75 entitled open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as specified in the ACT proper notice of this open public meeting was provided in notice of January 4th 2024 said notice was posted at the entrance of the Board of Education offices mailed to the Nutley Township Clerk sent to tap into Nutley advertised in the Nutley son on January 4th 2024 and posted on the district website can everybody please stand for the flag salute flag United States of America to the rep for stands Nation God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you everyone roll call Mr raglia here Mr balamo Mrs danek Martin here Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty here Mr Ferraro here uh also with us tonight uh is executive County super thank you Mr Tores for for being here for your support um also is our B Scott Eveland and special councel Tom coin I get a motion for approval of the minutes all in favor opposed any correspondents tonight none Mr President okay um uh when the district first became aware of the gravity and complexity of the current financial situation through the auditor report it sparked deep concern among the administration aboard recognizing the seriousness of the matter we immediately took deliberate and essential steps to fully grasp the situation and begin working towards a resolution promptly the district officials communicated with the financial concerns of the appropriate State authorities and the New Jersey Department of Education we understand and share the community's concerns and recognize the urgent need for transparency we are fully committed to providing updates and information as soon as it becomes available and we will continue to coll collaborate closely with State officials throughout this process the board is mindful of rumors and speculation also circulating in the Community regarding the situation we urge everyone caution and empathy as we navigate the uncertainties of the coming weeks while challenges lie ahead we humbly ask for your patience and understanding as the district proceeds through the necessary procedures following this um we will be will open the floor to public comments um I would also like to remind those wishing to address the board that while all comments are valued please understand that comments regarding person Personnel legal matters and student affairs will not receive a direct response we ask for your thoughtfulness and understanding as individuals are responsible for their [Music] remarks I want to express Heartfield gratitude to Executive County Superintendent Juan Torres and executive County business administrator John far for their invaluable guidance and wavering support throughout this challenging process our commitment to providing the best education for our students students remains unwavering and we are acutely aware of the need to ensure minimal disruption to their daily routines we are fully dedicated to maintaining all vital academic and extracurricular programs including Athletics our steam music program extended day services and all other ongoing activities as always we are planning to host our spring events including Field Days year-end concerts picnics student celebrations our valued promotions and our high school graduation ceremonies in the cherished Nutley tradition to keep the community informed and involved the district has established a dedicated section on its website for all Communications and ongoing Updates this section can be found at the top Banner on the top Banner of the website labeled statements in light of recent developments the board has refrained from convening in committees over the past 30 days and therefore there are no committee updates for tonight's agenda included in tonight's agenda as mandated by Statute is a resolution to approve the preliminary budget budget collaborating closely with Auditors the district has crafted an accurate budget based on projected revenues in the coming month our Focus will be to on identifying efficiencies within the budget to ensure seamless operations for the 2425 school year Additionally the proposed academic calendar for 2425 is up for approval thank you Mr President thank you we now come to that portion of our meeting where we allow members of the public to address the board in this section we allow com on reports resolutions and all School related matters our board regulations number 0167 allow 20 minutes for these communications each person shall be limited to three minutes and we ask you to try to stay within this requirement speakers may speak more than once only after all others wishing to speak on a topic have been heard all statements will be directed to me as a chairperson no one may address board members individually please be reminded that if your statement is too lengthy abusive obscene irrelevant or redundant your participation may be terminated comments concerning District employees and our students will not be responded to please remember to state your name and address each and every time you address the board for questions where the board may not have immediate answers the board will take information and respond to at an appropriate time at this time does anyone have any comments and actually before before anyone comes up um I'd like to make a motion to suspend the 20 minute period for this open public meeting um so that we can give everybody in the community an opportunity to uh be heard and address the board so I make a motion to dis spend the 20 minute period all in favor opposed okay so uh anyone have any comments anybody would like to come up and he's asking the sign yeah please when you do come up and just sign your name and um provide the information is there is there a email address just name address and name yes [Music] [Music] please hi my name is Janna canano I live at 464 Bloomfield Avenue and the question I'm asking is I am the treasurer for the Community School in Nutley and we have been partnering with the Board of Ed we believe um successfully for the new preschool program and Mr B when you made your statement I didn't hear you say that the preschool program was going to be continuing so I just wondered if you had the ability to clarify that and whether or not the um option of parenting uh with uh of partnering with you is going to uh continue for the next year I can say that yes our partnership will continue hopefully it'll grow and we're looking forward to more preschool rooms next year okay thank you very much does anyone else have any questions yes you can come up just remember just to uh complete the form and state your name and address yeah my name is Danny leachi I live at 37 Morton Avenue and I'm just trying to wrap my head around this I don't understand the hierarchy of the Board of Ed but are there more than one member who's in charge of the money for this I mean from what I hear it's been going on for three years and I heard that he came from another school is there vetting like what happens I mean I don't understand is there proper vetting of the board I just my kids are gone out of school for years but I have grandkids now so that's why I'm involved I have my own headaches but when I hear stuff like this I'm just like I'm in business I would never how could you not have eight eyes on the money it's been over three years and that kind of money you know it's this is a fourth time in Mutley Washington School Spring Garden School the EMTs and now this I just don't understand can you explain I'm not blaming anybody else I don't I'm sure you didn't know so so Mr leachi um when it when it concerns Personnel matters we are not legally allowed to to speak on that um so um we can't we can't go into into anything with regard to per Personnel I I understand that but can you at least tell me that there's more than one two eyes on the money when it's that I mean you're talking about a large amount of money millions that you can't ex Mr leachi um as as the board president indicated we we can't comment on Personnel issues because we otherwise we can incur liability for the board understand so it's difficult to do that but there there is a vetting process and there is Auditors and things of that nature and the extent of this is is under investigation and being reviewed by the county superintendent with the board's full cooperation so the magnitude of it um we're just not sure until that review is done um and and again we're working very closely with the county office on this so but yeah there is a vetting process and there are Auditors and things of that and how this occurred and the magnitude of it is something that's subject to review so we have to really uh deter wait till that's done to understand the magnitude of this thing so all you guys go through a extensive vetting process before you can serve on the board what that no that's that's let me let me get sir let me do this let me do thisi ask your questions and then I'll respond on to them so we stay within the three minute concept I'll address that one when you're done do you have any other questions yeah my other question is about the preschool loty is is is any that of that going to be affected by this money like are you still going to be able to go forward with the preschool or is that going to be uh I can yes with confidence I can say the preschool is still on target to meet all its goals in the preschool Lottery okay one more question like do you recoup the money some way like if the money's gone and spent and whatever is there a way to recoup the money I don't know how and grants whatever you know with the state insurances do you have insurance on money what we're going to do is again we're we're looking with the county on the magnitude of this and then we're going to come up with a solution from the county and there's different Avenues to deal with the situation no problem but will be transparent because all these people Mr Mr Mr elachi uh this board is fully committed to being transparent with the community um and and we will share as much information as we can when it becomes available and we're able to share it um so that is a commitment from this board that we will be full fully transparent um and and also from the county and state level um there you know there's going to be transparency here so you know we can say that to you and to the community that that will occur okay thank you um Mr leachi um I just wanted one of the questions you asked as far as the did you did you ask a question about the board's qualifications the vetting of the board or the vetting of person [Music] now yeah I'm not sure exactly what you mean by vetting process but well we we are we are obviously there is you know paperwork that we have to fill out when we when we decide to run and and we are elected from by the community so [Music] so so I'm not sure who you're talking about sir but the but you have employees okay you have employees and you have the board members okay okay so that that person's not a board member that person's not a board member okay okay okay yeah now we now we we understand your question now but but yeah no that's a that's a Personnel matter and and like I said before we're we're legally cannot discuss that well we thank you um any anyone else have what's that Mr L okay sir we can't we can't comment on the personl stuff let's we want to get to people so we it's hard to have the dialogue like this we'll get people up with their comments then when they're done we'll address those comments thanks yeah does does anyone else wish to come up and address the board hello I expected there to be a line of people did not expect to be up here but I'll have two questions for you uh I am at 81 Hawthorne my name is Domenica pesi uh I am a Public Employee also a teacher in another district and so my first question is is I know we actually had this problem where we had money missing out of our budget and we ended up with a state monitor we we borrowed money from the state is that something that could happen here is that one of our options so you know we are working with the county and state officials um so right now we're in the early early process of that so um there's not much more we can provide more information we could provide provide at this time um but we are working closely with the county and and the state representatives and um soon as we get more information we will share that with the community okay and I don't know if you can tell me this but of course we all just heard about this this past week is there a timeline you can share for when the board first became aware that there was an issue and how long this has been going on before he knew that there was a problem yeah this is all very recent uh that this came about and the board immediately got the county superintendent office involved which is the state board okay so immediately got that involved and immediately started to try and understand the current situation and working with the board on it so it's very recent okay and my last question is the statement that was put out the letter that we received from the superintendent said that this wasn't going to affect the programs and our children um but $7 million is a lot of money not to affect so my next question is is that just it's not going to affect this year but questionable for next year I'm confident that this will not affect the programming this year or next year okay so I guess I'm just $7 million is a lot of money as I said so how don't understand the magnitude of this at this point so I think just to throw that number out there is probably premature we really have to understand what occurred accounting there's different things that could that can happen okay s like this they can be things like that so until we understand everything I don't think we should speculate on throwing a number out and the last well that's what I was going to say I did arrive minutes I don't know if a number was put out so there is no official number out uh no there was no official number put out okay thank you very much thank you hi I'm Laura deltufo 96 Avenue I'm just gonna sign in Mrs deltufo just before you uh you make your comment um anybody anybody that comes up and and wishes to make a comment or address the board just make sure you leave your information if you have an email address as well because we are going to be taking um you know notes tonight as far as what questions uh the community has and if it's if we're not able to provide a response tonight um as information becomes available and we're able to provide it we will provide it so if you have that information as well put it down please thank you um I have a few questions my question is could somebody describe what the board's Financial what ability is for financial oversight of the district yeah the board relies on professionals to put together budgets uh it oversees the budgeting process it has a finance committee um it has Auditors um so it has professionals and hires professionals to create the budget uh pay the bills the board approves the budget approves the bills after working with the professionals to do that so the board votes up at the big picture policy level on the finances so you receive the treasur report every month yeah the the board does get treasurers reports yes and it gets Bill lists and things like that and it does does approve all those things but again it's relying on the professionals uh to do this and relies on Auditors to cross check everything I think where my confusion comes in is I know you're saying this is very new information to the board but if you receive the treasurer's report every month and reports it shows obviously distribution of money the ending balances of the account when the ending balances are $2 million or a million dollars left at the end of the month why aren't questions raised by the Board of Education prior to this moment yeah I think if if those types of things are see those would have been asked but what we have to do is go back and and that's why we're involving the county superintendent's office to look at how this arose okay I don't think it's a simplistic as what you're saying I don't think that there's like fund balances showing and things like that and there's certifications every month that occur for the professionals involved so again I think we have to go back and wait till this review is done so we understand exactly how this arose and it arose I I took a look at the auditor's report and there was um a few line items but one in particular it was a project for 20122 with projected budget of $200,000 two years later the budget was one .9 million so that's something that the board has to approve if there's an change in the budget or overages is that correct yeah the the board approves the budget okay but again how that's broken down and that line item and why it would have gone up I I can't address that um but there could be a lot of explanations for why a certain budget budget item goes up and whether that's itemized out separately in the budget I don't know without looking at it so we're doing that again we're looking at everything with the county on this at this point so those those types of particular questions I don't think we're ready to answer until that review is done well the point I'm making is the board clearly is aware every month of what the finances of the district is and if there's overspending maybe there is a quote unquote missing money but overspending egregious overspending Bo would have been aware aware of it again again the board relies on certification that things are an over spend each month okay so again I I'll just reiterate I you know we we have to look back with the county and see how this arose okay thank you thank you anyone else wishing to address the board hi Barbara Lovejoy 32 Hampton Place I just have a question I don't know whether you want to answer it or maybe the county person wants to answer it can someone just walk us through the steps of what this process is going to look like like what are what's step number one what are you look at first and basically the steps of how this is going to go yeah what you want so right now we're in the process of understanding where we are uh in the in with the budget um and that is going to dictate what type of resolution uh we can do depending on what the circumstances are so there's different options that are available we're gonna have with the county superintendent office to determine that but again this came to light uh quite recently and again in the county superintendent there you know we're working with them to analyze exactly where we're at and then once we figure that out then we can determine what possible resolutions are necessary so who comes in and looks at the books uh the County's doing that right now with with Auditors and uh that's that's what's going on right now okay anyone else wishing to address the [Music] board hi my name my name is Susan and Sarah I live at 183 Prospect Street and um I no longer have a child in school I went to high school here I graduated in 73 my son graduated in 2008 he's now out in Colorado so I don't have a child in the school however I do have a vested interest in children getting educated in this town and and also you asked for empathy how about empathy for us pay the taxes 75% of of our TA of our taxes go to the school where's our empathy maybe not County maybe outside Auditors should be coming in and looking at this stuff not more government coming in and looking at this stuff thank [Applause] you yeah yes just to answer the question um the this the county and state they they do have outside professionals that also review this so um that that's that's part um that's part of the process that's going to occur um that will be shared with everyone when it's available allowed to share it uh anybody else want to uh address the [Music] board Anthony mcki 249 wet [Music] Street Mr niiki yeah just give me one sec all right I just got a couple questions uh Mr miliki yes before you ask the question I just want to give you my condolences on the passing of your dad I didn't have an opportunity to see you and I know that just recently occur I appreciate that um real quick I just want to when when it comes to the nutly school system who does the approval uh when you get hired when you get fired or let go who who is the one that does that approval as far as when you when you go through the process [Music] yeah so the what the way it works is the superintendent has to recommend personal personel access to the board of education and then the Board of Education votes on those recommendations okay so when somebody is is brought up for a position we know we do a criminal background check but do do do we do any other type of background checks to protect our community and our kids there's certain other certifications that that that go in there was something called pass the trash law years ago but that is more GE geared towards like child abuse abuse things of that nature but there's the criminal background check as well um that's those are the types of things that are statutorily required and and one other thing just so um in light of this situation are we gonna being that we dropped the ball on this person anybody that in the past present or future that has been hired that maybe shouldn't be working are we going to do our best to try to fix that matter with anybody whether it be bus uh anything yeah I I mean that that touches upon the Personnel issue that we're not legally able to Pro you know to respond to so okay but if if the if I have stuff I could give you that we can we could address and maybe go after that maybe we we missed you know what happens is's a lot of things that we people come in to get hired and stuff like that because I I feel as though a lot of things is we're hiring people here that shouldn't be here anymore that once we're not here so I think as a as a community we need to address that and fix that that's all that's it thank you thank you anyone else wishing to address the [Music] board Hi how are you uh I'm Steve gilbery I live at 65 mapf um I have a couple of questions um I've heard a lot about the professionals that you guys to watch over this stuff so well I guess my first question is who hires the professionals that review everything again the uh there's for employees no no I'm talking about like the uh Financial professionals that give you guys the guidance who who hires them board board hires those after doing usually like a qualification kind of okay you hired that um does hire okay um have you had any seconds about that maybe like second thoughts have we have we parted ways with those professionals already those guiding us if we have we parted ways with them are they still on the town's payroll as our professionals well I'm not sure what professionals you're referring to well you said you get guidance on the budget by the professionals right professional team there that's giving you guys guidance on the budget is that correct yeah are they still working for you as far as I know the the board's Auditors are uh still here they are and we're again we're trying to understand the process and I don't think I think the county would want them to stay here until we do the review on this and and determine exactly down the line right that's something the board will have to evaluate but once we know the facts once we know the facts I think the board would evaluate that of course okay once it knows the facts and what occurred and whose fault it was okay um so okay that's all you guys thank you thank you anyone else wishing to address the board what um my name is Liz Wakeland I live at 22 oakrest place um I came here tonight uh to get someity about what's going on and uh not listen to the rumor mill um which will tell you anything if you around enough you've said a lot tonight about what you can't comment on can you please tell me what you can comment on can you tell me what facts you do know um where we stand anything besides we can't comment on it anything so I think you know everything that uh the board president and the superintendent read in their statements uh when they have information available they will be able to put it up on the website they'll be able to distribute it to people um you know we are trying to analyze with the county where we stand and and then determine what the solutions are going to be and what has to be done um that's what we can put out there right now um as far as like Personnel issues and all that we we can't comment on it but the board will do everything to Personnel wise that you can trust and rest assured that that's going to happen um and we're trying to analyze again what occurred exactly magnitude of it and that's where we are with the county superintendent's office so as the board knows information and can disclose it okay based on the law that's out there um it will and it wants to okay but it's under certain legal restrictions that it can't do certain things at this point in time until this review is done all right fair enough but then in other words myself and the people who have come to this meeting to get more information are not going to be getting it tonight and and it's it's very understandable um this and this the board you know sh in that too but it would kind of be irresponsible for the board to go off with half truths or not get into the bottom of something it's an ongoing investigation right now and it's it's totally understandable that you would want to come to this meeting but since it is so fresh and the board I said they're committed to making sure the public gets every bit of information uh that they deserve but right now at this it's just timing it's on the timing okay can you speak it all to um the police involvement with this I can deal with it yeah right now we're not aware of any facts that require any kind of police involvement on this how how could money be how could this amount of money be missing and there not be police involved there could be a lot of reasons it could be accounting erors could be like budgeting no but but you don't you don't know that it involves Po and again we have the State Board of Education the county arm of the State Board of Education here analyzing all of this and if there were a circumstance that required it the county office and this board would refer it over immediately okay we immediately would but right now we're not aware of any facts it's pending like review and the analysis is being done correct okay thank you sorry I'm nervous my name is Venus Hernandez I live at 274 East Pake Avenue um I just have a few questions for some people that aren't here at the moment um does the main Reserve really only have $40 where it had $700,000 last year I'm sorry can that does the maintenance Reserve really only have $40 where it had $700,000 last year in it yeah um I think I have so again we're looking at this and to determine what's in all the accounts how we are uh or why we are where we are today but we can't comment on any of these particulars until we have the county uh review completed with us okay um can you at least explain why the maintenance doubled this year compared to all the other years if you look at it over it it's you know it's fluctuated but it literally went from 1 million to $2 million for the maintenance on all the buildings and there was no real major Construction done for those maintenance fees to go up double again we we have to look at whether there's a legitimate reason behind that and why we're at that uh that circumstance and again every line item in that budget is going to be scrutinized with the county um to determine exactly uh you know what is the circumstances right now and what has to be done to uh correct the issue okay what is the okay so my next question is is what's the process to hiring a company to come do the work on the buildings do you guys take a couple estimates or did person does somebody just decide who's going to do that work like how do you decide who gets hired there there's legal requirements to any type of purchasing bidding all the state laws uh that have to be followed depending on the level of the expenditure how you go out for bids for certain uh things in order to get those competitive bids or to get competitive quotes based upon other threshold and as was said before in terms of Professional Services it's done through proposals it's where it they're solicited by the professional uh and provided with their background and experience and then the board evaluates that so there's all state laws in terms of how purchases are made by District okay how do you prevent it from being somebody that you know gets hired to do say changing all the locks in the Middle School how do you how do you decide you know that decision get made when it's this person's son-in-law who did all the changes so how did that get decided over the other people over anyone else like we we'd have to look at the S this that specific question I'm not sure the answer to your specific question but there's there's as uh uh the board counsel said you have restrictions on low bidding and things of that nature and having to get quotes and all that so I don't know the amount of that contract we'd have to like look into the circumstances on that to get back to you we could do that but there are a ton of legal restrictions on how you award contracts low bidding um you know and and different criteria that dictate who gets who gets the contracts that's also you know that that that we're we're we're allowed at to go ahead and use some of the vendors that are on those co-ops that have already been have gone through that legal process at the state level county level those are also available for uh for the board to utilize okay so d the investigation will you guys be looking into all the contracts people hired to do maintenance on this building especially to all the people that he has known and he did this in Linhurst we'd be guided by the county on that but I'm not sure those circumstance if you have circumstances that you want to bring to the board's attention do submit the information you have to the superintendent everybody he's hired okay I think us as the community that's the biggest question for everybody is that he you know he's hiring people he hired people he knew and then what is that is he getting Kickbacks on end I'm not saying it for you guys for the board but this is the biggest concern of everyone here okay well again we're we're going to deal with the Personnel issues um but we can't comment on any of those no I understand I'm just trying to the point of view of where we're at understood we'll deal with that we'll definitely deal with that um and again working with the county to determine you know exactly what occurred all right thank you thank you any else wishing to address the board that's all how you doing my name is Eric gu D2 Garden have U my question is for the county people I came in a few minutes late so I don't know if I'm allowed to address them yeah okay yeah our our County Superintendent is not here to um answer questions he's there he's here just as a as a representative and uh just as a support for the for the district and your comments should be directed to the president yeah and you could direct you could direct your comments to me and if something that can't answer today we will make sure okay so my question was going to be in the county with whom you know has been called in what's their experience dealing with issues like this in the past so that's something that we you know we're not going to be able to respond to right now but we will you know we will get that information out okay then I guess what my followup to that was going to be in Prior cases where the county was called in for Township you know what was the timeline for the deliverables you had mentioned like you know the report to be completed obviously it kind of all depends but just looking for some previous ansers it was you know a couple of months a year yeah we don't have that information for you right now but that we are in the process of obviously working with the county uh but as as we do that information we will share that with the community okay the the other thing I'd add to is the County's just an arm of the State Board okay so you're not dealing with just the County's experience you're dealing with the whole state and that's what I was kind of getting at is you know in the past how long has it taken you know I know we can't get specifics about this but if we know you know it's something that you know the shortest takes six months it may kind of you know get people to calm down a little bit yeah I'm I'm assuming that every Situation's different um but but we will get that information with you for you and and share it with the [Music] community anyone else wishing to address the board hi good evening Maria Hamin 32 R avle New Jersey um Mr President and board as a retired law enforcement officer I truly understand the importance of conducting a thorough investigation I understand we cannot about Personnel issues uh however my first question is what corrective actions have been put in place to prevent similar situations from happening again again I apologize for harping back to this but it's just kind of where we are in the process right now until we have an understanding of exactly why we're at this point right now um corrective actions in place right now without knowing why we're at where we're at is difficult to do so have an understanding of that which will come hopefully quickly with the county uh we'll put processes in place and we have taken Personnel actions okay I don't want to comment too much more on that but we have taken Personnel actions to prevent anything further from occurring okay so the second part of my question is who is our interim business administrator at this point or will that be voted on this evening uh that that that will not be voted on this evening uh that's something that we're we're working with our Representatives at the county and state level okay and I have another question if I have time it looks like I still have three minutes because somebody forgot the clock got a windfall uh uh once it's deter determine uh the exact amount that's missing whether it's missing accounting error whatever it is uh if it is in fact a criminal matter that we are dealing with can we have a commitment from the board that we will be pursuing criminal action against individual or individuals involved in this I see some people shaking their head yes but can we have an affirmative or negative response I I mean the board is Comm I mean the board is committed County to the state officials they are reviewing uh the information uh if if it's determined that there is a legal course of action of course this board is fully committed okay I think we as a community I don't want to speak for everybody here but we as a community uh may feel more comfortable that if we know that there are penalties to people's action and the last question I have is there a freeze right now on any of our spending I'm sorry can you repeat that is there a freeze on the spending with the board right now or is everything business as usual aside from obviously just happen is there going to be a freeze I I'll tell you that while we're looking at the budget uh school's still going on kids are showing up we're teaching them we're providing paper and different things we're doing everything we need to do right now to educate our students okay and I'm sorry I do have one more question if it is found that an individual or individuals are guilty of stealing whatever amount of money and I know you cannot commit to a number which is part of people's frustration but understandably an investigation has to happen uh there are a lot of rumors out there about the amount of money that is uh Missing will the board pursue a restitution for that moving forward uh Miss Hamlin I you know as I stated before we are working very closely with our our County and state officials uh if it's determined during that investigation that it's a legal matter that needs to be referred to uh the Department of Justice um that is not something that that that's something that's going to occur that is not or that is something that is going to occur I'm sorry well I mean but that's that has to obviously follow that course of action right they have to determine that in in their investigation I understood but will the board will the township of nutly Board of Education request restitution as part of that process we will do everything in our powers to to to pursue any matter that is determined to to be of a legal nature okay thank you and if oh go ahead I'm just gonna say if I may as as as a former police officer as well you have to go where the facts lead you and right now they're in the process of gathering the facts now understood these are questions that people have had they may or may not want to come up to the microphone to ask them so um you know we just want to have some clarity we understand you can't share all the aspects of the investigation as it does take time um so that's it thank you yeah and thank Miss haml thank you for that um but just to be clear right this is this is investigations and and that is being done at the county and state level no we understand that so thank you thank you anyone else wishing to uh come before the board hi y'all um my name is Chris Kino I live at 269 Harrison Street um I just have one General concern um I have two kids at Lincoln School as you all know there was a fire there six months ago at this Point nothing has been done I hear a lot of hearsay about insurance money I'm just curious what's the status on that and does this overall issue that we're experiencing now is that going to impact it in any way and what are we looking like for having something for the kids on U come September yes uh so where I picked this up it seems like we have the insurance money in and we're working with our building and grounds to complete the project for the beginning of the school year next year okay thank you anyone else wishing to address the board uh Nick fry 66 North Spring gardav uh I know you can't talk about ongoing investigations so I'm going to look to the Future how much Faith do you think the community has in this board right now yeah so look I the board is doing everything within its power right now uh to deal with this situation and if if they had more facts available facts either they're looking into this you hire people people um you have Auditors uh you have County oversight there's a lot of different layers to this and you know these the board are part-time people that don't get paid okay are elected and rely on professionals and set policy for the district so um you should have every faith that this board is going to deal with this situation it has been dealing with this situation promptly getting the right people involved and and it will pursue every legal angle it has to pursue I have a couple follow-up questions because if this room does not have faith are we going to get a referendum passed to add an addition onto the school to F the auditoriums that are falling apart to put money back into the school system we've already failed on that twice what is your plan ongoing to fix these problems within our school um this board of education um in the past has presented plans to address those issues um through referendums that were defeated by the by the community um you know at this time that's a discussion that you know we're going to we're going to continue to have uh um it's a difficult discussion at this point um but but that is a need that is is out there it's something that we're aware of um you know unfortunately right now there there's no time period as to you know when that that that referendum type work or or project would occur was there going to be before this excuse me was there going to be a time frame before this happened uh that we were we were looking at that yes yes there was no time specifically but we were looking at uh at that I know you can't fully ask this or answer this but again looking towards the future and this community and this great community that everyone is here to support our kids are the ones that may or may not suffer we don't know how much is that going to affect us that taxpayer come the future numbers are being thrown out there I'm not going to get into any of the rumors don't care about the rumors how is that going to affect us to help put money back into this again I you know it we have to wait and see what the county finds um to answer a question like that it's just it's impossible to answer that without knowing exactly what the circumstances are for right now you just don't know the impacts going forward at this point I work for a multi-billion dollar Corporation I deal in finance I work in cash flow I understand how that works if you're short I'm number out there just bear with me million dollar that has to get made up somewhere where is that made up again you have to it depends on what the number is it depends on reserves it depends on different things budgeting was it a budget like accounting issue we're speculating right now okay and until we have the information and everything is confirmed would beess to to discuss that stuff um so that's really where we're at right now we have to make those determinations once we have the facts okay you does anyone else wish to address the [Music] board do I have to fill this out with my name again just uh just state your name and address again you don't have to write it down twice Venus 274 East Pake Avenue um question if he's let go how do you are you put someone in there with the right qualifications like an accountant that should be in that position someone who knows how to work budgets and all the right people all the right stuff so so that's a that's a Personnel question that we're not able to discuss okay um okay so this one's a question from somebody who's online I know what your answer is already going to be but I just I know what your answ is already going to be but um meetings overall budget meetings getting guidance from experts as you stated how can the community honestly think that any current board member should not immediately step down and resign matress yeah I I mean again I think I answered that earlier okay you r on the the people uh who report to the board who sign certifications every month as there there being no overex expend and the accounts and things of that nature um that's how this you know that's the way the board has to operate they're not full they're not allowed to you know meddle in the day-to-day operations of the district even okay so they have to rely on people rely on certification and things of that nature um you know so I think I did address this earlier okay um hi Liz wagland 22 oakrest place again um I'm asking this question on behalf of people who are online um and watching um and again I realized that you probably will not comment on this what role does M Wilson the Secretary of school monies have in the budget committee meetings and overall bleed of the accounts over the three years according to the public audit especially in light of her resignation yeah again I mean the president's been talking about these things these are Personnel issues which we can't comment on publicly all right we just wanted put that on record thank you thank [Music] you is there anyone else that wishes to address the [Music] board Dominica P at 81 hawor and since they came up twice I thought I could come up one more time I just have one more question I don't know if you can comment on it but can you tell us how the board became aware that this was an issue like what happened that you became aware that there was an issue did a check bounce like what happened um so I don't know if you missed our opening I did statement but um uh the board became um aware of some Financial situations through the auditor report that raised questions and and how often does the the auditor report come out uh auditor report comes out once a year once a year okay so it could be any time in the last year that this happened then well no the order the audit of report usually uh occurs uh after the close of of a school year um okay so the last since since last June I guess and July doesn't come out for a number of months after okay quite a while in this instance the auditor's report was um was issued in um early to mid-February that there that there was a negative balance or it indicated that there was less than you thought uh there was there was just some some some questionable uh you know points in there that that just kind of made the board uh ask additional questions and and and look to look look at certain areas with it okay does the board have enough money to get through the end of the year paying salaries paying bills th those are the discussions that we're we're having right now with the county and state at the state level okay thank you thank [Music] you is there anyone else that wishes to address the [Music] board okay seeing none okay thank you everyone um we're going to close the public uh comment portion of this meeting um I want to thank everyone in the community for questions that uh were not answered uh we just ask that you continue to be patient as this process um occurs um you know we are dealing with the county and state representatives uh and and as as we stated before as soon as we are able to share additional information we will this board is fully committed to transparency with the community um we have a website that we um we're going to provide updates as as best we can when it's made available and we're able to share it uh but we we do want to thank the the community for coming out tonight um so with that we we're going to close that portion of the meeting um Miss danek Martin uh can I get a motion for academic Mr President I'd like to move academic resolutions one through three is written second [Music] discussion roll call Mr baglia yes Mr balamo Mrs danek Martin yes Dr deia yes Mr fraginals yes Mr kazinski yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty yes Mr Ferraro yes Mr kazinski will you handle Administration yes Mr President I move resolutions one and three one through three as written discussion roll call Mr baglia Mr balamo yes Mrs danek Martin yes Dr deia yes Mr fraginals Mr kazinski yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty yes Mr Ferrero yes Mr bagia Finance resolutions Mr President I'd like to move uh uh resolutions 1 through 14 in finances written second discussion roll call Mr baglia yes to all items with the exception of check number 27667 in number two Mr BOS uh yes number one uh with regards to resolution two uh yes to all but check number 27667 yes 3 through 14 Mrs danek Martin um yes to all accept resolution number two um check number number 27667 Dr deia yes with exception check number 27667 no receive Mr fragen Els solution two check number 277667 Mr kazinski yes the all of Finance resolutions number two except for Bill number 21 7667 Mrs Quirk yes to all resolutions except for under number two resol check number 27677 that's no Mr Scotty ex Mr F yes to all with the exception of check number 217 667 under item number two Mr basama will you take uh Personnel please yes Mr President I'd like to move Personnel resolution one a through discussion g g roll call Mr baglia Mr bamo Mrs danek Martin yes Dr deia yes Mr fragels Mr kazinski yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty yes Mr Ferrar yes uh is there any old business to come before the board any new business okay whereas the Board of Education will be discussing matters exempt from public discussion pursuant to njsa 10 col 4-12 now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education recess to close executive session at this time to discuss Personnel anticipated litigation in service contracts be it further resolved that the results of the discussions will be made public by inclusion on the agenda of a subsequent meeting of the Board of Education or when the reasons for discussing such matters in closed sessions no longer exist can I get a motion to adjourn and to Executive make the motion second okay all in favor all right okay um dotion to okay I need a motion to adjourn okay thank you thank you [Music] everyone you don't have anything