e e e e e e e e e e e e e e evening everyone adequate notice of this meeting was provided by sending such notice to the Asbury Park Press mown patch and the Midtown Township Public School District website and the posting of such notice at the or te minor administrative offices and each elementary middle and secondary school in the district voal Mrs C here Mrs Farley here Mr Fitzgerald here Mrs Min here Mrs gaski here Mr T here Mrs Wright here Mrs toac here Mr cap here I need a motion for exec session to pertaining to litigation contract negotiation Personnel [Music] matters all in favor oppose exension see you a little B e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening everyone please stand for theed allegiance to the flag United States of America to the God indivisible liy and justice [Music] okay evening everyone to start our high school speaker is doing tonight right hi so I'll be steing in for a tonight to give some of the updates um for Start Head of the pride our student and staff member of the MTH recognition program celebrates academic excellence and new value maintaining a strong last month's award recipients include in grade n LC and michaa Herman grade 10 brandona and David Anderson and 11 Jaylen mcen and Natalie and then for grade 12 georia jaari and Alonzo AA and our staff member of the month was Mr ffel our math teacher our performing arts department produced three outstanding young Franken sign shows in the theater this past weekend the entire ensemble of this musical has received growing feedback from ources additionally students in our arts coures and the kindness Club are currently designing original murals to enliven and and enrich our campus most recently a mid North Nation image was produced here in the upper gymnasium High School North outstanding High School North's outstanding student athletes continue to earn meaningful and noteworthy postseason honors so far from the winter these include students Dylan BR and Luken receiving the honor for All State recognition from the New Jersey football coaches association and BR kinsky receiving the honor of second team allshore recognition from the Asbury Park High School North is also celebrating music in our school's month by encouraging staff and students to wear t-shirts of their favorite band or concerts they've attended on dou music Mondays recently dreu leise and Mia minson earned medals for exceptional business marketing strategies during Atlantic City's distinguish de conference we even qualifi to represent the state of New Jersey at the international competition in anahim California Girls Career Institute is a prestigious and highly selected program at Ruckers University that focuses on positive leadership and enables exploration of awarding professional opportunities High School NS honored nominees and selected Delegate for the assem honor in Kandy pakora as our selected delegate and Chelsea bter and Katie Kai as our honored nominees Andrew Gonzalez also one of high school's talented and creative filmmakers recently earned best firsttime director and best concept foral work at the bright side ofest and to five of our instrumental musicians earned chairs in the allore syonic f a remarkable achievement they include Julia McAn Ty bowler Conor Dei Eric Tolen and Anthony L lastly Community leaders have been visiting campus to speak with North Civic leaders about positively influencing Society through active leadership so far these speakers have included mayor Perry commissioner director Arna former former liutenant Governor K members of M County's Board of Elections deputy director MRA Senator oin and Senator goal thank you [Applause] next good afternoon it's nice to see all you here tonight the NJ GPA is administered to all students in gr last week all testing senly on March 12 our sa Mr peari did Lifeline presentations to all parents who attended South baby for those of you who are not aware it is a program or curriculum to reduce the risk of suicide among students the South winter sport season came to a conclusion with some outstanding performances senior Rosie sh won the 3200 3200 meter race at the overall state of champ Junior the RO became South's first female wrestler to overall state championship deing the number one and number two overall seats on group to the overall State title at 125 lb she's actually in attendance the spring Sports season or spring Sports began last week with over 400 students competing in girls and boys lacrosse baseball softball boys and girls golf boys volleyball Boys Tennis girls flag football and boys and girls outdoor track regular season competition Begins for most for most sports April [Applause] 1 the South cor T has been taking place throughout the month of March 93 teams consisting of one staff member and one student have competed in a month tour each team has on behalf of a charity of choice $1,500 raised to dat the winning team's charity and one other randomly selected charity will receive donations the finals are scheduled for Thursday March 28th come join us for South Spring par The Wedding s which will take place on March 21st 22nd and 23rd at 7:00 p.m. in the southide J meta of South sophore was selected to be all short syonic B on Tu the American Legion boy state representatives for 2024 are M scari patri Dy and myself ja the nominees for the American are Emma Dy Sophia CCO and Ava Presley Roman only one will be pick to attend congratulations to Kayla sa Andy kerser e Warner cror GG Mar luk Zine Christian Gazo Isabella campon Grace Wilson Kate cashion and Christian pre four of their films will be selected as finalist to screened at this year's count Cent great filer on March 23rd in red and congratulations to Jay Andy ker B War Ella crator GG Mariana Luke zini Christian Gaz K Cas Carson Perry ni Rodriguez Reed Mai Thomas Maro Max d'angeles Nick Mora John Johnson Aaron G Joe Cella JN Porto James kley Julia Alexandria Aiden alen Alex Adriana denoo Alex Ross Bend Martin and Michael po seven films were selected as finalist to scream at this year's can place film fesal on April 11 in Summit New Jersey mids South academic team play 6th 13th and 19th at the alltown [Applause] academic we have a presentation of Music in our schools month Mrs SC [Music] [Applause] good evening Board of Education members administrators staff community community members and students my name is Rose gulian I am the K2 supervisor of the Arts amongst other fun stuff like PE World Language and consumer Sciences March is nationally recognize music in our schools month which gives us the opportunity to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of music education for all students in our schools uh music in schools doesn't just enrich and make the school day for students more fun music education improves concentration memory critical thinking and problem solving skills it is a creative outlet that allows students to increase their own emotional intelligence and empathize with others finally participating in an ensemble cultivates teamwork and collaboration so District music staff along with the TV production classes at High School North and South kind of help me put together this little video to highlight and celebrate the music programs teachers and students here in the Middletown schools I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to shamelessly advocate for more music in our [Applause] scho but I would like to thank the board and the administration for always being willing to engage in the conversation and always looking to collect Cate about creative ways to get more music in our schools thank you and enjoy the [Applause] video which is an opportunity to recognize the importance of education for all children and to celebrate all those involved with Town School District to provide opportunities for all students to have access to music instruction grades K to 12 in grades K to 5 uses the four artistic processes creating performing responding and as found [Music] develop students engage in a wide variety of activities such as using M to interpret musing a variety of instruments instrumental lessons and learn to read [Music] to at the middle school level provid students with music instruction inand for selectives that engage students in high quality High interest literature and allow students time to listen to and create music at an Ever developing and increasingly rigorous level students can choose to participate in extracurricular band course ensem that bring the school Community together for winter is free concerts and shows this year musicians perform HS at holiday tree lighting on December 3rd at the Middletown Arts Center Middletown North and South High School students can pH in Student Center programs that home specialized skills for experience student positions and allow students to enjoy the benefit being part of an ensemble including SKS team work and practice habits for success as they participate in The Ensemble the chamber fire provides an environment that meets the needs of all students will providing a rich musically based community and chamber fire honors earns the Honor's distinction by placing a greater emphasis on musical Independence and music literacy skills in the concert band and instrumental and symphonic band honors classes students work to achieve a high level of proficiency in both technical aspects of foring Honor as well as the cultural and aesthetic students have the opportunity to participate in a performances including School winter and spring concerts music festivals competitions and Community performances both high schools have their own marching fans and local and instrumental students also have the opportunity to participate in the school winter and spring Dr Productions these are just some of the high notes music program offered by the Middletown Township School District all of these programs would possible the talent and dedication of our music teachers their knowledge skills and talents are [Music] cre always as INSP students [Music] [Applause] every thank you now we have a presentation for our student athlete recognition like to read this first everyone the Board of Education recognizes mil time High School South student athlete Thea Ro on Saturday March 2nd 2024 Thea won the njsa state individual girls wrestling tournament the had made history by becoming the first girls state champion in Middletown High School South program after winning the central regional girls tournament the previous week theer entered the state tournament as the number four SE in the semis of the tournament heia beat the number one seed returning the state champion in the finals which took place in Atlantic City he had captured the state change the board of education is proud of Thea and we commend on her and her coach Mr R for bringing honor and pride to the district and midd toown high school set I remember about 6 years ago I used to watch you with my son Frank rest of and I was always clapping and cheering for you then best six years and I'm one of your biggest fans Not only because of your greatness because you have shown me the best of the best in your class in the state of New Jersey and we are all proud of you and we thank you for bringing that to for you com the mle [Music] this coach you want to get in WIS here hold on we got one more [Music] [Applause] I [Music] you right our reports we have first instruction Mrs far yes we met last week um few things that we discussed the districts um surveyed the kindergarten teachers about use of I ready um this past year and looking forward and um some pretty interesting results overall I think the main takeaways where you know we're going to be focusing on um less screen time the minimal amount of screen time as possible for that age groups of course and um sort of less I think they're only going to do two testings in the later part of the Year definitely not hitting the kids with that right away um so that was but they overall felt like it was use ful um but we're going to be cutting back on how much we might use it at that level um for K through2 literacy program plan for next school year we um the district has hilighted a couple of reading programs um Ela programs throughout the district this year and the it's resounding winner uh was the Orton Billingham program so that will be implemented in all elementary schools p through two next year which is very exciting um um the middle school schedule um I know there was some restructuring I think in cell phone's um supered update last week there was more information regarding the um the electives that are available next year um so hopefully there's a little more clarity there I think there has been some confusion regarding the new schedule and I think that it thank you very much mov on to Student Services Mr T yes thank you uh student services also met last week um including among the things we discussed was uh we were very excited to hear and proud to announce that the athlete allies for autism Club started by a group of students at P North here will have their first event coming up on April 11th they these are high school students from North will travel to for their first event to new MTH Elementary to engage in all kinds of sports and physical activities with the autism class at moment that's the first of sounds like there be many trips by a very dedicated group of students here at north um so we're very excited about that like to definitely invite them to one of our meetings to recognize that as well um second item um that we're excited to share at both high schools but it's already live here at it'll be live south both high schools led by the leaders of all the different clubs um coming up with a kind a real time interactive single calendar that'll be available on the website where the leaders of every single Club in the school will share the date time location of their meetings of their events that can be maintained in real time so rather than uh you know an announcement in the beginning of the day that you hope everyone here is this central place that can be monitored and developed and updated in real time so I believe is is live now and Sal be shortly following behind um and then I think touch on this but there is a vote tonight to add the L Annex to the district's um footprint so that it can be part of the long-term facilities plan as we um take that on as a location for the um older student transition program thank you Mr moving on to finance Mrs do committee met on March 14th spent the majority of the meeting discussion f focused on the 2425 budget Mrs Al will be speaking about that during her report we also an equipment purchase that is being requested by the MTP for the class officers thank you what else the facilities Miss um yes we did meet Mrs caler going to give us an update on what we discussed so we met on March 11 we went over some project updates happening in High School North focusing on the 1400 hallway Acoustics issue that we've had studied and we're hoping that we have found a solution based on the recommendations and report and have ordered some acoustic panels which have been received and will be installed to improve the sound quality in those classrooms in that hallway we also updated on the High School North Cur we as you know have the contracts in place looking at timelines codes and other specifics to do that project this summer we talked about some items related to the port M sale we are moving forward with getting the njd approval that is in process U we just talked about some things that need to be done with the property before we hand it over to the county focusing on other equipment we Comm be un lies out of the building that we count may not need and some other items as we get closer to the transaction we also talked about possibly U looking well we are looking at the escj demand response program Mr Nasser our facilities director and I inform the committee that we've been looking at information and evaluating this concept uh it would be an opportunity to generate some revenue for the district for allowing for green to lessen the amount of power that's reserved for the district when there's peak times on the electrical grin we are going to get more information on it these would be events we would be informed of in advance we could decline it if the district didn't have the ability to accommodate it but we're looking to get some actual Revenue projections from es andj in order for us to evaluate this further uh we also did talk about the 24-25 budget and there is an item on the agenda tonight related to the L anex that Mr to mentioned we have to add that to our long range facilities program so that we can have that as part of our capital projects for the budget that we have proposed for the 2425 uh school year to outfit the building to be used for the transition program and that's all great thank you and now open the microphone up for public comment on agender items only make a comment please to the microphone your name and address m is there going to be a presentation on the budget oh okay report okay and we'll have an opportunity to comment after the presentation or no it just gets voted on them the next comment depend okay forward comment Proclamation this month is National Autism Awareness Month in April now therefore the resolve that we Middletown Board of Education du by Proclaim April 2024 as Autism Awareness Month in Middletown Township Public Schools and urge all employees and students to participate in Autism Awareness Month activities in order to become educated on the subject of autistic Spectrum disorders we also have National Power professional appreciation day now therefore be resolve the new mown Township Board of Education due hereby proclaimed Wednesday April 3rd 2024 of National Car Professional Day in the Middletown Township Public Schools and lastly Child Abuse Prevention month now therefore be resolve that we the miltown Township board of education do proclaimed April 2024 as National Child Abuse Prevention month in Middletown Township Public Schools I'm going to pass the microphone over to M superintendent great and I'm going to do my budget update last all other updates um to tonight we have the pleasure of honoring our educators of the year and our Educational Service Professionals of the year it was extremely well attended attended and they really do truly represent the best of Middletown so I just want to again extend my sincere congratulations to that group um I would also like to take this opportunity to commend one of our security staff members um and one of our class three officers both at New School Mike Indina and Tom um we recently had an incident at new MTH where both students responded uh were both individuals responded to a student that was seemingly choking um Mike and Zena acted to dislodge the food from the student preventing a further tragedy um but I just wanted to recognize them for being so composed and Vigilant in their duties um and certainly um you know responding to that incident um and and really really preventing something tragic from occurring and so thank you gentlemen for for your service to our district um if you have not had the chance to see one of our spring musicals yet um I've had the pleasure of seeing Thompson's Mean Girls um that was I guess almost two weeks ago at this point and nord's performance of Young Frankenstein I know South has their upcoming performance and Thorn as well um this coming weekend so um congratulations to all of our cast members Crews and staff members on the hard work that they put in and the outstanding performances they really are amazing and certainly um you know definitely right here around the corner close to home you can see a quality show um and we have some really really talented individuals on our stages um I would like to recognize all of our music educators during music in our schools month I see some in our audience so thank you guys for coming out the dedication to our students and cultivating their talents does not go unrecognized and that was just a small snapshot of the work they do with our kids every single day so thank you um we will be making adjustments to our school calendar for this year based on our weather related days I mentioned it last month that will be at our April meeting where we will um make those changes hopefully looks pretty good so far but you never know March can be funny not would um we are planning on by mid April solidifying graduation dates and then we will inform the school communities um because the meetings at the end of the month will inform the community probably mid-mon of those graduation dates that way people can start to prepare for that occasion we know there's a lot of logistics that go into that um so I am going to use a series of slides to kind of give you a big picture overview of um our tentative budget for 2024 2025 um this is kind of that 30,000 ft perspective um after the tentative budget obviously is on the agenda for a vote tonight um if that happens it then gets sent to the county and then in April we have a public hearing so that's the process from here um you can go to the next slide CH that's just thank you so there were three overarching goals um when we sat down and collaborated on Crafting the tenative budget for next year the first goal primarily was to continue to advance the district forward um and carry out some new and Innovative initiatives which I will be talking about more um later on but that was goal number one is to continue the forward progress of the district um goal number two was to evaluate our spending on the whole in total across all areas of the budget budget to try to realize the maximum efficiencies when we're talking about programs and services so really looking at everything we spend on how we spend it how we're structured and really with the goal of efficiency and Effectiveness while also providing a highquality educational experience to all of our students across the prek to 12 spectrum and the final goal was to really develop a responsible budget that balanced three things efficiencies as I mentioned the quality of Education which is that forward progress advancement of programming and certainly responsibility to the taxpayer so those were the three goals when we went into this and the lenses that we looked through um when creating this tenative budget proposal for next school year so we had some sh you thank you switch the slide Financial realities to deal with that I think are important to note um we've had a significant loss of state aid over the Last 5 Years due to S2 and as you can see that's cumulatively over 4 million almost 4.5 million so that that's a pretty large hit when you're considering loss of funding that was kind of a everye um situation where you never know until the governor's budget address how much it will be so um you know we that is something that that we have had to compensate for in our budget um over the Last 5 Years we also lost our Esser funding and it wasn't taken away but it it's it expired Esser funding was the result of the pandemic where the government infused a lot of money to support recovery from the pandemic all of those project periods related to that money were turned so all of those projects are set to sunset in September of this upcoming year um so there was an infusion of funding um for those recovery efforts that we no longer have access to the your term um obviously I think we're all aware of the significant inflation um Across the Nation and that has led to a rise in the cost of goods and services just things in generally cost more um we also have a lack of state and federal entities fully funding special education or fully funding um our costs across the District I know the governor spoke about fully funded education um and fully funded is not exactly what we would think it would be um and and we do suffer from a lack of um a fully funded um special ed cost budget or even for our general education students so these are things that certainly have an impact on how much revenue we can bring into the district in any given year um to be coupled with our tax base to craft our overall budget so with those things in mind um our tenative budget has the following numbers Associated which I'll just go through a little bit um the most important thing is that and this is something I think the board and I know the administration are really proud of our operating budget is only going up from this year to next year approximately 1% um which is which is a really small number considering the rising costs around us um and that was really the work of realizing efficiencies um at the same time as moving things forward in a productive way and when you start to think about your configuration your structure and you know how things look um within your budget you can start to realize that you can do things more efficiently to realize savings to repurpose money to other things the district may need so um that's that's a a figure that I think is really important um our total operating budget for next year is scheduled to be around $183 million um this current year it's a little over11 um million dollar so a minimal increase on the whole when you're talking about a number that large um the tax increase um is proposed at 2.95% and that creates an average um impact to the taxpayer um and you can see what the average assessed home prices in Middletown at over $600,000 that translates into a monthly cost of $17.45 per month and yearly um 20942 obviously if your home is valued more it would be slightly higher if your home would value were Valu less it' be slightly lower so you know I guess the million-dollar question is so why what are we getting for a tax increase and I think that's really important because the number one goal of this budget is to continue to move the district forward so there are some really really exciting things that are a part of this budget for next year that I think will continue to cultivate that Excellence that we experience in Middletown um and really provide our students with the highest quality of Education in a very well-rounded fashion so the first thing that I want to talk about and Mrs Farley had mentioned it is a um evolution of our K to2 literacy program we had piloted a few programs this year um Orton Gillingham which if anybody out there you know knows literacy instruction it is the premiere program for um students um at that age range to really encumber foundational literacy skills our teachers who did pilot had such positive feedback about it um not only is it a great student program but it's embedded professional development for the teacher because not only do they learn Orton Gillingham they learn a lot about the science of how students learn to read so not only is this growing skills for our youngest students in a way um that really supports their literacy growth for the rest of their educational career um it also gives our teachers insights into how kids best encumber those skills so we're going to be able to train all of our K2 and special education teachers who have not already been trained across the district um train some of our administrative team to serve as supports for those teachers and reframe our K2 literacy program so that we are really um ensuring that stud students come out of second grade moving into third grade where it's a comprehension-based year um with skills to be able to decode and encode words with a significant amount of fluency so we are excited our teachers are excited um and it is something that in my opinion will be a game Cher for this District um the second thing that we are extremely excited um and I know my music educator sitting in the audience will probably out a cheer is we are going to be moving back or we're proposing to move back in the tenative budget to full-time art and [Music] music um that will um you know what that schedule will look like it will be a full year certainly there are some things to be ironed out people to potentially be hired but um again going back to that idea of well-rounded education so you know we've heard time and time again and I'm a as you know a believer and the Arts and the value that they hold in our district um so I Believe by doing this we can create a better balanced experience for our elementary school students and also have a significant impact on our secondary programs because we will be generating interest and passion at an early age um and and that's invaluable so um that is a part of this budget for next year um in the special education world we are going to be um in increasing our district employed related Services crew so that is our occupational therapists I get another clap for that our occupational therapists and our physical therapists for the last several years we've been contracting those Services um where we pay hourly rates to um service providers but we um think it is better for our students to have consistency in the individuals that that are conducting those related services and it will also be a cost-saving to the district over time so we are going to start that migration back next year we won't be fully migrated back in year one but our goal is to overtime bring as many of those Services back to be District employed individuals and really only contract for things that you know those schedules don't allow us for so that is another large change and a really really positive thing for our students within the budget um the final piece that I just want to highlight is our um link Ro Annex as you know it's on the agenda tonight to be added to our long range facilities plan another program we are really really excited for um if you if you've been following along with our board meetings you know that um about a year and a half ago um or two years probably at this point um Mr dorgan along with our special ed Department spearheaded um the init the initial transition program for 18 to 21 year olds it's currently housed at High School South um it is really really grown into a tremendous program we will have three tracks next year but best practice is really for that program to be housed off site because the goal of that is to mimic what true life and work looks like so for students to actually travel to something that looks more like a home um prepare for their day go out to work site and then come home at the end of the day um on an off-site location will definitely enhance the experience for our students so we're really excited for that we do believe it's the next layer in moving that program further along and that will also allow us to put a service um we send some of our high school students who are looking to acquire job skills out to a site to do that we're going to be able to then realize that same type of exper experience at South in the space that the transition program vacates so we won't have to rely on busing kids juggling schedules we'll be able to house um those job based skills um instruction and practice right here in District so you know the goal bringing as many services back to campus as possible so that way we can keep our students on site so those are those are really the four major highlights that I just wanted to share um because whenever we have some kind of increase in cost on a budget I think it's important to know um what what you're getting for that and and these four things are really resounding um important things for the district um the last slide just highlights some of the areas of cost savings that we're going to realize for next year as I said efficiency is the goal so every year we do a full audit of Staffing and really it's Staffing to need right we and that and that's a process that we undertake on a regular basis so we always realize some efficiencies by looking at things like class sizes student needs Etc um so that way we staff to the to the level of need and not beyond that because that's the financially responsible thing to do um we also realized some Savings in mental health support services as I said lost a lot of Esser funding that was being funneled kind of into this area and not that we do not believe that mental health is important um but we had to recalibrate our mental health supports to really align with what is appropriate for a school to provide service for so it's the balance right it's the balance between our academic things our find and Performing Arts areas our mental health um compliments um and finding the best fit for you know our Dynamic and our Middletown School Community um as I have mentioned our related service expenses migrating some of those individuals back will be a cost savings and then finally we really every year as we do we do a really deep dive of our curriculum and we audit you know our programs and our tools that we're using because we want to make sure anything that we're putting out um money to defay the cost of that we're getting the most benefit from it and I know Mrs Farley had mentioned our kindergarten um I ready which I'll use as the example um we wanted some feedback on that because if kindergarten students aren't developmentally ready or they're not using it as much because of the age then we're going to be able to pull back on paying for that um and and and not pay for something that is non-beneficial and non-d developmentally appropriate so those cost savings are really about the efficiencies that exist within a budget and those happen year to year so you know our our responsibility as an administrative team and certainly a board and collaboration is to analyze or those efficiencies but then also plan forward um in a way that benefits the district so um as I said we're really excited we think there's a lot of tremendous things that the community um I think we'll be excited about I know that as Educators we are and um I am confident that we're going to move into next year um you know continuing to make Middletown even better than it was before so thank you um certainly if any questions come up you can email me directly but um thank you for listening and uh have a great um rest of your month of March J I just ask a question could you elaborate on the rooms that are going around about cutting Powers yes I can we are not cutting powers every year as I had mentioned we staff to need so that is a process that we undertake all the time and in every position in the district that that is that is truthful for um so what we do is you know we have students that will exit out of our programming that special education programming that is that may no longer need a par professional or may need to go from a one to1 to a ratio par so every year um we do that audit so so you know and we do believe that it that all of that auditing on all of those positions Powers included does create efficiency across the board um some years you might re have more or less efficiency dependent but there is no um there is no Mission within our budget or directive within our budget to cut um a certain amount of Paras because we are going to staff to the service level of the students that exist in our school District always but it's our responsibility to be responsible about Staffing to need and not Beyond than you I need a motion to approve meeting minutes 11 A and [Music] B discussion all in favor oppos subtensions a motion to approve business for consent agenda 12 a through discussion all in favor oppose exensions I need a motion to approve recommendation of the superintendent of schools 13A the tentative budget like a roll call can we do a discussion discussion you like yeah I would like [Music] to um everybody that knows me knows that a 2.9% increase of a budget would be a definite no for me um I have to say though with the um percentage only being one % of the operating cost going up that's very impressive for the amount of money that we have lost and that what we're trying to do to keep our students in the best area of Education I was very excited to hear the return of full day music because everyone knows that music affects every part of education and with that cut a few years ago that was drastic and so I was glad to see that I've also been through many years of people fighting for Orton Dillingham and not understanding why we just couldn't do it so I'm very grateful to that because I do believe that that's going to be a plus for our students to um Early Education and I just think that with all the areas that you're looking at and knowing that things have to change and that's how we're going to save the money to keep the budget operating at a 1% increase um it's very impressive I know some people somewhere down the line aren't going to like it but you have to realize that this is what we have to do to keep things going for our students keeping all of our classrooms in order I mean I think this board's goal this year was to not touch classroom in education and I think this is probably the first time I do we seen that happened so I'm impressed with that and I just think that um we you've done a good job putting it together and I can't imagine if we went lower we'd have to start cutting things that really do affect our kids I think for the first time this budget is in Doom and Gloom and we've talked about that every year we get the Doom and Gloom of what the budget is what we're losing this year yeah we might lose a few things but we're gaining a lot more than are going to keep our students on the up and up in um well education so I just wanted to say that part because when people have me vote Yes they're going to say what that's the first time I ever heard that but um you know I just wanted to put my my two cents in there and I think that we're on the right track and this is something we should have been doing for a long time thank you yeah I would like to say a few things um so yes I I I like to say myself I'm not I think I'm also really impressed in terms of how you and the administration have really put together this budget to make sure that services to our students are not being touched even though over a course of five years now we've lost close to $4.3 million which is outrageous that this is happening um and I'm going to continue to say it because I say this all the time uh you know I think that we as a board need to do even more in terms of lobbying down in Trenton to make sure that this finally stops you know on the legislative uh committee this year we just had a really great meeting and so we're putting together hopefully plans to be able to start doing that soon because it is ridiculous that we are continuing to lose this amount of money and then have to go through all of these measures to make sure that we can then close our budget but not touch the excellent services that we have here in District so again I'm not really thrilled obviously with a tax increase of 2.9% but in order to make sure that our students get what they deserve I think this is unfortunately what we have to do um I also want to say that I was actually really happy to hear that we are moving to Orton Billingham for k k through2 the literacy program but also coupled of that with finally doing early screening for dyslexia I will say as a parent who had to go through this and had to hear over and over again that you can't test children that young for dyslexia and then we lose so many kids in the process that I think that coupled with the Orton Bingham we're finally going to I Hope finally capture most of these students at a very young age and really be able to I think do something positive for them going forward so I'm really thrilled about that um I too am happy about full year music and art coming back in I was on the board unfortunately to CL budget fs and we had to then cut that in half and was not happy and saw honestly we all saw the decline honestly right in the interest of music right and art in our students going forward and so I think that is going to be a welcome welcome piece to come back into the curricul I'm also really happy to see that we are going to finally bring back inhouse more OT PT and speech and employ right those special services here within District I have been saying that for a while um you know we had to go through some really painful Times Obviously during Co I think we finally saw what really happens when you have to continue to contract out those Services rather than having teachers right who are able to do this and provide those services to students and I think not only will we see the savings going forward but I think we'll even see probably greater improvements in the services being delivered so I was really happy to see that I just have a comment comments um I I just have to say I also am very impressed and read all to S because when we first started this process it was a little bit much more to do room and um to come down to 1% increase overall is absolutely miraculous and so um um anybody knows and she does things 150% and she dug in I think she could probably name any budget item anybody had a question about um and tell you what we've spent money on the past year um and what we be spending it on the next year so um really kudos to you for digging in and going through what has been um kind of a painful process and you came across um lots of efficiencies and I think that it all um has always been done with keeping children in mind and making sure that we were not cutting services on those children um and trying to deliver more for them so um very impressed very thankful um and happy that we're at this point um just um I think that I know I don't think anyone on this board I know I personally do not think a 2.9% tax increase lightly it's not something that anybody necessarily wants to see um I can say that as recently as last week before um we sat down with his cell phone in the curriculum and student services meeting and she went over um all the great things that she covered here about the budget in detail I was probably going to be a no of a 2.9% increase but when I saw how she was able to you know really streamline the budget and only do a 1% increase in the operating budget um just realizing lot of efficiencies and then also not just not taking away things from our students which of course is always a concern when you have crunch but to actually enhance their education to bring back the art and music and and you know to implement or Gillingham um yeah I was really impressed so anyone else [Music] com this CTI yes Mrs Farley yes Mr fitzg yes Mrs minu yes gasi yes Mr to yes this is right yes this tobacco yes Mr yes moving on we are now motion to approve 13 B through L discussion all in favor say I I I'm opposed on C I am I am oppos also but I am yes for the nonf founded and no for the found yes for the unfounded no for the [Music] found the board members will they know of found are [Music] rest yeah I did okay um not as much this month um I have to um agree with Miss alone Friday I got to attend high school nor Young Frankenstein play and serve the senior citizens lunch um I think it's very impressive and important that we keep inviting our senior citizens into our building so that this time of the year they can see what it is that our kids are doing and what they're learning and understand why we need the money that we need to continue our education to top that though the play was fantastic um it was really incredible I can't wait um this week Wednesday Thursday Frid borne is having their play um High School Musical Junior the tickets are $10 each and you can buy them at the door High School South also has their tickets on sale for Thursday Friday and Saturday and you can go to mhss books.net and order your tickets there um you'll have to click on what day you want and get to pick your seats and then you're ready to go these plays are better than going to Broadway so if you know anybody you know relatives grandmas Aunts Uncles get them to come see these shows because they are incredible and and you're missing out if you don't so um you know support our kids and support the Arts they're you know great great activities um I also got to attend a gift auction on Friday night for baby school very well attended um I did win tickets to the aquarium that's the first and I don't look to win much but uh and uh there's a few more gift auctions coming up so take advantage I know Leonardo is doing one on um Friday you can drop your tickets at um during the day you don't even have to attend you can live stream it at night to watch to see if you win um Thorns is coming up on the 25th and Bay your is also having one on the 26th so there's plenty of fun activities out there that you guys could go join and support our schools and our kids because the money that the PT make goes straight to your kids so that's a good event and I think oh the other thing I want wanted to add under old business was um on our next facilities committee meeting could we add the River Plaza playground because I did forget at our meeting to get that update so that we know what's going on over there with the that's been boarded up in we did we did the district did submit for grant funding to to supplement project there okay I'm just curious what we're doing about the equipment that can't be used and it's on theground yes yeah and that's it for me any else that old business I'm just going to stop business first Mr debowski and Mrs whe ask if they have anything to hand I an update on another um s that I forgot to that wasn't in the um update that I thought was kind of exciting I know our M child team won recently at the courthouse um I know we won the first rounds we beat CD team which think one of our first wins against them and South so it was exciting you know week for the anything right business yep so I uh attended the alliance Municipal Alliance meeting uh this past Saturday morning so it was good to see that they were able to finally hire a new coordinator um right she's a very young woman I think very impressive she has a degree in Addiction Services and mental health um she recently came here from Pennsylvania and then now was able to afford herself the opportunity of taking this job and I think one of the exciting things to see coming out of this new position is most likely the new programming that will also be coming to the district uh so more to come on that but I think everybody was really happy to welcome Erica he's the new alliance coordinator um graduations for project CL are happening this week tomorrow night and Wednesday for the cycle two the fth GR graders I think this was one of the largest classes uh that they've had to deal with in a while it was 148 students to the point where uh it sounded like they're actually having a little trouble like housing them at this point because the other good piece of this is that recently I think over the past two years more and more parents are staying with the children when they're actually there and listening to the presentations and so um you know as Kimberly crot said you know it was a it was a happy problem to have trying to figure out how to house everybody uh in the courthouse downstairs but uh that was really good news to hear that you know the class has been going really well as usual and then they'll be graduating uh tomorrow night and and Wednesday night um on behalf of bore PTO for Joe and myself uh attended the meeting and I think one of the funniest things right now is if you really like ice cream I think it's still going on for the ice cream Wars for the Middle School um on behalf of Nicholas crey uh all the middle schools have their own flavor so everybody's anxiously waiting to see who's actually going to win the ice cream Wars uh but I know it's been a popular thing in everybody's house uh trying to go out and get as much ice cream as you possibly can on behalf of your Middle School um you know just exercise right F it's totally fun um they just had their Scholastic Book Fair it was really successful but one of the things that I really love to see out of this and all the PTA do this is that they bought all books for all the ELA classes which I know all the teachers really um appreciate and I'm sure all the students are going to really enjoy um their uh gift auction is coming up next month on April 26th uh if you are looking to get in on 5050 raffle ticket action come to me some raffle tickets I can happily sell you uh they are having a spring clothing drive this Friday the 22nd so if you are doing some spring cleaning please go through your closets and drop it off uh at bore on the back on Leonard Avenue starting at 7:30 in the morning and the final pickup will be at 4:30 so come and clean out your closets to help the school um I think that's all the big thing oh well uh also Mr Curtis just went to uh maybe Leonardo n and Fairview right to talk to the fifth graders um about what to expect when they start middle school and I believe the open house at bore is going to be this Thursday night um on the 21st great thank you very much M does anyone else have any no want public comment anybody public comment please step forward hiet D um I guess I'd like to formally request that when there's a presentation that has something to do with a vote that you do it before you ask people to comment on voting matters only do you know what I'm saying you give a presentation but then the public has no opportunity to comment on it because the opportunity com already pass do you understand what I'm saying that's that seems to be happening more and more so I would have loved to some comments on the budget but I didn't see the presentation until after it was open up to the community um I just want to start by saying I love some of the topics actually virtually all of the topics in the budget I just struggle and maybe I'm a financial person but without seeing a roll up of the numbers it's hard for me to understand using Bank cap um I'd like to understand how P Mammoth is impacting the budget um as well as I know we have been robbed of state aid for many years but this year it actually went up almost $800,000 so I was a little surprised today to hear that we were using Bank cap and I've ass the board has seen a roll up of numbers this is the first presentation I've seen that um didn't really have any but I love the initiatives um as it relates to related Services I would just I'm old enough to remember when we pushed um when we stopped having employees who were PT and speech therapists and went to contractors um we now have um select pts that have been with certain people for 15 17 years um and I would hope that we wouldn't lose them in this process um as well as some speech therapists as well who have been with the kids and it takes a while to get that relationship going so um although I don't disagree with what's happening um I just hope that's done carefully um also I never got a chance to thank um the district for um setting up the unified cheer program um it was quite an amazing um program although very short um and for any of you that could not attend the last game with cheering was just incredible incredible I I mean I don't think a typical basketball game could have been more exciting um and to have Mr a say have band to come as well um was was just a a great way to end um the program and um and we actually got some sponsors to help with banquet at the end of the year at the after that as well but I want to thank and um just make a comment that I posted something and somebody sent me a letter they sent to Mr Vanella 10 years ago asking to have a unified Cher team set up and Mr R was very supportive but it didn't happen and a parent who's no longer exist obviously sent me that email 10 years ago so just thank you all for folling behind that and here anyone else wish to make a public comment good evening my name is Jennifer M I'm an educator in Middletown for 24 years I thank you all for the time that all of you dedicate to the amazing students we have in this town it's been a few years since I've stood at this Podium to speak with you all and I appreciate your time this evening I'm requesting that the administration and Board of Education take another look at policy and regulation 7510 policy 7510 was created in 2006 edited in 2020 regulation 7510 was just updated this past May the reason for this request is in regard to performances in the district for example the middle and high schools are in the middle of their spring musicals which we've spoken about this evening I've had the honor of directing these shows for 23 years we went right back to performing as soon as we could in 2021 and had our first audience back in the auditorium in 2022 in in the 23 years of doing shows the drama club nor I have ever been charged for security the shows are an expected cination of the club that we are hired to run we apply not for the money but because to see what those students have to offer to build their character their giftings and their talents is a joy and a privilege Middletown was the first to take security seriously in New Jersey schools we pave the way we are bold courage Us in the midst of storms we are the leaders where many fall back in fear we showed all of Middletown and New Jersey that we care about the students and staff when it comes to security it just doesn't make sense to me that the middle schools as of last year were suddenly being charged for security if we are performing shows that the district wants with no budget from the district why should we then be charged for the security of the expected show I asked this question last year when it happened and the answer I received was as follows the difference between drama club and Athletics is that the ticket sales from the drama club are deposited into a Student Activity accounts Student Activity accounts are not co-mingled with the District budget they are funds raised by students to be used by students for the co-curricular club The District supports the club or Student Activity by paying for the stien of the advisor and allowing use of District facilities as a class one user however any additional fees such as security are charged two the Student Activity because the club activity is generating revenue from ticket sales athletic ticket sales are deposited into an athletic account which is part of the district's operating budget any fees associated with Athletics including security are paid out of that account which affects the district's budget so from that answer it is my understanding that paying the director is the contribution so when we were to sell tickets we were basically having enough money just for the royalty to do the show maybe some props and now adding security to this I can assure you that the money we make barely affords us the money it takes to produce the high quality shows we have done for decades the only way we have achieved this is through so much fundraising like an exhausting amount of fundraising with the dawn of this appreciation for the Arts the way we're moving forward I felt like I needed to come tonight we're talking about budget we're appreciating the artart I'm asking that you please take a look at how the Arts are being handled when it comes to this regulation $45 may not seem like much but when the royalties to do a show near $1,000 $400 for a middle school is a lot of money we value the importance of security should a class one school club be responsible for that payment I imagine I you know I was thinking about Solutions I imagine doing the shows during the day instead could save that money but at what cost parents take taking the day off of work see their children or having a couple hundred adults in the building during school hour seems to me like more of a security issue in closing I urge the administration and Board of Education to reconsider regulation 7510 in the light of the unique circumstances faced by the arts program in our district and our budget cuts the Arts play a vital role in our students education and it is essential that they are supported in a manner that reflects their value and contribution to our community I ask for your thoughtful consideration and look forward to a resolution that ensures the continued success of our drama club and the Arts of Middletown thank you for your time and dedication to our art [Applause] students anyone else Mark I want to thank you guys for uh working on the budget with the music and art that was something that I'm very passionate about and I think it's going to be benefit to all the students and especially the middle school and high school because now they're going to have students that may have otherwise uh not known what they do with music and kids that need an outlet will have an outlet now so hopefully enough time will be dedicated to that direct year uh and also I just wanted to bring up a just a suggestion take this as as you want it um I know some other districts do this potentially holding board meetings in other schools rather than just High School New York to get more um Community input people might not be willing to come out to high school New York if they live in somewhere else if you get the board meetings in all the elementary schools and middle schools and Community see the schools themselves and with the technology and broadcas just a suggestion to think about get more Community involv V before just let you know but we're trying to figure out the Acoustics issue that we have it's voted working on this actually for months good thank you have a good night anyone else wish to make a public comment Frank can I just add something to a new business thing um I've received a few Anonymous letters in the last couple of weeks and I like to answer my letters and if you're sending me Anonymous letter with information and I would like to answer you I would like to ask you a few more questions there's no way I can address your issues without knowing who you are and without getting more information because maybe some of the stuff in these letters aren't completely to the point so I'm asking if you're sending the anonymous letters I want to answer you I really need to know who you are so that I could get the facts straight and find out the answers that you're looking for I just wanted to address that because it's BEC coming a little bit more popular and um it's really hard to address your issues if we don't know who you are and we don't have all the information so that's all I wanted to say all right Jo me I'm sorry did anyone else wish to take a public comment else I wish public comment and wish me discussion all in favor oppose have a great night everyone