're building a whole bunch of extra apartments and town homes um the Zoning Board in Aberdine also this week is going to be approving The Miner project which is an addtional 11 mini Mansions over in Cliffwood and then we also know we have those two big buildings going well one big building going up in Manan and then possibly something going on in the the woods area which possibly could be another one and then you have the Ken Garden expansion so obviously these are all concerns where you know all these extra students where where are we going to be putting them especially since you know we're our budget's so tight so that's definitely a question they projected about 18,000 um people living in aine um and we're actually at 19329 I looked it up for an increase of 755 people of 755 more residents which they weren't expecting so I have to agree with Miss Martinez that I believe that you guys should get a better demographer because it seemed like he was right on absolutely no nothing yeah thank you um I I did want to I think I can answer the town tax one for the most part that the uh I mean in detail it's really more of a question for the town but I mean it it does generally involve that the town collects the taxes the school gets their portion I believe the county gets a portion there may be some fire districts as well but um then then the town retains what what is left at that point um but somebody else could correct me and please also ask that that question to Town Council because I'm no expert um I don't know if anybody wants to speak to it sounds like a lot of the other questions are really that we're going out for a demographer study but um I don't know if we have more than that at this point yeah I'm sorry than him to be to be [Music] [Applause] determined my name is Aubrey and I and I live in a New Jersey my name is Aubrey and I'm in third grade at Elementary School Mr Ley is one of the best teachers that I know he connects with his students and would be a huge loss to our school he always shows up to all of our exra events like star student Pizza Bingo McDonald's teachers night and our course concert where he play his guitar with the whole third grade class the list can really go on and on and on it is endless I think the board of ad is making a big mistake to get with to I was hoping my baby sister mil would get a chance to have him one day the stra Halls would be so different without him and we cannot let that happen please please say Mr ley's job Mr Ley we all love you so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] much little girl it's hard to follow that um my name is Katie voltagio Amer Lane AB I'm here like many others to discuss and show my support for one of the best teachers coaches and pillars of the community that you will ever have working in this school district Mr Josh Levy Mr Levy was not only my daughter's teacher last year but he's been a coach of her softball team for many years and I was hoping he would be my son's teacher next year we all understand budget cut what I think we don't understand at least I can speak for myself and many others is why were we playing with the Esser funds and using it as Monopoly money thinking that it wouldn't have an impact down the road and here we are you are not only letting go I'm sure other wonderful teachers in the district but you are now playing with our children's academic future when you come to the table for contract negotiations for administrative staff teachers it's usually equal or better pay health care Etc or the contract wouldn't pass on both parties no one would sign or agree to that so why are our children's BSI instruction getting cut this doesn't seem equal or better for our students we are entitled to equal or better for our children not pulling a tiered Support Program from them I can tell you with utmost certainty the educational Gap will have a huge impact on those average low average and struggling students I am proud to say that my children were working with the best interventionists at Strathmore Elementary School Mrs Housman and Mrs culinary whom are huge impacts on my children's lives and still are my question for you the board and superintendent is how are you going to meet the needs of these struggling students the tiered support student the tiered support system proves to work for those struggling Learners is the district prepared to be inundated with 504 requests because I can tell you right now that's the road you're going down in my current District BSI was removed many years ago and it had a negative greatly negative impact since then our coaches meet with children for maybe 15 to 20 minutes a day how the BSI progam in our district is going to meet the needs of the students with 15 to 20 minutes out of the day please don't tell me you have something in place if your intention intention is when what I know it is defined as of known as a learner centered approach students will be benefit from differentiated instruction that occurs during a 30- minute daily wi time that includes reten ring remediation or extension activities is this not best practice like that was mentioned earlier there is no way one teacher can effectively meet all the students needs especially in the struggling Learners by themselves without intervention support from the coaches inside and outside of the classroom when you've made these Cuts resulting in larger classroom sizes the administrative scale is extremely topheavy there are positions listed making six figures that I'm not even sure what they [Applause] do some administrative positions beyond what you shared tonight on your presentation need to be looked at and should be combined and abolished thank [Applause] you there was a question about uh basic skills um did just to make sure that what we were propos or what is being proposed is a win period correct okay so that was what was mentioned um we can't go back not really I'm sorry we just have what you just said confirmed when correct uh for 30 minutes I believe so and although it was delivered slightly differently at Ravine than but it's not it's not being practiced at Ravine I can confirm that it's not it it's still a tiered support system program she mentioned when is the model that we're looking at yes okay right and that's just as mentioned best teaching practice it's not a different multi-tiered support system [Applause] hi my name is ginger Lazaro madaan and I have concerns about the handling of reports of harassment intimidation and bullying HS in this District particularly at the high school my daughter submitted form 338 on February 27th 2024 as per New Jersey Hib law the school and the anti-bullying Specialists are obligated to investigate and conclude the case within 10 school days despite the severity of the case and the great impact the bullying has had on my daughter we're 50 days out and it's still not been resolved terrible terrible no pressure I have re no pressure yeah I have reached out to all appropriate staff and administratives administrators the response from admin is as follows thank you again for taking the time to speak to me today regarding this matter this was April 23rd as discussed the investigation has been completed and and a recommendation has been made based on the information provided and evidence received once the Boe re approves your report report you will receive a letter with the findings it's said a little bit more but that's the important part I respectfully ask the board to investigate and ensure that both my case and all hemp cases are handled more professionally and in accordance with the law going forward this is very serious very I will thank you I look forward to the approval of the report from the board as per the April 23rd email I received from admin and I would appreciate hearing back within 48 hours thank you thank you very much I know that we don't we definitely cannot speak about any details of a of a hip case in in a public forum but I believe uh I mean in general hip hip cases do come onto an agenda for executive session so thank you good evening my name is madin sp I live in Aber I'm going to talk about why the district Financial administrators chose 16 teachers from different schools and are not renewing their contracts Mr Le was one of those teachers if you don't know why that if you don't know why if you don't know who he is he is one of the teachers every kid in that school looked up to him he is he was in my con that was the first time that a teacher played in a concert other than the music teacher I don't know why you picked him everyone knows him I just hope you change your mind about it cuz he is very happy where he is you're making a big mistake by class in the whole school or displeased with this decision without Mr Ley to school would not be the same my older brother had him and now I have him my other my little brother was crying tonight my mom told him I will do anything to keep him I really hope you find a way please nothing will ever be the same without Mr Ley thank you thank [Applause] you thank [Music] you hello my name is Annabelle from Aberdine New Jersey Mr ly is a joy to have in school if you fire him then all the kids will be sad and you want to make them happy according to every kid in Mr ley's class he's a great teacher and doesn't deserve to be fired lots of kids from second grade want to be in his class but if you fire him then that can't happen and all the kids will be will feel sad and disappointed you are the Board of Ed you can come up with a way to find more [Music] money kids feel so sad that their teachers are getting fat Mr Ley feels upset too Mr ley's class you are the Board of Ed you guys are smart you can come up with ways to find money kids feel so bad to hear their teachers are again in fire kids in Mrs ley's class claim that he was upset before the other kids claim that their teachers were upset for it too you make the choice you CH choose the right or wrong no one deserves to be fired especially in the phly [Applause] [Music] hi my name is Stephany cardoso at rine New Jersey um there are many people here tonight on behalf of the teachers who are unfortunately at risk of losing their jobs I also wanted to speak on behalf of the teachers who will be staying and picking up the pieces of these massive cuts and the students will be at a loss without the services and staff they need upon seeing the budget reduction from 1.3 million 2 years ago for basic skill services to 900,000 this year to $300 for BSI next year I felt the need to speak from experience I am a mother of two children one at Strathmore and one at Ms I am reaching out to you today about the reduction of BSI services for the district in 2010 2011 the district where I teach let go of all non- tene teachers and three tenur staff totaling over 100 layoffs due to Major budget cuts many program were cut and incredible Educators were let go I'm not new to the concept of budget cuts for doing what you have to do to make a district run but I did want to speak to you on behalf of personal experience and being someone who's lived in the classroom with the plan you're putting forward at the time of these reductions I was teaching fifth grade due to the district cutting BSI Services all tier 2 and tier 3 Services were now placed on the classroom teacher as members of the board who may not be in education I completely understand that this seems like a feasible option being told that teachers will be able to do this in a win period makes sense until you're actually the person trying to do [Applause] it a classroom teacher on the elementary level provides instruction in every core content instruction on top of preparing seven lessons a day they are also handling behaviors emotional needs parent needs and so much more the addition of tier 2 and tier three services that are placed on top of an already full plate often don't happen these services are with our most atrisk kids and require extensive planning I'll ask you to consider the following what support are these teachers getting what planning time are they getting to prepare these materials what training are they getting these supports are typically PL train given by people who are highly trained in this area also what monetary compensation are you offering them for taking on an additional class class on top of what they already teach I hope the answer to all of these questions is not nothing all too often teachers are given no additional time or compensation for a large increase in their workload on top of that a scripted Intervention Program is not what the kids need they need Target instruction from Educators on top of these three questions I also urge you to consider the undeniable fact that when a child does not meet standards in the younger grades the Gap only widens as they get older I understand this decision is probably already made made and the wagon is too far down the road at this point but I urge you to think of how you plan to handle this in the coming year how you plan to restructure your budget and bring these Services back the children lose the teachers lose and ultimately the district as a whole loses with celing these this is not sustainable for the long run without lasting impacts on children hello my name is Cory carosi and I live in AB I here to talk about Mr ly Mr Levy was one of my favorite teachers ever and I used to be if I would woke up in the morning I was sad or either unhappy about going to school but then every day I realized that I could go to school and have Mr Levy as my teacher I was very happy knowing that I would have him as my teacher and it made me very happy I hope that the school board like revisits their decision and will not fire Mr Lee because he's my favorite teacher ever thank [Applause] you hi my name is Brody and I am at I live in Aberdine New Jersey and I am currently in sixth grade at Ms I had the pleasure of being in Mr Levy's first class at Strathmore Mr Levy is not just an engaging educator but he knows how to connect with each individual student um on a level that no other teacher can and when the world shut down during Co when we were on Zoom he would comfort all of his students with his guitar playing songs singing and just visiting each and every student of his with a smile even behind the mask Board of Education you are making a huge huge mistake on behalf of every student who mred or leing touch please reconsider your decision look how many people that are young old and old showed up to support him that tells a lot about who Mr Levy is as a person Mr Levy thank you for touching my life you are an educator that makes a difference please do not fire him thank you [Applause] [Music] okay I'm so sorry we need to take a 10-minute pause because a child needs to be moved out of the building due to a medical reason um I'm so sorry um right now we just asking to take a quick pause so then that we can allow the student and the family to have some privacy back there and um just some space we are going to look for some water as well for the children that are here here let's get started again so that we can the kids can have a chance to speak hey can everyone sit down please it's getting late and I'm tired thank can everyone that has a sign hold it up for Missy everyone who brought a sign hold it up for missing [Applause] the board is present we have a quum and the board is present so we can get start we're here we're here right ready so the budget cuts are here great 30 to 16 I know that was hard we don't say it wasn't and no one took that lightly just to start off I understand the position we are put in by losing the S2 funding and simply there's just not enough money as Tail as Tail as oldest time would say it's not our fault it's the town and we will point fingers that way which is fine true and fact we are overb building we're giving tax exemptions like no one's business where there and there has to be a way to fix this when everything else in the system is broken too I suggest the bo Boe and the town get together start realizing when you build upwards and there's more families upwards we need money per FLT your safe your tax on this $114,000 for more families for our families for our families you aren't getting any money it's not helping us get together tell the town to stop building get together don't be the matuse and the capitalist get together or I we should just clean house on everybody I know you guys won really get paid and this is like out of the goodness of your heart and we thank you all but I don't know how we got here I don't know how the mayor allows this to happen the district gets I think about 80% of the property taxes and the average home pays about $14,000 a year and it is soaring you think that when you pay this much in town this kind of stuff wouldn't be a problem but back on topic my daughter knew all about Mr Levy and his sty style of teaching and was totally bummed when he moved from second grade to third grade but this year her wish came true and she got blessed with this man's class she was excited when the card came and had sent Mr ley's name on and even though not one of her friends were in that class she was still super excited her being excited was contagious to me and this year has been her best year yet not that she did not adore her second grade teacher because she definitely did but miss leevy is Cut From a Different Cloth not one time did I hear I don't want to go to school school is boring not one time and that is thanks to Mr and that's every parents dream not to hear I was shocked when I learned about Mr Levy being laid off not that the others didn't matter but this guy shows up to the job he leaves his Mark he raised the bar and is rare in an elementary school to have a male role model that is from the community it's definitely not an easy find and won't be an easy replacement for each he's not only a favorite of the kids but he's a parent favorite as well whether um Brianna came home every day this year super excited whether it was how they sang a song and he played his guitar or how he made it easier for her to remember her multiplication correctly are even fun facts about post Malone the Mets are even give me a good woo Rick Flair style which from my heart as a WWE Fan meant more to me than 100 on a test he is much more to the kids and the community losing Mr Levy is a huge loss for this community my son who's on the Spectrum talks about the chance to be in Mr leevy's class too bad that won't be a chance most likely and you know if you know my baby he doesn't like just anybody I found out about Mr Levy being fired through the community and I found out about him from the way he puts himself out there during Co the pictures the smiles the way he shows up to the kids event to support them is just to make them feel good this is more to a job from him you are taking his life right you're blind if you don't see what a big mistake this is how can we allow such a great allaround contributor to community go does that make us look good especially a teacher so close to 10 years it doesn't really make us desirable to any good teachers looking to commenity District it makes us look like a joke if we can break the chaina sinari because the certificate how Mr Ley is being punished for not being technically bil langual why can't we figure out a way to keep him and HCK the others too I started a petition because I was so overcomed with emotion which is odd for me because I like to think I'm pretty TP but when I took it to Facebook I was shocked to think to see how well of was receiv received by the community 800 plus um signatures in a week and 70% of them are okay are from their community so that's speak to you on how I have more to say so I will wait but if that doesn't speak to you on what you're doing I don't know what else does and just one more thing 500 kids in Strathmore I calculated the madaan and Aberdine and Cliffwood signatures on my petition 400 of them are from the district tell me what you guys are doing to fix this for us what can we do Mr leevy cannot leave whether and and that's it so I don't know [Music] Mr Levy was a first year teacher when I had him in second grade he was doing fantastic everybody loved him but then Co hit everybody then went virtual but even when we were virtual he made School fun he made School feel like real School in the classroom when we were virtual overall he's an amazing teacher who makes School better and he will continue to be become better and better you you let him stay letting him go is a bad choice don't thank you um my name's uh Aiden jobz and I am from everine Township um I had the privilege to be in m in Mr leevy's first class and I felt it was awesome for me because I didn't just have my friends but I also had him and I feel that Mr leevia is one of those teachers that doesn't just care about the money but he also cares about the students and how they grow up to be cuz it's like a reflection on him too and I think that if Mr Ley goes it can hurt the community the school the students and the te and the teachers thank [Applause] you hello I am school and I'm from aine I had Mr Ley on his second year um and he was amazing um it was right after Co too so even though sometimes we were online and sometimes we're in the class everything was still fun he used to he would play the guitar he he did um at a 3:00 meeting where we did Cahoots and um did drawings and it was very fun um um I think if you let him go it will be a big big mistake because he he's lived in this town he grew up in this town and now he's teaching for the town and it would just not be right um and that's [Music] [Applause] it job thanks to Board of Ed and everybody got here today my name is k I'm sure most of you know the reason why we are all here we are here because we do not because we do not want to see he's a great teacher and so many secondy gr are looking for to having him as a teacher next year they'll be devastated to not have them and it's not just Mr our teachers are very PR at to and that makes me very tiad we have no idea how many times a week our teacher does a nice face for us and makes us feel happy be in school please Mom St TR I was so happy was here when I found out I would be in Mr Le's class and next time I want other kids to get to feel that way too so please try out to find a way to keep us smovie we can have fundraisers or whatever it tastes to keep them also if you think I did a good job with this be it's because I Mr lady and tells how to do a marriage love at ring so that's another keep back for thank you woohoo thank [Music] you my name is La B and I live in aine and um I admitted I will admit that this is my first time attending a board meeting I am going to venture to guess but please do correct me if I'm wrong I'm going to venture to Guess that you guys have pretty much never had as large a student turnout to a board meeting as you have tonight can can we answer this am I right am I right as long as I've been coming to him I'm sure you know this this I think right there I think right there you have your answer about what the right thing is to do with regard to Mr leevy you have 56 70 kids staying up way past their bedtime writing speeches making signs coming out here to Advocate on behalf of their teacher there's a reason for that this is an exceptional teacher please keep him here because if you don't someone else is going to look out and scoop them up [Applause] good evening everyone my name is Veronica zai and I'm here today because my second grade teacher Mr ly is getting laid off due to budget cuts to be honest I was with him in one of the hardest times the pandemic was not easy for anybody but he still managed to make me get want to get on that computer each morning and learn he made us laugh learn and love school during the darkest times and if that's that's not enough to get his drawback that I don't know what is whether it's him playing guitar or giving me a high high five where I see him G puts a smile on my face even myself I'll team the mountain Huskies know him and half of them are not even from store in fact he even volunteers and coaches M Huskies a te a team a year younger than me Mr Levy is a great teacher please don't let him go it won't be fair to all the kids who miss out on an opportunity to learn from him thank you for your [Music] time thank you hi I'm Maddie and and I'm one of Mr ley's former students I had Mr Ley when Co happened when when we started learning from home he made sure to keep us involved me learning fun during a very difficult time he met us as groups individually and made us feel like a class even though he weren't one anymore he would ride his bike around the neighborhood and meet up with us and US little since during a very scary time I'm now in sixth grade I don't remember much from any other year of elementary school but I remember that year Mr Ley was not only there for us but our parents he is a great teacher and a wonderful part of this [Applause] [Music] community hi I'm Saina I'm Sabrina mg and I love live in and I live in aine New Jersey and I heard about Mr leaving being let go and I think it was wrong because he was a great teacher and he really showed me in my classmates that he cared for example when we'd be waiting to be when we were waiting to be called for dismissal he would get his guitar out and start playing a song and my whole class would start singing another reason is I'm in fifth now and to be honest I don't like going to school now when I was in his class he made me want to go to school besides that when my mother got Co and I and and had and I had to stay home for at Le for the last 3 days of school he came to my house and gave me all the activities that we needed he also carried his Chromebook around for 3 days so I could see what was happening at school he also didn't just leave his Chromebook on the desk he put me next to whoever I wanted to sit next to and on the last day of the school he came to my house and asked my mom if he could give me a hug which is really which is really sweet another thing he he let us do was when we had when it was Valentine's Day we had a slideshow we had a slideshow and everyone in my class had a slide and we had to write a positive thing about everyone in my class it kind of made like my class like like each other more and afterward he printed it and laminated it he also let us in free time watch short form films that that actually taught me lessons about life that that I remember till to this day I think that it would be a bad decision of the board of ed and that he deserved to still teach he was one of my favorite teachers because he made second grade for my second grade year very special and to continue making others thank you hello everyone my name is Christa Melendez I live in ay I am 9 years old and I am a third grader at Strathmore Elementary I am up here today to let you know that you are M you are making a huge mistake by taking away M ley's job m leevy is not just any grownup he's the kindest funniest and most amazing teacher we could ever ask for every day he comes to school with a big smile on his face ready to teach new things and make us all laugh Mr leevy is like the sunshine on a rainy day he makes learning fun and makes us feel special he's always there to listen to our problems and celebrate our victories big or small I'm so sad that my little sister Mia who is in prek won't even get a chance to get to know him or learn from him and that's such a shame every child at Strathmore would be honored to get taught by him entering third grade I was sad to know that it would be my last year in Strathmore but now that I know Mr Ley might not be there anymore I'm glad to be leaving because strathore without Mr ly is not a strathore I would want to be in the Board of Ed will never find another teacher like him thank you for letting me speak I truly hope you can find it in your hearts to give him his job [Music] back thank you hi everyone I am Clara haris I am from aine and go to w BR also and also I in fifth grade I had Mr Ley and second grade he was the best teacher you could have I love how he used to play his guitar for us and make learning fun especially since it was Co actually Mr ly was just playing his guitar in third in the third grade concert my sister is in third grade now so I was there he did that on his own time to help the music teacher that should tell you the kind of teacher Mr Ley is when he taught us in grade we were on the computers half of the year so it made us fun 3:00 meetings were so fun with Cahoots drawing and lots of laughs he would stay on Google on the Google meets even after the day was over to make sure everybody was happy and showed their artwork or had something else to share he would also come he would come to our softball games after school to cheer us all on again all that was done on his own time after school because he cared we would love love love and hope for Mr Ley to stay and make us even more happy and continue to let him be the amazing teacher he is losing Mr ly would be an awful loss to the school and the halls of Strathmore would never be the [Applause] [Music] same hello I am Christina Petri aine resident nice to meet everyone so I think the kids have done an amazing job sharing their feelings about Mr Levy he's clearly a staple in the community and makes a difference in the lives of our future leaders in school and outside of school I don't know what more we can ask for from a person in our community he lives here he gives his time away he really does go above and beyond my son is in kindergarten and has no idea how long it will take him to get to third grade but he loves Mr Ley and I have never met him before but I will today so um I I think that if it is possible to reevaluate that decision it definitely should be reevaluated and we should really listen to you know the children that we serve because their opinions matter and they're speaking from their heart and from their experience so on to other important things so recently um the residents of Madan and Aberdine hired an attorney to challenge a decision that was made on behalf of a decision that was made on behalf of of our town um Mrs P was there and um she shared an informative piece that spoke to the strain on the district the growing population and it was an informative piece and it was much appreciated so we really appreciate you crossing the line of Board of Ed to the Town Council because clearly that is an opportunity for our townships mwan and aine so I just wanted to share that I think it is um I think that it's concerning that there's one here to share an informational piece with us tonight from the town because I think that it is very important for our our people to understand and to know what goes on and how the decisions that are being made across the street or down the street affect us here today with the growing population growing students budget constraints we don't want to lose Mr leevy but at the end of the day it comes down to Dollars and cents um do I agree that you know in addition to 10e certificates are maybe playing a role in this not really because clearly you know there were a lot of other teachers that received their layoff and I haven't heard one person really speak up not that they're not important and not that they're not wonderful but you have all these children here telling you from their heart that he is a great person and we need to keep them um the next thing that I just wanted to say was um regarding the check that bounced oh God that sounds like a terrible um news story that might hit tomorrow but my question is mostly um how are these funds treated are they similar to an ESO account like attorney funds where they should go into a protected account and they're not to be withdrawn without a bill or a payment like how is it possible that a Township that funds our Board of Education and our students education bounces like that is astonishing the thank thank you um I I did want to say the the statement that I read at the uh Town council meeting last Wednesday was on behalf of the whole District the board reviewed it and admin assisted in it um the question about the um how the town's funds are held I don't know if Mr Rubin could answer that because I'm not entirely sure not Town C good evening so as I said before there's aspects to this discuss that are really a close tension discussion with my client but I can tell you generally speaking that under the the law when a municip let's let's take Aban in this board out of it generally speaking when a municipality collects taxes and it collects which includes a portion of which is the school tax under the law then there's no dispute about this the portion of the money that it collects that's supposed to be allocated in the school district is treated like a trust fund right it is not it is not the municipality's money it is the school district's money there're simply a custodian of that money and it's supposed to be dispersed to the beneficiary of that trust if you will on a certain schedule so I don't if that answers your question but it clears it yes it clears it up um I don't know if I can but I do have a follow-up question am I is my time out it is I'll be back all [Music] right hi good evening my name is Abby Berg I Robin aine i l live than Madan I had a question about the budget so I understand that aine has something called p money payment of little taxes right and we take anything that's over the 2% in the pilot and it goes somewhere right is there a rule against the town either giving a onetime grant or Grant or a donation of some sort of monies per se that don't necessarily have to be earmarked for the schools but is there a way are they allowed to give us money I'm not saying that they would because they probably won't but are they allowed to give us money are that will go outside of that 2% but Pat so we're at 2% but let's say the pilot gets 5 million for example and the town wants can they throw USS like a million of that or is it like considered like outside of the 2% cap of the budget is this the your comment that's my first question should I just ask all my questions okay and then my second question is um I didn't hear about VCH at all is there any impact into our budget about kids who go to botch or that go or that are like only in school halftime because um I don't know if anyone's aware of it but like our votch program is a share time program where the kids are either enged in the high school for half the day in the morning and then they go out to a program certification program and then they swap it so my second question is does that have any impact on our budget and my third question is this it came to my attention recently as my son was applying to votc that there is a lack of space in our botch programs so for example in the electrical program there are 40 spots for 150 applications cosmetology had 120 spots for 250 um applications and you know I'm a big proponent for votch I want all my kids to go to votch I would like them to leave high school if they don't want to go to college at least with some type of certification so they can get a job outside of like a fast food restaurant or something like that where they don't want to go to college and my question is this does the school have any does our district have any plan on what to do with our kids who maybe want to go to votch and create a vocational learning atmosphere but are unable to get into the program what do they do for their Junior and senior here and how can we help them um thank you um the the last question just wanted to note that that the votch program is run by the mammoth County locational School District so to a certain extent I don't think we have a ton of control over that but um I didn't know if anybody want speak about curriculum at the high school for students who attend a vocational school whether it's share time or full-time we do pay a per pupil cost so you'll see that probably on the June agenda so around full-time students it's probably around 49 students because since we're Regional career center as well or is that separate sear so the vocational that get full per pupil would be CHS um biotech high-tech Mass and Alli that's outside of the like electrical programs and all that yes oh and then then the other programs are shared and we are responsible to transport and also pay for those shared as well so but for full-time students that are going to those other vocational we have probably have about 49 students um so the uh the part about what what about the students that would like to be doing votch but can't um so we as an administrative team particularly with the high school um we have been trying to get some programs that are no longer after high school trying to bring some back but budget is an issue it's a financial issue and then um I didn't know Mr Ruben could answer the question about the you know whether there's a rule related to Pilot money or you know money that the town has um whether they could give some of it to schools not sure off the top of my head but if it's a the question the board wants me to look at I can certainly do so and report back to you thank you thank you very much thank [Applause] [Music] you good evening my name is Amanda Pio and I live in aine I have two children who attend Strathmore Elementary uh aine is the only home my children have ever known I have always considered them lucky to live here and I've always spoke about my experiences in the school district with pride and positive words I was sh went on a Friday night I received a vague email letting me know that there would be Cuts but not to worry because the district cares about my children with that being said we are all aware this is teacher appreciation Meek I guess it's laughable that we are all here fighting for our school teachers who were let go on a week when we should be celebrating them to all of our staff members uh who were told they would be laid off I am so sorry we do not forget that just a few years ago during co teachers were our Hometown Heroes my question to you all is this how will this impact my children will class size change I just heard earlier there will be minimal impact how are we measuring minimal impact vague language again we are all actually here today to know what minimal impact means to our children I am leaving today unsure of that I understand that today was about the money but what does that mean in relation to the individual student what does this mean for their everyday experience I am a school teacher and I am here to let you know that these cuts are not good it will be all of our children who lose out I can't imagine a scenario where teachers are cut but students Excel I do not work in this school district but I can tell you that I have taught enough years to know that the addition of just a few children in the classroom changes the dynamic for the class and the teacher additionally I fear for our students that may have special needs as parents we ask for more transparency I know that my single voice does not make a difference alone but I hope our Board of Education really considers the impact of the choices being made our students deserve better than this thank you thank you um before we go on to the next speaker um did you want to talk about class sizes a little bit like where we're at for K through five and 7 6 to8 the high school Under This budget probably the best way to explain it we to give an example so if in a school this year there are four first grade sections and four second grade sections those sections still remain so the current first graders in those four sections move up to second grade in four sections that remains true so whatever the class size is in first grade would remain when you move up into second grade so in terms of those sections and number of teachers that has not changed when we talk about minimal impact and it was one of the statements we made in the presentation if there are family members who move into the community class size will increase because we have new enrollment so that it's always important to stimulate that to the community we talk the budget presentation to to be aware of that piece that that's why it was fit so so what you're saying is that that that there will be the same number like odds are that at Strathmore for example the the second grade um would have the same number of teachers as it has this cor thanks