##VIDEO ID:j## 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 sent to the Nutley sun on January 4th 2024 and po posted on the district website can everybody please stand for the flag salute Amer the rep stand One Nation God indivisible thank [Music] you Mr dulia Mr President I'd like to nominate Mr B as the board secretary for this evening all in favor anyone opposed okay uh roll call uh Mr balamo here Mr bagle Mrs danek Martin here Dr deia here Mr fraginal here Mr kazinski Mrs Quirk here Mr Scotty here Mr F here I get a motion to approve the minutes make a motion all in favor anyone opposed okay any correspondence uh no correspondence okay Mr uh Mr boo our superintendent report uh thank you Mr President uh a brief superintendent report um since our last meeting district has completed with the help of the DPW and commissioner scarelli the playground at St Paul's Preschool Annex uh This Grass uh playground um will will very much well suit our students uh well the district uh is also on target to open Lincoln School with a renovated Auditorium this September as work continues there uh we continue to Monitor and tracks our sections and class size around the district uh kindergarten sections will be finalized next week and variances will be considered uh there are no committee meeting reports in this board meeting since our committees did not meet they will meet before the late August uh board board meeting uh the district is preparing for the administrative Retreat uh three days over the summer where we discuss our district priorities and put processes in place for the upcoming school year as well as our new teacher orientation which will be the last week in August uh welcoming some pre teachers in teachers in the district um at our next board meeting we'll have guests uh with us from smarter self 360 to discuss a mental health pilot initiative and where District receive a grant an app based mental health program uh we hope to launch in September uh that is my report thank you Mr President thank you Mr B Mrs makus our state monitor report thank you Mr fera um starting from the beginning uh early on I met with the mayor and the Commissioners uh to explain my role in the Nutley school system uh and to review what my responsibilities were um I will tell you that all the mayor and all of the Commissioners Express support for the school district um and desire to help in any way they can which I took as a very positive uh start to a a long-term relationship um after that I sat with Mr bana and we discussed the 2425 budget there were transfers that um he felt should be made to bring the budget more in line with the actual uh expenditures that uh were anticipated we reviewed those worked on those and uh I approved those trans transfers so that we could start off with the budget that um was uh relatively uh saying uh I don't know how else to put it uh we did receive the state loan as was reported by Mr baglia um we were able to one pay our bond which was due about the second or third day of J of July as well as all of the accounts payable that had been held uh prior to the receipt of the loan uh I working with Bella we did it over a 3 four week period uh to ensure that uh we had enough cash flow in the event we had an emergency as well as to ensure we could pay our payroll uh so that was done I can tell you that we are now um our bills are being paid on a regular monthly basis as they were prior to March or April um transfers this is an area that um had and still has a lot of work to do um what was happening was that um schools or principls or principal secretaries would call in and ask to over write an account because there weren't sufficient funds uh the business office would uh do overwrite the account and then uh at the end of the month would do transfers and basically were robbing Peter to pay Paul uh not necessarily knowing what the consequences were going to be three months uh down the road um that was 2324 uh in 2425 we have um locked CSI so that no one including myself can overwrite an account uh a transfer has to be made prior to a purchase order being issued uh the principals or maintenance or athletic director have to find the funds within their own accounts uh the business office is not going to find money for someone out in a school to spend if they don't have the money um they can hope that a colleague is going to loan them either the money to purchase and or the supplies that they need um everyone uh uh we spoke we met with the principles we met with the athletic director we met with the maintenance supervisor uh everybody understands the rules and I have to say are taking it seriously uh for me the important thing is that we don't we cannot any longer overwrite an account the account cannot be overspent it's got to have a transfer to it um purchase orders is a work in progress um it's a work in progress in every school district I've been in it's not just nutly uh but getting people to understand the importance of putting in purchases purchase orders prior to a commitment of either services and or supplies um the it is important it was important for me um what was happening in 2425 and I think the year before long-term contracts for example uh private PL placements in private schools for the handicap or Transportation contracts the those are at the contract is an annual contract you agree to pay $100,000 over the course of the year that contract should be put into the budget at the time the board approves the contract for the entire amount what was happening here was that the purchase orders were put into the system based on an invoice being received so the rather than having a $100,000 purchase order you would have a 20 or $30,000 invoice and that's what would generate the per purchase order the problem with that is that those accounts were overe expended and had they put in been put in correctly that would have been seen early on on in September and October that those accounts were in trouble uh if you multiply app that over any number of areas and what you will find is a situation where um the extent of your problem was not known because the inform information wasn't being put into the system based on what I call business administration 101 uh that's been corrected the the contracts are going in at their full cost uh and um we are working with uh some of the other areas to ensure that they understand that the purchase orders have to be put in at the time of or in the case of an emergency with maintenance or the custodial area where that's more likely to happen that as soon as the um job is started that at that point they put in the purchase order immediately and not wait until the job is completed I've indicated put in an estimate it's better to have something on the books than to have nothing on the books uh so we're working on that that's a that's in progress uh one of the areas uh that we have seen uh that created an end of the year deficit was in home instruction and by that I don't necessarily mean we're one of our our staff going into a home to work with a student but rather Stu are students who may unfortunately have to to go into a hospital where they're in for a longer term uh where they are getting home instruction from professional contractors uh usually the hospitals have their own uh because of the way your home instruction system is currently set up there's no one person responsible it's in the individual schools I understand the schools are busy it may not take the same level of priority uh as I would want it to have uh and so we are still getting invoices for home instruction in August that took place in in April May or June so I have recommended to the superintendent that the responsibility for home instruction be centralized with one person who would and and a procedure set up at the schools so that when a parent calls in or puts the information on in into the system that um there's one person that would be called that person can do the followup with the uh institution the hospital to ensure that we get the information we need quickly and that a purchase order be put in uh to uh hold the money uh so again that we know early on if that account is in trouble and we are in the process uh or I say we Bella is in the process and soon Mike uh is in the process of uh closing the books um the Auditors are uh scheduled to begin certainly the early procedures in the middle of August so that our a audit is first in line so that we can get a handle on where we are earlier than what happened last year um and uh that's it so are there any questions of me uh or anything I haven't answered or told any board member have any questions Mrs makus thank you for um you know I know it's been a it's been a difficult and a lot of work that that's occurred over the last uh three months but uh thank you I I just want to say and this is this is to for me it's very important everyone with whom and I'm gonna say we've spoken uh Kent and and Bella that we've spoken I see Tim is here there's not a person who doesn't want to do it right everybody wants to ensure that Nutley [Music] uh is back to its it's it to where it should be uh everybody is cooperative um haven't gotten any push back maybe a little once in a while but haven't gotten uh any push back uh in terms of instituting the procedures uh and I I think that's important for you to know that your staff wants to do the right thing and that makes my job easier I still have to say no but um there's communication and there's understanding so I I think it's important you know your staff wants to do the right thing yes thank [Music] you okay um 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 allow comments on reports resolutions and all School related matters our board regulations number 0167 a low 20 minutes for these communications each person shall be limited to three minutes and we ask that you 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 and no one may address board members individually please remind 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 or 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 does anyone have any comments [Music] Timmy just um Tim can you just make sure that the microphone's on because we can't hear them I think they got it testing thank you hi my name is s g Swami and I was last year's student body president and my name is Harrison Frasier I recently graduated from the class of 2024 I live at 256 Whitford Avenue Nutley New Jersey and we are speaking today to address the student body's concerns regarding the current class ranking and waiting policy at nle high school as it stands the way that class rank is calculated is not transparent and is it is not mentioned in the student handbook or anywhere else the calculation method for class rank is unclearly communicated which is problematic given its importance in determining positions like validor and sorian along with class rank in particular a large issue stands in the equal waiting of honors and advanced placement or AP classes in GPA calculations whilst both classes are difficult advanced placement courses are made to be college level classes making them inherently more difficult than honors classes as such equal waiting among both AP and honors courses undermines the efforts of AP students and discourages enrollment in these more rigorous courses which are crucial for college admissions for example an A in AP Chemistry widely regarded as one of the hardest AP courses offered by the College Board should not be weighted equally with honors chemistry a much less challenging course this is also demonstrated with ap biology being weighted the same as honors biology which is a freshman level course this discrepancy is not only a disservice to college-bound students but also an unfair policy with respect to class rankings students should be rewarded for taking more challenging courses rather than than being subject to A system that allows others to obtain an equally high GPA whilst taking less demanding classes we suggest a new waiting scale with standard classes on a 4.0 scale honors classes on either a 4.25 or 4.5 scale and AP classes on a 4.5 or five scale a scale used by many high schools throughout the nation this would encourage AP course enrollment and accurately reflect academic efforts without inflating gpas moreover many high schools emphasize AP classes more heavily and nudle high school's current policy May mislead students about their compe competitiveness for top colleges the current system also affects class percentile rankings used by colleges disadvantaging students who take more challenging AP classes revising the policy to differentiate the waiting of standard honors and AP courses would ensure fairness encourage rigorous coursework and better prepared students for college admissions we appreciate the Board of Education Mr Bia Mrs gerkins and the NHS staff for the support and openness to make these changes we hope we could implement this Initiative for the following NHS school years thank you for listening thank you thank you um so I I'll let I'll let our superintendent respond but I just wanted to applaud you for coming before the board uh we did receive your email that you sent um you know a couple of weeks ago and it is something that we are we're looking into our our chair of academic is uh being discussed at that uh committee so I'll let our superintendent respond I agree with the president thank you so much for coming and advocating for what you believe in um if you're around five minutes after the meeting I'd love to catch up with you just a little more personally uh yes oure uh is going to hear um from the administration on this matter at the next meeting and considering your email which was very well written as well so we do appreciate it I know waiting has gone back and forth over the years I've been here as well as in other schools so we will consider all the information and bring it to the board for a decision thank you so much anyone else have any uh [Music] comments Mr Ferrero how are you my name is Lou magelo I live on Monroe Street in Nutley and I've been in nutly ion birth I'm a crossing guard in Town in at Lincoln School and and we have a situation where I need some stop signs I need some crossing signs I need some speed limit signs people are flying around from Harrison Street down across Bloomfield Avenue up the hill toward Lincoln School not one sign there not school zone no pedestrian Crossing there's a s there's a light that's there but that don't work no more that's all old enough and also we have a problem with people crossing the streets we have the same issue I worry about the kids just like you do um I would I requesting a crosswalk but I don't know if that's going to fly but what happens is people pull up in front of Lincoln School they can go up the hill where the crosswalk is or down the hill to to Bloomfield Avenue they're Crossing with their kids with a baby in their hand with they're not gonna walk all the way up and they're not going to walk all the way down yeah so um the this the the board of education is not responsible for stop signs and crosswalks um that that's done by the municipality and depending on the type of Road it is it could be the Essex County if it's one of their roads or the state of New Jersey depending on Whose jurisdiction it is um that is something we can discuss with with the with the the town um but it it is it is difficult as far as um crosswalks because you know state law has it has has already been implemented that at a crosswalk the cars are supposed to stop for pedestrians so um that that is the state law but but it's something that we can definitely refer back to the town okay my son's a police officer and from what I understand every corner whether it's crosswalk there or not is a crosswalk so yes that's per state law whether there's whether there's a pained crosswalk or there's no pained crosswalk that's the state law okay so I'm crossing people there instead of watching them Dodge cars people are pulling out saying oh I I had police officers on the post with me watching and you know they see the people running across street so what happens is I go out there and let them cross I'm not going to watch them get hit by a car I have people pulling up in their cars you're not supposed to do that I said listen if I don't do it they're GNA cross on the road let them get hit by a car I'm like keep going you know it's a it's a catastrophe over there and I know you guys I understand that you you know it might not be your your thing but I'm sure if you could help me out one way or another yep we we'll we'll definitely uh you know refer that back to the uh Township thank and see what we can do thank you thank you so much anyone else wishing to speak fenus Hernandez 274 East bake Avenue I'm only coming up because I know what he's talking about he's talking about the Brown Street Corner to Harrison and I am one of those people who have complained about Crossing people there because I've almost hit people with waiting to get crossed there and they shouldn't be you know if there if he's going to cross people there there should be a crosswalk until there's a crosswalk there you shouldn't be Crossing people there because I've almost hit someone waiting in between the cars to go cross for him to go cross them and now they've gotten used to him Crossing them there and I've watched people who've been up by closer where Freddy is up on um what is that Spring Street and I've watched them Park right next to Freddy and walk down to where he is instead of crossing at Freddy where their car was right there so that's like I said that is something when we're to the town yeah I'm just no I understand it's just it's you know the state law is anybody could cross it a crosswalk um that may not be the recommended route though you know we do have a uh the town has a a safe routes to school map where where people are instructed where to cross so there are recommendations that was done that was a study that was performed with the township their engineering firm and there are maps that actually indicate which crosswalks are to be used so that is something that if we have to you know put that back out to the parents but you know if somebody chooses to walk at a crosswalk that isn't painted um I mean that's that's on them as well yeah I think they just got used to him Crossing them Crossing him there like him Crossing them there and that's why but it makes it hard for you know one of those well I'm now at the middle school no longer at Lincoln this year but the people the parents got used to going there where he crosses them so it's either put a crosswalk or you don't allow him to cross anyone there at all because I said I've almost hit several people we'll refer that back to the town thank you hi Donna Ferraro 34 Roosevelt Street I just have a question regarding the state monitors [Music] um uh report which was very good can follow along and understand it but I do have a couple questions if you're closing the books and Auditors are going to be reviewing all this that happened and I know I have to ask Mr Ferraro even though I'm looking at the state monitor um does that mean that it's it's already done has the audit or is this going to be an audit to find out exactly because it sounds like you already kind of know where the mismanagement of money happens if I'm following it correctly but I'm asking in also if that's all that happened and there was no fraud uh taking place what about the errors and Emissions policy Mrs makus is that question you wantan to in I can answer in terms of the audit I can't answer in terms of the errors and Emissions policy um I'll be honest that's above my pay grade I don't know what kind of a policy you have um we are are in the process oh excuse me I'm so sorry we are in the process of closing the books that's a that's not something that we do that happens overnight we've already started in terms of closing purchase orders that are completed but haven't there's a whole series of things um the auditor we're required to do an audit annual audit every single year uh the auditor comes in and um there are certain things that we will ask them to look at in more in depth than maybe they would in a normal audit uh and um they will ensure that what we have done is correct uh and eventually come to the point where we will know the number of the deficit uh they if they saw anything in the course of their audit looking at purchase orders looking at accounts looking at paperwork looking at backup if they felt that there was something uh of a forgent nature or uh something that didn't look right uh then we would have to look into it further to determine was this a mistake because I don't believe believe any District can go through a year uh with a budget the size of Nutley uh without quote somewhere along the lines somebody typing something wrong or you know what I mean yeah or whether or not it is something that has to be investigated further if it has to be investigated further then that's what we will do and that's all part of the auditing process I mean that is part of their job okay uh so if they see something um they won't wait till the audit is finished they will bring it to our attention immediately uh and then we will take it from there based on what it is they're telling us okay that's good that's kind of an explanation that I guess we're looking for and about how long would something like this take um I would I would say the audit takes six to eight six to eight weeks of them being in and now because they they they're not there from morning till night they're in for two or three hours they'll go back to the office and take what they what they have and and put it into a form but then it will take several weeks after that for them to take everything put it together analyze it see if there are Trends see if there are uh the same mistake is being made over and over and over um we will investigate that again to determine whether or not somebody just didn't know what to do or whether or not it's uh something more than that uh so it's it it'll be September early October we've ask for the audit to start in August for the very reason that the sooner we know we can correct it for 2425 we I can't go back and undo 2324 what I can do is work with the district and Bella and Mr Dita when he comes on board to ensure that 24 is moving forward and that's my goal okay so then maybe my other question would be if everything is just a mistake would the errors and Emissions policy then cover the cost of what the mistake was that's my understanding of what that is for yeah and that's that's something that we'll review with our attorney as as more information is available okay I think the public just needs to know a lot of rumors are still going out there and I just wanted to just clear it up in my own mind but you did do a very good explanation tonight thank you thank you okay thank you any other questions to come before the [Music] board okay seeing none can I have a motion to close the public comment [Music] portion I a second okay all in favor anyone opposed okay thank you okay Mr basamo can I get a motion for um actually Mrs uh Martin uh motion for academic please yes Mr President I'd like to move academic resolutions one through two as written second any discussion roll call I'm sorry Mr balamo yes Mrs danek Martin yes Dr deia yes Mr fraginals yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty yes Mr Ferrer yes Mr fraginals fin actually I'm sorry Mr BOS Administration yes Mr President I'd like to move Administration resolution number one as written discussion roll call uh Mr balama yes Mrs danek Martin yes Dr deia yes Mr fraginals yes Mrs Quirk Mr Scotty Mr Ferrero yes Mr fraginal Finance resolutions thank you Mr President I'd like to remove Finance resolutions 1 through 17 as written than discussion a second Tom Tom Mr deia okay um roll call Mr Balan yes Mrs Dan Martin yes Dr deia yes Mr fraginal yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty Mr Ferrer yes Mr Scotty policy second discussion roll call Mr balamo yes Mrs danek Martin yes Dr DEA yes Mr frag yes Mr uh Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty Mr Ferraro yes uh Mrs Quirk will you take Personnel discussion roll call uh Mr Bal yes Mrs danek Martin yes Dr CA yes Mr fraginal yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty yes Mr Ferrera yes okay is there any old business to come before the board any new business uh Mr President if I may I'd like to recognize uh Mrs Bella palano for her work as the acting business administrator over the past couple months Bella we appreciate everything you've done and that's long overdue thank you so much yes thank you Mr B and thank you for your work Miss blank appreciate it um whereas the Board of Education will be discussing matters exempt from public discussion purum to njsa 10 call1 4-12 now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education recet the close executive session at this time to discuss service contracts be a further resolve that the results of the discussion 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 are in closed sessions no longer exist can I get a motion to adjourn into executive session okay all in favor okay uh no action will be taken thank everyone