All right. I'd like to call the meeting to order. In accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey Open Public Meeting Act of 1975, the Ottabon Board of Education transmitted notice of the meeting scheduled at 7 p.m. in the Ottabon Junior Senior High School Media
Center to the Retrospect newspaper and the Burough Clerk and by postings on the Ottabon Public School District website and at the main and the Pine Street entrances of the Junior Senior High School. Roll call, please. Mrs. Ron Case
Amy Davis here. Steven Wilson here. Sarah Coolen Alison Lipsky here. Mark Gaddy. Bill Wilson. Danielle D. Franchesco absent. Alison Cox Andrea
Robinson Jonathan Max and the student reps are absent. Okay. Great. Great. All right. Please stand for the flag salute. To the
flag of the stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. All right. As you know, the purpose of this meeting is to have our annual budget hearing. So, I would like to um
have Miss Allen lead us through the presentation of the 2025 2026 school budget. Thank you. You have this PowerPoint in your uh folders, but obviously I'll go through it there. If you have any trouble seeing any of the
slides, I wanted you to have them uh next to you as well. We did try to check this out yesterday and make sure that everything was visible from back there, but there's only so much I can do with some of the information. So, welcome to the 2526 budget hearing. What are the district's needs?
There's lots of different things that we've heard about over the last I just joined us in July. So, since July, there's a lot of different things that have come to light, areas that people would like to see improvement within the district at all different grade levels, all different things. This is just a
sampling of some of those things. This slide looks a little different than what you have in the paper. I added there was a tax levy incentive aid in 2009. It's important that you understand the two point 2% cap was placed on school district budgets
limiting the amount of adjustment each year regardless of how much costs actually increased. This happened 16 years ago. We were told that 2% is the most that we could raise. Even though a lot of our other expenses increased, we were never allowed to go higher than
that 2% cap. This has widened the gap in the funding provided through education and what we can do with the local tax levy. As a result, the board audition is considered by the NJ DOE to
be under adequacy by $3.589 million almost $3.6 million below where we should be with the cost that of things because they limited us to our 2% On March 28th, we found out that we were
one of 300 districts that qualify for something called the tax levy aid, which allows us to go beyond the 2%. In addition, the the DOE will give us 5% towards that budget. We had to have this proposal
submitted by April 14th. So the state gave us two weeks turnaround time to meet with the board, to meet with the operations department, to sit with the BA and the school district and determine what can we do. We are 3.5 million, 3.6 million below adequacy. We were entitled
to ask for up to 3.6 million. We sat and looked at the priorities that we saw some of them on the first page. We looked at the impact on the community, on the district, and tried to come up with how could we make both things work equitably. Do everything we can to help the district
improve without putting too much of a burden on the community. Obviously, a $3.6 million increase is going to be excessive. Please note, some districts did go for their full amount. We did not. We decided to apply for a $1
million grant. That would mean that 952 million I'm sorry 952,000 would be raised through tax levy and 47,000 would be raised through the NJ DOE. We submitted that application. We have yet to get a firm confirmation. We have a
preliminary confirmation. It's a state. This is how they work. We got a preliminary confirmation. We are still waiting for the final confirmation. But we have we were told that we are approved. It's just not the approval approval in writing where uh Miss Ronase
can actually go into the software and put in our budget. We did this presentation based on that $1 million being included. So the tax levy, the 2% gives us 14 million. the health benefit adjustment which we take every year because of the
health costs and then the tax levy incentive aid is calculated in our fund balance from last year 375,000 maintenance reserve is 50,000 our tuition from our receiving and from special ed is 3 million 3.7
3.372 state aid which includes that tax levy incentive is 10 million our fed federal Medicaid took a heavy hit this year they cut that back significantly over what it's been in the past and our miscellaneous interest. This makes our
total district revenue 29,611,98. That's a lot to take in, especially in a chart. I take it to a power to a pie chart. I'm a visual. I like to see things in a more visual manner. Um, so if you to go to the next page or your next slide, the district
revenue is now shown as a pie chart. 52% of our revenue is coming from the tax levy. 34.6% is from state aid. 11.5% is coming from tuition. There's an itty bitty wedge in there for 1.3. That's our
fund balance. So, the majority of the money that we put into the district is coming from the tax levy and then the state aid. The next slide talks about the stat the tax levy base. Back in 2023 24 the county told sorry the county the town
the town told us that an average house was assessed at $29,000 for an average home that was $126 increase or $1057 a month increase with that tax levy in 2024 25 again the average house
was $29,000 and this tax levy was $162.56 or $13.54 a This year the the count the sorry the town has told us that the average assessed home is 242
$24,500. Not sure why but that's the data we get. So we have to run with it. The increase with this million tax levy will be $240,00058 which equates to $205 a month
increase. 240 I'm sorry $240.58. $20 a month basically is what it works out to be. Where are we putting that money? How are we using it? Again, I start with a chart, but it'll go to a pie chart in a minute. Uh instructional programs, that's obviously one of the most important things in a
district. This is your personnel. This is your general ed teachers, your special ed teacher, your curriculum supplies, everything that's in the classroom for the students to be successful in what they're doing. That's where 12.8 million of our of our money is going. Personnel services. This is
our health care benefits and social security. All of the benefits and things that that come through the HR. That's another big chunk of our uh budget. That's five almost 5.5 tuition from out of district placements. We have students that we
have to send out of district that we do get some money through the IDA grant 300,000 school sponsored athletics and school activities. This is everything. It's not just athletic events at the high school. It's not just your activities at the high school level.
We're talking about Mansions Garden Club, Havlin's afterchool clubs. All clubs and activities, inter inner intergenerational, interact, unified, all of our clubs go into that bucket. District support, child studies team,
guidance, nurses, libraries, librarian, all of those things go in that. School administration. This is your school principles. General central administration. This is me, Deb, our offices. Facilities, operations, and maintenance. That's Bud, his department,
his people, and all of the maintenance, materials, supplies, things necessary to keep the building upkeep. Student transportation. We are a walking district. We do still have district transportation. We have needs for our out of district placement students, activities, athletics, field
trips. So, we do still have to fund for buses and our capital projects. If you look at this as a pie chart, you will see that if you add together our health benefits and our instructional staff, 62% of our budget
goes towards our teachers and our students and what they need in the classroom, right? That's that's three-fifths of our whole chunk goes towards those things. Um, student transportation 3.3. It's not on the wedge. It doesn't fit, but it is
underneath there. Can't see it on the slide. Um, this PowerPoint will be Yes, this PowerPoint will be available online also. Um, so that you can see all of the information. You have it in a handout. Um, facilities and operations 7.2% your
district support again guidance. If you go back to the previous thing, that's your guidance. your nurse, your library, everything is outlined there as to where each of the how much of the total budget is being put into each of those buckets I call them. What are our priorities? How do we
come up with this list? How when they talk to us about wait, there may be a way to do this tax levy. We have to look at our budget. What are our priorities and figuring out where to put our monies? One of the main things was expanding the preschool. This is something that's been asked for time and time again by the board, by the community, by the teachers. We want to
have preschool for all. We're not there yet. We're working on it, but we are expanding as every year. As long as we're expanding, we're doing what we can to get to that point. District mental health supports K12. We have some mental health things at the high school. I It's needed in the K12 um venue. I'll go into
more detail with some of these things in the next slide. Social emotional learning which will be abbreviated SEAL through the rest of this PowerPoint. Social emotional learning. This is when we help students with their relationship skills, with their self-awareness, with their
decision making, them the zones of regulation and mansion, knowing that I'm in this kind of an uh uh zone right now and I need to calm down. Being able to identify emotions, knowing that you're angry, you're shutting down, things like that. That's all part of SEAL.
We have some academic support. Obviously, we would like to see our scores continue to go up and at the high school has more growth needed than some of the others. In the technology department, of course, we have computers that need to be replaced every year, not just for breakage, but there's a cycle.
We have everything on a cycle. We're not saying that I need new computers for every student. We have them in a cycle so that every it's a fiveyear cycle for the teachers and for the students. Every five years we bring in a new bucket because the old ones the seniors leave those go down to elementary things move
up. Some of them are just outdated and need to be replaced. Network security is a really hot topic these days. We've heard a lot this year about power school having breaches, student information being leaked, things of that nature. We have to fortify our things as well. We have
really good systems in place, but as good as we are, the hackers or whatever are that much better. So, we need to keep on top of that. and that comes with a a price tag. Um there's also the fishing things that are going on. We we're going to get software to present prevent that. That's when you're getting your text messages or an email that says
easy pass. You haven't paid your bill. If you don't click this now, you're going to lose your license. That's not true. It's a fishing in our district. We're getting emails from me, the superintendent, that says superintendent wants you to attend a meeting. You must click this meet now. So people don't
know me. People don't know that I'm not going to do these things. So, they're clicking things and it wants it either gives them a way in or it asks them for a username and password and it's not that people are trying to let them into our network. They think I'm sending out an email and they're like, "Well, the superintendent asked, so I'm going to do
that." So, we need some uh to beef up our our systems to make sure that we're not vulnerable increasing in the techn I wanted to make that say technology and the guidance positions. We have two part-time positions right now that we want to make into full-time. They're desperately needed. The technology needs
um the the mojo tickets, which is our work orders, things that need to be fixed for the students, for the teachers with our uh wireless is a constant ongoing thing. And we also have somebody inhouse that does all of our repairs for our Chromebooks so that we're not sending things out for repair. It saves us a lot of money by doing it in-house.
That's becoming more and more of a need with everybody using them. Guidance, obviously, we we can't have enough support for our students. There's just so much going on in their lives. The more support we have, the better off we are. Right now, we have a part-time person, and it really is tough the days that she's not
there. We have a new algebra one resource. We have a new grammar resource. With those things, we have some professional development, productive struggle. Uh, I want to take a minute to talk a little bit about this. Um, a lot of times in education, we talk about what are we seeing as a um
a product of COVID. How are we seeing the students? Are they progressing? Are they coming through? We know that there was some deficits in the learning. There's also a lot of deficits in things that aren't just the learning or the content, but more in their uh stamina to do the work. We did a survey of the
staff and we found that there's a lot of students who are more than happy to just put their hand up and say, "Show me how to do it. I can't do this. I can't do this." Instead of really trying, working it through. There's a lot to be learned from that productive struggle. It's a necessary struggle for them to learn and
to grow, but they're not willing to take those chances. They're giving up. We're enabling them too much. We want to help them. I don't want them to stress out. I don't want to put too much on them, but I also don't want them to think that I will give them the answer or the teacher will give them the answer all the time. So, we had surveyed the staff. We found
that productive struggle was definitely an area of need. We planned some PD for next year. We actually just had that last Friday uh the opening about productive struggle and some strategies and things that people can take into the classroom. Mr. Burke sent out a email
for feedback form and the teachers have said almost overwhelmingly that yes, this is definitely an area that I'd like more guidance on and more um PD on. I am aware of it. I see it. I don't know how to prevent the kids from from enabling the kids with it. So this is an area
that we're really concentrating on for next year. And again, this is like a K12 thing. This isn't just at one particular building. We're seeing it at all levels. Everything from your accelerated kids down to your your atrisisk students. They're all just, you know, it's that's
what we're saying as a as the district is one of the things that we still haven't been able to get past that really occurred with COVID. Obviously, we need some resource training. We're talking about some new resources and things like that. and nurtured heart, which I'll talk about a little bit more, but this is the trauma-based
um care that we've talked about. I did a full presentation back in April. That presentation is available on the board website. I'm sorry, on the Ottabon website under the board page. You will find the mental health PowerPoint that I did last month, the videos that were
there, because in the PowerPoint the videos don't play, but there's also the entire recording of me presenting that PowerPoint. So if you ever want or need more information, you can get that there. We also have special ed students that are special ed numbers are actually increasing. Um we have a lot of people
moving into district. We're finding more and more needs. Unfortunately, a lot of them have needs that we can't accommodate here in district. So that means our out of district placement numbers are going up. Out of district placement tuition is nothing that we have any control over whatsoever. This is a county and statewide problem. When
I sit at county roundts, we all discuss how much trouble we're having both with the transportation and the cost of the out of district placements. So, we really don't have any control over this. We're required by law to give them the least restrictive environment, put them in the program that fits best for them,
even if it happens to be the most expensive of two or three choices. We don't really have the right to to look at it that way. So, that's costing us a bit this year as well. We are fortunate that this year we were started working on the strategic plan.
Unfortunately, the strategic plan hasn't been presented to the board or the public yet. That will happen in July. But we're still in the process of putting together the entire plan. We did however find time to go through and learn what some of the major objectives were. Some of the main highlights seal that social emotional
learning and mental health is one of the biggest areas that came across all the different groups that we had. We had different forums. We had students, we had teachers, we had parents, we had community members, we had administrators, we had every different uh group accounted for at our community
forums. Many of you attended different times. Um, and we had it set up so that there was five or six different groups and people were working individually and then we consolidated the information. SEAL and mental health was something that came through from all the groups. Something that needs to be not that it's
not there, but we need to do more. We can't do enough. there's always more room for improvement. Another thing that was Oops. Another thing that was very clear was the rigorous and student centered instruction, meeting the students where they are, pushing them to the next level. Our AP classes, our
honors classes, preparing kids for college, for things outside of college. I keep clicking, sorry. Preschool expansion definitely across the board. Every person, every one that you ask wants more preschool, we're working on it. We are very much involved in that as well. Fortunately, Ottabbon Park is
working with us and we're making a lot of progress on where we can go even in the next few years. Futures beyond high school. We had a lot of conversation about the fact that not every student is a collegebound student. There's a lot of CTE, career and technical ed, the workforce types of jobs that our
students are really eligible for and interested in, and we're not doing enough as a district to prepare them, expose them, prepare them, and help them find. So those are things that we want to make sure that we do. Also the partnerships among the school, the community and the families and that's going to take place in a variety of
different ways. The social emotional learning being one of the biggest pieces which is why I did the PowerPoint and the presentation in April. There's a lot of things that need to be um improved. My biggest concern is that we're reaching
all of the different populations. It's not just the students or the teachers or the families. It's everything. I want to make sure that we're meeting all of our needs. So, obviously the mental health services, maintaining our counseling
services. Playful is an application that we talked about purchasing is an app. It is on the phone. It is on a computer. It is a online uh chatting on demand access for students to get in touch with a trained coach, a human being, not an AI,
to say, "I just got in fight with my boyfriend. I want to kill myself. I have a t test tomorrow and I'm not ready. What am I going to do? My mom and dad are screaming in the other room and it's freaking me out. I don't know. Whatever their concern is, they have somebody to talk to. They call it a coach. They have training. There's it goes far more in
depth as to what happens at different escalation levels, but it is a very well- vetted program. Haden Township has used it this year. We've looked into a lot of the questions have been answered and will continue to. Um, dreams. Dreams is something we actually had an
orientation on it today. Dreams is something that's the trauma informed care. It's nurtured heart. The best way to explain it is this is a way to acknowledge and celebrate students doing the right thing instead of always talking to them about the wrong thing. So, we have a student who loses his
temper and and curses out a teacher. They come to the principal's office. They sit down. You wait until they're calm and say, "I'm happy to see that you've calmed down. Can we have a conversation?" Instead of the what did you do? Why did you get sent to my office? I told you we just had this last week. Instead of putting the emphasis on
the negative behavior, it's really trying to bring out the positive. Celebrate the things. We have students with attendance issues, but they've been to school all month. That's great. I realize you still have 36 absences, but you've been here for a month straight. And I'm going to acknowledge that and I'm going to celebrate that because that
is noteworthy. Although a lot of students do that every day, you have different baggage and different things in your background. So I want to celebrate your successes. Dreams is professional development for the staff to understand how to see and do those things. Everything from administration
to teachers to counselors. It's a full program. They do the mentoring and the training with us. They turn some of our employees into trainers and they will work with us for an entire year. Haden Heights just finished this program last year. This dreams program. Uh the next thing on there was
the Care Solace. This is something that's available to families. I'm sorry. I I have not I just found out today in my orientation. Um Mr. Howey said, "How many districts in the area?" They had several. Belmar, um Brooklon, Haden Heights. I can't remember the
others. I wrote them down, but there were several. But I have a good connection with Heights. I'm, you know, I talked to that superintendent on a regular basis. So, I plan to reach out to her and they did it at their high school level. We actually signed up the high school this year. I didn't want to sign up the entire district. I thought it would be best to start with one area.
So, I signed up the high school and Heights actually did the high school. I know that when I first talked about this, Miss Davis went on and did a lot of research on their website and there was a lot of elementary school presentations. So, she had contacted me and was concerned like, do we have is it as applicable for the higher level kids,
older kids? we see a lot of what the projects were for the younger kids, but I do have local that used it for the older kids. So, I'm very excited about that and hearing how they used it. Um, yeah, at the end of the project, you do a um presentation of how you brought it
into your district and what all happened and they record it and put it on their website. So, if they haven't done it already, we will have access to see what Haden Heights did. They do like a show and tell of all the districts that they mentored for the year and showing what all the things were that they did in the district to bring about this nurtured
heart kind of uh uh mentality. Care solace is something that's available to our families and I don't know that enough families are aware of it. Uh okay, I have a child at home and he's anxious and he's anxiety and he's cutting and I don't know what to do. He won't talk to me. I don't know
how to find a counselor. I have this insurance. I can't, you know, I can't use this provider index to figure anything out. Kasolus is a a service that's available that all you do is call them and you will have be signed up with a person who will say, "What insurance do you have? You have no
insurance?" Not a problem. We'll find you providers that are free. What is your Oh, you have Etna, you have this, you have that. Let's see what the co-pays are. What are you looking for? Do you want a male or a female? Do you want somebody at your house? Do you want to go to a place? They gather all that information. They go through their resources. They track to see that you
made your first and after the second or third visit, they'll call you and say, "How's it going?" They always tell you to at least do two or three tries with a counselor. If it's not a fit, we'll find a new one. Is it working out? Is it going well? Is it is she comfortable? Great. Then we'll continue with that one. So, that is a very, very valuable
service as opposed to a lot of times like a school school counselor can hand you a folder. Here's all the services available in town. That doesn't always help you because you don't know which ones of those apply to you. Car Solace is a available 247. They're there to help you. Even for our multi- language
learners, parents, families, they're there to help you make sure that you get the services you need for you, for your spouse, for your children in the district, out of the district. It's not something that's only for Ottabon students. It's also an every guidance counselor's
signature line on their emails. There's there's a piece out there. I have no idea, but I'm gonna Deb's going to make a list for me. I can look into that. Even if I couldn't get a representative, I could get a flyer and things like that. There are things. No, and I I I when I learned I
didn't know what all it was, even though I've been here for eight months, but in doing this presentation, I did a little more digging and it's amazing. I wish I had it when I was going through some issues with my son. It's an amazing resource. So, I see that it's underutilized and I'm going to do what I can to try to get that word out a lot
more. uh academic standards. Obviously, we want to academically be the best, be the best in South Jersey. That's our goal. So, for that to happen, we need to we are maintaining our entire entire current instructional staff. We're not doing any cuts, any riffs, any anything,
which is again the big topic in um I want to say South Jersey, in Jersey right now with the budgets and things like that. We are maintaining our our current staff. Uh we're maintaining all of our current course offerings. We are instituting a new supervisor of instruction, new algebra 1 and grammar
resources, and we are placing a new emphasis on the college and career programs. Like this is something that we're working on integrating into the courses and into things outside of the coursework, which is the next bullet. Community engagement. Um, again, from the strategic plan and
from getting to know Audabon, this town is a wealth of resources. I we need to get those resources into the buildings more. Um, I'm going to use you example. We have a board member who has an automotive shop. Why do we not have somebody coming in and talking to students about careers in automotive? We
have pretty much every trade, every business, every everything you can think of right here within our one mile, one square mile. We need to get them into the buildings more. That's been already made as a goal. Already some plans are in place to have more. Seventh and eighth grade is I think the key spot to
start. That's not to say 9 to 12 doesn't need it. We'll do some things for them, too. But seven, eight, before they get to high school, start thinking about, start having those conversations. Yes, we do NVAC. Yes, we have them do a a test on what their likes and dislikes are, but have an electrician come in,
have a welder come in, have a carpenter come in, have a businessman that comes in, have um Soups and More, Simply Soups and More come in. What What How did she go from a food truck to a corner store? like we have a great community of
vendors and businesses. They need to be here talking more to our kids so we can appreciate what all they have. Um I also want to see the students going out more doing community service being involved in things in these. We should have job fairs for summer work. We have juniors and seniors who are looking to have
summer work. We have a whole bunch of community people that are going to need summer work. We should be helping marry those two things together. Uh there's a lot of things and again we have some plans for these things. uh senior citizens visiting classrooms. Uh we did a lot of talking about this at the strategic plan. I heard about a program
that happened years ago. Seniors would come in and do readings with the younger kids. Again, wealth of knowledge. I sat at our last I'm going to digress for a second. I sat at our last inservice with our retirees and we had a retirees reception just a 45 minutes. We had light refreshments. We had some
conversation. They didn't know what they were coming into and I said, "There's a wealth of knowledge in this room. like I want to spend the next 45 minutes getting all the information out of you that I possibly can because you're a huge resource and I'm losing you. So that's kind of how I feel about the senior citizens of our town. This is a
huge resource. We need to use that, embrace it and thrive from their information, their experiences, what they've seen happen over the years in Audabon, in industry, in everything in the schools. There's a lot to be learned there and it's just
sitting there on a shelf that we're not using. Um, internships and job fairs. That's kind of what I just talked about a little bit. You know, I really think that we have a lot of students that do leave, seniors that do leave half day to go to work. Let's make sure we're getting them into fields that they're looking at going into instead of just
going and working. I have nothing wrong with going and working at WAWA. That's great. But if you're looking to be um a plumber, then go work at the plumbing supply store. Let's get you hooked up in there so that you're building some of that interest in your trade and learning. And maybe you find out before you get in the plumbers union that that's not something you're interested
in. Um and and those of us that are in education, you years ago we had a big problem. People got in front of a classroom and went, "Yeah, this isn't my thing." Like you've got a four-year degree and now you're finding out that this isn't what you want to do. So we we've learned from that. We're trying to put people in. There's more student teaching. We need that in everything.
Put yourself sit in a in an office one day and see what it's like to do that job. see if that's something you could Oh my god, I love number crunching. I would love to do what Deb does. Not me, but somebody might like to sit there and do like numbers. That's great. I love numbers. That would be a really cool thing to do. So, we want to work on those
things. That's the conclusion of my presentation. Any questions? I'm sorry if I talk fast. I get excited. I tried to make sure I slowed down. Dreams is a free program. It's a partnership between New Jersey Department of Ed, Rutgers, I want to say
mental health, but I know that that's not the name of the the school, behavioral health, um DCPN, and uh family services. There's four different organizations that work together. Um there's a team of mentors that we met with. I'm doing this because it was on the screen today. There was a team of
mentors that we meet with and they will do a lot of online things but then they will also come and do in-person trainings with us. Yes. Oh, there's a pocket that's going to miss out. Yeah, there's a pocket that's going to miss out. You're right.
Oh, no. We We'll figure out a way. So, it was the first one. Um. Mhm. Mhm. Everybody will have had the experience. Yes. Yeah. So I'm actually tasking that with
guidance. Um I had uh one of our guidance counselors is so I happen to know somebody I happen to know the president of Stockton. So I had taken Fifer students to Stockton last year. So, I came in saying like, "Have we ever taken kids?" And they're like, "I I I can do all the leg work for you. I can get you connected. All you have to do is
get a bus to get them there." So, I used my connections to get that one started. And I had her reflect. I wanted to see how it went. Do you think eighth grade was the How did it go? How receptive were the kids? Do you think it was the right age? All of these kinds of things before we move forward. I came from a different demographic. I came from a
different kind of school. I don't know that eighth grade is the right thing for here. So, I wanted to do eighth grade and see how it went. And then we're going to create a whole plan. I've already met with Jeff and we talked about Stockton. That's great. We should do more schools. Like absolutely. We should do, you know, a couple in the spring, a couple. So we have ideas about
we have four guidance counselors and giving each guidance counselor. So for example, we have two guidance counselors that do seven to nine. If one C guidance counselor is tasked with looking at colleges and college visits, the other would be more tasked with the the career other career things and doing um trips
to those sorts of things, whether it's to um a bakery, you know, the this that go and see the different things. That's the plan for, like I said, for here moving on. We need to be retroactive and sit down and be deliberate about the ones that missed out. not going to be
able to have as many opportunities for them because it's going to interfere. You know, an eighth grader missing class for a day isn't missing class, let's say, four days to go on college visits isn't a big thing. An 11th grader missing at four days starts to impact their instruction, but we can absolutely
uh work on that and make that a conscious thing to do because we know that that's an area of growth. And it went very well. Uh the feedback I got was there was a little pocket of kids who like were off task or whatever, but there was kids walking around going, "Oh my god, I'm going here. I'm going to Stockton. I'm going. And that's like to
me, if you're taking 85 kids and you have five that leave there going, "Oh my god, college is cool." That's a win. Like we have kids that that wouldn't have necessarily had that conversation. And yeah, there's a lot of parents that are doing those things. A lot of parents that don't have time to do those things. So, and again, some of the kids are going to be there and be like, "Yeah,
it's just I took my son on a college tour and I said, "What do you think?" He's like, "Yeah, it's school." Well, what did you think it was going to be? Like, yeah, there's classes. You're going to have to do work. So maybe they need to see that and go, "Okay, so that's just more school and I'm sick of school already." So I don't think I'm doing that. What are my other options?
It's good to have those conversations. So yes, we have a very deliberate plan in place for those coming up. We will work on making sure that the ones that got missed get Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep, we can we can absolutely do that. I
said I I can't promise that we'll do as many for the upper levels as we do. I think seven and eight has more flexibility to be able to um Yeah. Oh, absolutely. You guys go here, you guys go there. Yeah. Career fair is another one that we've that
we're partnering with another Yes. Right. But it's not fair for those that missed out that I come in and I'm doing these things for these grades, but what about the ones that were at those stages before I got here? We'll definitely find We're going
right. Exactly. I hear you. So do I. So do I. I don't have a pen to make a list. So, as long as Deb's writing it down. So, we have um a lot of time this summer. I mean, obviously I had time last summer, but it was a different So, this is
there's things that we, you know, already have on our radar, and this is No, no. I But I like that you're you're right. It's something I have I think I'm deliberate about 78 and that like eighth is going to go up and have had it, but that doesn't mean that 10th, 11th, and 12th like you kind of forget that you're
putting it in place for here on, but what about the ones that miss the boat? So yeah, that's a very worthwhile thing to consider. I just want to say my son was one of the eighth graders that went to Stockton and his whole entire perspective has been changed. He is going to college now. Um and not only is he going to college I only need one like
that's I mean it is one and he's now looking at other options but the the the visual aspect of being able to meet other kids that went there. They were able to be in a lecture hall. They were able to meet other people that did sports and extracurricular activities. He knows the schedule of you know golf
and whatever he wants to play. Okay, let's talk about academics, too. Um, but then he went into some of the professors that he had a chance to meet and talk. It was just a phenomenal experience. Thank you. Um, and it completely changed his similar not just
it's unfortunate they went during finals week, so there was a lot of classrooms that they couldn't go into is what I'm told. But the um the tour guides apparently were very good and and when we took the students from Pensacen down, it was such a long ride. We didn't get that much time there. But the students
were flabbergasted that you live at college. Wait, what? Like there was just so much that they didn't know and that's you know, you don't know what you don't know until. So yeah, I'm glad to hear that he that it was memorable and he came home and told you that it's one to have the memorable experience. It's another one to get him to actually come
home and tell you about it because we're talking about eighth graders. There's a whole lot that goes on in their day that they don't tell you about. So, I'm excited to hear that you even heard about it. Yeah, I'm out of touch with a lot of that stuff. So, that's good information. There's different options.
Wow, that's exciting. Agreed. Absolutely. I love it. That's amazing. That's awesome. Like, dang. Yeah, that's awesome. couple of things. Thank you. So, I don't know if everybody heard the question,
what were there things that I have come across in the year where we could streamline or or make some savings as opposed to just everything that our wants and needs are? Uh, there's a couple of things. First of all, was supplies. Um, a lot of our supply ordering is done
peace meal and it's done through Amazon. Um, it's not always done in bulk and through a um, a particular vendor. They want the ease and the speed of getting the things right away as opposed to so I have instituted for example let's say
you know um, I'll get purchase orders. This one wants 50 p pieces of construction paper. This one wants 100 pieces of construction paper. This one was 25 sheets of like I'll buy you 500 pieces of construction paper for half the and you can all just count it out. Like that's just so we've done a lot of
that. We um Deb and I miss Ron Case and I noticed that during the high school it was uh whiteboards, not a not an interactive one, just a whiteboard to be able to write on. But everybody went to their everybody just Googled, I want a 8 by10 whiteboard that's magnetic. Well, this one found one for $1,000. This one
found one for $800. This one found one for $400. Guess what? you're all getting a $400 one saved. So, we started to really look at things that I don't think had been looked at before. Um, and again, coming from a big district to a small district, that was just common s common place for us there. Same thing
with furniture. Um, here you need desks for your classroom. You just go by desks. So, if you went around a school, they all have different desks. Like when where I came from, it went through maintenance. They ordered they found what was the most durable, the best for everybody this age gets this desk. Everybody in this building gets this
desk, everybody. And that way we're not getting all of these different things. Or um the nurs's office wanted a new cabinet. Well, that's fine, but is it an industrial-grade cabinet? Are you going to Home Depot and pricing out what you would get for your house and looking for the most, you know, the most economical one is not the one that's going to stand
up the best to the needs here. So supplies, I would say, are we saving money handover fist? No. But are we definitely going to be saving money this year over what we've put out in supplies in the past? Absolutely. Um, another area was our teachers, our resources, I say, but our teachers.
Um, we've talked a number of times about at the preschool, we have a music teacher at one of our buildings that isn't teaching music every single day all day. So, she's used a lot of times to do push-in support, to do some other things. I want her to go to the preschool and teach music because I think our preschool students would be
very enriched by having some music instruction. It's something they've never had. I have this person who's got a degree in whatever in music and I have her doing push in for language arts. That's great. Language arts can certainly use the support. However, this person specializes in music. So, I would
like to be able to use them in that way. Um, we're also looking at different source for things like we have a ret reading specialist retiring. We have some other reading specialists on staff that aren't being used in that capacity. So, we're looking at making sure that we're using resources the most effective way. Um, at the high school we have some
people that are dual dual certified math and science. Well, where do we need them more? Do we need them more in science or do we need them more in math? I know they like science, but we might need them more in math. So, we've really done a lot of examining um that. Another one that I'm very proud of and I think is
going to come to fruition is the overages and the the redoing of the schedule for the high school. Um, it was a very eye-opening experience for the um academic coaches. They went to four different schools, three three different schools and saw different schedules. We
were looking at trying to get into a block schedule, things of that didn't come to fruition. Just too much involved at this time. But it was a great learning experience. They came back at every single school they went to. They asked about overloads. I'm sorry I call them different things. Overloads and how many teachers had overloads. And they
were shocked that no school had as many overloads as we did. So we got back and when we were debriefing in the room, they're oh, they have more teachers. They have more teachers. They have more teachers. So, one person went on and started to Google the three different districts and they actually have a much higher student toteer ratio than we do.
We actually have more teachers than they do. It's a scheduling thing. We are accommodating too many things. Like if you have five people that want French and 55 people that want Spanish, we're having to make three Spanish classes and we have one French class for five kids. That's great that five want French.
Either put 10 more in there and make it a worthwhile class or you can't run a class for five. There's sometimes you just have to make decisions. You're a small district. You can't give everybody 51 flavors at all times. I'm sorry. It just can't happen. So, by looking at things differently and either
frontloading these things, knowing that French is only going to have five, we need to recruit and get 10 more people in there. So, I have 15 and I'm letting go of the Spanish that now has 45 and that's two easy classes. 55, that's two huge classes. So, by looking at that,
um, we didn't cut all of the overages out. I will be very honest about that. With special ed, because your district still has, which I firmly believe in, two teacher classrooms for your inclusion settings, a lot of times that means your special ed teacher ends up with an overage because they're covering
their resource room classes and also doing the two-teer model. Places that have gotten away from that have done it by putting an aid in the room. I will tell you that that's not as effective. That's not helping your students. an aid is somebody who has what 60 college credits, whatever. Like they're not really going to help this kid with
pre-calc or with algebra 2 or even algebra 1. You really want that two-teer classroom. So those overages are still existing. I think there is one other department, maybe two departments that have um a couple overloads, but it is cut down immensely from what it was in
the past because we're looking at doing things differently. The cycles in seventh and eighth grade was another area. When I came on, I was looking at class schedules and I see people that have classes of five and six. Well, that's great, but we're paying overloads for them to have a class for five or
six. H that's not logical to me. There's got to be a better way. Like compress them, put 11 kids in the class and now one person doesn't have an overload. So, we're doing those sorts of things. We're really looking at the schedule at the high school in a very different way. Actually, scheduling at all the buildings. Um Mr. Burke is working with
both Havlin and Mansion and looking at their schedules and making sure that we're using resources the best way possible, meaning our teachers. And at the high school, we're looking at trying to compress those numbers of overloads, making sure teachers have those duties by those duties. Obviously, I'm putting
them at in school, I'm putting them at bathroom duty, which is why I was able to let go of those positions. I think that's a very worthwhile thing. I just want to speak to that for one second. I think it's important that students have interaction with teachers outside of a classroom. I think only knowing that teacher as they come in, sit down, shut
up, and do your work isn't always good. Not that they don't build relationship with students. They do. But seeing you as a teacher and seeing you in the hallway are two totally different things. Seeing you as the ISS monitor and you're sitting down and going, "What' you do? I told off my Well, come
on now. You're not You don't act like that in my class. Why are you doing that with that teacher?" This is a whole different relationship now that's being built during that 45 minutes that you're covering ISS. The 45 minutes that you're in the hallway covering. And the fact is the contract says that every teacher
should have five teaching high school teachers five teaching sessions, one duty, one prep and a lunch. And because of our overloads, they're not doing a duty. They're still getting their prep and their lunch. They're not getting a duty. And it it really changes the the
culture with the kids. So yes, they have a fabulous relationship with the hall monitors. They're great. I'm not going to say they're not. Yes, having the per one person in ISS all day and that consistency is fabulous. I'm not saying it's not. I'm saying there's different ways we can use what we have to be more
efficient and have some other benefits like building relationships with the students. I don't think so. Um, so far they haven't been like we haven't up. So when you build a schedule, you can put a maximum in for the class sizes and we haven't really changed maximums. So
we've been able to build it with what it's not entirely built yet. It's I want to say 75 to 80% built. There's like a class or two that still has to be run. Some things will have to be handched. Um, but no, we're not seeing that to be a big problem. And as you saw in your weekly wave or whatever, we did get a
French teacher. It's very exciting. It was very concerning. We have a lot of students. I don't say I mean it's not like an overwhelming number, but we had like 46 that wanted French too. Like they already took French one and now I'm gonna take tell them guess what you're out of luck like that just was we were
very very concerned you know not just your French fives which is great you want to take a fifth year of a language. I love it but the kids that took French one that were going into French 2 to have to tell them I know you want two years of a language but I can't offer you the second year. You got to start over at one in Spanish and do Spanish.
We even looked at online options and they weren't available. So, um, no, we we really tried to help the teachers understand that they need to promote their programs. So, uh, plant biology was a class I just recently observed. She has two sections. One is very large
and one was kind of small. She did a lot to add to her offering to, you know, really solicit it to the kids to get more to sign up so that we could have two decentsized classes. Are they going to be overloaded? No. But it's also not going to be eight. on you, Miss Ronis.
Hand off. Well, transportation as far as our kids out of district, we do require to uh transport them. That is a contracted service out. So we are we use um Kimy
County Educational Services Commission. So they'll you know in in the um summer we'll give them the list of the kids that we need to be transported out and they get the the best route for us. You know they'll see it could be a Hulcom
bus, it could be um another like first first student transporting um that way. So, and during the school year, we have kids moving in that might need transportation
um out of district as well. You know, like we just can't place them. So, when it's during the school year with anything um the but bus routes are already set. So if we have an emergency and we have then have to transport an
individual um that cost is a lot more. Um we also do transport um some children based on their IEPs um individualized educational plan um in in district also. Um but we do not even
though we do own three buses we do contract out for them because um it's dur we don't have a drivers and our buses are mostly used for field trips and um athletic events. So athletic is a
big part of it also. You wouldn't think that that is you know we're paying the salary that's included in that in that cost as well. Yeah. So we have three, four, five bus drivers in district but they're teachers, coaches, things like that. So like she's saying for a school
day we can't use them. They're have another responsibility. But for the weekend games, for the band, for the games that are away, all that, they need to be busted back and forth. So those people are driving those buses. Those are some of the, you know, time sheets that I'm signing on a regular basis. That that's a big expense, too, that
kids have to get to all of our away events. Well, we do offer um our transportation to um Mel from M Brooklyn. Uh we do approve them. Uh I don't know off the top of my head um how
often they use that service, but you know, obviously there's an upcharge that that we do for that um to cover our costs. That was one other thing I forgot about. We do have a couple um shared services types of um contracts coming up. Our
technology, Mr. Chisum is working with Collingswood. He also has a summer project with Belmore Belmar. Belar So those give us some um revenue also. It's not really accounted for in there. It's not a large amount, but every little bit counts. Um so we are looking that was
something that's Belmar was there before, but the Collingswood one has come up through this year that we figured out a way Try to help ourselves a little bit. I think we have that being presented at one of our next meetings. Um I actually don't have Mr. Burke does, but I know
that we did apply for one. I think we're getting granted at least one. We said we're getting um that's for those, but like Mr. Chisum has put in for several like I know that we've got a couple of different ones for um our phones are this or that. Like there's lots of different ways that we're doing it. The instructional
committee ones, if that's what you're talking about, we'll get a report out on those. But there are other grants that we do apply for and get and um have been very fortunate for. I just know Mr. Chisum had what I think two that he just did last year and we're talking he
actually wants to meet with me and Mr. Ron Casease this week to talk about another one that he found for some more um security at a classroom level as opposed to the building level. Yes. I was glad to see
mention. I was reminded a while back I shared discussion postcour. Uh that poster included care solace included suicide hotline
included included second floor number of these things. I and I guess not so much a question but just a statement. I hope that we still want to do that and won't just stop at Caris number of these
resources that won't cost us anything but are there to provide for these concerned parties I sent out to the to the board also I don't know what parent.org parents.org parent.org I don't know what the organization is and how they got a hold
of us, but they sent me tons of flyers and posters and whatever, which is a lot more resources for parents. I tried to vet them. I asked you guys. I asked my guidance counselor. They seem to be uh worthwhile and not having an ulterior motive type of a site. So, I did put
those things up in going and talking to Mr. Howe about some of that. There is a lot of that in guidance. I realize that's not access to the parents. Like, that's part of what I've learned this year. We do a lot of stuff here and the kids see it, but it gets lost between us and home. Like I said, I was very excited to hear that
the eighth grade child told mom about going to Stockton because although we're doing a lot, guidance is doing a lot, a lot of that isn't making it home. So, we have to do a better job. And that's why I tried to put the community as one of our big pieces that we need to do better with. Um, we've talked about it before,
but it's also one of our summer projects I want to look at. For example, we talked about um Third Friday, we the board of education has a a table there, but it's not really showing off the district. We had those um gingerbread houses that were here. Like I want to be
more of a showand tell. I want to do more things to really promote the district at these different events. I want to have parent type workshops or seminars or things available at any time there's a concert or this or that. You can't get into Genesis, go down a library. there's a bunch of computers sitting down there and a tech guy
that'll help you get in the Genesis because you haven't gotten in yet into your parent portal. Let's make sure you know how to do that. You don't know what the AI is. You want to know a little bit more about this. Um have ones on cyber bullying and and cyber awareness like all of these types of things. I think
it's a big pocket that's that's missing. It was one of the things that I talked about a lot of times in the strategic plan and it did come through and I think that we aren't using our time when parents are coming to the building for other activities enough to educate them even as much as we talked about reading.
You know the child's trying to read and they're trying to tap it out which doesn't mean anything to you because you're not in the classroom and you don't know what's happen. So if we could just give you a couple of the words or help you understand that it's okay for them to say it wrong. It's okay for them. You're helping them more by doing that than, you know, giving them the
words and doing whatever in a math worksheet. There's 20 questions they have to do and they're crying and they can't do it. Helping them do the 20 questions isn't the best way. The two that they got done, ask them what they did and how they did it and tell me what the teacher did today. That's actually So, we need to do more of that for the families to understand how to help. So,
I see a lot of areas for growth in those areas. Oh, yeah. The kids do have it in around the building. It's Yeah, absolutely. And that's why I think Clayful will be a thing, too, because
that's the way that they like to communicate. They're very comfortable on a screen. They're very comfortable with their thumbs to have communication. And that's why I think that Clayful will be a nice asset as well because that and that person will say you need to reach out to this, you need to go do this, you need to I mean that person will guide
them through some of their questions, concerns, anxieties, things. Okay. Based on the information that Miss Allen presented tonight, any more specific the board before we open up to public comment?
It's a one-year contract. We will get all of the data. Um, and it it's and I'll try to do it more at a committee or whatever, but it's a lot more than what I've said. It's not just a student component. There's lessons, modules, things like that that can be used by parents, by teachers, by whatever. I
mean, it's a whole package. But the most but right the most important thing is we can see how often it's being used, what it's being used for, what the different needs were for the kids and things like that. So yes, at the end of the year we'll absolutely evaluate is this, you know, worth our time and money or is
there something else that's a better way to go? Oh, the universal screen. Thank you. The universal screener is a a very very big piece. Yes. Every kid three times a year will will do this. And you know, and again, we
talked about it before, but in case anybody doesn't remember, a universal screener is something that a lot of you are doing. If you go to the doctors now, if you take the kid to the pediatrician, they say, "How many times are you having difficulty going to sleep? How often do you not want to go to school? How often are you sad? How many times are you angry?" That's just a very generic
version of a universal screener. So, this is something that will be administered to the students. It'll help us identify students as they call it red, yellow, or green. Somebody that's in the red is somebody that we have concerns about. We want them to see the mental health counselor, their guidance counselor, their whatever. So, that will give us a basis of students that we know
we need to check in on. Then you go to the yellows and the greens. But just because you're green today doesn't mean you'll be green two months from now because something could happen and your boyfriend broke up with you and now life is over. So, you know, we're talking about teenagers, so there's a lot of lifealtering things that can happen. Um
but so those things would definitely help us have data to be able to make sure that we're meeting all the kids needs. I don't have an answer for that. I can't remember. Oh, it absolutely is. I'm not sure if it's if Clayful is geared for it. I can't remember if we
did it at my other district. I'll have to look into that. I don't have an answer for that. Absolutely. I like the part of the trauma to make sure that we had the adults permission on that. Yeah, that that Yeah. Oh, no. No. Yeah, absolutely. That's the other thing with the trauma the trauma
informed care too. It helps you realize that you have a lot of traumas and things that you bring to the table. So, sometimes you act and react in a way based on your past experiences and you're now putting that onto your students or the kids. So it really does a lot of making you I you know that
training will too make you realize that sometimes you're you get angry you raise your voice well my family was yellers your family isn't they were very calm cool and collected so when I get mad and I yell that now you know PTSD for the kids in front of me well that wasn't my intent but they made me mad and when I
get mad you know so just being able to really learn those things about yourselves as well Okay. Thank you very much, Miss Allen. All right. At this time, um, we will open up to, uh, public participation and, uh, you can see the
paragraphs listed kind of about the process for public participation sessions. And this will be for agenda items only. And I think it's fairly obvious that the budget is the agenda item for this evening. So, um, if anyone would like to make a comment or ask a
question concerning the budget, now would be the time. Good evening. I'm Trisha Martell, president of the Ottbon Education Association. On behalf of the Ottabbon Education Association, we would like to commend the board of education for its
thoughtful and forwardthinking approach to the 202526 budget recommendations as outlined in this evening's agenda. We particularly applaud the board's decision to raise the local tax levy. This bold yet prudent step de
demonstrates a strong comm commitment to securing not only immediate improvements but also the long-term financial health and stability of the district. By capitalizing on this one-time opportunity in conjunction with increased state funding, the board has
laid the groundwork for sustained growth and enhanced support for our students and staff. We are especially grateful for how these additional funds are being allocated. Maintaining the counselor role, expanding program opportunities, and increasing staffing to address the
social emotional needs of all students across the district are essential and impactful investments. These initiatives align with our shared commitment to supporting the whole child. We also thank the board for directing new funds towards early education, specifically
enhancing instructional supports at the Ottabon Preschool. In addition, we appreciate the investment in cyber security infrastructure, a necessary safeguard in today's volatile digital landscape to protect both district and staff resources. The AEA continues to
recognize and support the board's ongoing efforts to expand existing part-time positions to full-time roles. This initiative not only strengthens the quality of instruction and continuity of services but also provides much needed financial security and benefits to
dedicated educators. However, while we support these many positive strides, we would be remiss not to express our concern about the district's long-term ability to maintain staff in the face of rising costs, many of which we all know are
outside of our control. These include increases in transportation costs, energy and fuel prices, out of district placements, and health insurance premiums. In light of these pressures, we do question the addition of another full-time administrative position. We
believe that such funding would be more effectively used to bolster the instructional staff, those who work directly with students. Converting part-time positions that offer no benefits and little pension into full-time roles would not only improve
educational outcomes, but also provide greater career and instructional stability and equity for our educators. In closing, we sincerely thank the board for its ongoing partnership and dedication to the students and staff of
Ottabon. We look forward to continuing our work together to ensure that every dollar is used to best support the educational mission of our schools and the well-being of our entire community. Thank you. Anyone else with a question or comment
concerning agenda items? All right, seeing uh no other questions or comments at this time, I will close that public participation session of the meeting. All right. Um, underneath governance, there are no motions this
evening. So, I am going to move on to operations. Can I have a motion for item number one under operations? Second. Any questions, comments, or discussion of motion number or item number one
under operations? Miss Golden. Um assuming this is the one that talks about the things that we're adding with the levy. Yes. Okay. Sure. Yes. Um echo Miss Martell a little. You have some concerns about the
additionration administrator position. Um it sounds like there are a lot of things that are being considered um in terms of changes for the upcoming school year to better support our students um academic success. And I think my biggest
concern about that is that when you different variables at the same time, it makes it difficult to figure out what specifically was effective. Were all the changes effective? Was just changes um effective? Um so I would have
liked to have seen if possible a way to increase um instructional support for the teachers in a way that was not at an administrator level um so that some of those funds could have been used for um maybe extending stipens for homework club so that could extend through the
end of the year or um looking at um tutoring type of resources for the junior high or ideally maybe not having the tax levy be raised as it was um and ultimately that position is why I voted no on increasing the levy at the amount
of a million. Um I would have supported it at a lower level. Um but just kind of looking again trying to balance the needs of the students, the community, all of that that position was kind of the sticking point for me a little bit. Um it was unfortunate that we had such a
short amount of time to talk about it and consider it before that vote was required. Um so I do hope um since that's part of the levy incentive program at this point that that position is beneficial to the district. Um but I
would definitely like to see, you know, reporting out on um how that um is benefiting the students, what work they're able to do, how the teachers are responding to that, if it's a positive support in their eyes as well. Um just so we have an idea kind of
moving forward about the efficacy of the position. Um, I I agree with Miss Collins. Uh, I share some of our concerns. Uh, I I am glad to see that there are some things in here that I think will be
very positive like the expansion of the preschool. You know, I've been a strong proponent of that. I'm so glad that we could do that. I am concerned about some of these moves being too much at one time. And I share those similar
uh interests and wanting to see uh you know the same same uh care in ensuring how we actually implement these these pieces and measure the the success. I want to make sure we do that very
carefully and make sure that we are getting what we need to get out of them since we're doing so many at the same time. I'm the first one that will say something if I have an issue. I will say that I have appreciated the
presentations. I've appreciated um the information that you have provided which oftentimes we get something called a weekly wave that's sent to the board and the going into it and really laying out what everyone is doing and kind of
seeing um how administrators really have just so many different roles and it's and as Miss Davis just said hats. Um I I do think that we have I think we've from
everything that I've seen in the couple years I've been on the board and as a parent not on the board before that um I think you know when you have just so much everyone has a little piece I think we've been duplicative in some things
we've missed other things and um now that you've had these you know seven months eight months whatever it is 10 these months almost here. Um, it was nice to see how you really laid out this
is what every person does. This they don't do well. This they do well. This is how I'm reconfiguring to focus on strengths. And this is where I think this uh supervisor of instruction could really help not just the administrators
but the teachers, the aids and everyone kind of be cohesive and on the same and we're moving forward. Obviously, um as a board and this is something that we've talked to at our retreats, we have
been focusing a lot on what is um how can we actually measure the success? What is the data that we can get to get have as a metric to see if it's successful or not successful? I think that you have been doing well in that. I
think we're doing much better in kind of keeping on these are our goals, these are our timelines, this is we haven't gotten this information. So, I feel like we are in a really good place to add this. I think it was well
thought out and I think that as a board and as a superintendent, um, we're seeing that you are giving us the data, you're giving us the metric, and we are all keeping on top of each other. So, I I'm very positive about
this and I thank you. Say, you know, I'm relatively new as well, but in my um previous lens in higher education, the the supervisor of instruction position is actually quite a phenomenal addition um for especially for some of the things that we're trying to achieve, you know, with raising the
quality of our instruction of our of our teachers. Um, we just talked about a number of things that we're hopefully going to be able to implement to create positive change, but that supervisor instruction is going to be the person to help make sure that these get implemented in a strategic way. Um,
being making sure that they're hearing both from the students perspectives and from the teacher perspectives of what they need and what kind of support they need. So, I do think, you know, my very brief time here, I was able to see very quickly um that there was a need for
this type of administrative support. Um, not that we, you know, aren't capable with what we have, but I just think that that's going to elevate us to a whole new level. Um, so I I too I I support that um idea. Although, you know, there's a lot of things we're trying to squeeze in. Um, I do think that is going
to make a big difference. not you. The only thing um that I would like to add is a lot of us um in our committee meetings and in our conversations we talk about how education is a slowmoving train and that can be very frustrating at times. However, I think the two weeks
that the state gave us was I mean at opposite ends of the spectrum from a slowmoving train to we're we're on a rocket ship into space now and having and having to make yes and having to
make decisions quickly. Um so you know um while I you know initially had some reservations about adding this position as well, one of the things that Miss Allen said in in our discussions about it was um that really resonated with me was the ability to move things along on
a faster timeline and to get um our our students um to the place where we know they can be a little bit faster rather than rather than waiting. And now it's incumbent upon Miss Allen to to to show us the the the fruits of that, right? Um
um I I know it it was a a large sum of money. You do need an administrator though if it's somebody that is going to actually be um overseeing instructional staff. You need somebody in that capacity with that certification. So um again, it it was a rocket ship to space
in those two weeks, but um I'm I'm excited about about the possibility of this and what that means for especially for our junior and senior high students who I I we you know how many meetings have we talked about that how many committee meetings have we talked about that struggle and what can we do to to
help those kiddos the other piece that I think is very important because we have said that this was a one-time thing that the state gave us we don't know that they'll ever give it again and here's the thing with this money there are certain things that that
are built that we're using that are are kind of oneoffs, right? That are own that money though still stays like we're going to get that as the years go on. And the thing of it is in all of the contracts that you see us approving when we approved all the contracts and what
was negotiated by the education committee Ottabbon Education Association and the um administrators and I understand and obviously they they are doing this because they they also have these rising costs and things like this
but they get like 3.2 two or 3.5% raises every year for the next three years that we are contractually obligated to pay and with our 1.3% wiggle room would not have covered those. So as much as yes, we are having
this position and that position will stay, there are other things that are in that budget that will be used this year. We will then have that money that we otherwise would never be able to get that we can now not cut further
positions because we have the money to pay our contractually obligated raises every year. So this was not at the board just thinking of this year this moment. It was this money that we have this one
off. How will this also help us to be able to maintain the staff we have, the courses we have, and the things that we can do for our students for the next three years. And this is a way that was a way to facilitate which is why I did
not have an issue with the million dollars I have to pay it to as the citizen of Ottabon. But I think it was so that we our school does get to continue and stay and not stagnate and
not have to make those cuts next year. So that that's another thing to think about. Um so two things as an operations chair committee or as the operations committee chairperson um we will not let this go uh noticed as
we've reported with a tight budget, we're still going to report out where the money's going. We're going to track the money so that we are all aware of where it is. I definitely give you that commitment from me. Um, as long as I'm the committee chairperson, things
change, but then also no. Um, so it Yeah, I I'm there. Um, but I what I'm excited for is since, you know, and Miss Allen stated this, since 2009, and we've been we haven't had to
pass a budget, but the budgets have passed at 2%, we're under adequacy. Therefore, this gets us closer to the adequacy. So, we're starting to really say to our children, we really value you. We want
to see you successful, and we want to get you there. So that's my take, excuse me, my take on everything. Thank you. I also wanted to express gratitude to everybody who had a part in the strategic plan because although we haven't seen the final plan, we all took
place in it and we all, you know, roughly know what was in the plan and everything that was tied to this increase ties directly to goals that the community set in that strategic plan. Uh so I want to just thank all the parents that came out, all the teachers, all the
board members, all the community members that participated in that, grandparents, uh because that really helped create a vision and and guidance for us uh in creating this budget and approving it. So and the students and the students. Yeah. Thank you.
It it truly was a community effort and uh it was tremendously helpful in in guiding us. Right. If there are no more comments, may I have roll call, please on item number one under operations.
Mark Gaddy, Sarah Coolen, Alison Lipsky, yes. Jonathan Maxon, yes. Andrea Robinson, yes. Bill Wilson, Stephen Wilson, yes. Allison Cox, yes.
Danielle D. Franchesco, Amy Davis, yes. Motion passed. Thank you. All right. Uh, we have no items under education or human resources. So, I'm going to move on to the second public participation session. Um, this
could pertain to anything. Doesn't have to be an agenda item. Is there anyone that would like to make a comment? on anything pertaining to the district. All right, seeing there are no comments for that public participation session, I will close it. Our next
meeting for the board of education is next Wednesday. I know the meeting's a little bit earlier. It's not the typical third Wednesday because of us needing to meet the regulation for staffing contracts. So, um it will be Wednesday, May 14th.
We'll meet here 6:30. We'll go into executive session and then be back open to public at 700 pm on May 14th. Can I have a motion to adjurnn? Second. All in favor? Any opposed?
Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you all for your support.