good evening everyone um we are going to continue our work session and I will begin with a very brief president's report I just want to let the board know that the Chamber of Commerce luncheon and installation will be held on March 19th I believe at noon at the Renaissance and um as everyone remembers from the past and for our new board members um they honor uh some of our high school students with scholarships so if anyone is interested in attending and I did hear through the Great Vine that someone else will be honored saw that our superintendent I believe is receiving an award is it the educational ambassador's award it is yes okay so you know if you'd like to come um please let me know or let Miss welda know and um we would love love your support there for our students and our superintendent and that concludes my report and I will go on to the superintendent report okay thank you very much I wanted to update everybody we had our preschool lottery yesterday morning in this room here uh it was an exciting day we had a few people in person and many many many people online we are happy to say that we did place 159 students in their home school we have 19 students on our waiting list um they are they come from the Wayside section of town and one ofasa everyone at the otes school was placed so 19 students remain on the weight list and we have a total of 27 seats seven of those are at OT and 20 of those are at acelero Learning Center so the first thing we're going to do now are is to call the 19 people on the wait list to see if anyone uh is interested in a seat at acelero sometimes families have a sibling at asero so trying to figure out where people want to be placed anyone who doesn't want to take that seat remains on the wait list and then we will pull names for the seven seats at otes again a person can decline that and just remain on their weight list for their home school so once we've been able to do all of that we feel also the 159 families that were placed have until next Friday to register officially some people turn away their seats we've already had one turn down their seats so once that's all done we're we're very hopeful that the 19 people on the waiting list will find a place in our preschool program and that we will be able to move into next year without a weit list at least not the original weight list um so we're we're very excited about that we did based on the applications that we received we had more than enough seats at OES and not enough seats at wessa so so we did go back to our buildings to review space and we able to move what we had planned for at ootes we were able to move that to wanasa so that more students could be at their home school uh versus less so that was a good thing that was a great thing that we were able to find a room um at wmasa for this so we're feeling good about where people are placed and we may need next year one more room we think Poss we'll see how how things shape up as we head into September but that's the preschool update and then just a lot of really great things coming up this month this half of the month this Thursday night is the districtwide art show at the Township Library um all of our student artwork from kindergarten to 12th grade will be on display at that at the library and there's sort of the gallery opening that evening the artwork stays up past Thursday night but Thursday night's the kickoff um our Intermediate School has me Mean Girls Junior starting this weekend also high school has Mean Girls uh playing later in the month two weeks I think from now um and then also we have next Tuesday night the mammoth County School boards Association eighth grade dialogue and I believe Mrs Gilman will be in attendance there to represent the Board of Ed right so that concludes my report thank you we will move on to the school business administrator's report Mr Hastings um I'll withhold my comments for the budget thank you thank you Miss I just wanted I'm sorry I just wanted Mr Hastings for the role to know that um Miss Gilman is online I she w't sure got that okay um right now we'll move into our public comment regarding agenda items all motions are posted on the on the district website at this point in the meeting we will now conduct the first of two public comments sessions the first session will be open for public comments on agenda items only and the second session will be at the end of the meeting and can be on any topic being that there's no one in the room except for Mr Cass um would anyone from the public like to comment on any agenda item at this time Mr Cass no I'm good okay so I will ask Miss Conway if there's anyone in the queue no Madam president there are no commenters in the queue okay thank you so much and with that we will move on to financial management and that would be Mr Weinstein uh um okay let me get this up here sorry about that um budget discussion is that all it says is budget discussion here too for you budget discussion oh yes okay so we're gonna discuss the 2024 2025 budget probably a good idea Jeff if you kind of LED this discussion right thank you appreciate that Che for the J Che for yeah thank you Mr no problem and thank you Miss Conway for putting up our slides um I'll stay here unless anybody wants me to make you all turn around for the podium um so we have a couple slides to go through again this is a continuing update on our uh 2025 school year budget which believe it or not is is upon us already um this week the uh governor gave his address um actually last week last Tuesday he gave his address State a was released last Thursday uh I'm happy to report we did not receive any cuts to our Aid uh I'm disappointed to report we did not receive any increases really to our Aid so uh basically for our K to2 Aid uh we're flat um if we go through and take a look our transportation Aid stayed the same at seven uh 1.7 million uh and there we had previously thought we might lose a little bit based on our drts report and a slight reduction in transported um special ed students um our extraordinary Aid is is remaining the same and that's an estimate of of cost that will be reimbursed for again for special needs students uh and some reimbursable Services um our categorical which is our state aid for special ed students we did see an increase of of uh $23,000 um security Aid stayed flat and our adjustment Aid as well which is tied to our S2 formula State flat as well so we're very happy about that um on our preschool budget uh for 2024 the district had received about 3.3 million based on 209 students uh for 25 uh the district was awarded $4.2 million based on an increase of about 48 students uh bring our total to about 257 uh so again that was enrollment driven and there was a small bump also with a slight increase on a per student aid from the state uh so that was um um great for us in terms of moving that program forward um and the other thing I wanted to point out here on our um on our Revenue slide is basically the last item which you can see says budgeted fund balance additional stabilization Aid and again that was a special award last year of $32,000 uh based on a restoration of two-thirds of our lost aid uh and we do not expect to to do or see any additional Aid to the district this year I've spoken to the county uh business administrator today about the June uh legislative meeting and and what her opinion or feeling or what she was hearing after the governor's address where where he um increased education spending by 900 and some million dollars uh increased U the preschool spending by about $125 million uh so my question to her was uh was that well received and and should we expect any uh changes come June when the legislature votes on the governor's budget and her feeling was that we look pretty solid and we probably should not expect any changes to our Aid in in June and again that's you know today as of today and with the information we have today so we can't guarantee anything but it look good that we won't have to come back in June and absorb any kind of of losses so so that's all good news next slide please uh again we want to talk about our Capital Improvements uh we did go back and and look at the uh Priority One items uh there's one item on this slide and one on the next slide uh we did discuss and touch on our Stadium lights at our last meeting and the need to seriously look at those and then the condition that they're in and assess the need to replace them um going forward uh we do have one or two lights that are out that cannot be repaired uh in talking to our buildings and ground supervisor uh our lights have been there since uh his feeling is the 80s since the mid 80s um we have had the contractor out to look at them and do some repairs on them uh but given the prox to the ocean the Salt Air the corrosion that takes place that we all hear about so often uh the internal wiring the ballasts those sorts of things are not in good shape and and in certain cases the uh repair folks don't want to touch them because they're afraid that they'll disintegrate and and not be repairable so can you wait until after he's done well are we going so my question is are we going to this line by line with questions or do you want to wait till all the things are go and then go line by line how about when he's done with this slide and then is that okay I have no I could go either way okay great U so again one of the ways to look at this uh is not funding it through our operating budget because it is a large number uh but we do have capital reserve that the district sets aside for these sorts of purposes uh for these uh large numbers that come up that uh we need to to replace or make repairs to uh the district started at July 1 with about $6.2 million in our capital reserve the board at its last meeting approved the district's portion of our Rod grant funding so again that's for the entire replacement of the roof at da and it's for the um completion of of roofing Replacements at Wayside so recently we replaced a certain a section of that roof this project will replace the rest of that roofing material uh so uh aside $2.7 million to address those and again 40% is funded through the state 60% by us uh which would leave us a balance of about 3.5 million doll in our Reserve accounts so our Reserve accounts as you may be aware are accounts that we set aside again for these purposes at the end of each school year if there is funding uh available we move money into that account to and try and keep that uh stock if you will or or or solvent so that we have money going forward for these sorts of things uh but again it is an option for the district and the board to look at the lights or or any other project you may see on here and and determine that we'd like to fund that problem through our capital reserve so the plus to that is it does not impact our 2025 budget in terms of any shortfall or or fund it through current operating funds uh so again that's a discussion for the board and superintendent in terms of priorities and where we are again we like to keep balances in those accounts for these unexpected costs that come up but the money is available so with that I'd be happy to take any questions on this slide Mr wein right so the so the the capital funds um designed only for Capital expenditures not for operating budget and staff all that kind of stuff right that's correct it cannot be allocated to that that's correct so my my my question about the 400,000 um first off how long has it been since we had an uplift in the lights since we had a an uplift in the lights like is this like the first major thing that we've had to do in like 10 years or do you know like what the because I can't remember ever seeing this kind of number for lights I because it gets cut every year because it gets cut every year so we' been so right so my understanding is that the lights have always been sort of a a an item that's out there that people are looking for us to to address and take care of the lights we did have a a safety concern during football season with One Bank of lights going out and you know we obviously want to avoid that um that again was a power issue not necessarily A lights issue but but we are at the point where we can't really count on repairing any of those uh lights so my understanding and folks can correct me who've been here longer is that this is an item that regularly appears in the budget but because the cost is is uh not prioritized and right now the capital the capital maintenance budget is that what you had we have a capital reserve capital reserve you feel we have a maintenance Reserve covers this well yes um two question two well a comment and a question I think it's important also to know like I think it's it's always been cut and I think but I think it's also important to know that the lights are not just used for football they're used for many many things including um some you know like um Town soccer practices a lot on our field pays for our lights to be on at that time so I think it's important to know that it's not just for one season a couple of games or whatever that's number one number two do you know by chance like how much in the last couple years we put into capital reserve and has it been zero for five years has it been you know we put a 100,000 in this year and you know it'd be interesting to know how quickly we we are usually building that back up um to know that if if 200,000 you know is is a number which I doubt it is that we put in every year then it's also almost thinking like this might be a 200 you know like 200 would have went in the capital at the end of the year you just to know maybe if we can see what what the history of the deposits in the capital so really a net reduction of two instead of four based on an addition so uh at the end of each school year in June the board we present and the board approves the ability for us to deposit money into the reserve accounts we usually approve an up to amount um and I I believe over the past several years we have been able to make contributions to that account so I can get back to you it to the board with with the schedule but people want to know I just think it'd be helpful to know how quickly Mr Shan a little hard time heing so if you said this I apologize but is it prior for the liks is it Priority One just for the athletic uh department or is it Priority One from a scho function well perspective so I would say two things one it's a priority because they're getting towards end of life and the fact that we have uh contractors coming out to look at them that refuse to touch them creates a a priority or a need and as was mentioned not only do our own athletic teams our soccer teams our football teams and others activities uh that the school participates in but the community as well utilize that field for different purposes so again looking at the broader use of the field um it's considered a priority plus I I I believe it to be the Touchstone of our school district and a place where all students of all ages come with their families to celebrate different activities and events I think it adds to the spirit that we have in this school community and um I worry that if we were not able to do this changing games to daytime and the interference that might have on some of our recck programs I worry about how that would would negatively impact school culture yeah I agree everything said Miss Stam did you have a question um more of like a comment question um and to go off what Kelly said and kind of to go off what John said at last meeting have we talked to the PTA and to the community of what we could possibly do to help with this in not just using the school budget but to see what the community and the school can do to also bring this to life because like Kelly said this is a Cornerstone of our school I'm sure there's many people who would love to get involved to make this happen and not just be using just a school budget for that so have we looked into that is that something that we can bring to the community bring to the PTA so I speak with the p ptas at minimum once a month we together often discussing the struggles they have with raising money for the programs at their schools have not specifically said are you willing to help fundraise for our lights at our Fields um certainly a topic I can bring up at a future meeting um just okay is was that your question no I'm just telling you the yeah all thank you for telling me camera go ahead Mr Doon Mrs Gilman okay all right Mrs Gilman Miss Gilman you're muted muted I'm not on line all right just to follow up What U Caitlyn and Amy said yes this this is a a community a community issue and instead of the PTA we might want to pursue Community fundraising for this because my fear is that $400,000 um taken out of our capital reserve so that would leave us with like 3.1 million but anything can happen to any of our aging um structures and to replace these Stadium lights first of all I'd like to take a tour of it and see it I don't know if other board members uh would be amenable to that but I'd like to see them firsthand and secondly uh instead of the PTA U booster club other uh businesses in town fundraising of that sort to uh put in toward the $400,000 I think we should pursue that as well I'm sure we could probably check with like the sucer club and um a and I feel like Turf is more right well that's that's true uh let's go to Mr M well so so I think to and then this is where we get to a gray area with budgets and it gets tough right it's like 400,000 can come from anywhere right you know you could you could apply to something else later on and and say like hey we are going to take it out of the capital expenditure there's there's abilities to move things around right so whether or not somebody is fundraising for that specifically or not is a kind of a question but so the reason I bring all that up is to say like in terms of executing this like can can the can the district right now that is telling us that that this is a priority One requirement that this needs to be one of our choices for this year can they operate during budget season right now in the gray area of like we're going to start talking to people today about potentially fundraising for that or is that just going to push this further down and back you up even further when we're trying to execute a budget because that's what I'm worried about I but you I like the idea it was my it was something that I said and continue to pursue I am actively not actively I I've said in public session that I think is extremely important but is it executable right now from the from the opinions of district and would we be better suited as a board to encourage the community to start focusing on things in the future like a turn field that is going to be used by the entire District or some other thing that we need money for that maybe isn't Priority One today but we know will be in the future and like we say this all the time right like we we bring this up a lot that we don't we don't plan as a district for the future because we can't because the state doesn't give us the opportunity to maybe what we can do is start to plan for something that we're going to say we're the town is going to bootstrap and figure out themselves that and I I I didn't really give you a question there so what is your opinion on that are we going to impede progress by saying let's try to push people to fundraise we would most likely not be able to wait we would start working on secondary plans for daytime events in fear the lights go out at in at a night event where we create a safety and a security risk so the answer the answer to the question is would we impede progress the answer is yes yes okay thank you Mr Weinstein yeah um so I guess the line item just sticks out right because that's your only prior one right so that's probably one of the things that's that makes it kind of stick out the um the other uh the other point that I just want to make is that for my read of this is that this our Capital reserves is really designed for something like this right yes sir it's like it's really designed for this and and I would hate to for things that the capital reserve is really designed for to put the weight on the taxpayers you're already paying to say so they have to jump in and volunteer to help us fund us right I mean we already kind of went through the the good governance on how to how to build up these reserves for things like this and so we should do that my my Pro my thing that I probably would just look at for this is I would probably say that we should probably look at our facility usage and say to ourselves um are we really taking into account the capital expenditures that occur down the road and how maybe uh um figure out how to how to address the usage of the facilities by outside parties that are also using this and how to amateurz that amongst people who are using it so that it doesn't have to be a a huge lift for one time but it could be something cumulative over time that we can figure out how that gets time my last my other point is I was a little I guess I'm just a little surprised that nothing else went to the number to Priority One right and you know some of the things that I see here feel like that you know maybe they should be more on the priority one and I I'm I'm I don't know enough to say that they should be or shouldn't be it's just when I see some of the things that locks placed on bathroom doors feels like I've had enough conversations around bathrooms and that kind of stuff where so I'm just trying to you might be right I might be wrong but I just it just kind of was a stark Stark thing for me to say why isn't there other things in here because I like so I think it's easy to see that that this could lead you a little bit down the path in terms of priorities um so just from a process standpoint uh a couple things happen so one we wanted the list we asked uh the various administrators principles buildings and grounds folks you know give us that list of of what the capital needs are that you have and some of these you can see might not even technically be Capital so a box cover for a fire alarm is probably not Capital but they put it there we'll keep it there it's it's fine um we asked folks uh F to to accumulate this list for us we spoke to our Builders and ground supervisors said could you take a look at this you know you this is in your wheelous you're you're familiar with our facilities and the ins and outs and what you do dayto day in terms of repairs and addressing some of these things could you help us look at these and and help us evaluate what's a one what's a two what's a three so his input was taken into account here as well I think the third thing that I would say is uh some of these things we hope to do through the operating budget to this year so you know things like fire poool covers or bathroom locks and and some of these smaller items um you know well there are some smaller things bathroom floors at high school you know some of those things I feel very strong that we can just knock out this year before the year's out so we can set that that money aside we can put those purchase orders out and get them in place or you know get the supplies that our folks need if they're going to do it themselves and and address those things follow up to my to my point to my question okay so so I guess the the thing that's deceiving here or maybe not well understood is Priority One versus priority two versus priority three so to maybe maybe to tell me how we're viewing priority two are we viewing priority two like some of those things will happen through an operating budget or yeah I think two ways you could view it and and uh the fire alarms again I to keep harping on those but those could be an example so one is um our buildings and grounds folks say it's just not urgent that we take care of that it's not an imminent need that we have to take care of I think the other issue would be we're going to knock this out this year so it's not really a priority one we'll just say it's a priority to because we know at the end of the day by June 30th we'll have those things taken care of can I then also assume that priority can we all also assume that priority three is probably not in consideration get done this year yes can I assume that yes okay so we can assume that Priority One is a must priority two is we're going to try to figure out as much as we can do on these things and priority Three is out yes I would say that's fair okay and some of those priority twos will be back next year like the lights yes correct and eventually they will have their day okay cool just back to the fundraising and and the and looking at the usage and stuff I think it's also important to see um the usage of our own high if if people are you know our own high school for lights like you know and how many also of our teams are using Turf more than before you know soccer I would say plays on Turf more than they ever did a lot of times they played up front but the varsity team plays mostly on the turf at this point I do think that um to Caitlyn's point I think and to John's point we can look at some of these things like the turf field like the whole Vault hit cover and Vault standards um and Stage you know there's certain things that we could probably look on here that say this is what we want to Target to go out to the community with and kind of plan that in the next year but my last thing is Jee is it possible that throughout the year if you all of a sudden get and you were talking about the the covers for the for the fire alarms if you know that that ends up happening can we just get like a quick update somewhere that says it I've asked for this in years past I don't know if you're able or want to produce this and I don't know if the board wants this but we look at these things like you said like for example Stadium lights that have been on forever and if we had a running list of things we're trying to do I think it also would make us feel better at the end of the day to be like oh look we got rid like we were able to do the five thou you know some of these things they were able to you know go off the budget because it doesn't feel good to cut some of those things sorry I thought I smelled um anyway so so if we could get something like that throughout the time that would be um nice to see and if we can maybe in maybe the financial team can meet to discuss like you said the you know we we've talked about the facilities me Miss Hayes and Miss Torell got through some of that it needs to be I think a whole new conversation and also to to make kind of a list of things that we want to go out to the community about um to start that process ahead of budget next year and ahead of even if we say our timeline is two years from now to have this really paid for we're part of it um I think would be a good idea and use of our use of our committee time possibly good good idea good discussion so I think just from a management perspective we maintain and I've spoken to uh the business office staff as well as the buildings and ground staff and the IT folks to give me those lists give me the all-inclusive list of things from A to Z small to big that will maintain as a master and then as we have funds available as we uh make progress through these things we're going to keep monitoring and updating that list so that you know we can knock some some things off and maybe some things come on and you know it'll be an ongoing never ending process of as things get replaced and things wear out but uh you know at least we'll have something to refer to and to help us set parties it's not just me I mean I I don't want that just be an ask for me I mean that's something we're doing like you know on some of these things however you feel you want to bring it back to us at six I don't I don't need a timeline on it but you know if the bo I don't want to say I want it and it be done so if the board wants it to some degree of of an update from some of these little things yeah I I mean I personally don't think it's a bad idea even like at the end of the summer when you've had time to kind of cross off some of these things how does the rest of the board feel does everyone yeah good would everyone like to see that okay so maybe the end of August all right then I you know I try as well and maybe not on Firebox covers but on other things to update during the business administrators that is true section to try and you know keep you up on some larger items yes you always do a great job with that thank you all right anyone else before we move on I have another slide too so yeah well I had a question on just the the Fidelity of the estimates like how how good do we feel about the estimates I'm just picking on partty one that just happens to be so and then I have a question on the revenues well being the finance person I'm always uneasy about the quotes regardless of when they come in because you know I could get the quote yesterday and when you start to involve folks it changes or or you know in some cases maybe these are oh yeah we did that six six months ago and you know then all of a sudden it's it's the covid effect and these other things that inflation and you know all sorts of things so um that being said I do have a level of comfort with these I've spoken to our our buildings ground supervisor he does have quotes the lights for example uh I met with the gentleman down at our school board's um Conference in October talked to them and the field T people as well they have provided um quotes in the past so it's it's not an unknown number and we are planning to to talk to them again uh in the near future to uh again reassess and and what are our options and and what do those costs look like thank you and can I ask a question on the revenues sure the rents I noticed that it's fixed like year-over-year at 262 like what what's our process and a rent of so like I think it's so cheap to get a whole school so I think the main driver there is Camp David which operates out of our Intermediate School over the summer uh we have a contract with them that has a a an escalator a built-in increase year-over-year uh however that's not a you know large increase so uh We've sort of just Carri that number forward uh it's it's U it's the increase was was minimal also I was wondering if the 200,000 or whatever the number is um was that is that we have to were obligated to offer or if you're I was pricing out some things related to like classroom fees and different things from other districts and it seemed like there could be a lot more opportunity for rent Revenue there right so the 262 266 includes uh the fee we collect from Camp David for their summer camp it's the fees from the Chamber of Commerce again it's facilities use um so Camp David and the Chamber have small increase built into their contracts with us uh so they're not significant enough that they we really spend a lot of time changing that number that it would make a significant impact uh and then I would just comment on the facility use and and when we talk about facility fees [Music] um you yes we have folks using our facilities we have different categor ories of folks whether it be nonprofit local groups or or profit outof Town groups asking to utilize our facilities uh I think one thing to keep in mind is the ability of those groups to raise funds to pay our fees so um you know often uh boards look at those fees and and you know think they're low and and look at Pop Warner a bitty basketball um you know Little League those sorts of groups and and and look at the usage of our fees and and any overtime we may have to pay for staff to be there the wear and tear on our fees and and can calculate out a fee that that we may need to um refurbish or or or maintain those fields and those facilities however the the caveat I suppose are the asterisk is what is the ability of these groups to raise funds and and to pay those fees so it's always sort of a balance of of how can we recover costs how we can we maintain these facilities and and keep them in good shape uh but how can we also be responsible uh Community Partners in making these facilities available to these groups so that kids have a place to play and and to to do their activities Revenue side of it but there's cost Associated maintenance insurance and different absolutely so I didn't know if the when you think about rent like are we still profitable really only make a 100,000 is your opportunity to increase the rent um to probably more a standard number in the future right so some of those fees are built into the agreements so cleanup fees and those sorts of things um for some of our other groups that is part of the fee that we're collecting so we're not out of pocket on on those sorts of things and in fact for for some of those groups we utilize those fees to offset the overtime or the uh cleanup that our custodians have to uh take care of some of the other things that that happen is that you know sometimes these facilities are being used while our custodians are there so um it's not really a duplicate cost because the custodian is there he's responsible or she's responsible for you know that evening shift and and we'll be cleaning those areas anyway so it's not necessarily A onetoone you know cost thank you okay let's move on to the next slide thank you I'm not sure this is as sexy as the lights but we do have uh dump truck uh that uh our facilities folks are looking to replace we have a 2001 Dodge dump truck uh that is now 23 years old it is uh suffering from rust and all kinds of other things it was described to me as a Fred Flintstone mobile in terms of the rust and things that that are starting to go wrong with it the vehicle is used for snow removal it's it's a plow and when I say snow removal they also load snow into the back of it to then move it out of the parking lots into a more centralized location we move use it for our grounds for clay for dirt for for moving those sorts of things around we use it for salting we use it for branches and removal of larger debris uh so again that's something that um again a 23 old vehicle that's uh not in the best shape uh and our facility uh supervisor feels strongly that that that is something we should consider replacing in the near future and again that's something that we could again look at our capital reserve and say um you know for 86,000 which is a fairly recent quote and I spoke to him today about that knowing it may be raised and he feels fairly confident that we could hit that number maybe even a little bit less based on what we purchased Mr Weinstein so I guess the challenge with this with this slide is that prority two has a number of things that are fairly substantial in size and so since we basically said number three category Three is out and number two is in do you have an idea like how you gonna how do we accommodate some of the things into two and I guess the one that sticks out the most is this elevator right and what the think is behind that so uh those last five items or so uh that's a admin next to them address this building in particular um I think the planning and um and construction committee or Planning and Development Committee uh gave a report out at the last meeting that that we continue to meet with the city in terms of options uh that are available to us for Partnerships um we've put these items on here uh which basically rep present just sort of um structural issues that should be uh taken care of should we decide to move forward with remaining in this location they're sort of there to keep the board aware of what those numbers look like and and helping you make decisions going forward in terms of the future of of of central office and where we are [Music] um again if you look at our Architectural Review of this building I believe the number was closer to 15 million in terms of rehabing it from stem to stern you know in terms of even Paving the gravel areas and putting up stop signs by the driveways and you know all sorts of things that uh uh that would go into a renovation uh so again these are items that we would look at the elevator uh enhancing the ADA compliance issue uh we do have lifts here to get folks into building um but again the elevator is something that uh that has been assessed as a need uh roof Replacements again to seal up the building keep it waterproof keep everything dry inside and then addressing the HVAC system so that uh we have a more controlled and less noisy um heating and cooling system in place so um those are really not necessarily two but they are sort of something that that the Board needs to be aware of and and perhaps uh may want to address moving forward as we continue with those conversations who did Irene Miss Gilman uh that $86,000 is that for a brand new dump truck Mr Hastings yes ma'am is there a possibility of Los looking at a used vehicle at auction that might bring that cost down I know it's a 23 year old vehicle um but you know might we look around for a used one that might be serviceable for our buildings and grounds only if you promise not to yell at me when it breaks down uh you know two months after we're plowing the snow I know I did have that's that estimate then is for a brand new one 2024 yes ma'am so I did talk to the buildings and ground supervisor again about the vehicles and about new versus use the district in the past has purchased some newed vehicles in terms of Vans y Specialty Trucks for plumbers or HVAC folks um and again um we've had some success with those and and we've had some not many but one or two misses as well so um you know we wind up sort of in a catch22 in terms of we may save a little bit of money buying a used vehicle but when and if it does break down the question is why didn't we buy a new one so um yeah thank you not to say that we won't do it but uh you know it's a consideration yes Mr curious question being a finance guide you got you ever assess whether it makes sense to buy it or maybe do a capital lease and see how the costs over the time but fair yes so we were having that conversation about buses recently so whether we want to buy buses outright or whether we'd want to lease them going forward and the question becomes sort of we do a one time purchase for $125,000 for us or maybe we buy three so that's you know getting up towards $400,000 it's a onetime layout of money whereas if we leased it we could Ser have a lower annual payment on those over maybe the course of five years uh but then it becomes a compounding if you will issue in that each year we're going to need to to either Buy and or lease more Vehicles so where does that uh sort of monthly or annual fee on a lease uh compound and such that you're sort of paying the same amount you would to purchase them so yes we look at both options and and we try to do what's best for the district and be wise um um providers users of of the funds that were were given in trust so yep okay next slide please uh so again at our last meeting we talked about our technology improvements and uh the fact that our list is is uh financially not as burdensome as it has been in the past and that the district has been able to make some significant upgrades over the course of the past several years in terms of outputting our um server rooms at the schools and in this building uh with new equipment new switches uh We've upgraded the wireless system throughout the district as well and made some significant um investments in our infrastructure we continue to look at that and and want to create an infrastructure that's U open to all platforms so whether it's uh you know PCS or Apple devices or or any other sort of device we want our system to be able to be flexible enough to accommodate those things um and looking at um what's on this list for this year uh we felt like we could absorb those into the operating budget so those Priority One intercom systems uh the printer for our CST folks uh are are uh been placed back into our operating budget so those will be taken care of within the budget for 2025 uh and as we sort of noted on some of those Capital items as well uh Mr gestel our our network manager has been fairly active in replacing Andor adding some new cameras around the district so again some of the places where you see new security cameras we are already moving forward with replacing those out of this year's budget so um we're we're confident that we can take care of some of these requests um immediately next slide please so we have have talked about the revenue side and we've talked about some of our capital and Technology improvements going forward um so uh we wanted to give the board a sort of 20,000 foot look at where we are and and what we're looking at so uh again our revenues were estimated about $ 84.2 million uh when we look at our salaries benefits our out a district our utilities and our other costs that go into the district and and running our day-to-day operations um we're looking at about $85 million in in costs and asks uh which leave us about $900,000 short uh right now uh those numbers are being looked at uh we're looking at other opportunities um to create savings other funding options in terms of how we utilize our reserves as we've just discussed uh but are again looking at a deficit situation in terms of what our current expenditures are versus our current revenues um if we look at also adding back a lot of the requests that we have trim back you're looking at adding another $892,000 to our requests so again you're pushing that deficit up uh you know one and a half getting in the neighborhood of $2 million of a short fall so um this sort of leads us to our next slide in terms of of our local Levy and our revenues uh and and how we look at those so on the left um is our current tax levy of $71 million um we're looking at the opportunity or the availability if you will to increase that tax levy there's a cap in place throughout the state of 2% in terms of increase on the tax levy um when the district does not take uh increases in a in any given year uh that it could have otherwise taken uh that goes into a bucket called Bank cap um th those funds hang around for three years before they expire so the district basically has three years to utilize those funds uh before they expire um we can see that we have an expiring Bank cap of $2,156 uh which would add about. 28% to our increase uh there's a total available Bank cap uh between the expiring year and the current year of 400,000 so it's two $200,000 pieces basically um and then uh I've changed the number on my sheet here because we've uh again tweaked our numbers and and put in some additional data into the state system and currently our healthc care waiver is estimated at about 612 $613,000 it's available for the district to raise uh based on Healthcare waivers so that's when the costs of of our benefits um see significant increases and and uh we're allowed to ask for a waiver from the state and U this year we're have $613,000 basically available to us to utilize uh on the right hand side just for historical purposes you can see uh year-over-year what the board has done in terms of uh increases in the lobby uh so you can see it's it's ranged over the course of about 10 years here uh from about a 1.3 up to three in terms of the increases um year to year in any given year so um again looking at our shortfall and looking at the opportunity to raise funds this is one area that could be discussed in terms of yes sir I just want to ask a couple questions for my knowledge uh Healthcare weren't healthare benefits we are okay um and I'm trying to remember know our actual increases until December follow the school budget year correct right so they're on a calendar year they're January through December right so we have the current increase that just took effect in this past January so we have you have no idea what's going happen for next that's correct so we're forecasting the second half of of of the Year based on current rates and then we've spoken to our broker we've had um meetings with our um shed Services insurance carrier group uh and get guidance from them in terms of what they think that number may look like going forward and unfortunately over the past couple years those have been significant bumps uh but we have Incorporated those increases into our our budget model our budget forecast for next year so that is part of of the overage that you see that that increase is Incorporated in there and I know you're not here long I just want to ask them have we ever gone out of state health benefits and gone like private or with a larger group or anything no I think we've only gone into it okay I know districts have gone both ways back and forth and based on experience rate that could change you know dep on your experience rate as a district right so we would have to um You' have to on that well we'd have to notify the state of Our intention to move out we'd have to get a copy of our experience or in terms of of what we've contributed to the system versus what's going out some districts have gone that way yeah that number The Experience number would be a main Dr in terms of the attractiveness of us to U say Horizon as a private as opposed to a state program right the other thing we'd have to do is also um part that process is not only going out uh we'd have to provide uh equivalent or better coverage uh in terms of our staff uh and we'd also then have to show the state that we're saving money based on that move so there's a whole process yes yeah yep that's a significant increase in ch someone else have a question oh I didn't see you you're right in front of me that's okay um I just want to make sure I'm understanding the anticipated expenditure slide um so just for my knowledge that out of District tuition the $4.3 million that is for what exactly just I for my knowledge so that's for our special needs students who are placed in the okay outside of the district okay okay and then with the um like the capit improvements where is that located in the anticipated expenditures what line is that so the capital expenditures that we are incorporating so the capital expenditures that I talked about in terms of ones we're going to discuss and and try to U take care of this year are not in this budget this for next year's budget and the lights and the trucks that we discussed in terms of of of needs for next year would come out of our capital reserve so again that would be a draw from a different account and it's not in this budget so it's not even show sorry do you have amortization of that Capital Equipment in in these lines hold on Mr Schneider let's finish this question are you all I'm good are you all good yep all right just clarifying on what was just said so that 5 162,000 or something is not in the 9914 or the 1.8 I'm sorry can you so the the 562 Capital the capital and now if we're looking at that anticipated expenditures is that not in the net gain loss or the requested addition correct so it's not in there at all so you've already removed it okay yes okay because we would not take that expense out of our operating budget gotcha okay Mr Jeff is the amateurz of the capital expenses they they come into the operation expense budget or is that a funding formula standpoint we just look at the total budget in terms of cash out versus Reven right so it's cash out the door yes all right thank you Mr McCarthy so are we to decide here or in future meeting whether or not we're going to go with the. 28% increase out of the bank cap or the 0.56 well is that why that's closed to us like this yes well this is to keep you aware of where we are in terms of of revenues and expenditures what the options are in terms of raising additional revenues um my last slide was just going to be to remind the board um that on the 12th we have our Workshop meeting at the 12th we will be approving a tenative budget so we will be putting together a budget utilizing the state software that's going to have to balance and has a lot of you know attachments and stuff that go into it it's intive because it could change um as we change priorities or continue to discuss priorities but that kind of budget uh you know is is going to be basically set um March 20th that has to be submitted to the county so we have to officially approve the Ten of budget at a board meeting and have the resolution passed which is the 12 the 12 20th by the 20th we have to submit it to the county for them to review uh and then we get into the end of April beginning of May to then approve the final budget so the final budget will be a reapprovals or it'll be an approval of the budget with changes in which case we'll you know maybe have an additional resolution or it might read a little differently than than it otherwise would have Mr but the John's question depending on what you all wanna recommend as far as the budget goes we'll determine if we use the bank Capital that expires and what percent of the bank Capital that does not expire right and you'll recommend you either use 200 and 400 or 200 and 300 or 200 and 100 and and that will be recommendation based on how all this stuff come comes together right yes okay all right I'll you with the interpretation yeah so what are we I guess what confusing me that because we have an option here to go from a 1.75 increase or a 2% increase plus our bank cap that we have we have two options to choose from with that as well right is it so there's SE aren't you aren't you asking board to advise you tonight on what we expect out of this district for we're showing the historical perspective of the action of of this board of education over time and then showing you the different options and getting some sort of consensus based on what is the board's Comfort level with these different using these different sources so there's multiple options that could come out of this yes yeah Mr do just want to restate it so because I'm hearing all the questions and I want to make sure we're all getting on the same page yes so we're talking about the expiring Bank app we're talking about the bank cap we're talking about the healthc care waiver right and any combination am I correct Mr Hastings and any combination of those and what we believe as a board representing the community and then I just am looking and I appreciate thank you going back to 2013 because I think of what S2 what occurred with S2 and you know you go back to 13 14 14 15 156 where we were less than 2% and the cumulative effect of that and where we are now and so we have five years out of the years represented here where we went to the less than 2% and as a result of that ns2 we are now in this situation where we're having to make some really tough decisions as a board and consider our taxpayers and it's it's a it's a very tough balancing act right now but I'm hearing multiple things we can consider and combinations or partial or whatever we feel we have but as a point of inquiry the expired Bank cap versus the bank cap is either or but not both right we have the ability to go all the way up to 400,000 yes should we choose to as a board yes but a but the expired portion portion we cannot get back is 200 is 200,000 so we have a minimum of 200,000 up to a ceiling of 400,000 that we can take in addition to either a 1.75 % budget increase or a 2% budget increase is that a correct interpretation of what is proposed on this SL yes the 1.75 and the 2% is just to give you an idea of what that equates to dollars in ter of how it would impact the budget the 2% is the cap what you increase this year affects what you increases next year and the year after in terms of just compounding and what number you're compounding um and then there was also the healthcare waiver as as an additional source of funds which we're forced in that number forced I mean that that if we don't go out of state to another opportunity right that that is an addition to our budget that we can't impact well may I unless we didn't do that and then we're cutting other things right right yeah yeah I'm not proposing that we cut that I'm saying like we have to pay for the healthare but the waiver is I what I'm trying to I'm trying to illustrate the point to anyone listening and also myself for my own personal benefit that we have a 2% limit proposed by the state or required by the state and right now I'm looking at 0 58% of that 2% limit is already taken up by a health healthc care requirement that we have no choice but to take for our for our staff correct or no I'm interpreting that wrong what on top the 0 58 yes go ahead just so just to be clear 2% is the maximum that we can have without going out for ref referendum yep correct all these other things by state all these other all these other additions are on top of that where we don't have to go off a referendum so we can add 0 28% we can add 0.5 0.56% we can add 0.58% with these different categories that we can put onto the budget and not go out for a referendum yes I understand that but I but we don't have a choice on a healthc care waiver no so we we have to pay the health care but because the cost went up so much we're allow waiver that allows us to increase that 2% to 2.58% okay so the state is giving us an opportunity to raise 2.58% as a base as a reaction increase in health cost and just one other clarification just is that is a $200,000 expired bank and there's a separate Bank of 400,000 no no there's a 200 expiring the 200 400,000 yes okay it's a floor and I just want to be clear because I think Mr hings mentioned this with the slide the health care that is on the slide you said has been updated and and it's actually more than that correct it's $613,000 yes I just want to make sure we're all talking about same numbers and what percentage is that equate to 86 so we have the ability to go to a 2.86 no we have plus the 0.56 plus plus the bank cap plus the bank right plus the bank cap of our choosing this McGovern so in what we're saying just to make John saying everything clear we at this moment not that I can pretty I would think speak for this room to say that we can go with the 1.4 million like the 1 Point the 2% which is 1.4 plus 400 364 plus now it's 610 or whatever it is for but let's just say the 4108 840 so I have I've added those three numbers as they are on the slide which is 2,237 548 is basically the number that we can raise everything to without B without going out for uh for referendum for a vote I know that none of us want to be at that high but that is what we can do without a vote okay and right now if we had everything in their minus the capital out of it everything that we've seen at this point is 1.87 156 so that's the requested additions or that's right so I think the numb is a little bit lower based on right okay but I just want to make sure you know I think I mean so usually at this point I would say is when we kind of go with our what we think our direction should be is I would say as board members in some ways or no or we didn't like I mean like I know that I don't want to spend all of that I know that I don't want to do the 610 plus the four plus the you know 2% I would like to try and keep some money reserved as much as we can I think it would be a good idea at this meeting to do just that really running out of time yeah I mean go ahead I'd like to hear Mr Schneider I have a question and it's really for anyone that's listening out there so what we're talking about in terms of these additions to avoid referendum we are able to increase our rateable for from two to three per 3.1% without having to ask taxpayers to vote on it but ultimately it ends up as a tax increase to the homeowners correct Mr Weinstein um the only the only challenge we have is that we don't have the um exact recommendations from you all about what we should be doing right or what you think is imperative so that's the so that's really what the so today's meeting was not to actually decide on anything I didn't think it was more to get some context of where we thought all these numbers were coming from and how it all looked and what that all meant right that's that was my impression so I said next week we're going to present to you a tenative budget that tenative budget is going to have a revenue number in there to help us balance it and I think what we're looking for is guidance on terms of where that Revenue number is going to be based on these options could I ask you both what your recommendations are I mean I think we should seriously consider the capital reserve for the lights so that we can move that and and the truck so we can move that out of here um and then I think that we would like the board to consider at least some of these other options for us to help minimize other cuts that we have to make H you have anything to Gilman is also miss Gilman yes so I'm trying to understand this and and everybody's clarified it why wouldn't we use the $200,000 expiring banked cap that money is going to go away did I understand that correctly yes okay so that's kind of a given and and you're saying that at 2.58 we would still not have to go out for a referendum what is the number where we would have to go out for a referendum well we don't have to go out for a referendum what we're trying to do is balance the budget so we have these options available to us uh to raise funds uh and then it's going to be a question of what can we um eliminate from the budget what cut can we make uh to bring those expenditures down to meet that Revenue number okay but at this point the number is 0.58 over the 2% cap correct no no so you'll see next to the cap if we added the $2,156 the increase would be 2.28% okay we decide to do the 400,000 instead of the two it would be 2.56% right we've updated here number to 612905 and that that's both of the Caps right that represents it's not both of the Caps it's not the cap that's that's the healthare oh that's the healthare okay and that would be 086 and that is recommendation at this point no okay no what I said was I recommend that we seriously consider the capital reserve for the capital items and that the board look at Stadium lights on the truck and that the board look at some of these options perhaps the expiring Bank cap and a portion of the healthc care to help offset the other cuts that we would have to make okay that's clearer thank you Mr M I don't see why we wouldn't use the expiring bank so so to respond to that just to play Devil's Advocate and also sorry like further clarify my understanding the reason you wouldn't use it is because you still have to go to the taxpayer and take that money from them it's just the state is telling that we are allowed to take an additional 28% without penalty or requirement to go to referendum because in previous years this District was fiscally responsible and saved that money remember Miss Gilman that money isn't sitting right it's not so expiring unfor it will it is still going to be taken from the taxpayer in a budget increase that is why that is why one may make the argument that we shouldn't that money correct making that argument right now I just want to kind of follow up on Johnson because I was thinking that the discussion that that started happening was we're allowed to go up to this without a referendum right which that was just a point of clarification I mean as a school board we want to be fiscally responsible with attaching ourselves to what the objectives and the learning objectives and the social objectives are of the school district right so so we don't want to be Reckless and say hey you know what we're going to not do the 2% we're going to do the 1% and you know we're going to get this to the Bare Bones because we want to figure out how to save taxpayers money we want to figure out how to have a vibrant School District that actually has all the expend needs so it can work in the way our superintendent feels like it should work right and be and we could be proud of so I think that I think there was probably I just don't want everybody thinking that our objective was how to keep us under the referendum so we don't have to go out the phone because I would say if there was another Choice which said hey you know what we really should spend over the referendum because we were in a really bad spot as a school district I would be an advocate for the other side which I not I know might not pair have good favor for everybody but I think we're saying that we can run a good good school district we can have all the Investments we want make the proper Investments and we can still stay under what's allowable for us to be able to go through the referendum right and that's what I'm a proponent of right I just want to make have that responded to Jeff's point I think it's fair that's what our that's our goal the board but how do you know what the right balance of school activities are to to finance these type of requests that are coming in so for instance if we have and I go back to this point I made asked earlier the state requires us to do certain things so what what is what does our budget include that minimum makes that requirement uh possible what over above that minimum is built into the budget so we can be better informed to make these type of uh decisions on how we balance the budget with either increase taxes or Cuts so you have the tech and the capital in front of you the operating costs as we said we have gone back to the administration to to trim that as much as possible the last section is personnel and so you know without Personnel is a a topic that we don't get into too into too much detail here but there are there are definitely positions that are not mandated by the state however we believe they greatly impact the learning of the students that they that they work with and that a school district would be remiss to not have those positions so it's really some of that is relative um if that's what you're asking me like you could you know we could have a conversation on on a in a public setting about seal you know so how much do that benefited our district versus you know in kids and how much is required from the state versus how much more are we investing into that program you know I don't I don't know there's Personnel there's there's cost to to run the program as an example so whether we want to be as a board you know funding that whole entire Cadillac of of Hospital requirements or we at least where we need to be or do we have to fund some additional stuff in this budget to get us up that those minimum I'm not saying it's right or wrong I'm just saying those types of components of the budget discussion helpful understand what what other the things that are out there are we can consider okay Mr Dalton just history Mrs wel Miss wel I think you mentioned this um last year we've had how many positions 29 prior years did we cut positions when s du hit we have we have not that many last was last year our biggest I would say last year was our biggest years before we cut positions but then included some position because we were receiving Grant funds during those years so we moved things from operating budget to Grant funds um we have Grant funds coming off the end of this year so we've been in a cutting mode and as discussed at more recent meetings we've also seen an increase in some of our needs for Staffing when it comes to things like serving our elll population and things like that and other things that the state in their infite um requires us to do um and so you know we as much as we cut positions we also have situations where we must build positions because of changes in our population special education need to change right new registrant on a dime right the the state does not hand out a list of you must have these positions and there's no negotiation on that that that doesn't happen the state will say things like you have to meet you know every student is going to be assessed then what do you need to do in your District to make sure that every student has the services that they need to be successful on state assessments or to meet certain number of students in special education classes can't go over certain limits or you have to hire instructional assistants to support classrooms that do go over a certain limit but the state really only puts a classroom size limit on kindergarten so but we would make a decision administratively of what a good class size is to be to have an effective educational setting but that's not required we could raise class size to 30 kids in a class except for kindergarten but we don't we try not to do that because we do not think we'll the outcomes that we want to see in settings like that so we don't have to your question I don't know that have exactly what you're looking for as these are required and these are not and we have all these things here that are not required and that adds up to this amount of money or the program as we would call it it has additional a certain cost associated with it to run it whether it's Capital expenses in terms of equipment debts up schools or additional teaching and different things like that so we can see what these programs cost because it's important for the taxpayers to understand some of the things that we have our hands tied with versus what we're trying to deal with in order to kind make decisions to run the school school effectively meet all all kids okay Mr Weinstein yeah I think I yeah just Brian just hear comments I think I think we're um I think we I think that's a um a slippery not a slope to go down I think at the end of the day we're looking for um our superintendent to tell us look this is this is the kind of stuff we need in our school district to make it successful and and she at this point with the guidance of their her Administration is basically saying this is the stuff we need to do to kind of balance out these things right and um and I'm you know I'm pretty confident as a school district we're doing much more than the bare minimum right so the things we're talking about are not how to get to the bare minimum I don't want to get into the um into the management of that level right that's not our responsibility I think we're looking party for for for um Kelly to give us a sense of here's how she thinks the dollars should be spent here's the things that that should be done and I think us going down this line by line Autumn are those things that are more subjective than than other things that we weigh in on and we can say to ourselves you know what we we don't care about lights everybody bring a flashlight and we're going to light up the we're going to light up the field on our own right but we can say different things but but you know we're looking for her to basically say you know what we need this is what I think we need for our school district and kind of balance it out so I'm really not that I mean I'm already assuming that we are doing the required minimum in all areas to be satisfied as a school district and everything else is we're deciding what to do with and that's I think that's we're looking for her to kind of make those recommendations on and I think going through this budget line item is really part of that process to say what we like we don't like you know and and that's that I just wanted to just you know say that we're supposed to be um appreciative of your opinion on this and weighing that when looking at these things and I'm totally and I I trust everything I'm also very new to the process and I come from a different perspective understood yeah Mr Dalton yeah I would just add just perspective wise and looking at the last number of years and all the questions I think it's a good discussion um some of the things that we're talking about whatever you know one decision changes that and causes another situation right right class size um what staff we do have it all matters when you look at that right um and you start to cut and you have to be really careful because when you do one thing you impact others and I think we just need to be judicious and really listen to what the administration is saying but I also think we need to look at our history and realize why we're here and that we've had Cuts recently and what do we want for our schools and our community balanced with what our our responsibility to our taxpayers and um I like to think of this as a long-term thing 10 years out when someone looks at that chart and we we may not be the board members sitting here what are they going to see and what are they going to have to carry this school district into the future and I think we just need to be very careful about balancing that and thinking what our students need our teachers need and our Administration needs okay thank you one more question Mr I do just want to you know because we do have a little historical perspective last year when we made the cuts that we made we did also look at the data and show that there was a massive increase in our teaching not increase massive decrease in our student population that did not reflect our teaching population right so you know and and it was pointed out hey we had some more um we had we had an increase in our in our uh elll population we had to increase our special education population right and those things require more staff right to to play into those things but it was also pointed out that you know during the pandemic we did not want to put any of our teachers or or staff in a position where they would have to question how they're going to be putting food on the table during a time when there was already so much turmoil and things like that so we're also you know what what isn't showing in here is that you know those tough decisions that we made uh and that we have to continue to make as a district you know personally you know nobody wants to talk about these things but do have to remember that we not only 29 positions is a big amount but we still had room left on that and we were really tightening that up as much as we could last year and a lot of that was reduced by retirement right and things like that um so I think that you know Kelly my encouragement to you would be I know that it's not easy to do but that we need to really consider those tough questions because this is such a large portion of our budget and our budget has decreased by almost $2 million from the state and staff is the only area where we can remove a recurring expense annually and I know that that's I know that that is not what wins friends and influences people you know but it's an unfortunate realization that we have to come to as this District especially in a year where you know a 3% budget increase is not going to work in my opinion whether you know whether we have a cap or not you know it's not I don't think it's a good situation for us to be in as a district personally anyone else I just want to say one thank you sorry about go ahead no he had his hand had a question uh and I was trying to string together a couple things and saw on the listing of the bill from Jeff and I was go Hastings and I was going to set up a meeting to discuss that but you mentioned about the uh preschool and the 20 kids that would probably if they wanted to go to Asel ASO thank you is there is there there is a to that right for no we are funded to those are Ocean Township classes atero Learning Center and the preschool expansion funding okay we get money to pass through to pass through to them to pass through right we get tuition then yep M McGovern I know Irene this last statement I'm going to make um just to remember the 29 and for history for the three of you 29 positions as um John spoke to did not equate to 29 people that's like important to know you know just that is correct yeah Miss Gilman your hand up yes I did thank you um speaking from experience you know we're talking about people versus things and what has always made Ocean Township unique has been our staff our personnel m 1 and I know that cutting Personnel is not your first choice I know that there's been a quite a few retirements and through that attrition we've been able to shuffle things around but what I in my mind think about the impact of those people leaving and how easy it is to oh let's just Farm those other students out and not replace that person and the impact that it has on the teachers who uh have to absorb those students and meet their needs um if we're looking down the road and we want to maintain the kind of quality school system that we've always had that I have been a part of um I would say that should be our last choice is to cut Personnel um I know that it doesn't equate to a dump truck I know it doesn't equate to Stadium lights but I know that the impact of not replacing Personnel or you know uh trying to CL classes farming them out has a huge impact uh we've seen huge change in our numbers for elll and for special ed and we've had to adjust Personnel in that manner and I know that the choices are very hard for administration and for supervisor and administrators to have to sit down and decide who's going to have larger classes who who needs to be replaced or not but um those 29 positions that we discussed though they did not mean 29 people and I hope that the same care is given this year as we go forward um and that a number next week is made available to us so that we can uh get a general picture of what the administration is thinking and terms of personnel okay thank you Mrs Gilman okay um anything else from our administrators no okay all right let us move on to Old business does anyone have any old business yeah uh if the legislative leison committee could just check uh we had a new time prop proposed by the uh senator's a so just review that and get back to me immediately so I can confirm yes or no to that new time proposed um it's uh slightly earlier the same day so please just review that and get back to me shoot me text tonight if you'd like whatever you whatever works for you thanks Mr McCarthy I actually just want to remind the board that we have our ethics training next week on the 12th and it will be Mr Taylor coming in to give us that so wi see you look soed should have also added though if you know this conversation about budget and all these things Spurs on any questions you have for Trenton about what they are doing with what the money that we're receiving please propose that to me prior to our meeting on March 18th potentially at 9:45 you have up until midnight okay please all right Miss Gilman you're good right no old business um uh I will discuss the uh School business school boards administrators uh meeting that I went to I think I'll do that next week okay thank you any new business from the board M McGovern um I emailed you all today just that there was a t-shirt that sepa and our um our our special education department was putting together it's in your email if you want to order it um it's $15 it's due tonight or like either tonight or tomorrow I just wanted to make sure if you didn't see my email that you're aware of it um and it is a t-shirt that they're asking students that purchase it to wear on Fridays um in April for Autism Awareness it is an Autism um based shirt and um I personally purchased one and we'll be wearing it for the April um Regular meeting okay thank you anyone else all right with that we will move on to public comment um does anyone Mr Cass no you will pass all right um Miss cway is there anyone in the queue with any public comment on any item yes there is Madame President Alex Hayes please go ahead hi good evening uh fantastic news on the prek numbers I think that's awesome I just wanted to give a shout out to the boys eighth grade basketball team they're literally right now in the Run for the Roses tournament over at St roses um Mr Dalton and Mr Schneider it's kind of hard to hear you both uh for the folks that are at home I don't know if perhaps you can bring your microphones closer um um and while this was a presentation to the Board of Ed tonight what was missing um and I know you're not done but the cost to the home owners is what is missing previous Bas you know used to write the charts a little bit differently so this took a little bit to comprehend and it sounds like you're going to agree to raise the tax levy above the 2% um but what I didn't see at all was the average homeowner cost like last year we talked about if you have a $500,000 home in Ocean which is actually kind of you know low um you will see a $300 increase or whatever and I think taxpayers are going to want to know that soon or if it's 600 or whatever I think those numbers are important and that's missing um at least from this discussion tonight that I saw and it took an hour you know just to get to in a perfect world if we could fully fund this budget and meet everything meet our students at at where we want them to be the superintendent wants we need thinks we need and I'd probably agree with her so that we can have all resources possible if you include the 600k waiver and the 400k cap it almost sounds like you guys if I did my math correctly can go up to 3.42 3.42 is what you could go up to um last year's was 3.01 and you know not everybody loved that because that was a significant hike for some people so that's going to be an interesting message that I think you all will be tasked to you know massage to Residents I don't see how you're going to not go around 3% or more so I disagree with uh Mr McCarthy um there is no High School PTA so I think asking the elementaries and the Middle School ptas to fund raise for the high school Fields will not really be appreciated because each of those four buildings struggle on their own to raise money to provide programs that the school districts don't pay for that's my opinion as the former PTA president of the elementary school that's like you know they're probably gonna say don't touch our money that's there money to fund raise for um if we're talking about fundraising for the stadium lights um I think it's a edge sword to ask residents you know to fund raise when you're also raising their taxes however I do think there are some people who think it's worthy um you have an alumni Sports Hall of Fame this week if you don't ask for any sort of money or fundraising at that event I think it's a missed opportunity um I think it's funny that two of you are mentioning facilities usage today because I tried for two years to get facility usage up um because as I told the board last fall the ocean United Soccer Club they not going to be using the school Fields next year starting in the fall and that the town was installing a turf field and you know they're the primary field user there's the they're the primary renters are these Club teams um so I think if you're going to be losing that even though they're paying Pennies on the dollar I think you need to look and revisit your um facilities rental fees as I think Mr Schneider and Mr Weinstein said um but even minor raises this year this board you know didn't want to agree to for at least five years or so um but we do rent for much less than other districts in our area particularly the fields particularly the turf fields um but good luck good luck getting it to get raised um it would be interesting to know though who uses those lights um superintendent Wen mentioned the wreck programs I'm not aware of any wreck uh evening usage of the turf fields so maybe there are that I don't know about I thought it was just the clubs and the High School sports so hourly usage would be kind of interesting to know and then it would be helpful to know if we're looking into eco-friendly or low energy lights um we've been tasked as a state to try to meet the climate goals for the governor for 2030 so I'm sure our current ones aren't that great and I'll leave you with my final comments um as I said I or two ago I think putting $1.1 million dollar worth of an elevator and maybe another million for HVAC um and the roof into that dump of an admin building is a useless discussion there are buyers that would purchase that property tomorrow and the middle and high school are at what 70% capacity so I hope that stays in category Two Three or if you had a category 10 that's where any improvements to the board of ed building should go in my opinion thanks Conway is there anyone else no Madame President there are no commenters okay I'd like to ask the board at this time for a motion to adjourn second thank you