we have five I'm just waiting for the microphone all right good evening everyone the executive session of the Wayne Board of Education regular meeting of March 21st 2024 was convened in the conference room of the Wayne Board of Education $50 driveway New Jersey statement of compliance setting for date location and time was read in accordance with the requirements of the open public meetings act and a roll call was taken the meeting is recessed is now being reconvened everyone please stand for a moment of silence silence followed by the flag salute 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 liy and justice for all thank you everyone Dr Tobak so good evening good evening everybody the board has several committee reports this evening and Katie and AA our student Representatives have some exciting news from both of our high schools Mr Moffett will share his budget presentation which is important and maybe not quite as positive as some of our other reports we also be recognizing 10 retirees for their dedication and many years of service to the community and to the Wayne Township Public Schools as a result I will keep my comments brief this evening of course the big news since our last meeting is that the referendum that was proposed to the community failed since then many people have asked what's next what that means for the school system's future the Board of Education continues to hear feedback and has some ideas about how to collect more feedback from the community while the referendum is still fresh in the minds of residents with regard to what happens this is the most um sorry this most recent referendum was largely tied to important facility work to preserve and maintain each of our schools the best way to explain the referendum's impact is to share a relevant example from this community in 2015 voters narrowly rejected another facility referendum which had the single purpose of enhancing Safety and Security at each School the short answer is that we do the best we can with what we have available in terms of funding and Facilities since 2015 we've averaged about one school security upgrade per year meaning that half of our schools still need these important upgrades progress with our facility projects will be slow we'll continue to invest in pris school although the small Elementary School will accommodate only the first wave of new students who will be entering our schools once construction is complete at the Avalon Bay construction site while the board May proceed with another referendum there is no guarantees that it will pass we will discuss this further when we get to Mr moffett's budget presentation and I have no doubt some of our board members will have some comments of their own about the referendum so just a note about standardized testing this is the time of the year when annual standardized assessments begin for students this past week our 11th grade students took the New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment or NJ GPA at both high schools the schools report that testing went smoothly and our junior class has moved one step closer to fulfilling the graduation requirements also around the district our multilingual Learners are taking the annual access 2.0 exam to assess their progress in English proficiency that testing is nearly complete and will be wrapped up by the end of the month we'd like to commend the teachers counselors and administrators who are preparing our students for Success on all these exams as a reminder to parents information all required testing is included in our annual assessment notice to parents which is located on our district website um few quick notes for the public about the agenda there's a resolution V2 emergent school resource that might seem confusing this is a request to appro appropriate 20222 23 extraordinary Aid which is used to support our special needs programs with extraordinary costs in this case due to increased costs we are seeking to use $28,269 and ' 08 involve tuition 07 is for the Early Childhood Program while the other 08 is for the extended day program the tuition for both programs is increasing by only 3% due to increased employment costs and overall inflation I'm also required to report that the 2022 2023 school performance reports which will be available in April include changes that respond to stakeholders feedback federal and state requirements and data availability in short many of these changes mean that we are moving past covid and more reporting is possible now that we have standardized test programs back in place for the past few years parents and residents you'll notice a change for example reporting student growth data as measured by median student growth percentile for the first time since the 1819 reports expanded computer science course participation data showing participation for all grades kindergarten through 12 New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment NJ GPA results and results from the fall Essa accountability process a federal program which includes Summit of scores and identification status for our Hib report I'm reporting the following data related to harassment intimidation and bullying events in the Wayne Township Public School District there have been 16 incidents of Hib that were investigated since my last report but only three of those cases were deemed to meet the criteria of actual HIV incidents I'm also happy to report that at this time last year we had 181 total HIV cases well this year we have 118 which is more than we would like but this represents a 35 reduction in all cases so that's good news for the district that concludes my report thank you our student representative reports Ava over the past 2 months the Wayne Hills Leo Club collected paired up and bagged 375 pairs of shoes slippers sneakers and other Footwear these items were collected by a truck to be shipped overseas to third world countries where micro entrepreneurs will refurb refurbish the Footwear and sell the shoes to support themselves the employees and their families this benefits the planet by keeping the shoes out of landfills and also helps others earn a living great job Leos the Wayne Hills photo program won the Wayne lifestyle monthly picture this High School contest this contest was open to all local high school students new student images were published each month for the past 6 months wne Hills won 18 of the 22 published photographs including the first place overall winner Christina vck whose image appeared on the cover of the August issue kicking off the contest Wayne Hills would like to thank Philip Barone and Wayne lifestyle for creating this contest and allowing their students these opportunities they look forward to participating again next year Wayne Hill's Deca students just returned from the most successful competition yet 55 student members competed in various business related events the Wayne Hills chapter was awarded the highest level community service award for donating to Oasis Haven for women and children in Patterson they've received an award for participating and achieving an ethical leadership campaign as well as chapter recognition for the largest percentage increase of chapters in New Jersey they grew from 56 members to 125 student members and 23 professional community members two of the Wayne Hill students were finalists in their respective events Vivic L and automotive services marketing and Maximo gayon in professional selling both received medals for their events they also had one team of the top they also had one team of students prna Pro prosh and Alivia Kaplan receive a trophy for receiving one of the top three test scores in the state of New Jersey for their integrated marketing campaign overall they walked away with three plaques two medals one Trophy and a certificate of recognition for the largest chapter growth in New Jersey and this organ and this organization has only been in Wayne Hills for four years now off now they are off to ICDC Nationals with six officers that earn their spot in Deca emerging leader acmy congratulations to our Atlantic City fbaa Champions our fbl our fbaa award winners include first place RIT viic musan in accounting one first place Nick lower kite in his sales presentation second place Santiago Gonzalez Michael Mason and Grayson Morales in intro to social media strategies third place to Manny Omar in coding and programming Shan Sonnie introo business presentation and fourth place to Isabelle Gil for introo business communication the Wayne Hills Winter Guard and Wayne Hills indoor percussion have both been enjoying successful and energetic Seasons the Wayne Hills indoor percussion have competed several times at West Milford and Wayne Valley and have one last show at Whippany Park coming up in April in their inaugural season this new Ensemble has placed second in the US band standstill percussion category performing their show entitled The Wheels of Time the wean Hills Winter Guard has been performing their show ruins of vaja through throughout the state of New Jersey the guard has placed very well in the Scholastic Regional a division of the midatlantic indoor Network recently the guard took first place at the Bridgewater raran High School guard show finally the Wayne Hill symphonic band had the opportunity to work with Dr Eric laprade in preparation for the upcoming North Jersey region one concert band Festival the band rehearsed with Dr laprade who is the director of bands at the the College of New Jersey for 2 hours getting his interpretation and suggestion for improvement they that they will be performing we're proud of the accomplishments of all these fine ensembles Wayne Hills girls basketball player Sienna Schuster scored her 1,000th Career Point on February 10th against Bic High School Sienna has been selected as first team all count and all League her team also won the Paya County championship for the first time since 19 82 thank you for your time thank you Catherine on March 7th Wayne Valley was visited by two notable alumni Ryan Van dear offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills and Dr Fusta a sports psychologist a affiliated with the Buffalo Bills both met with current students to share their experiences their presentation offered advice on how they got to where they are today and how the right mindset can help anyone accomplish their goals this month the wi Valley quiz Bowl team finished in the top eight teams of the quiz Bowl tournament and are on their way to the semi-finals congratulations to Eddie Chen gaven Shen naranda Skyler urina and sophomore Captain Ari Barnes for their hard work the Wayne Valley Senior fashion show kicked off at 5:30 on March 13th with almost 700 people in attendance the event included a Tricky Tray raffle in which attendees tried their luck at winning various prizes including a blowup hot tub senior dazzled the runway in pairs before all walking at once in matching t-shirts physical education Alps leaders who assist in PE classes that participate in Project Adventure recently took a field trip to NJ rock gym they had the exciting opportunity to put to their skills which include Rock while climbing and baying to the test Wayne Valley participated in Maker's week this month students had the opportunity to visit the media center where they found various stations set up with stem activities these included Lego magneti ke plank science experiments and kex building there were also art rated activities such as painting clay 3D pen projects jewelry making digital art on the Wacom 1 tablets and more the Wayne Valley Media Center received a grant from NJ stem Pathways this year allowing them to buy more materials for students this month three Wayne Valley artists won best in category at William Patterson University's art star exhibition a jured student art showcase congratulations to Hala chura for her photograph titled love overpower Geraldine Calderon for her digital art named what's inside and Gabriella batelli for her drawing called memory bubbles Junior Aiden kinler a Wayne Valley photo student was published on the cover of Wayne lifestyle Magazine's March issue his photo is of a football on the Wayne Valley Field called Eyes On The End Zone congratulations to these creative students Mr ozell's sophomore chemistry class carefully manipulated fire in an experiment to test the distinct color signature that different Metals produce when exposed to heat energy wearing protective aprons and goggles students tested out different Metals by placing them inside a flame and observing the vibrant Reds oranges and blues they produce students were excited to experience firsthand the amazing characteristics of different Metals some of which are used in fireworks Mrs vodka's US History 1 and Rich classes presented their social reform projects this week in class after learning about the social reforms of the 19th century such as Temperance and abolition students were tasked with creating their own contemporary Reform movement the purpose of this project is for students to identify an issue and create a solution for a better Community this helps to Foster good citizenship practices and permits students to express themselves creatively students have selected an issue of their own choosing researched it and created their own organization to solve the problem they address these organizations have their original logos agendas mission statements and awareness campaign their topics ranged from aiding those with wrongful convictions to women's health and Environmental Conservation Wayne Valley Girl swimmer Sarah Rodriguez won the njs njsi AA state championship in the 100 backstroke and broke the state record with a time of 52.54 seconds Sarah also placed second in the state in the 200 freestyle just missing two state championships by .18 of a second congratulations to her for her hard work thank you thank you at this time uh Mr Moffett this is our uh second public input on the budget that's better okay so tonight is is the second public input session on the budget if you look on your agenda it's under o school resource uh- Finance it's number nine tenative budget resolution that'll approve for submission to the county office little overview uh on the presentation as people have watched uh in the past this very similar the process is similar uh we' like to just give you a nice overview it's it's again it's submitted to the county office after it's taken a vote on if it's approved it goes to the county office for review and approval by which we then can then provide more uh advertisement and more information and those papers as well as on our website but tonight uh is the tenative budget review real quick um I'll just uh start with uh the district continues to be in a very strong overall position um as of June 30 we look pretty healthy um if you look at our uh Surplus position it's uh $3.9 million it's if not right up against the 2% that we're required or we can have a maximum and it's something that the board has worked very hard to continue to maintain over time so again that's 2% we're uh statutorily allowed to keep a reserve and that helps us offset some unforeseen costs uh another area is our Capital reserves both reserves and capital and maintenance uh Reserve again it's a very uh important element to what the the board has done of the number of years 10 years at least where we are able to build reserves to help us in the event that there are things that are foren uh in our facilities so capital reserve you see here uh we entered this fiscal year at 6 6.5 is million dollar and that helps us address the needs of our uh our facilities uh with the pness envelope project we withdrew 4.3 and what we intend to continue to withdraw is is about 1.8 so when you make that adjustment the capital reserve at the end of the period again we're estimating to the end of the year it's about $2 million it's uh 1.8 million maintenance Reserve uh is also uh a good thing to have and that's uh what we maintained we haven't used it this year uh but we're going to continue to have this in reserve uh at 2.3 uh that allows us to uh really deal with things that come down the line uh and as we determined this year is we have some uh con concerning trends that have developed and it has to do with retaining employees paying salaries and benefits um and and adjusting our budget to accommodate special ed needs uh so that's a trend that we're watching why is it important because it is in a position where it will have an impact and potentially we we may use uh Surplus to cover some uh as you heard this evening the uh extraordinary Aid is being allocated this year uh which will allow us to deal with some of those unforeseen uh costs so it's again it's it's healthy to have this and it's a hard work for the budget uh process to maintain but it's also a big um initiative that the board has maintained over 10 years so that that is a good position to be in for any type of unforeseen problems in the future important dates just to highlight you're here tonight so uh like I said we'll approve it tonight if it's approved it goes on a county office they review it if it's approved we can advertise and then we have a public hearing which is official adoption of the budget that'll happen in May 2nd some of the big appropriation drivers as I spoke uh about quickly 2023 2024 we we've seen a lot of uh expansion in services so we're looking at about $2 million there uh related to that is our transportation which is also uh supports the specialized nature and locations of the students we send out a district uh and employee benefits continue to increase over time uh we were also watching facility and Technology needs through the year again appropriation or concerns about again salary and benefits just looking at the straight push you're looking at a $9.4 million we have to absorb a lot of that into our budget with other things pushed out and things that are needed so we're very concerned about some of the needed areas in special service and transportation again this is all part of the process we use to make this year's budget so what does that mean tax levy cap um is our increase on our tax levy that's 3.3 this again is on on the revenue side uh we also received as uh advertis in a paper um $1.8 million in increased formul Aid the state of New Jersey continued to address uh some of some of the allocations related to the state aid and increased enrollment and wealth of uh various communities so we are on the positive side there are I think in the newspaper today there was a lot of other districts in in and Pake that are on the other side where they've reduced uh their funding over time um so with this 88 increase uh the health benefits contributed to an additional 66 $616,000 for an adjustment on a tax levy as well as an enrollment increase these some of our initiatives that have have been retained in our schools uh District budget either centrally or at the school level um I ready uh various different textbooks history algebra at the high school we were able to uh fund four new positions to in elementary because we see an enrollment increase in that area as well as our preschool program so the these two uh FTE would be related to an expansion to cover the pre uh pre pris school and that program there as we continue to expand as well as provide resources for additional classrooms that we're uh building out and bringing online in the future all these purchase application we've done this every year we've getting gotten into a cycle for a lot of different areas uh student technology technology upgrades districtwide that's all part of that it's the biggest portion of the lease purchase again this is a five-year type of lease approach that uh we do through pcia um so we have the computers on that uh we also have some passenger B I should say uh uh school buses 22 passenger 5 54 passengers again things that cycle out we have to replace due to regulations so we have that we have some Vehicles as well as uh District equipment needs which right now seems to be uh the custodial area we have a lot of equipment coming du so we had to cycle it out because it just we can't repair a lot of it Reserve accounts this has to do with our facilities uh again capital reserve maintenance Reserve just want to just reassure uh the board that we continue to move forward in some of these areas so uh capital reserve uh we're moving forward with pness envelope project which we took a withdrawal out for 4.3 and receed the rod Grant we have this elevator ada8 uh project that hasn't been funded and hasn't been approved by Grant so we don't know if that'll be something we'll have to uh not move forward with in the future but uh Administration will review it we make a recommendation in the future maintenance reserves again the things that we've talked about uh over the last few months Rod grants um again we're going to do some rofes still uh we're going to do a chimney flu uh breach as well as some communication upgrades at Skylar kofax that's where the revenue is generated from so you see a lot of it the big blue area is the uh the tax levy which is property taxes so you can see that's 90 90.5% of the revenue with a small portion about not even 9% from the state uh this is the appropriation side are the expenditure side biggest portions you can see are academic programs employee benefits and student supports so you see 44% and academic programs 20 a little over 22% employee benefits and student support services 11.47 and I just want to point out facilities again it's we continue to pay around 10% it's just about 9 and a. half% here so we still are funding our maintenance required maintenance and up upkeep on our facilities this is the estimated tax impact so uh we we got updated numbers so uh you see for an average assessed value home is now 23,43 uh that generates an annual in increase of 204 this was a little bit of a surprise to me in in in my office so we did a little research on this and we noticed that the ratables did fluctuate from last year to this year we lost about $35 million in commercial property value meaning the assess value so there's a shift from the commercial ratables over to Industrial and residential so we saw a shift there and that's the reason why this is a little bit higher than what we thought last year I think we were coming in 160 maybe 158 estimated so that's that's really what caused a lot of the difference because it is a smaller dollar amount when you compare it to last year um now I also like to point out that you you do have I know we've been talking about it as a board for a while 116 for the the Anthony Wayne Drop off so when you net that against a 20 204 you're looking at $88 impact when you look from your actual in the mail type of uh property tax bill so if you net 116 against the 204 you get $88 that's an overall um summary of the major areas of a budget U just just want to point out that each board member has in front of them a copy of the presentation a Q&A on a tenative budget as well as a one-page summary that onepage summary would uh foot to this uh again you have the tax levy increase about 2.48% that's a push of about a little over $4 million again the state aid that I spoke about the operating budget is1 189 million um and that's our day-to-day operation you have non-public and Federal federal dollars there uh you do have a charter school student so we had the budget for that it's only one so it's $116,000 and The Debt Service uh tax levy is now zero because the 2.6 from last year drops off and that uh makes the 190 when you compare it to last year it's a a drop of about6 and A5 million dollars net again a reduction of 3.25 but that's from two things one is uh the drop off in The Debt Service as well as the transfer from Reserve for that pness so you have 4 million plus the two so you're you're there that's the the main reason um next steps um again proof tonight goes out to county office they have a chance to ask us questions um they can suggest some changes I might have to revisit the bo um the board submitted documents um we have to ex we send the whole package tomorrow morning it's like that big we send it to the county with all the support they need as required um we can as a board also make adjustments to that so as I have said uh in other meetings this is a very difficult uh budget cycle and we're still discussing administratively uh strategies to continue to find savings to continue to um allow for uh coverage for salaries and benefits to some of the areas that I I'm uncomfortable with because there are some areas that we have some projections that are a little bit higher than we have in the budget so that'll be something that we continue to maintain focus on as this uh budget year opens and and progresses in the future um but again they approve it to County then we advertise it and we then talk about it again and consider for adoption in in early May May 2nd now I'd like to spend a little bit of time on budget Trends and Facilities I know know there's a little bit of aftermath of the uh the outcome of the referendum um so I just want to kind of go over a couple some bullet points so the first bullet point here is uh funds available and these are things that we generate through savings uh maybe some of uh uh our projections are higher than anticipated and the net effect is you have available funds so the first bullet last year we had 5.6 we're expecting maybe to come in around 2.5 so that's a that's the trend I'm talking about that makes me uncomfortable because if we don't generate we don't have funds available to address a lot of our facility needs as as we've indicated to the general public um the second bullet point um has to do with the struggle uh these are struggles that we've had this year to cover salary lines for various um coverage and um I would say the outcome of having a shortage uh of of teachers and and having to attract qualified candidates and finding um long-term subs and and regular subs so those are some of the areas that's been a struggle uh to do that um so with that uh our project uh our projected capital reserve again is that $2 million again it's stable we don't want to move forward we want to keep that in the bank as they say so we have a reserve to U really help us out in any any the areas that we have going like the rod grants which is the third bullet um so we do have a motion on those Rod Grant projects we're going to make some determinations but really that available Capital uh budget will be to help that uh those projects move forward in event that they have unforeseen expenses again not to go over too quickly but tday partial roof uh AP partial roof Ryerson the hills boiler again H uh scholar kofax communication and Fallon facade uh the fourth one down is the generation Next Generation science lab which is a big program that's been probably running for over I guess eight years uh we've been able to successfully renovate 10 um science rooms and two at each well five at each um high school with two prep rooms so a total of 14 rooms we were able to modify and renovate in that uh science lab program so that will uh recommendation is to pause on that so we don't take money out of that million we're going to pause it hopefully in the near future we'll be able to go back to that uh I know we have made some uh investments in planning for the next phase but I my recommendation is to hold at this time and uh the facility budget the actual Department budget is going to be refocused to just deal with health and safety concerns as we move forward so that's another area of the budget that U was uh is troubling uh but uh again it's less resources for um some of the upgrades I'll say and just more to just deal with the the day-to-day U Plumbing fixes electrical fixes you know Roofing type issues so that's what we're going to be doing uh a little bit more of in the in the near future so a district needs um pness doesn't go away so we've had a plan in place uh which the referendum was part of it wasn't the only thing that we've done before that we went out and after uh so we've been uh planning and we talked about the 4.3 uh withdrawal we're going to continue to renovate the inside that should say restore the instructional space we've already uh worked on uh the four classrooms in in the middle floor um and as we do the roof windows and pointing and lentils uh we'll then uh do the top floor and that's another four classrooms we'll bring online um we are already moved out upstairs so we're ready to go and move forward a lot of I know the facility committee met we talked about a little bit uh we've done a lot of the uh research uh and moving forward with that project on press uh and once that's top floor is finished uh we plan to then focus on the the bottom floor uh which we're going to look at a kitchen a warming area U cafeteria seating and then potentially small group instruction and maybe some storage areas down at that bottom floor but that would be the The Next Step um now beyond that that just brings maybe four classrooms online that pness um so um so the next step is going to be we're we're exploring uh potentially leasing or maybe buying another property there's some opportunities we think that are in the community so we're going to continue to work on that second step which if we can absorb the current uh enrollment that comes out of the new uh developments in with those eight classrooms or reconfiguration of that school then we would have that other backup and we're working on that now as we speak so again it's not like uh the referendum was the only portion of this um as you see we've taken that online over the past since I've been here we you know turned it into an ECC we pulled everybody back from the individual schools and we keep on utilizing this is again a key I've said this before this is key to that side of town and the enrollment and I know you've heard it a lot in the past couple of months District needs new referendum um so that was as we said many times uh had it advertised it's 370 again if you did the 116 you're at 254 now the question is now I'm I'm hearing and I know the board had asked to to kind of look into it uh cursory 100 million uh dollar if we look at it I had our financial advisors run a quick calculation based on the same type of principles and assumptions we made on 170ish um and it comes up of a difference of $37 a year uh and that comes down to $3 a month um and the third bullet really kind of explains that um you you we lost the and again that has been very important the board as always said I know I said a couple public meetings to solve soften the tax impact over time soften the blow if you like to call it that and we had a level Investments right so you had the 116 the idea was it was soft right you lose that now so now you lose 116 the floor you know goes farther um and you don't have the 116 so then you have the whole the whole increase um not only do you have that as much as I have the Assumption of 37 there's uh this pressure that depending on what type of uh projects you you select and potentially if that percentage of Debt Service Aid reduces for example if you take the $44 million project for the new um pris school as is it's $44 million and you put it into 100 obviously the percentages push down because that wasn't as eligible as other projects so that would mean the impact would increase and that differential would would squeeze so I would venture to say a lot of the scenarios that we're going to be faced with will probably put us almost to the dollar I mean it's going to be negligible difference um so we kind of lost that opportunity uh unfortunately we kind of lost $70 million in total built out um so that's three four the timeline um there has been some some discussion on different types of timelines if there are changes to any of our projects in other words if I talk to our Architects um they have their uh their experience so if they know that petroleum has increased over time substantially and the budgets they submitted in in with our applications were higher they want a chance to adjust that so we don't um have to short the project and we can correct the budget now they would make that recommendation and change to our application another change would be just pure escalation um com common industry standard is 2 to 5% escalation by year um but for certain types of projects it may be more that might be something The Architects would suggest us resubmitting and change an update um uh as well as uh what we want to package maybe we want to package Windows differently different locations of the Town split them up they might have some advice there again that would be a change we would have to package them up differently but in those changes that would cause us to pretty much be to 10 to 12 months timeline um could there be some savings on time here a month there a month possible uh and then the times are different right you have a different um uh the Department of Education currently says about six months I think we were able to do in five U maybe we can do it in five but again if it's changes and we have to do that uh that that would be a longer turnaround so we have that um so we have one or two months with the board three months with the architect six months with the Department of Ed and then you have depending on when you go out it could be a 60-day requirement or 75 day requirement on the general election uh and again that would all be a cost that we'd have to uh bear and that would have to be put into a new budget a future budget so that's all something that we can concern ourselves with um yeah so um can we do it faster if we just take everything off of the what we have now and take the risk of of the inflationary side of things um and want to do that and pick through it we could probably do it for less time but uh you know the recommendations I think from a lot of your professionals may say otherwise um and I think that that is pretty much it um I don't know if the board has any quick question any questions questions quick questions okay since we have new board members my question was that we say we're this this is for approval of the tenative budget and maximum travel expenditure so I guess can we talk about the internal budget process that we have opportunities to ask questions and that this is not the final budget that will go on I kind of wanted to if we can lay it out for the new board members thank you yeah so uh a budget in the business office we we're constantly looking at it we're building it one cycle to another um so once it really is approved we then open it for you so if it's approved and adopted uh we may open it up late May early June and we start using that budget as as the other ones closing out but while that happens um my office sits and we take on we build that next year it's the base salary year so you have to work your base so you have 12 month employees that you then string your budget you confirm everything that you have now because you might have retirements uh so then you do your 12 months and then September you build in your 10 months uh employees and that's your basee you confirm that with research by November so my office is constantly in touch with that we start doing projections around the same time in late uh November early December uh and then we're ready to do the internal work now internal work as you mentioned at the finance committee uh we talk about our budget plan we talk about some you know appropriation drivers things that we're concerned about we talk about revenues I try to solicit type of feedback from the board uh that feedback is received and we then start the budget process internally around uh the really before we break for the holidays so the principles are asked to submit a budget so they go into our financial software package uh and they uh sit with staff craft the budget they're giving guidance from the business office they create it it's due in U January and if there are big items we're talking about it in finance committee um as the school budgets are coming in and being reviewed we also sit down with department heads and go through their budgets as well as look at the biggest component which is pretty much 80% of our budget is the salaries right we continue looking at salaries we look at projections because the next big hurdle to get over for Budget projections with salaries has to do with the holiday break because you're paying a lot of stiped positions like coaches right so you want to make sure you get half of the coaches in there um so then towards the end of uh January we're putting the budget together and we're waiting for the all important uh state aid notice which tells us how much uh we receive or don't receive um and again I I report that out to the board uh I then finish all that information and um we start presenting it this way so I I think I'm kind of doing the long-winded one and I'm trying to be short and sweet but I'm not sure I hit the exact point so quick question uh to follow up to that so if board members and or public had input on um how to maybe review certain programs that we have and maybe change you know switch up the priorities we still have plenty of time to address it before we approve the final budget correct so yes so after I I I submit it to you it's here tonight um like I said it goes into the county office it's not only open for them to make suggestions and require changes but if there's any um thing like you said either from board members administrators because we're going to be sitting continue to sit down with Administration and uh to find areas of savings if there's areas of savings that we can identify and modify our budget we we can do that um we can do that all way up until the budget hearing they'll approve it uh I think around April 20th deadline um we can change it up to 20th and then after the 20th as long as we report out at the public hearing we can make adjustments again they have to be reviewed and approved by the county but uh they will allow you to make changes so if that that particular if there's something that happens from now until uh May 2nd yes we'll be able to address that and take it under consideration anyone else Matt Mr Moffett I've been on this board for four years and I've known you for four years and never once have I ever heard you word utter the words troubled or worried ever when I first came on I was looking for those words especially when I sat on the finance committee um the defeat of the referendum is now going to basically have consequences whether like to know it or not of the 61 approximate jobs we were going to Place into the referendum how many of those are we going to continue and go on and do anyway approximately uh let me let me answer a ballpark is all looking honestly the items that I looked that you see tonight those are the ones moving forward I'm recommending no other withdrawal from any of the reserves to do anything more than that uh until we see a different see when we close out this year it's going to be very telling we'll see if my my projection of Two and a Half is there if it's a little more then that's good less that's bad right but if those projections come to fruition then that that's a concern because as going from 5.6 which has generated because it was higher than that in Prior years that helped us fund all those projects we just don't have that type of uh trickle effect if I could say but allows us to do ones twz meaning if I had a $2 million project and I had $8 million in a in a uh a reserve then I would maybe recommend that we take 2 million and deal with one of the ones on on the list which would be prioritized if that's what you're asking me is short term uh I'm saying pause on all those type of projects um and then the only way we would do farther term would be is if we start seeing a larger increase in in those deposits to both reserves then I I may come to the board at a later date and recommend something off of the list already identified so once again the the word uttered that came out of your mouth was concerned and that's something I've never heard from you before just to confirm it we are actually not going to continue at Wayne Valley with the Next Generation science labs we have to as you said pause it so right off the bat because we've got top priorities and things like Windows and student safety we now have to cut into an academic program because the referendum was voted down here you then went ahead and rehashed one and let's go and do a100 million referendum so I'll be up here to tell everybody right now executive or not executive I'm not voting for that to be done again we've already had three referendums in my recent memory that have been shot down by this town I'm not wasting another $300,000 to put it back up for us to get slapped down on this again unfortunately facilities has to be taken care of so if you don't want to take care of facilities it's going to hit us in academics it's going to hit us in probably eventually Athletics or other extracurricular places because student safety student health those are number one and number two and then comes our academics number three and if they're not handled then this is why we even here doing this so thank you for everything you've done sir I know you've got a lot of real hard work again coming up you've got some really tough decisions on what we're keeping and what we're not keeping coming up you've lost any wiggle room anywhere teachers are retiring we got 10 of them tonight or a combination of them they're not coming in at a two for one deal they're only coming in asking for more money in every place it's not just Wayne it's the county it's the state it's the nation they even say the world in this case education is you know was coming to it so now we've got to take our 80% of whatever we're putting in here and throw more to the teacher so we can keep that A+ in academics and you got to figure out okay where are we going to cut it now here so all I have to say at this point is thank you mayor Verano you did great thank you than you Mr Moffett you really did do great anyone else I have some questions okay the projects you showed about the rod grants right they're not fully funded by the grants correct the grants they not fully funded by the grant right so we're spending and we heard this over the last few months oh you put no money into your infrastructure why we spend it why do we need all this now we're putting close to $9 million in our infrastructure just with those Rod grants right and you know what the Telltale sign was the pie chart and the most disgusting thing on that pie chart was the 8% in state aid that we get wow 8 cents on every dollar comes back to you and the taxpayer then you have $35 million reduction in ratables that's a big number I don't hear anybody bu pounding their chest on that one it this is budget is concerning it's concerning in a lot of different ways you know our special ed costs are through the roof and we have no choice in a lot of in a lot of places I think uh in the last two months five students in the district was five five new students moved into the district special need six all added District placements the average added District placement cost us anywhere between 50 and 70,000 per student plus at least another 15,000 and I'm going conservative with this one on Transportation per student we have to give those students what they need I'm not advocating not so when you start looking and cutting this and dicing this up I'm concerned and I've sat up here a while and other than the year uh the infamous Governor Christie cut our state aid from $8 million to $125,000 did I start seeing numbers like this and it's got to happen we got we have to do what we have to do the building is not stopping and continues to go and who knows now what this new law they passed in Tron with the housing how it's going to affect us believe me I'm not confident and what they did because every time they do it they just foul it up even more more and we end up having to pick up the pieces on our end here and the and the implications of it and the mayor said it himself he goes you need to build a new school okay I'm I'm willing to sit down and listen but thank you for what you've done and hopefully I know there's going to be Cuts coming to other things this is not going to be the end because there's too much money that needs to be made up now to go for to go into these projects that we have no choice to do we didn't make the bed it was made for us and now we have to pick up the pieces thank you at this time we'll open the portion of the meeting for citizens to comment on agenda items only residents are asked to State their name and address and subject matter comments may be made uh be limited to 3 minutes per person members of the public are discouraged from speaking negatively about an employee or student the board Bears no responsibility for comments made by the public comments regarding employees or students cannot be legally responded to by the board other comments may be responded to tonight or at a subsequent meeting under old business Mr President a could I before you call may I read the re yes excuse me revisions to tonight agenda just one second all right I'm sorry go ahead sorry all right so we have a few uh changes so uh under T emergent Human Resources uh we're going to uh remove something from number three approval of rescinded items and we'll remove item number two Kevin bonstra b o o n St R A we're also going to remove items from number 12 which is approval of transfers so those items number one Kevin Boonstra b o o n St r a number two m m i s e r e t uh first name last name b a n u s i and number three era is e r m i l i n da a Campos uh moving on under X emergent school resource legal uh two items to be uhu added tonight will be uh number one X1 approval of administrative leave and return that action reads as follows that the Board of Education upon the recommendation of the superintendent approves administrative leave for employes number 1331 from March 11 to March 22nd 2024 for good cause returning on March 25 2024 we'll also add item X2 which is approval of termination that action reads as follows resolve that the Board of Education upon the recommendation of the superintendent approves a termination of employee ID number 9070 effective April 19 2024 for just cause that concludes the changes to tonight's agenda thank you do I have a move to open to the public Mr to Dan Mr B Mr feswick thank you for your patience sir no problem uh Jim feswick 1212 Sumer Hill wrote I was very disappointed that the school bond referendum Was Defeated I voted for it uh I had confidence in the board the board's judgment on that issue uh but unfortunately it was defeated and it was defeated s l uh it was actually a landslide defeat 63% voted against it only 37% voted in favor of it I'm here to ask that the board put another Bond referendum in place next march uh I think we we need we need you know we need another Bond referendum to fund our school system uh I have some suggestions on where you can cut in order to reduce the amount of the second Bond referendum it seems to me you're going to have to cut out that new school for $ 44.9 million because you're going to have to fix your existing schools before you build a new one that's my feeling you could also Al cut out the Wayne Valley and Wayne High School bleachers provided the engineer tells you that they're not in danger of collapsing in the next 10 years that would be a total cut of $ 55.7 million bringing the new Bond down to 114.1 million but you'd still be entitled to state aid in the approximate amount of 35.3 million which would reduce the amount to be funded by weighing taxpayers down to 78.8 million under the B referendum that was defeated that called for 13.8 million to be funded by taxpayers so that would be a reduction of $52 million to be funded by taxpayers or a 40% reduction that's my proposal uh you know I don't see how the the school system can survive without borrowing money and unfortunately or maybe fortunately from some people's perspective you can't just Bond you have to get the voter's approval to bond unlike the municipality which can the mayor can get five votes of the council to pass a bond ordinance and they borrow the money Board of Education can't do that you have to get voter approval to to borrow money and sometimes it's absolutely necessary to borrow money you can't fund a school system of this size just on your annual budgets it can't be done there has to be Capital Improvements to the school system and uh so I'm asking the board to to uh try again next year next march with a reduced version thank you thank you sir anyone else from the public wishing to speak on an agenda item Stuart resmer 82 New Street uh Mr pavlac you've been you've been around long enough to know that this is the time of year when I usually show up at these meetings and it's precisely over these budget discussion and I too want to thank uh the administrator for the work you do and also the rest of the staff I'm always uh I'm always appreciative of what you folks do to turn in these budgets and I think what's happened with the referendum is absolutely reprehensible uh again what the mayor did just just floures me I I uh I listened to the council meeting last night and if you heard what he had to say the first thing he did do was he practiced character assassination on on uh Mrs Kazan he went right into it you know accusing of this that and the other thing I thought it was ungentlemanly I thought it was beneath the office of the mayor to take that tack made some remarks against Mrs pup who is you know one of your Associates one you know a retired teacher uh you know but that's all water under the bridge now what he said last night was is he going to help you he's going to give you staff to go through this what he's going to say is he's going to have discussions with you and as you remember the last time I was here I asked whether or not he called ahead to tell you what he was going to do when he torpedoed that referendum well now he wants to help out he wants to do that and he wants to do this so I got to say to you and I'm I'm not being a smart alec about it what are you doing here he's he's going to run everything he's going to run the table he's going to run the game he knows better than you he knows better than me knows better than Dr toak and Mr Moffett uh who needs you in his view he's going to do this he's done irreparable damage to this District as far as I'm concerned I don't know how you picked this up as Mr freeswick just said and as you've just said and you sir uh you're talking about whether or not you're going to spend this kind of money do another referendum I remember two weeks after the Sandy Hook massacre that 1800 35 people voted down that referendum for Safety and Security of this District's students and I was floored that the voters of Wayne New Jersey did that the numbers are pathetic I have heard 99.3% during the last election uh I'm sorry the last midterm was the number then it went up to 125 last night or last week it was 19% those are still pathetic numbers the idea that the parents didn't show up in greater numbers and show up here where I was the only person from the public that spoke that night is astonishing to me so they're going to get what they deserve they're you know the government they deserve as they say that saying goes and that's no that's no Panacea to the problem is it these problems are real for you so again I want to thank you folks for the budget I come here and I take that stack that's left over out of that table every every time you do this and I go around my neighborhood and you know before I go to bed at night I deliver those to the people whether they want it or not not one of those people in these 10 years has ever stopped me on the street to say hey thank you or to or to ask me about what this out of the other line item is to which I would say well then come down or watch it on TV carry on everybody thank you um Suzanne pot up 23 tuxedo Drive uh good evening uh it hurts me to hear that the progress with the nextg science labs cannot move forward um given the budget predicament that we are in um um I think not only do we have a local problem but the state of New Jersey on a whole is doing a really poor job of supporting public education equitably throughout the state um I don't come down on AB AB abot districts having worked in one at the beginning of my teaching career um because they need as much assistance as they can get but when pic is given $300 million to build a brand new high school there was also the article in tap and way regarding the uh monies in New Brunswick um to build state-ofthe-art high school with science labs um as said by Mr freeswick the mayor can just pass an ordinance and bond something uh pay County Vocational Technical Institute is a beautiful campus they have a relatively new STEM Academy they're building a brand new Medical Arts facility and they go to the County Commissioners and they get permission and that goes out to get bonded but the Suburban districts throughout New Jersey have to go to the voters and say oh please more you know like something out of Oliver Twist and it's disgusting my sister is on a Schoolboard outside of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania when they want to renovate their high schools or new parking fields or a new stadium they don't have to go to the voters so I don't understand why it is so lobs sited in this state maybe the what of the things we can do is Lobby our state government to assess the problem and try to come up with a more Equitable solution because the solution as it is now pitting voter against voter within a town is absolutely disgusting thank you thank you anyone else from the public wishing to speak my name is Gabriel nazziola I live at 126 ratza Road I almost hesitate to say that again because the last time I was here uh I just thought I was giving citizen feedback but apparently uh it caused some member of your audience to send me some threatening mail which I had to take to the attention of the police department and the post office uh I don't put too much fear in it because it from what was contained inside this envelope uh and based on what I said that only thing that was a negative thing I think uh the person who sent this was probably an employee of the contractor that built Anthony Wayne living uh middle school as you recall I said instead of including correcting the sinking Foundation or whatever it is at Anthony Wayne middle school and putting it on the backs of the taxpayers I simply said perhaps you should sue the contractor who did the job I mean to me that was that's the way the world works today you pay somebody to do something you don't like what they do you sue them everybody gets sued uh generally speaking I would say in just common taxpayer Viewpoint you guys and gals made the citizens or tried to get the citizens to bite off more than they could chew $169.4 million was out outrageous my thoughts in general uh were first of all Boards of Education like municipalities should or I don't know how they do it or what the procedures are have some capital reserve for things like you guys put in this Bond referendum they have Main budgets to take care of things that should be maintained by our maintenance department not the subject of bond referendum that's just my Common Sense uh point of view uh I think what the mayor did was to reveal some things that perhaps you in your presentation uh should have included first I'd like to comment Mr muffett you must a motorcycle or something cuz you talk so fast I don't know who could understand what you were saying I mean you know I'm sure you know what you're talking about but to to somebody that just trying to listen much too fast man slow down uh I think that the most critical thing that you had in your bond referendum was in anticipation and looking to the Future that we're being bombarded with uh affordable housing regulations and we're going to get bombarded much more with the new regulation uh we have areas of the town that going need to be developed and are going to be developed so I'm in the process already we're going to have more kids you're going to need more school space and that's preferable to redistri and bouncing everybody around just you hit one nail on the head with the hammer and annual prep pread for for more students I don't know what to say it's just that uh you sold the thing or attempted to sell the thing on the idea that was going to cost $370 for the next 25 years it was mentioned I think that $2.6 million the last payment on the Anthony Wayne middle school project was going to come what wasn't mentioned but was mentioned by the by the mayor and would have helped a little bit would have been if you subtracted the $116 that the Anthony Wayne Bond referendum cost uh per taxpayer uh subtracting that as Mr Moffett did uh from the 370,000 uh you might have tempered it down a little bit uh I I I may or may not have mentioned my idea would have been instead of talking about a single uh assessed Val value uh average one might have done some homework and found out how many thousand Condominiums we have in the town and identified a average assessed value for Condominiums and told those people you're going to cost x amount of dollars wouldn't have been 370 anywhere near that if you did the same thing with the number of apartments and a portioned it down to what the apartment owner might pay to how much per month in rent that it would cost a renter who has kids in school you might have done a better job uh according to the newspaper 19.4% of the people voted there's a message there what do all these other people do do they care they don't bother to even come out and it's going to hit them tax-wise and yet they're all about their business some of that business we saw at the township meetings over an innoc projected resolution attempting to give support to Israel and we were invaded by a group that was against that they're thinking about those kind of things I don't know if they don't think about money what they earn or they don't earn gab your time's up okay you can come back we let you come back here okay okay do have a mover on the agenda Mr Bell was that the vote to close Mr Paul oh Mr Paul to close yeah to close and to move the agenda okay any discussion on the agenda see none roll call Mr gordano yes Mrs lamandre yes Mr Paul yes Mrs wck I say yes but I reserve the right to have comments on the budget before it's final approved Mr battershill yes and Mr pavlac yes motion carries uh we'll do retirements now Paul start with you yeah you do right I have two retirements this evening uh first Steve Hopper Mr Hopper began teaching in Wayne in October of uh 2002 he previously worked for a local Pontiac dealership starting as a Salesman then a service adviser to finally the manager of the body shop Mr Hopper began his educational career by teaching Automotive skills to adults in night school at a local school Mr Hopper's knowledge and expertise helped create a thriving Auto technology program at Wayne Hills along with Mr Bergen at Wayne Valley he helped create dual enrollment courses for college credit an annual endof year celebratory Auto Show an Advisory Board overseeing the advancement of the program and help students passed industry standard ASC certification programs for students that have led to scholarships and careers in Auto technology his passion for auto and his genuine desire to help people especially as students is evidenced by all the accolate his students and program have received the respect that he has in the Wayne schools and the Wayne Community and by the sheer amount of Auto alumni that continue to be part of the program Mr Hopper plans to continue to get up early start a new business clear out his collect uh collector cars some of which are rumored to be in uh stored in an aircraft hanger to buy more and see things he has never seen before uh second Joyce delegata Mrs delegata is retiring from Wayne Hills after serving over 25 years in the district she was a substitute of the board office for 6 years and has been the mother of Wayne Hills for 21 years she is the very definition of professionalism she honed those skills by working for many years on Wall Street working with Municipal Bond salesmen Eddie F Hutton and Dean Whitter Mrs delegada is the school's first and only choice when you need an answer she knows how to do everything where to look for everything and the answer to every question the question does not even have to be work rated go ask Joyce is now the equivalent to checking on Google she is thoughtful always kind forever patient and eager to help students and staff there will never be another joy and the wayos community is grateful to have been blessed by such a nice person Joyce is looking forward to relaxing and traveling with her husband and daughter as well as her friends so I'm going to continue on from Mr Hopper because this one is very related uh this one is uh uh Mr kenberg and Mr kenberg started his career at Wayne Valley High School in 1995 after a successful career in the automotive repair industry over the past 29 years he has served students of of Wayne Mr Bergen's role as an educator has been Second To None his knowledge of sub of the subject matter and ped pedical skill and love of students and their success are evident from the moment you walk into his classroom which just happens to be a fully functioning auto repair shop but what's most evident is his passion for students and his program the automotive technology programs at both Wayne Valley and Wayne High Wayne Hills high schools have never thought of thinking without Mr Bergen and his Wayne Hills counterpart Mr Steve Hopper this is evidenced by when by when Bergen and Hopper bring that auto show to town um rotated annually between Wayne Valley high school and Wayne Hills High School you'll find the true impact of his career on full display with current Insurance current students running the entire event event past students showing off their cars trucks motorcycles and almost any other vehicle you can imagine on campus it's truly a ssy to see and possibly the greatest Testament to the impact an educator can have on so many Mr Bergen's impact will certainly be felt here at Wayne Valley for many years to come you can almost always find Mr Bergen's shop open to his students during lunch or after school as he is truly committed to providing opportunities for the kids whenever something is asked of him whether is a student looking to work on their car or a staff member who may have an issue everyone is almost is almost met with the bergis of we'll see what we can do the auto program complete with classes Club yearly Auto Show and participation in the Sussex County Fair demolition derby is an iconic an iconic part of Wayne Valley Mr Bergen is one of a kind he raises students who often feel lost in academic on Academia up to a place where they can feel solid and confident about themselves he gives students who may not be into math or science or English a home and a sense of self and success but what is equally remarkable is that he has done all of this and more with a smile Mr Bergen from your Wayne Valley and the entire Wayne public Township Schools family we wish you a long life and a happy retirement and after giving so much to our family we hope that you get to wear your permanent smile of joy in retirement with your family in addition to that Gina Bergen after 18 years of dedicated service Miss Gina Bergen has decided to embark on a new chapter of her life bidding farewell to her beloved role she has played as a first grade teacher here at AP tun Elementary School Mrs Bergen's Journey with us has been nothing short of remarkable her passion for teaching and nurturing young minds has left an incredible mark on generations of students who have passed through her classroom doors with a balance of rigor and care and endless patience and unwavering dedication miss Bergen has not only imparted academic knowledge but also instilled in her students the values of kindness compassion and and perseverance in her time at our school Mrs Bergen has committed to helping her students grow into confident readers writers mathematicians by teaching them academic skills um and study habits to find success after leaving her classroom her commitment to excellent Excellence has enriched our school community and coun ways and left a legacy that will endure long after her retirement as we reflect on Mrs Bergen's tenure we are reminded of the countless lives she has touched and the countless Hearts she has inspired her impacts extend far beyond the walls of her classroom while her presence will be greatly missed we take confident knowing that she will get to enjoy her beautiful family and spend more time working in our garden and traveling on behalf in the entire School Community I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Miss Gina Bergen for for her years of dedicated service and unwavering commitment to education and well-being of our students we wish her all the best as she embarks upon this new chapter of her life and hope that it is filled with joy laughter and countless memories of the lives that she has touched along the way thank you g Dan thank you I have two retirements the first one is uh Miss Lori gal Lori Galo has been a power professional for the way of public schools for 24 years 24 excuse me 23 of those wonderful years in pacac elementary during her tenure she has served in the capacity of a onetoone shared and classroom power professional Miss garao always puts forth 100% 110% of all she does during the school day to ensure Student Success she treats everyone with kindness and respect Miss Garo is always willing to jump in and lend a helping hand she's been an advocate for students in promoting student Independence while recognizing individual strengths and interests she is dedic she is a dedicated patient and extremely hardworking person thank you for your dedic dedication to education as power professional you will be missed the Wayne Township Public School wishes you good luck and future endeavors enjoy your retirement with your family friends and two wonderful grandchildren my second one is for Miss Michelle Johnson Michelle Johnson has been calling Skyler her home for the past past 27 years and has been an educator for 34 years her career began for the first three years in New York and then she moved to position in California for 3 years and then on to Michigan for a year before settling at Skyler the only year she did not teach special education was in Michigan where she took over the LTR position teaching French and Michelle has the unique experience of having taught first grade through High School in all subject areas Michelle emulates everything and means to be a special education teacher her compassion for students is filed in everything she does the way she does and the way she approaches every day Michelle brings a smile to the faces of all the kids that know her and the connection she's made over the last 27 years in Wayne for those students who may not have always been able to advocate for themselves is the Legacy she will leave behind what what her students will always be grateful for her smile is contagious her ability to bring Smiles out of our kids in the way she jokes with them and gets right on their level with forever be impact F on the way she views themselves way excuse me way they view themselves and their abilities Michelle is the epitome of what special education teachers should be what Michelle missed most about Skyler day is dressing crazy for spirit days playing the jingly Bells with a band at the holiday concert participating in the events at the sky cup the hula hoop event was her jam and the DC trip when it poured rain the entire the entire time in the year was a th000 de she always cherish her lifelong friendships with co-workers the goofiness of the kids and seeing her former students all grown up when they come back to visit or they sub at Skyler we will not miss getting up at 5:00 a.m. and she will look forward to spending time relaxing at the lake visiting her daughters in North Carolina visiting national parks and volunteering at her local animal shelter Michelle is simply not replaceable and will be missed in the hallways and classrooms at Skyler wish you all the happiness health and good times in your next chap all the best thank you Mrs wch retirement notice for George Mitchell George Mitchell will be retiring from the Transportation Department on June 30 30th 2024 George has begun his career as a bus driver on November 2nd 1998 over the course of his 25 years of service to the Wayne Township Public School he has always been committed to work uh to his work respons abilities George always took pride as being the first and the last person the students saw as they began and ended their school day the transportation department and the Wayne Township Public Schools wish to express their sincere thanks and appreciation for his outstanding support and dedicated service from all your friends and co-workers congratulations George on your well-deserved retirement as of today no more stop and go for you but instead smooth sailing rides and rolling along to a great places thank you so much Mrs leandry retirement Ruth Ellen Smith Ruth Ruth Ellen Smith has been a par professional for Wayne Township Public Schools for 10 years during her tenure she was she has served in the capacity of a one toone shared and classroom par professional whether working directly with an individual student or as part of a program working with more than one student Miss Smith always put students first and treated them all with kindness and respect Miss Smith has done an exceptional job at packanack to help and support all students who need support within her classroom as Miss Smith prepares for this next chapter she will be missed by colleagues teachers families and most importantly her students we would like to thank Miss Smith for her contributions to our district and to our students students that she H and to the students she has assisted throughout the years we wish you all the best in your future endeavors and much enjoyment in your retirement thank you I have um first one Deborah padita Debbie patal our cherish learning disab disabilities teaching consultant at pregnant Early Childhood Center is setting off into the sunset of her retirement Debbie's heart and soul poured into every aspect of her work touching many children and families lives with her unique blend of expertise compassion and dedication she's been a Guiding Light for students finding their way through the challenges of learning disabilities Debbie's work extended far beyond the classro walls she was a mentor who left a lasting Mark a voice advocating for inclusive education and a friend who stood by all of us her Relentless advocacy was paved the way way for a bright future to all students she transitions into a new chapter Debbie looks forward to spending her cherished moments with her family embracing the joys and togetherness that her busy career often made difficult to find she's also excited to hit the golf course a passion she's been eager to return to where she can enjoy the peace and challenge of the game admits Nature's Beauty her Legacy at pregnant Early Child Center is profound and enduring a testament to her incredible impact wh while we'll deeply miss her presence we're thrilled for her to embark on this retirement filled with family golf travel and the pursuit of happiness congratulations Debbie on your inspiring career your bright Adventure filled retirement ahead you've changed the lives in ways that words can hardly capture and inspired us to dream bigger and reach further here's to your next chapter which will be as a rewarding enriching as your incredible journey you shared with us and finally Mr Brian Watson Mr Watson has served the Wayne Valley Community for the past 25 years and over that time has impacted the lives of countless students at Wayne Valley as a role model for students and staff Mr Watson dresses for Success on a daily basis as his Dapper suit and tie are the norm as he's rarely seen in the holes without them except of course on the last day of school over his career Mr Watson helped to develop multiple advanced placement programs for our students he has inspired many students proceeding into the field of psychology after taking his class in fact former psychology students say he may be better at explaining difficult Concepts than their college professors in addition to to this he has taught AP History curriculum while encouraging students not only to study history but to pursue their professional studies in the legal field Mr Watson's love of culture and music shines through his instructional methods and are greatly enjoyed by his students and readily shared with his colleagues students and staff always look forward to him sharing stories from his latest traveling experience particularly after extended breaks from school unfortunately for us his time has come to hang hang it up up and see what tomorrow brings and there will be nothing left to do but smile smile smile Mr Watson you will be missed your ability to Nature professional trusting and open relationships with our entire team is truly appreciated when asked you shared your in insightfulness in regards to large and small challenges your experience as an educator a union representative and a community advocate as been invaluable to our entire School Community as an aluminous of Wayne Valley High School your passion to teach your students to Mentor fellow teachers for the betterment of the Wayne Valley School Community is second to none Mr Watson's numerous conversations about making our world a better place for students teachers and staff was frequently followed with the reference to George Bernard Shaw's famous words you see things you say things why but I dream things that NE that never were and I say why not you always ask why not and for and for that our Wayne Valley High School Community is better for it Mr Watson We Wish You a long life and a happy travels in your retirement to all our retirees our heartfelt gratitude for your dedicated service to the Wayne School community and your commitment to the Excellence has made made a lasting impact on countless lives thank you to all this time I'm going to open the meeting to the public for General comments this portion of the meeting is open to Citizens for comment on any topic residents are asked to State their name address and subject matter comments may be limited to three minute to five minutes per person members of the public are discouraged from speaking neg negatively about an employee or student the board Bears no responsibility for coming made by the public comments regarding employees or students cannot be legally responded to by the board other comments may be responded to tonight or at a subsequent meeting under old business do I have a mover move Mr Jano Mr B steart R 82 New Street the gentleman mentioned the letters he gets some of us have been getting letters like that for years uh they arrested a guy down in Westwood New Jersey Bruce Cummings he answer he he signed on the letters truth hurts his letters never really made a threat but the undercurrent was there if I could say that to sign it off as Truth Hurts was kind of alarming maybe you've gotten some letters like that or some of these emails that are going around I wouldn't know um at the risk of repeating myself last night's council meeting was more like a mud wrestling contest when it came to the school board in the referendum discussion councilwoman Ritter is kind of alone on that uh on that Council and she advocates for this District she has a couple of times and every time she does the usual offenders The Usual Suspects start in on her and you owe her uh a debt of gratitude you need to give her your support uh when you encounter her or if you listen to that meeting last night they do it every time they insult her they abuse her they abuse us who come to the microphone it really is a mud wrestling contest and I don't know who they think they are sometimes when they speak to people like that you and I have had a moment or two of friction along the way uh but we can still bump into each other in the hall you know and talk about things and move along it's it's not it's not personal even though anything I can say or two will be held against me in your line of work and believe me I know it so they went through this whole thing last night Mrs Kazan went up and she she made some remarks about the mayor's inaccuracy about some of the things he said in his slides Mrs put up boiled the thing down to a $6 million difference uh in these numbers and then the mayor started right back in it again damn near calling them Liars disputing everything so I would ask you what is the truth in these numbers that Mrs Kazan represents and these numbers that this man comes back with uh we we've got two different stories here now I know who I believe because that woman has spent 10 years doing this and you know her better than I do in executive session and everything that you do that one's got a KNE for detail and if she says this is the number I'm inclined to believe it he talks in general terms in the obl way you know you know like a politician he is the man's a 24-hour campaigner I believe in term limits I would like to see him go I would like to see us get a referendum on term limits and get that man out Mr pavlac you've been here a number of years nothing personal but I'd like to see term limits applied to you too I'd like you to get on with your life and do the things you'd like to do and I think you are committed here although along the way I've disagreed with some of the things you've said and done of course you agree with everything I say and do so you know Mr jordano we don't agree on the NRA but I respect you being here the same for the rest of you Mr fav I give a rip less about by the way that night he jumped up here and made that threat against Mrs Kazan coming to her house that was uncalled for that was unnecessary he doesn't deserve to sit there no more than just dky deserves to sit on that Council after what he said to that woman in front of her minor daughter that went on the internet that outrageous conduct these people are out of control at counil the things they say uh to again Mrs Ritter uh Miss Ritter I'm sorry the things they carry on with it's uncalled for they're here to do the people's business not to settle scores not to insult one another but yet that's what they do so as you continue in what you're doing some of you wrote here to this office during our summer of discontent over the books over all these things the culture wars as it's called well you've inherited a hot potato now you've got this referendum that failed and to some of us it's like Poetic Justice it's karma it's something like that but you've still got to wrestle with it you've still got to make this work somehow some way I'm not here to condemn you I'm not here to make trouble for you I'm here to say Mr klip for instance did you ever think you'd miss that man come in here and you know make a point of order about a detail I'm here to kind of do that I'm here to say hey wait a minute what about this and that and the other thing I'm not here to take you guys down on anything I'm not I guess that's my bell huh or was that my thank you yeah Suzanne put up 23 tuxedo Drive I forgot to say thank you I know all the work that went in to Preparing this referendum not just the regular meetings there were Retreats there were extra meetings there was extra work I think our administrat and our school board for all the hard work that was put in um Mr Moffett your department does an excellent job and your leadership along with Dr tox is extraordinary thank you uh Jim feswick was 212 summerh Hill Road I came down here to talk about the uh referendum but since I'm here I'm going to reiterate a request that I made to the board some time ago I think we need to teach the Arab Israeli conflict in our high schools uh I think what you ought to do is ask the director of secondary education to come up with a curriculum for an AP course advanced placement course just concentrating on the Arab Israeli conflict which has been going on close to 100 years now and which uh is currently raging in the in the Gaza Strip with 30,000 dead so far and two and a 2.2 million people on the verge of a famine uh I think it's important the United States is involved in it has been involved for 75 years and I think it ought to be a course that's offered elective at least in an advanced placement course uh I presume that it's being taught in everyday American history courses as current events I I presume we're still teaching current events in our United States history courses in high school I enjoyed that the most I majored in history and political science in college and I was inspired my by my American history teacher Thomas zakari uh my favorite teacher in high school and uh so uh yes I think it's important that we uh teach that particular uh piece of not only United States history but world history in our high schools thank you thank you uh Gabe nazziola 1260 rud um maybe sometimes people don't say it but I I'll say it I come here to listen and to find out what's happening with my tax dollar it's that simple uh I have to say I I compliment you guys and girls having made these references to people who have served this system and are retiring I never heard that before at a Board of Education meeting that's really really nice and I'm sure those people and maybe the people who subsequently see this on some TV station they will appreciate that too uh my concern as a citizen here is that we have two general branches of government in our town the Board of Education and a Town Council it distresses me that you would be at odds on anything and despite the disagreement and the content of the bond refer referendum I think that you guys and gals should be getting together with the mayor uh if you get all your votes and you get all his votes the chances of getting something past is pretty good and despite the fact that I understand we have about 51,000 citizens in Wayne and 42,000 of those people vote the others are probably either underage or not citizens but it sads me to see that only 19.4% of the people care enough about their kids' education aside from them say okay here's your lunch go to school get out of here you're out of my hair for the day and I'm going to go make a book uh what do they really think about education if they don't bother to come and vote on something like a referendum anyway I let me just close by sharing something that I've tried to live by all my life and uh it might address some of the viewpoints that you hear among the equipment of men I know of nothing more sensitive than that which enables one to know when another is insincere and among the reactions of men I know of nothing more inevitable than revolt against in sincerity never deceive yourself about your ability to deceive others insincerity will kill a human relationship more quickly than arsenic will take a life good night thank you sir anyone else from the public wishing to speak seeing no one I move to close B second Mr Paul board member uh Dr Tobak oh um donations our first donation is from March 7th 2024 um James Fallon Elementary School received a donation from James Fallon PTO in the amount of $2,796 to be used towards the fifth grade field trip to Liberty Science Center also on March 7th rson Elementary School received a donation from the rers and PTO in the amount of $340 to be used toward the cost of a first grade field trip on March 7th um Ryerson Elementary School received from the Ryerson PTO a donation to be used towards the cost of second grade field trip in the amount of $350 and on that same day Wayne Valley High School also received a donation from inera supermarkets the donation is to be used for the Italian Studies program in the amount of $1,000 thank you thank you and to all those who donate especially to our our PTO who without them I don't know where we would be and I really do appreciate all your hard work and everything that you do do Dr toak any comments so I'd just like to um take a moment to congratulate all of our retirees you heard a lot about them tonight um wish all them many years of health and happiness in the retirement that is an All-Star crew that will be very difficult to place um their accomplishments are many and it was a very nice thing the with with the board having an introduction to the retirees and for the community to get a sense of what a loss they will be for our community um so for the people who came up to speak tonight um for the most part you made statements and so it made it easy there's no questions other than I would like to respond to Mr feswick um just like to make you aware that the Arab Israeli conflict is taught and world history and it was taught in early February so that's where it was taught at both high schools for students who are in world history class thank you board member comments I'll start to my right Mrs leandry well first of all good evening um I wanted to thank everybody who approached um the podium tonight um and spoke with regards to support of the referendum um and many of you commented on the work that was put into the referendum by both the board members here and the administration um and whether you voted for it or against it yes or no I hope that every single person who voted used the resources that were available and voted with their questions answered with with all the resources we um there were so many different Aven use to check or to have your questions answered um so it's you know it's a bit disturbing but um we'll see what happens next um I also wanted to thank Mr Moffett for your presentation of the budget um and again trying to figure out the dollars and how we're going to allocate those funds and where we're going to have to cut and where we're going to have to make some adjustments uh I think it's very important that everybody understands the fact that um things still need to be done regardless of this condition of the referendum at this point things still need to be done and they will be done but other things will be um affected by that and with regards to the retirees oh my goodness how great is that that we all get to read a little BB about somebody who served the community in the classroom with students students the future of our country right and made a difference in their lives I think it's beautiful and it's my honor to read about them so I'm thankful for that opportunity thank you Mrs winch thank you also congratulations to the retirees with a fun time in your life to finally not have to work I think that's amazing and thank you for all the work that you did um with regards to the referendum I'm disappointed all around I was disappointed by the Ambush how we were very surprised to learn all these different things and what more disappointing it was me going to the not this past meeting uh but the previous meeting before the referendum of the council chambers and the behavior I saw from the people who were sitting here and over there um there was one member council member who spoke about the support and then she was referred to as she and I took a I took a big offense to to it because she has a name Miss Ritter and we're not always on the same page we were while she was speaking she saw the need why we needed to do what we needed to do and I thought it was very disrespectful so for the future for any disagreements we take pride on being here and we should always do it with kindness so thank you J Dan thank you uh first I want to say to all the retirees congratulations I'm coming with you soon I don't know what I'm going to do but I'll be with them soon enough here so I'll get to enjoy that ride also um to the administration and especially Mr Moffett all I can say is I'm sorry I'm sorry for what you're going to have to go through for the next weeks and months into years um you better get your court jester alidon because you're going to be doing a lot of juggling and no matter what we move or what we cut or what we're always going to be wrong for doing this um so I'm I'm truly sorry for you're going have to really earn your paycheck on this one bill I'm sorry about that but yours do a youngman's task anyway um to Mr freeswick you talked about making an Arab Israel AP class just as an educator um to clear things up uh AP courses or advanced placement courses are placed out by the AP testing Corporation it's a national curriculum uh that we adhere to because if you teach an AP class it's got to be taught everywhere it has to be tested everywhere it's a wonderful idea to make it an honors class it's a wonderful idea to make it uh just an elective but to actually make AP is a is a totally different animal in these cases so great idea I like the idea of doing it but just you can't tack on AP for stuff it's a very very rigid uh program in fact it starts in August and I know a great many science teachers who walk in the first day of school and say hi you're three weeks behind let's go and they've got to literally make up they'll do work over the summertimes they'll start them in mid August they'll get them books ahead of time so it's a real challenge because it's a national program so just to give you a little clarification on that um somebody mentioned I think it was Mr Mr resur he and I don't see eye and everything but I do respect you thank you for your service to our nation through your being a Vietnam vet thank you so much for what you've done for us we may not see the eye eye but one thing I'll do say is uh I'm not going to turn this into the board uh the Wayne Board of vagano uh I'm really not interested in what a man has to say any longer here I'm not interested in him coming and holding his hat I think we'll probably give him an invitation I don't think he's got the guts to show up for it but if he wants to come and you know spray us with his wonderfulness and then walk out the door cheering like Caesar that's up to him but I've got nothing nothing the man's got to say is going to work here is a $60 million short flow what are you going to cut we did Bare Bones we did it as quick as you had to uh to Gabe over there I understand 169 million is a lot uh it's down to 139 but that's gone because we can't use the state money at this point so my question anybody of the 5,000 people who voted know is I'll give you the list what do you want to cut and it's not just what are you going to cut on this list because there's stuff on that list we got to do so in order to do those what are we going to cut so good luck with that Mr B Sure Mr maoli first of all if people are sending you letters just be aware if people are sending you letters just be aware we're still listening if you come up to this Podium we're still listening to anybody that comes up here that is public input and so we're still paying attention to that so I appreciate you coming back and continuing to speak your mind CU that is important to us it's part of an open democracy and I think we need to continue being able to do that thank you Mr Paul I'm obviously disappointed the referendum didn't uh pass uh uh I think I'm more disappointed in the lack of voting I think as a community we have to do a better job of getting out there um you know every vote does count because when 10,000 people decide not to vote all those votes might Adit a big difference so I just think moving forward we have to do a better better job in getting out and voting one way or the other but just everybody getting out there um on the the retirements congratulations to all the teachers I wish I would have looked through the pile a little bit um better before I picked not that my uh people were any worse but um I actually had Mr Berg in his first year and uh I remember going in his class and about 2 weeks in I was a little bored with the curriculum um we weren't moving as fast as I wanted to and was a 1971 Pinto parked outside the auto shop that was probably hadn't moved in about 10 years and I said Mr Bergen I want to get that thing running in his first year he could could have said no I don't have time to worry about that we have a class to teach here and he said Mr Paul if that's what you want to do go do it by the end of the year there was about four of us working on it and we got it running and it was a great experience so uh Mr Bergen thank you thank you um we're we're all disappointed with the results of the referendum but this board is committed to Quality education and we do recognize our fi our financial stewardship of public funds while the referendum wasn't successful we do remain dedicated to finding Solutions and we're going to have to find Solutions because some these problems are not going away similarly you know we're committed to maintaining our schools with a 2% budget cap it's hard that's why we try to pair these projects with grants from the state and there's not a lot of Grants out there school construction commission or whatever they're called today they just said we're almost out of money so you know we have a community that's booming we have condos in tow houses and single unit family houses going up all over the town and especially on the upper side of the town I spoke about this four years ago and people told me I was crazy guess I'm not practice school is a major component in this and I forget who it was who said before you we start building schools you better fix what you have we're trying and I know uh Gabe you said about suing the contractor the problem is from my understanding the contractor is no longer in business so we we're we're stuck holding the bag on this one the path forward is not going to be easy folks tough decisions are going to be made and we're going to do them with transparency without a doubt there's going to be challenges that we face it's not going to be business as usual unfortunately when you go out for a referendum we can't tell you what the consequences of it not failing are we can't even tell you to vote Yes for it but this is New Jersey we have laws like that we're going to work collaboratively and we're going to embrace some The Innovation that we need to have we understand that some members of the community including the mayor expresses concern over the recent referendum so to Foster open communication Mr Mayor I will invite you publicly and I will follow it up with an email to attend our April 4th Public Works session and we're going to put it on the table and you can talk to us and we can talk to you hopefully it'll be a valuable opportunity for all of us to get together and talk about it we had een meetings as Mrs puup said about the referendum and the projects and maybe a handful of people ever showed up and they're all publicly announced so it's not like we're doing something behind somebody's back there were every one of them was in this was in way a couple times we had Retreats at the Hilton Garden in in Wayne because we putting long hours doing it so hopefully on April 4th our AR our architect will be here along with our bonding Council and some other professionals we have to talk about the reality of it now the reality of it is you've lost a lot of money from the state and we don't know if we're going to get it back with where they are now because as Dr Tobak said a simple change requires it to go back to the county to the uh state for approval and no I'm not going to cut the I'm not going to cut it short and say well you know what we're really cutting the money really close let's go along with what the architect said now because you have to remember if we go out to a referendum hypothetically next march you think prices are going to be the same as they are now I doubt it so you have to account for that so everything has to go back to the state there's no guaranteed on the funding you cut the referendum to $100 million you're not getting the same amount of funding and out of the 44 million for for pregnant school they didn't pay a lot I wish I had like mistake where I could get 300 million do and hey go build a new school taxpayers in here would be jumping up and down you know we look at places like Jersey City and New Brunswick that the state is that we're all paying for the state doesn't pay for anything we all pay for it at the end of the day there's more businesses in Jersey City now than probably in New York City how much are they contributing towards this schools in Jersey City why are we still flipping the bill same thing in New Brunswick you go down to New Brunswick you go along Eastern Avenue you go along George Street they're building every place highrises but yet we're all paying for every child's education down there how can it be how can we have this funding formula that gives us 8% eight cents on a dollar we get back from the state I don't hear people complaining about the TA the uh County taxes go ride down Valley Road good luck there was a pothole the a couple weeks ago a dump truck would have fallen into we need to get together in this community and start fighting the things outside the community that are hurting us telling our representatives in Trenton give us our money back give us our Fair due so you're not paying and we're not paying 90% of the school taxes in this town and every other town along with it so hopefully I invite you all to on April 4th to come on down and as I said we'll have a bunch of professionals there and we're going to be talking about the budget and there's going to be Cuts coming within the next month and some of them people are not going to be happy about I'm not happy about giving up on the science labs already but unfortunately it's just the way it's has to be right now with that I'll take a motion to move to a close Mrs wch good night everyone good night oh