e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay welcome everyone to the uh April meeting um Wendy can you read the meeting announcements the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affected their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the sparta board of education has caused notice of the time and place of this meeting to be published in the New Jersey Herald The Star Ledger tap into spa.net and notice of the meeting has been posted on the sparta Township School District website thank you we get a roll call Joanne Miss kie here here miss gagnan here miss McMichael here Mr pesi miss seander here Dr Serrano Mr wood here Mr Morris here okay we all rise for pledge of allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all okay this time we're going to convene into close session where we will be um handling board interviews as well as attorney client privilege we are hoping to be back by 7 don't hold your breath but we'll be back motion to close session all in favor I I e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e ready huh e [Applause] good evening okay we're going to open a public uh not public session uh normal session um roll call Joan miss khier here miss gagnan present Miss McMichael here Mr pesi here miss cander here Dr Serrano here Mr wood here Mr Mars here okay we're going to start this evening with our budget presentation [Applause] okay good evening everyone so this evening's budget presentation this is for the folks at home uh just like we did last month this presentation is now on the website for those Folks at home that would like to follow along cuz obviously they can't see the screen from home they can follow along the uh the link to this presentation is on our website as we speak and this presentation is going to be almost exactly the same as last month's presentation we just took last month's presentation with a a couple of revisions and enhancements but the budget that was approved last month is uh the budget that's going to be presented tonight so the presentation is going to be nearly nearly identical so going through the budget highlights um once again we have uh implemented zerob based budgeting which I spoke to last month which is uh rather than just rolling over budgets and budget lines and rolling over numbers what we do is we start our budgets uh in the buildings and at the district level at zero and we build from there uh to make sure that everything that goes into the budget is something that is absolutely needed and required uh to run the district and uh in the best interest of our students the budget continues to fund maintain and improve the quality of our educational programs all programs have been maintained in this budget the budget continues to provide professional development opportunities to increase the teachers expertise and efficacy technology infrastructure and maintenance upgrades are included in this budget much-needed technology infrastructure and maintenance upgrades the budget continues to support the social emotional mental health of the sparta learning community and there is just one Capital project that appears in this budget and that is the removal of the underground oil storage tanks at the middle school and at uh here at Mohawk Avenue School just to walk you through the budget process uh how it works um months ago um you're talking before winter break Administration engages uh staff to ascertain and justify resource needs we uh have administrative meetings and talk about uh what is coming up in the budget and what our needs will be uh there are multiple meetings with Administration as well as with the Board of Education committees and uh not just the finance and Ops committee which is mainly what the budget would run through but uh other board members are brought into the loop as well and they come in to uh to visit misss Black's office and uh M black walks all board members through uh the budget Administration Revisited staff staff scheduling overloads class sizes and programming goals last month I faed to I failed to uh recognize the the overload piece of this um we were able to uh Administration was able to and led by m Rossy and and the supervisor team were able to look at the schedules and look at what um what the overloads entailed uh overloads are are a large part of our budget because uh for various reasons so what uh what our administrative team was able to do was look at our overloads and our class offerings and we're able to trim down some of the overloads and that was a big savings for our district in this budget the tenative budget was approved by the Board of Ed last month during the March 14th meeting uh at that time the budget was then sent over to the county office the county office approved that tentative budget and uh the finalized budget is what you are seeing tonight that is the budget that was pre-approved by the board approved by the county office and now is up for final approval from the Board of Education getting the as we go through we're going to detail exactly what is in this budget what the budget entails but as we go through the budget many people wonder what does this mean what does this mean for me uh what what do the actual numbers mean for me so we get this slide uh early in the presentation for that reason this budget includes a 2% tax levy increase and what does a 2% tax levy increase for the average home in Sparta this year or for next year the average home was assessed at $372,500 the average home home and this school levy effect for the 24 25 school year on the average home is $156 57 cents per year or $135 per month just looking at the enrollment in our district over the past 10 years you can see the enrollment over the past five years uh our enrollment has increased 4.4% so in addition to the increase the the rising cost of running our district uh there's also um an increased enrollment and there's more students to educate which is a good which is a good thing um so that that that plays a role in our budget as well I'll turn over to miss black for the next two slides so there are there are two Reserve accounts in the district there's the maintenance reserve and there's also a capital reserve account the maintenance Reserve balance is currently at $137,000 and the capital reserve account is approximately $1.2 million yeah sorry so this this table shows the difference between the 24 fiscal year and the 25 fiscal year and as you can see the first line is the local tax levy and there's a 2% tax increase there were two adjustments available for us to take this year as well there was a health benefit adjustment and an enrollment allowance um for total amount of uh $393,000 we did not utilize that in the current year budget it is available as banked cap state aid increased for us $625,000 and the federal and state grants went up primarily because of the um preschool expansion Aid that we received budgeted fund balance is 1.3 million and there's also miscellaneous Revenue you can see there's a decline there and that's a result of we we are not charging fore School tuition uh there's also withdrawal from capital reserve to fund um the current year budget for the $100,000 for the underground storage tanks just to give some background on on what our budget entails and where the revenue comes from obviously as you can see the local tax levy is a overwhelming majority of our budget making up 86% of our budget and as you know State a makes up part of that budget federal and state grants fund balance U miscellaneous revenues and maintenance and capital reserve um make up the entire budget but just giving you a breakdown of what our budget looks like where things where our revenues come from challenges faced when balancing the budget this is where a lot of our larger increases come from when we when we were balancing the budget first is salaries uh the contractual increase of salaries across the district is 2.8% which equates to approximately $1.2 million the health benefits increase was an increase of 9.8% which amounts to $750,000 the general liability insurance was an increase of 20% Which amounts to $240,000 the pur contribution was an increase of 17.61% which is 250 which equates to $250,000 special education increase of 3% equates to2 $50,000 and our transportation increase uh the 5.81% which is CPI for busing uh entails uh $500,000 and this is just a breakdown of what the expenditures are uh this this coming year uh versus the year that we're living in the year that the school year that we're wrapping up 23 24 school year compared to the 2425 school year and what the increases were and what the percent of the increases are and that's our our biggest challenge when we create a budget any year is uh the tax levy we try to be responsible with the tax levy uh only having 2% tax levy this year and still account for all those large increases means you have to look at other places in the budget to trim down uh to account for these increases that's the biggest challenge of any budget in any District actually and what does this just to give a little perspective on what the school tax levy means the 2% tax levy what does that mean how does that compared to past years um the 10-year average we went back we went back um 15 years but the the 10e average of the tax levy over the past 10 years is 2.53% and the average tax levy going back to 2010 is 2.96% then the purpose of this slide is just to offer a little perspective of where our 2% Falls uh compared to past years and compared to recent averages and and long-term averages and that is the presentation so um at this point we would move to the hearing I just wanted to say a thank you as chair of Finance for all of uh board members for your many hours looking at the budget it was very collaborative and um a huge thank you to Joanna and her team we really we really applaud you for the amount of work that you do um I also want to give a special thanks to Mrs Rossy who wasn't here at the last meeting um those of us that sat on the board last year um gave a challenge to her specifically you know as we were facing a year where we had to go above Levy um to look at other places that wouldn't impact our students and our teachers and one of them was looking at our our covid learning programs and evaluating our subscriptions and um I remember in a meeting setting a goal of $100,000 and you were right on the money and the collaboration with the board was that we wouldn't cut last year because we wanted to make sure that we could allow our um our Educators our curricular teams to take a look and evaluate the best tools and so I'm very proud of the work that this collaborative process has done to to come in with that as well as looking at the overages to retain our our student programming so just to thanks um I feel that my questions have all been answered over the time that you spent thank you thank you anybody else not a question so much as a comment um I want to reiterate what Lauren said I think it has been a very collaborative process I want to thank Joan too for the hours we've been allowed to spend in your office we appreciate that um the one thing I just want to make sure that we're mindful of we have set a very modest number um and I recognize I'm sounding like a broken record with this one we've set a very modest reasonable budgeted amount for our legal services this year um and I intend to hold us to that number as close to close to it as possible um on that note maybe separate I do think that we do it serves our District to explore the RFP process uh when it comes to that particular contract given the trends and given the items we've discussed um so just food for thought something I want to make sure that we're keeping on the radar um but all in all I do look forward to supporting this budget for sure thank you thank you anybody else no thank you thank you we're now going to open up for uh public participation um it'll act the same as public uh particip towards the regular agenda um all questions or comments will be related to the budget only uh again you'll have 3 minutes to talk and once you've talked you won't be allowed to talk again um so feel free to come up I'll sign in when I'm done Jenny Derek this may take longer than three minutes but it is a budget hearing so bear with me um this is a question that I asked in writing full-time and part-time of FTE and pte are there any changes in those in that number from in this budget in in other words are you making any cuts to Staffing or are you adding to Staffing are all retirement positions being filled positions vacated by retirement are they being filled um underground storage tanks were already removed if I'm not remembering this correctly so is it just that it's being paid for out of next Year's budget um how did you trim overloads what does that look like did you make new hires did you cut programs what does that look like um let's see can you can you explain um what it means the budgeted fund balance is 1.27% what is the impact of the total when we only have very small numbers in our maintenance and our cap and our capital reserve accounts what is accounting for an increase of 5.6% in the facilities and grounds position I mean um line item um I think oh and the one question that also wasn't answered in writing um well it was sort of answered uh you're looking at doing an um a uh Bond referendum which would include and has already encountered expenses because of an architect as well as so the architect has to create drawings he came and made presentations with several options there's going to be additional meetings where those professionals are going to be called on to give their information and take questions from the board and from the public there's going to have to be marketing uh to run a referendum so how much of that that cost and what does that where is that cost in this budget what is it the architect isn't going to wait to get paid if and when the referendum passes thank you thank you oh I'm importantly where are the educational initiatives what what can you point to in terms of something to improve the outcomes student outcomes other than typical professional development we have um just to throw it out there our PSAT scores are lower than Newton in both reading and math we have a second year in a row of not meeting our state uh goals for English language English language arts where can what can you point to in this budget that's going to address those are our slide academically thank you thank you Dana um hi my question is regarding the um self-funded benefits plan that we have um I guess this question is for Joanne um do you have the amount of uh claims that we spent last year um to ensure that we are fully funding that amount for this coming year and if you do what is that number and where is that number in the uh budget um do I have to go sit down and then she can answer we'll answer them all as okay so yeah I just want to make sure that the number of claims for the last four quarters um whatever they may be because it's coming out of our pocket that we are aware of what that number is and that we do that we are saving at least that amount right we're are budgeting at least that amount for this coming year to ensure that we don't go over um for the budget um and that's it thank you thank you anybody right motion to close public participation motion thank you second second thank you all in favor I okay I will take the uh the matters that had to do with uh more Personnel matters and that would be the retirements uh staff cuts and the overages those types of questions um I can tell you that all programming has been maintained um so when it comes to overloads um it's not going to um affect the overall programming of the school district uh we just have revised uh how often uh certain classes certain courses are offered but uh students in the high school will still be offered through their four years uh the same the same um opportunities that they have now doesn't answer the answer to the no that was the answer to the overes question not a back and forth here so just continue um and as far as Retirement and staff Cuts again I don't want to get specific because actually those are Personnel matters that have not been necessarily discussed with the staff because we're waiting for the budget to get approved uh but there will be minor revisions as far as that goes and um again will not affect programming that's not an answer are we cutting St are we adding he can't answer that because the C all the staff that's being let go well he just said it's all being filled what we said what we said so we don't need to get into it back and forth if you can contact but you can contact Dr Beck if you have additional questions always work Joan do you have anything yes um the underground storage tanks yes we are um we we removed $125,000 this year for the removal of three of our underground storage tanks there are another two I believe one's at the mid um one's at Helen Morgan um and there's another one that is going to be removed over the summer and that's what the $100,000 from capital reserve is going to be used for uh maintenance reserve and capital reserve yes compared to the maximum allowed it is low um but what ends up happening is during the the bud you prepare the budget and then at the close of the year if there's Surplus available a um the board will do a motion which will allow us to replenish those funds if there's excess uh Surplus so at this point in time the maintenance in the capital reserve are the $137,000 and the 1.2 million as far as capital reserve facilities and grounds the 5.6 I would have to get back to you on the specific line items that did cause that uh the overall total uh to increase by 5.6 the bond referendum there's um the current year we we did um allocate 30 $6,000 for the architect and that is for the preparation of you saw the drawings and everything else and his attendance at meetings up until the point of the time that the referendum goes through there was another $6,600 which um we are paying for a demographic study the remainder of the soft cost so to speak will be done through the referendum process whether it's a public relations firm that we use or the additional architect or legal fees that are done um with the actual connection once the referendum does move forward um the other question for the uh self-funded insurance plan we do work with our professionals on it and they do um give me the um amount that I should be putting to a reserve so that we are um you know protecting the district as far as the exposure uh when you're working with self-funded your claims you know they don't come in for several months so that's why you do have to do this this reserve and yes we do have a professional s um broker that handles that for us so it would be um medical the medical expense yeah medical okay I'll speak to um the programming question so um there are a lot of things that we're working towards and looking on and refining um I wish that even any of the data points that you suggested tell the whole story of a picture of student Proficiency in a district but there are a lot of variables that impact that so we're attacking all those different variables one of the most important variables to attack is making sure there's a tiered system of support services available for all kids and that's not only for academic supports but emotional and behavioral needs as well um I think the two big things that I would say when you say what kinds of you know in addition to what I'll share with you how are we tackling some of these things it is through PD that's a huge piece of how you grow capacity to support such a diverse range of Learners which is what we're experiencing a larger range of diversity um than before as we look at some of the gaps that have been created or how the needs have been changing but we're also really taking a close look at alignment our kids move through specifically some of those elementary schools at a rapid Pace um and so you have to ensure that the things that we're offering there and the programs and support um are aligned so that it's not that they're restarting in every school with a new experience or a new um new access to some type of intervention for example um we are moving forward with a new language arts program grounded in the science of reading which is something fortunately for Sparta that's not new but um it is a more comprehensive program so students in K through 5 will have access to updated resources and materials that again are more aligned more comprehensive and grounded in the science and research as we have had in the past uh there will be curriculum writing over the summer to work on um updating our curriculum and also to look at those alignment pieces we are going to move towards a new data platform so that we could really easily um measure and monitor student progress in a way that's less cumbersome and um more convenient and efficient for our staff we have access to things like the high frequency Grant which has given us um additional supports so we continue to look at additional supports and um innovative ways we can provide that like the tutor me platform so we're going to take a close look at the data to see who is in fact using it that is one thing we're running into is that we're offering things that aren't necessarily being used um in the way that we had hoped and so we have to understand and make more connections and Partnerships to be sure that the the resources we have access to are in fact being and I don't mean used within the school but outside of the day so how are those students being supported um beyond the school day which is is sometimes the additional support that they need um we're in the process of looking at a tech plan and making sure that we're being proactive and not responsive to the supports that are in classrooms and lastly a a really important initiative through the culture and climate initiative is something that's been identified as a pattern across the district is making sure that we have strong proactive and responsive behavioral supports um that's something that has impacted our classroom in a bigger way than ever before a postco world so um we're making sure that again there's not a different expectation at each building and that um we have opportunities for acknowledgement and um you know supporting students when they're doing things that are positive and that we're being clear on what those expectations are but that also we have opportunities for restorative practices and consequences that are clear and um easily to identify by the populations that are working inside of each of those buildings so there's a multitude of things going on and I am confident that we're meeting the needs of our kids and I think that our data will continue to improve and reflect that over time but again I would just caution to be too careful looking at any one data point because right now some of those assessments that we see our students taking are getting further and further away from what we know our best practices and instructional um application and so it is a data point it's something that we take seriously and we look at but it for sure doesn't identify the whole picture of where our kids are who they are and the successes that they're meeting with so feel free to follow up if you have any other questions thank you could I get a motion to approve the budget motion thank you laen second second thank you Joan Miss Kier yes Miss gagan yes Miss McMichael yes Mr pesi yes Miss Lander yes Dr Serrano yes Mr wood yes Mr Mars yes thank you okay moving on student representative report what do you two have for us this evening okay so we're currently running a blanket fundraiser at the high school and for all the students um there's a spart Spartan blankets they're super soft and nice and they would make a great grad tion gift for any of the seniors or just a gift for any of your Spartans um in other student council news we're in the process of planning our spring prep rally which will recognize all of our spring athletes and then student council council elections are coming up in the next few weeks so now turning it over to a little bit more of what's going on in sports and the clubs what's going on Sparta boys lacrosse and girls LaCross have both went off to very hot starts with the boys team starting 8-1 and the girls being 7-2 recently the boys have also just been given the number one seat in the upcoming hws tournament in addition there have also been other news going on between tennis has been having a very good year in hws and also in track Bel fora has recently competed down at pen relay where she placed Sixth and set a new Sparta High School record also new new club news going on Deca leaves tomorrow morning for their for their Nationals competition this competition will take place in Anaheim California where students will Express their knowledge and a variety of different business categories such as Finance Management hospitality and tourism and even more thank you you to get a win tonight prer yes we did congrats thanks I like the new hair color too if it's fitting I don't this was not by choice it was senior night it was great I like how you're a team player I appreciate okay can I get a motion to approve the minutes thank you second second thank you Craig all in favor I I thank yeah before I get into the actual superintendent report I'd like to uh acknowledge the student Representatives uh we've been working with them obviously all year um it's been a pleasure this is the second year of this initiative uh the first year included uh Mr wood who slid down one seat um but what a pleasure it's been and and as we meet with them monthly uh leading up to our board meetings we we talk about the upcoming board meeting but we also get to know the students a little a little better and uh what their their Community involvement and their school involvement between uh Parker uh playing lacrosse currently uh the goalie for the lacrosse team who was very successful by the way um Sarah with what she does out in the community with all of her EMS work um but we've been following very closely when I say we it's Mrs Rossy and I and Dr Lazar we meet with them monthly following very closely their progress and and their their uh hunt for college and um this last meeting that we had with them on Tuesday uh we were able to congratulate them for being accepted to their their colleges of their choice if not the top college right where um Sarah is going to Pittsburgh and Parker is going to Indiana University so congratulations on you're welcome on to the the regular superintendent report um recently the fourth grade the fourth grade students at Helen Morgan School explored environmental challenges in a reading and writing Ela unit one specific story they read focused on the importance of communities having access to clean water this led to the school reaching out to Corey long who is the director of utilities for Sparta Township Mr long took his time to provide extended thoughtful responses to many students questions about how Sparta gets its water Mr long also provided the students with suggestions on how they can conserve water and what they can do to help keep Sparta's water supply clean so thank you to Mr long in another collaboration with our Township an update on Helen Morgan archery in a remarkable display of achievement in a recent competition congratulation goes to the Helen Morgan school for having both of their Elementary division teams earning winning spots first and third place with only two years into their program both teams have qualified for the Eastern Nationals host of state qualifiers in late March our future Health Care Professionals competed and had 15 students compete in our first ever New Jersey HOSA state competition in South Jersey and our state qualifiers and teams had an excellent showing for their rookie season alcohol awareness PSA contest winners an annual tradition the center for prevention and counseling announced the winners of their 2024 alcohol awareness youth PSA contest which the theme this year was achieving my dreams alcohol free winning entries Emer from 12 emerged from 12 schools across Sussex County with around 200 submissions received I'm proud to announce that the Lan recipient from our district is Penelope Baylor seventh grade student in Sparta Middle School the poster winners were featured in the New Jersey Herald in the school section earlier this month and each of the students were recognized in a special town Hall ceremony on April 10th at the Sussex County community colleges performing arts building within the theater calendar notes on this evening agenda you will see the recommendation for approval for two calendars the first is a revision of the current year calendar as we did not utilize all of our snow days as a result we have scheduled two snow giveback days for June 3rd and June 10th barring any unforeseen school closures before that time the second calendar recommended for approval is the 2526 school year calendar as you you may recall two years ago we began creating our District calendars two years in advance and approving the 2526 District calendar this evening continues that initiative and allows our families and staff plenty of time to plan for the upcoming school years more good news for the second straight year Sparta High School earned High National and metro area rankings in 24 best high schools which is a US News uh which newest news and World Report released Tuesday Morning by earning a national ranking Sparta High School achieved status as a best high school making it one of the top high schools in the nation an Allstar librarian congratulations to Sparta Middle School library media specialist Kelly kff M keif was nominated by community members for the All-Star librarian award that is sponsored by Jeff Kenny Jeff Kenny is the author of Diary of the Wimpy Kid series N Abrams books she was notified recently that she won this award among other prizes she gets to travel to Massachusetts in June to meet Jeff Kenny in his studio with other award recipients from around the country and lastly but certainly not least acknowledging the retirements as I do every board meeting acknowledging the retirements on this evening's board agenda we have Doug Krauss the French and Spanish teacher at Sparta Middle School school he has served the district for 15 years sus sure Susan Goble a teacher assistant has served the district for 24 years Patrick perola science teacher at Sparta Middle School has served the district for 23 years Petro Piccolo Ela teacher at spart middle school has served the district for 21 years and last and not least Suzanne Russo special education teacher at Sparta Middle School has served the district for 24 years so congratulations and thank you to all of our retirees and that's my report thank you okay moving on to presidential report um prior to the meeting tonight we held interviews for the open board seat um we had five uh applicants five great applicants um all very good interviews uh and tonight we're going to fill the open seat um we'll take motions on each candidate as they come up and then we'll vote on them um I will start I make a motion to appoint Emily sarapo second second by Caitlyn thank you any other motions I make a nomination for Melissa Churchwell okay we get a second second okay are there any other nominations no okay Joan can we get a roll call for so just the way we vote is the first nomination gets voted on first yeah can we get a nomination for Miss saraphina Miss Kier yes Miss gagnan yes Miss McMichael no Mr pesi yes Miss cander yes Dr Serrano abstain Mr wood yes Mr Morris yes okay that have it our new EST board member is Miss Emily seraphino congratulations um if you stick around if you stick around to the end of the meeting we'll swear you went at the end of the meeting so you get everything going and move on okay congratulations okay can I get a motion to approve the hi report motion thank you Vanessa second second thank you discussion Joanne Miss Kier yes Miss gagnan yes Miss McMichael yes Mr pesi yes Miss cander yes Dr Serrano yes Mr wood yes Mr Morris yes okay delegate leison reports um in reference to Personnel we've been bouncing around policy 9191 um the big question was pto's and whether they're covered under Insurance uh and that question is yes and all the research has been done and so hopefully it answers everyone's question on that um Town Council EA on uh we have looking to set up a meeting within the next week or so so hopefully we get some other projects moving with them and that's it another liaison uh we discussed um we're going to to start a new liaison SLC committee it's going to be a district Roundtable um which is going to consist of uh one or two board members um represented from the sea uh Dr Beck and some admin um hopefully discussions monthly every other month will move along processes uh in interest for everybody uh hopefully hopes helps with negotiations which are always fun to have and that's coming up next year so hopefully those uh the new committee that uh Angela and I spoke about um is successful that's all I got um I wasn't at the last uh Sparta Education Foundation meeting but their fourth annual cornhole tournament is set for June 23rd um 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 I believe you can still sign up grab a partner it's a day of fun a day of fundraising to make sure that they can keep um awarding grants and giving back to the schools as much as possible we see something almost every agenda that they're giving back to the community so it's a great way to raise money and have fun so if you are around and want to play cornhole uh sign up a team if you are around and want to watch cornhole just please show up and have a great day and let's raise some money for Sparta schools and they're actually also looking for volunteers we sent the community blast out about that that too yep anybody else just to report out a little bit on finance um in addition to obviously the budget was the priority for this um one at one element of our budget that we continue to look at is Transportation uh with the costs and you'll notice on tonight's agenda um we are um approving The Cooperative that we'll be working with for our special education routes um there were some routes that were non-renewed so we are hoping that remaining routes um will come in as close to the CPI as possible um also in transportation um there is a there is a grant deadline coming up as many of us have discussed um regarding the ebus and uh the program is available through the state and uh while we are not going to uh turn down continuing to research at this point we are looking at um looking at the numbers it is a $300,000 premium for the electronic bus and um at this point with usable life the infrastru structure um that's necessary it is something that we will have to continue exploring but um the committee did feel like it wasn't necessarily in the best interest of the district to pursue that Grant because of the fact that not only do you have to say you're interested in decommissioning a working bus that make have been out of use um but you also have to commit to purchase and if you're not sure of the amount that you'll be getting we could potentially be putting a liability that we could be taking away from students and programming so um um we can be continuing to look at other ways that we can diversify our Fleet and and save money but that was um something that the board has been looking at and um it at this point we'll just continue looking at that and that wouldn't be something that we're necessarily looking for um and I think that was the only one I wanted to note um also a fun fact we bought a cow last year I just feel like publicly we should say that we have local food funding that is so cool and um with mashio well we uh our students are enjoying Jersey Girl cheese and a cow that was raised I assume in New Jersey um we did not raise the cow or harvest the cow ourselves but I think it's really cool to see that commitment to sustainability and local Agriculture and the funding that's coming in for it so you'll see that as well so thank you and the research regarding the electric bus is still ongoing as you as you said uh we actually had our transportation coordinator and our buildings and ground supervisor went down to visit uh Randolph recently to check out their infrastructure and how they are supporting the electric bus and what that would take um being that are we looking at other avenues for buses being that regardless a bus can be in perfect condition but after I think 12 years it has to be decommissioned are we looking at other besides EB buses I know natural gas is a huge thing and or propane now is being used Yes actually uh we did have somebody in to discuss propane with us and we are looking for a grant for that as well um and Randolph actually they they do have quite a bit of propane so that's um that's why I didn't go on the field trip but um Chris tap and in June also did uh our transportation coordinator so we are definitely looking into that um we do have in the budget we do need to purchase a new bus next year but you know love to be able to do it with grant money so um again you know we still are exploring the electric as another source but um you know we've got you we're looking at it all let me let me just put it that way so okay anyone else okay moving on to public comment number one public comments are invited on all matters pertaining only to action items at this time please State the action item number as well as your name municipality and group affiliation if a appropriate for the record each participant will be given 3 minutes to speak once you have get been allotted your 3 minutes to speak you will not be permitted to speak again until public comment number two all statements must be directed to me as presiding officer the board or the administration may or may not respond to any questions or comments at after the conclusion of public participation lovely motion to close motion Craig second second all in favor I wow I'm going to hit the gap on that that's great I answer up first thank everyone in the audience appreciate it okay can I get a motion to move personnel and policy 161 through 16.30 motion thank you second second thank you Joanne I just have a a minor revision to that uh it's the special services uh table on 16.11 the only minor revision is the table that was originally uploaded uh the step column was an error uh but the board has received this week just the corrected uh table with the the step column U corrected okay that being said we'll hold the motions and Miss khier yes Miss gagnan yes Miss McMichael yes Mr pesy yes Miss cander yes Dr Serrano yes Mr wood yes Mr Morris yes okay can you a motion to move curriculum 1771 to 1710 motion you want to second second second thanks M discussion Joan Miss Kier yes Miss gagnan yes Miss McMichael yes Mr pesi yes to everything except for 17.5 which I have to abstain from because my wife's on the SCF board Miss cander yes Dr Serrano yes Mr wood yes Mr Morris yes one moment can I just um I wish to abstain on 17.2 Caitlyn you might wish to as well just because we'll be attending the conference you can vote for everybody but yourself can we vote for everybody okay can we yeah so it's assumed under that on that motion that you're voting for everybody but OB staining on yourself okay thank you okay thank you motion on finance 181 to 18 198 thank you Craig second second thank you Mor discussion Joan Miss khier yes Miss gagan yes Miss mcel yes Mr pesi yes Miss cander yes Dr Sano yes Mr wood yes Mr Morris yes create a motion on operations 1911 192 motion W second second second Joan discussion Jo Miss Kier yes Miss gagman yes Miss McMichael yes Mr pesi yes Miss cander yes Dr Serrano yes Mr wood yes Mr Morris yes okay does anybody have anything for old business I do um I had a statement prepared but I think I covered a lot of it um in the budget hearing so I'm just going to reiterate a few things um I do want to make sure the fact um because it was something that's come up quite a bit that I want to make sure the public is privy to an ongoing matter obviously my opinions on the abolished policy 5756 are clear um our district did receive a letter from the ACLU of New Jersey encouraging us to reconsider the policy we had abolished um I appreciate the fact that we are sending out corres respondence to clarify that we did reinstate that policy as you know we revised it or the board revised it um I guess my concern is the fact that it's still an issue the fact that we are and I just want to clarify too that is not confidential because a press release was circulated by the ACLU announcing all of the districts that they wrote to um so just to make sure that's clear that's a big part of why I want to bring it up in the first place um I just want it to be clear we are spending money on that policy the revision of that policy because even our response to the ACLU requires cost to this District um so my concerns remain I do not think the ACLU will take um our response and I hate to say it this way but leave us alone so to speak I don't think that they'll necessarily be pleased with the response even though we did reinstate a policy um it's important to note that the ACLU actually contributed um amicus briefs to the ongoing litigation with the attorney general for those three districts so they're heavily involved in that litigation in some capacity um and that litigation is based on revised policy so my fear is the same fear I raised a few meetings back I just I feel like we're still paying for it I feel like it's still an issue and while I certainly don't want to be the squeaky wheel or beat a dead horse I do feel like it is something that we're still dealing with um so I just ask that we're mindful of that that we do everything we can to make sure we're addressing that we're not being naive to the potential um that still looms um and I just want to make sure I express that to the rest of the board because I did Express that um to Dr Beck and Kur this week thank you anyone else roll business I do have a little comment to make um unrelated to Caitlyn's point but I just wanted to give the Sparta High School chess club a little shout out uh as they were recently at the National High School Chess Championship one of the students Brendan Wick was sparred as first undefeated Champion winning the u200 series with a seven game winning streak and Rowan Mendel took first place in the u400 speed Chess Championship I think Nationals is a really big deal shout out to Jenny Derek in her article uh we should be supporting our chess club okay if no's anything else we'll move on to new business okay public comment number two the board uses the board uses second public comment period to invite comments on all matters pertaining to the school district please state your name municipality and group affiliation if appropriate for the record each participant will receive 3 minutes to speak once you have your allotted three minutes to speak you will not be permitted to speak again all statements should be directed me as presiding officer the board or Administration May or not respond to any questions or comments after the conclusion of public participation public session meeting CL good evening my name is Angela Delia and I am the very proud president of the evergrowing sparta Education Association I am here this evening to share some good news on behalf of our members as we begin the last quarter of the school year this month we celebrated School library month and Administrative Professionals Day last week we celebrated the week of inclusion across the district as a school Community we were able to recognize the importance of neurodiversity each school is sponsoring its own Autism Awareness walk which is a highly celebrated event in our elementary schools our students are participating in the C to five math fact Challenge and are doing extremely well at Mohawk Avenue our educators are helping our students prepare for the science fair and a special shout out to the IT department for preparing and deploying new Chromebooks for every student in the Mohawk Avenue School at Helen Morgan the spring season of Explorations is underway this is an amazing and fun way in which our teachers can provide enrichment for our students especially if they are swifties the fourth and fifth grade classes are preparing in for some really exciting field trips including the floating C excuse me the floating classroom and Keen University Environmental Center Helen Morgan students recently performed in their Spring Concert spring band concert this particular concert was a Bittersweet concert not only were the students superstars on stage but we celebrated Patty Curtis in her 39th year in public education and our last concert before she retires in June next organized by Cara Johnson The Faculty at SMS hosted an eclipse viewing party this was a very unique and rare opportunity for our middle school students to view an anomaly of astronomy this was a Hands-On lesson for many students held outdoors in real time and we always believe that there is Never Enough good news so the SMS staff has been sharing postcards with positive notes to families as an additional and personal form of communication and as Dr Beck mentioned Kelly keif has been recognized as the national on the national level for her librarianship she has been awarded the Jeff Kenny Diary of a Wimpy Kid librarian award at shs the music department just hosted their annual Jazz Fest and as as expected it was a grand success and deca is departing tomorrow for their National level competition and just today the shs faculty participated in its annual take your child to workday program each year it continues to grow it is always an honor to get up here and speak on behalf of our membership it is honored to represent such a strong dedicated and invested group of Educators and support professionals and we look forward to sharing more good news with you in May thank you thank you hi Jenny DK I'm just asking for clarification on 9191 um I had asked about it a couple meetings ago the red line there's the red what you're asking for the PTO and other not organizations is to get their own nonprofit status first in order to be considered or is there no longer an umbrella booster club that these program that these groups can participate in I it was the practice I was a president of the PTO at the high school for 14 years we were able to take advantage of the booster club umbrella nonprofit status as well as the insurance and this policy says that the booster clubs have to get including PTO have to get their own 501c3 status unless I'm misreading that and please correct me if that's incorrect that's an expensive process for these organizations to go through who have to scrape for every dollar that supports our students so I'm hoping that that's not the case thank you thank you oh and also miss delua did not let everybody know that she's also now the new president of the county sorry oh CL it yeah okay motion to close public comment motion second second all in favor I I H yeah so the booster clubs do fall under um not all the booster clubs of course there are two that do not but we have approximately 31 clubs that do fall under that booster club umbrella and yes they do fall under the tax exempt status the 501c3 and once a year we do board approve that motion and you would be able to see it it's in May I believe and you'll see where the board approves the Quasi organizations and yes they are covered they do not have to go for their own insurance they do fall under the school's umbrella or final month right that is initially uh falls under the 501c3 of the booster club correct so they do not have to pursue their own 501c3 exempt statusing on to good of the order um just want to congratulate you two on your college success on your admissions that's very good good luck to everything um I have not been to any boys lacrosse games yet but you guys are doing well um the girls I've been to but could continue on your success so you know I'll get to a game don't worry I'll cheer you on it today I would have went today but I had to be here so unfortunately I would have been there anyone else have any good to the order there's one Saturday I won't be here I a few quick notes I won't be so first I actually want to thank and I'm so glad Angela reminded me but I want to thank Dr Beck and all the uh building administrators for the assist for the assistant I apologize um I wanted to thank Dr Beck and all the school administrators for uh first of all for making sure that we had Eclipse sunglasses I think that was tremendous and uh for the sake of my youngest Vision I particularly appreciate it uh I will note it was definitely tricky for a lot of parents with pickups so I just want to thank the buildings individually for uh facilitating that as best and as quickly as possible it really was ended up being seamless I think for the most part um and very very quick thinking with overcoming those obstacles I also wanted to mention I attended my son's fourth grade band night there was not a dry eye in the house uh when it came time to talk about Miss Curtis's departure Mrs Curtis's departure we wish her the best in her retirement um another thing I want to make sure that we do acknowledge Kelly keif because I think after the year she's had uh she certainly deserves a trip and um yeah I was so happy to hear that so I wish her the very best and I had oh one last thing I wanted to thank everyone who came out to interview for the open seat because it was um I think any opportunity to serve the district is a good one and it was super refreshing to hear from a bunch of different perspectives uh I think it was a difficult decision there were a lot of really great candidates and I strongly encourage everyone that came to consider running in November so we have a nice diverse pool of qualified candidates thank you I didn't get to mention it um in the committee report that um I wanted to give a shout out to our bus drivers um we celebrated bus driver appreciation on Tuesday and I was sad that my girl's nap time fell on the celebration we had over at the Depot but I do appreciate the pto's as well as central office for making our bus driver um feel very special and um echoing um Miss Dela and um and Caitlyn I just the concert for M Mrs Curtis was incredible and I know several of us were there and it was so great to have the opportunity of um if you played an instrument in the past or a sibling could come up and join and she just had the opportunity to take that moment in and I agree it was just such just it was like Mr Holland Opus basically in spart us so it was really beautiful and and um really grateful for those opportunities to celebrate a really long tenure and that people stay in our district and she has generations of Learners that have um have a love of music so thank you Mrs Curtis um I had a chance to attend JazzFest last Friday I'd like to thank Mr Lopez for all his hard work he um personally emailed all of us and gave us free tickets to go my kids were thrilled so it was amazing to see all the different schools come together and play instruments because that's no easy task um and it was really nice to see so thank you Mr Lopez for all that you do anybody else okay I'm going to close out um good to the order we'll have Emily come up here to be sworn in here you go thank you basically the oath you would just read insert your name in there raise your right hand okay doesn't matter which one it's both okay okay all right I I Emily sarapo do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true and faith and allegiance to do the same and to the governments established in the United States and the state Authority Under the authority of the people so help me God I Emily sarapin do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of Board of Education and that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant of rs1 1941 nor disqualify due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a 12-1 one and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of the office according to the best of my ability so help me God okay congratulations thank [Applause] you okay now this will be the shortest meeting you ever sat on so kind I get a can I get a motion to close motion second second all in favor