To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible and justice for all. Welcome everybody to our February board meeting. Uh, Miss Ako, will you please
read the statements of compliance? >> Notice of this meeting has been provided in accordance with the open public meetings act NJSA 104-6 by the board secretary. A written notice was posted in the office of the board of education filed with the township clerk
and sent to the designated official newspapers at least 48 hours in advance of this meeting. The notice stated the date, time, and location of the meeting and to the extent known the agenda to be discussed. The New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced
notice of and attend meetings of this board except where specifically exempted by law at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act. The board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having same advertised in
the ledger New Jersey advance and the record. Also, notice of this meeting has been mailed to the members of the board of education, the burough clerk, all elementary schools, the middle school, the high school, hornblower early childhood center, and posted on the district website. Also, this meeting is
being televised via the district's YouTube and Facebook pages. >> Thank you, Miss Ikeo. Could you please call the role? >> Trusty Garrow, >> here. >> Trusty Gillis, >> here. Trusty Menoz >> here.
>> Trusty Pacheco >> here. >> Trusty Santana >> here. >> Vice President Dr. Majia >> here. [clears throat] >> President Leon >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> All right. Moving on to approval minutes for our January 21st, 2026 meeting. Can
I have a motion, please? >> So moved. >> Motion made. Can I have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay, moving along. Can we please have our high school representative, Jasine
Septa, please give her a report. >> Good evening everyone. Firstly, I would like to congratulate all staff and students being celebrated for their outstanding achievements tonight. In old news, on January 23rd, Belleville High School's FBLA chapter participated in
the FBLA workshop at James Caldwell High School. FBLA stands for Future Business Leaders of America and in these workshops, students learned how to grow their business and network. At the end of the workshops, student competed in a marketing competition. Congratulations
to Kenosha Lantigua and Adrien Ortega, who both performed exceptionally well and received recognition at the event. In preparation for the upcoming Super Bowl, Belleville Public Schools came together to host a Super Bowl canned food drive to help our community. School
4 donated the most cans out of all schools. The drive was a success and example of our community's generosity and compassion. In new news, Belleville's Theater Arts Company will be performing the Spongebob Musical in Belleville High School's auditorium from March 5th to the 7th. The play will
start at 7:00 p.m. and end at 9:30 p.m. Please come and support our theater arts company and enjoy an amazing show. Check out Belvoa High School's websites to access monthly newsletters with school news information, updates, and events for students, staff, and teachers. Thank
you. >> Thank you for that, Jasine. Uh we will now be moving on to items to be presented by administration, starting with superintendent's report, Dr. Eric Alfonso. >> Good evening, everyone. So, I would like to begin by recognizing the continued success of our student athletes. Our
competition cheer team has qualified for cheer nationals for the second year in a row and they will be competing in Orlando, Florida. So, good luck to them. We are very proud of their discipline and dedication. Secondly, our girls bowling team. They continue to make us proud. They will be at uh participating
in the group three state tournament quarterfinals tomorrow. tomorrow, February 12th, right? Yeah. So, good luck to them and wish them the best. They are absolutely rocking. Um, as far as operational, I
would like to update the community. On Monday, we had a pipe burst at a homeblower early education center. It happened approximately 5 in the morning. Our buildings and grounds team was there on site. As soon as we found out about it, it was remediated. The area was sectioned off. We've been in constant
communication with the landlord and with the insurance company and we are on the way with remediation is starting tomorrow. It should take approximately two to three weeks. I always like to think of the latter just in case. But uh Principal Demikoff has been fantastic as far as relocation. We already have a
plan in place. Communication's been consistent. The staff, the team, everyone's been great. So I just wanted to give an update to the families. As soon as we can get back in there and everything is according to standard, we will do it. Since we are tenants in that building, we do have to rely on the
landlord and the insurance company, but they've been very communicative and it's been uh very progressive so far. In additional from a facility standpoint, we have uh three leases I'd like to talk about. We've concluded lease agreements at 155 William Street, 387 Union Avenue,
and we've officially notified the landlord of 335 Union Avenue that we will not be renewing the lease agreement, which is scheduled to sunset on June 30th. These decisions reflect our continued commitment to fiscal responsibility, ensuring that our facilities footprint aligns with our programmatic needs, and we're
maintaining operational efficiency throughout the district. Every facility's decision we make is grounded on stewardship, strategy, and sustainability. We want to thank Father Ivan from St. Peters, the DEIA family, and Michael Ma'am for the ability to utilize these
spaces during in times of need. Finally, I would like to speak about the launch of our Pilas Institute. Last month, two high school students who shocked and a us all with their determination, their discipline, and their poise coming up here and letting us know about the
concerns and the needs that they had, you know, with the conclusion of our previous program at Alante. So right on the spot we made a commitment to them that we were going to do better and we were going to create something that was truly representative of them and give them more experiences. So Pilas stands
for empowering intercultural leaders for academic success. It represents the commitment that we made at this board meeting. It is a program intentionally designed to immerse students in college experiences, structured leadership development and meaningful mentorship.
I'll personally be overseeing it. We'll be having our monthly meetings. We'll be working with those students who were originally in Project Adalonza to make sure they have experiences that are worth their while. Right off the bat, um I contacted some colleagues and the president of NJCU is going to be hosting a fireside chat for these students. So,
they're going to have onetoone uh conversation with the president and it's going to be a great experience. Calwell University has already said they're going to be on board and it's the community is really coming out to help our students. So, we are committed to this and we're very excited to kick it
off. We're having our first meeting at the end of the month and I will definitely keep you all updated on the progress and some of the updates as far as the great thing that's happening with that institute. So, I would like to thank the board and the staff and our community for our continued partnership and through the highs and the lows. How
we communicate, how we communicate and stick together is really what Belleville excellence is about. That concludes my report. [clears throat] >> Thank you for that, Dr. Alonso. All right, moving along. We are now going on to the recognition of student and staff
members of the month for January 2026. [music] So again, can I get the principles up here? We're going to be doing the awards, please. So this month we're going to start off with our community member acknowledgement and this month we would like to acknowledge Assemblywoman Dr.
Carmen Morales who is a proud Belleville resident and a lifelong educator of more than 20 years of experience serving our families. Her career in education has been defined by a steadfast commitment to expanding opportunity, strengthening schools, and advocating for policies that uplift communities just like us
here in Belleville. a strong and consistent advocate for public education in itself. Dr. Morales is familiar and a welcome face in Belleville. She comes to all our events. You know, sometimes I forget to notify her at an event and she have she's at the event. So, it's amazing how tied in
and plugged in she is to our community. And I want to acknowledge Dr. Morales. Most recently, she was appointed chair of the New Jersey Assembly Higher Education Committee by uh Governor Cheryl, which is a tremendous uh accomplishment. And that is exactly the type of people we want in those
positions who will advocate for us and help us streamline our K to2 to higher ed experience because realistically there are some gaps right now and Assemblywoman Dr. Morales being an educator herself, being an administrator herself in a K12 setting, she's going to
help bridge that gap and she has a very strong voice for us. So we are very proud to recognize Assemblywoman Dr. Morales for her leadership, visibility in our community and continued dedication to Belleville public education. Thank you. [applause] Before I begin, um I just wanted to say
Dr. Alonso, I would love to be part of the BAS program. So please invite me. I would love to talk to the students. As a first generation college graduate, um I believe it is important that students see representation and so I would love to be part of that program. So good
evening everyone. I am Assemblywoman Carmen Morales. Um I want to thank the Belleville Board of Education, Dr. Alonso for this incredible honor and I will also like to congratulate all the honores this evening both students and staff that are being recognized today.
To be recognized by a community that I have served, not just as an assemblywoman, but as an educator, truly means the world to me. To be recognized by this community, because before I became an assembly woman, before the titles,
before legislation, before Trenton, I was Miss Morales at school number five, teaching kindergarten, and I was also the vice principal at school number eight. I helped tie shoelaces, wipe tears, celebrate reading milestones, and
support families who trusted me with their most precious gift, their children. Belleville to me isn't just a district. I live here. I represent Belleville. I've worked in Belleville. I've seen
these children grow up. And for me, it has shaped me not only as an educator, but also as a legislator. Some of those little kindergarten students are now young adults. This was back in 2010, 2011.
So, I still run into some of those families in Shopright. And they remind me of a moment that I may not have even remembered, but they do. Just recently, I ran into one of my former parents and she told me that her daughter McKenzie
is now 22 years old and she was in my kindergarten classrooms. So, you can imagine how old I feel. So, to be recognized again tonight by the very educational partner and leaders that I once worked alongside is deeply humbling. As [clears throat] your
assemblywoman, I carry with Belleville with me into every room that I enter. When I advocate for school funding, when I advocate for student mental health, when we talk about funding for early childhood education and to help support
our families here in the community, I am thinking about our students here in Belleville, our families here in Belleville, and I'm thinking about the classrooms that I once stood in. Education will always be personal to me
because it was my way out of poverty. I grew up in public housing in the city of Newark. Like I said, I am the first in my family to go to college, a first generation college student, and the first to get a doctoral degree. And to me, that is very humbling because
education is the key to success. So again, to everyone here tonight, education is important. It's not about policy. It's not about paper. It is
about the children with the dreams that they endure and educators giving them all that they can every single day. So, thank you for trusting me then as a kindergarten teacher, as a vice principal. Thank you for trusting me now as your assemblywoman. I remain
committed wholeheartedly to Belleville, to our education, and to most importantly our students. So, thank you again for this honor, Belleville. [applause] All right. Up next, I'd like to congratulate our administrator of the month, Miss
Cougall. Please come on down. [applause] So, Miss Cuko is our s supervisor of RTI and intervention services. Where would we begin with Miss Cuckoo? Um, upon my um my acknowledgement as a superintendent of schools back in May.
Miss Cuckoo was one of the first ones to reach out enthusiastic about the work ahead and what the future of Bela will look like and what my perspective was on intervention services and education, etc. And it was just like a great overwhelming feeling of questions and
enthusiasm and data because she loves her data. But um that just was a small glimpse as to who Diana Cucko is as a person through and through. She is always there for the students. You wouldn't you couldn't tell if she was an administrator or a teacher or what her
job was in the building because she's in all in hands on deck. And um this was a long time coming. the last couple months we had some administrators who has some really amazing feats. So, but I've been wanting to acknowledge Miss Coug for the work that she does and um a title like
intervention services is a perfect title for someone like Miss Cucko who is so proactive in her approach. She intervenes before the need is really exacerbated sometimes past the point of remediation. She has a very proactive approach over reactive and that is what
we want in education. So, Miss Cuckoo, I can't even begin to put in words everything you've done. I want to acknowledge also the fact that she presented with us at uh New Jersey, which is a conference and educational leadership and technology, and she did an amazing job with Dr. Kahun actually
was also up here on the uses of AI, which we all know is here. It's real. It's here to stay and either we are on board or we're left behind. It's not something to be scared of. And that message was sounded clearly from Miss Cuckoo. So, Miss Cuckoo,
congratulations. Please come on up. [applause] Good evening to our board trustees, Dr. Alfonso, Dr. Dalia, and my administrative colleagues. Thank you so much for this incredible honor. It's inspiring to be part of a team
committed to continuous improvement and growth. This work that we do is never done in isolation. I'm grateful to work alongside colleagues who collaborate, support one another,
and share a collective responsibility for what's doing best for our kids. I often say that data tells a story and our story in Belleville is one of perseverance and possibility
which is reflected in the outcomes we see across our schools. Our students are the reason that this work truly matters and our shared dedication is what makes it possible.
Thank you so much. [applause] Good evening. My name is Dr. Calhoun and I'm the principal at school 10. I'm here to present an award to Miss Franciosa who is our library and media specialist for Belleville staff member of the month. I was trying to think this
afternoon of what I would say about her because she's truly an incredible person. She's kind, she's patient, she has great ideas, she shares her projects with me, she sends me photos, the kids are always excited about the STEM activities that she comes up with. I'm
very lucky to have her in my school because she travels within three different schools in the district. And you'd never know that she's not here every day because her presence is always felt. The kids are always talking about the STEM activities. She's sitting here. She's has a smile on her face. The woman
just got eye surgery. She's here to receive an award. She can't even see out of one of her eyes. And yet, she's still in school. She's still there for the kids. She missed only the surgery day. And um I'm very happy to present her with this award because she deserves it
the most. And you don't have to say a speech because I know I didn't tell you to prepare one. So, I will just, you know, take a hug and a thank you, or you can just talk about me if you'd like. But Mrs. France, Miss Franciosa, she's wonderful. Her son is here with her. I
hope he comes up to receive the award. And I'm lucky to have her in my school. She is positive, like I said, kind, great energy. Please don't ever leave me. And um I will continue bribing you with awards. [applause] Good evening, Board of Education
trustees, Dr. Alonso, Dr. Dia, members of the Belleville community. I stand before you tonight. My name is Lucy Demacov and I am so grateful, so happy and forever pleased to be the principal of Hornblower Early Childhood Center in
Belleville. Tonight I am going to present to you the January student of the month for Hec and she also became January student of the month for the Belleville School District. Before I say anything about her, I'd like to invite
her up. So come on up, Miss Amelia Fialos. [applause] >> Amelia's teacher's name is Mrs. Andrade Calderon and unfortunately she wasn't able to be here tonight. So she did write something and I would like to
reiterate it to you. Amelia Fialos is our student of the month for January because she is a wonderful learner, shows respect for her teachers, and is the kind of friend to everyone, a kind friend to everyone.
I've had the pleasure of being her teacher for a second year, and I am so proud of her. So, she thanks you, Amelia, and she's so happy to have you in her class. That was from Mrs. Andrade Calderon. And now, Miss Lucy would like
to say a couple words about you. Can you stand and look at the audience? They all want to see you. Past two days, we had the most amazing fashion show for our early learners at
Hornblower Early Childhood Center on Monday and Tuesday. And I have to say how impressed I was to see this amazing young lady strut her stuff, for lack of a better
term, down that red carpet runway during our fashion show. She walked with poise, grace, she was elegant, and she is truly a role model for her peers at Hornblower. And I
could not be more proud of this little young lady who stands before you today. So congratulations, sweetheart. Welld deserved. We all love you. [applause] Thank you. And congratulations to mom and dad also because it's also a
testament to them. Thank you. Walk up here. Just use the arrows. >> Hi everyone. So throughout February, Belleville students have opportunities to honor and celebrate the impact of black individuals on our history,
communities, culture, and future. Black History Month provides intentional time to reflect, learn, and elevate voices that have shaped our nation in profound ways. At the same time, honoring Black History is not limited to one month. It is a commitment to recognizing the contributions, resilience, innovation,
creativity, and leadership of black individuals all year long. One meaningful way our students participate in that celebration was through the Belleville Black History Month poetry competition. This competition invited students to reflect, to research, to feel, and to express their understanding
through the powerful art of poetry. Students in grades three to six were eligible to participate. Their poems were judged on the following criteria. Theme and meaning, word choice, organization, voice and originality, effort, and conventions. Writing poetry
is a unique and courageous form of artistic expression. It requires vulnerability. It asks writers to evoke emotion, to create vivid imagery, and to communicate powerful meaning, often just a few carefully chosen words. The students we are recognizing tonight
did exactly that and they are in elementary school. Their writing made us think. It made us reflect. It made us feel. And that is something truly worth celebrating. I will now call up the winners for each grade level band, grades three and four
and grades five and six. Before I begin, I'd like to ask if there are any principles or teachers here for the students if you'd like to come up to help give the awards out. As I call the students forward, their poems will be displayed. For our first
place winners, sound permitting, you will also have the opportunity to hear them read their poems aloud. Each student will be recognized individually and at the conclusion we will take a group photo. Students, please remain standing in the front until all eight winners have been
called. Right. Okay, so we are going to begin with our grades three and four winners. Honorable mention Casey Vasquez Perez.
[applause] [applause] Third place, Scarlett Garcia Ramirez. [applause] Second place, Maria Pon. [applause] And first place, Leavon K. Newborn. [cheering] [applause]
So, I'm going to wait to put his up because I believe the sound's going to start as soon as I go to it. And you're going to have hear his reading of his poem. >> Leavon K. Newborn grade 4 BPS9 Michelist
discrimination but I determination walls. I told the world that I was as today the education is young. I don't know. Let me remind you their third and fourth
gra. [applause] All right. You can stay there. If you want to face everybody, you can. We're going to I'm going to call up the fifth and sixth graders before we take a picture. Okay. So now our fifth and sixth grade winners. Honorable mention Sophia Hafalina.
[applause] Third place, Gabriella Tanube Ngreel. [applause] Second place, Sicily Martin. [applause] And first place, FA Jura. [applause] >> And now you will get to hear FA's poem.
It wasn't fair. How beautiful obsidian, warm rippling coffee, dark and mesmerizing like a night sky was compared to dirt. Boys and girls separated. Although they bled the same red, society decided that the temporary skin that they wore mattered more. So we
stand together to fight for the rights that we deserve. To be where we belong, standing next to each other. Hands conjoined too tight part. We stand together. [applause] >> [applause] >> Congratulation again to all tonight's winners. Uh
yeah, [applause] you clap. Go ahead. Um the time is now 7:42. We will take a quick 5m minute inter intermission. Can I please have a motion? >> So moved. >> Motion made. Can I please have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? I
>> Any opposed? All right. Okay, we are now back from our recess. Uh, Miss Ako, can you please give us our your report? >> Yes, thank you, President Leon. So, uh, just a quick property recap. I know that, uh, Dr. Alfonso mentioned this a
little bit. I just wanted to touch on it a little bit more. As part of the district's ongoing efforts to optimize facility utilization and reduce operational costs, the board of education will not be renewing leases on several ancillary properties previously used for instructional or administrative purposes. The lease for 387 Union Avenue
concluded on December 31st, 2025, and the lease for 355 Union Avenue will expire on June 30th, 2026. Um, and then there's the uh William Street property as well, 155. Uh the district extends its sincere appreciation to the property owners for their partnership and
flexibility during a period when the district really required additional space to meet enrollment and programmatic needs. As our enrollment has stabilized and facilities planning has evolved, we are now able to consolidate operations within our existing district-owned buildings. This strategic downsizing will result in
annual savings in lease costs, utilities, and maintenance expenses while allowing the district to direct resources more efficiently toward core educational programs. Um, a little bit on the bond refunding. At this meeting, the board will conduct the second reading of the bond refunding
ordinance related to a portion of the district's 2018 school bonds. Approximately 37.2 million in outstanding principal is eligible for refunding. And based on our current market conditions, the transaction is projected to generate approximately
$1.48 48 million in total debt service savings with no extension of bond maturity and no out-of-pocket cost to the district. By way of example, this equates to approximately $87,000 in average annual savings, which directly reduces the district's debt
service obligations and results in long-term savings directly to taxpayers subject to final interest rates at the time of sale. Um, more on that as we move forward with the bond sale if it happens and market conditions cooperate with us. Uh, and just a quick note on a future meeting. The announcement of
district state aid has been delayed to March 10th, 2026 in order to give the business office a sufficient timeline to complete the budget. The board of education meeting that was originally scheduled for March 11th, 2026 is going to be rescheduled to Wednesday, March
18th, 2026. This will serve as both the regular board of education meeting as well as the preliminary budget hearing. Um, and that will be advertised in the next week or so. Thank you. That concludes my report. >> Thank you, Miss AO, for that report. Uh, we will now be holding a public hearing
at this time strictly for remarks on the bond refunding. Can I have a motion, please? >> So moved. >> Motion made. Can I have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? I. >> Any oppose? Okay, we are now open for um
the public hearing. First up, can I please have Mr. Michael Sheldon? Uh good evening everyone. Michael Sheldon, 47 Floyd Street. I'm going to thank you for giving me the five minutes instead of uh three. Let me just start my clock here. Um, just let me preface
my remarks by saying that I was on the board in 2018 when the bond notes for the referendum were initially sold. And uh the referendum as approved by the voters of Belleville in November 17 was for 48.5 million. But the cost of
borrowing that $48 million was came to 73.5 million with the uh uh payments payable over a 24-year period through the year 2042. So, um I understand that this refunding
bond ordinance is essentially akin to uh someone refinancing their own personal mortgage in an effort to save u some of the interest rates. But I just I appreciate what Miss Miss Aio just said that u according to her calculations, this refunding matter will save
Belleville taxpayers almost $1.5 million. That's over the next 16 years, I assume. Right. Um, but I I just have some concerns here. I uh I assume that whatever new interest rates you're able to negotiate with this refunding matter
are dependent upon things like the prime interest rate in 2018 when these bond notes were initially sold and I had to, you know, do some uh research here. The prime interest rate in 2018 was 4.9%. But currently it's now 7.25%.
So, you know, how can you be so optimistic at this point that you're going to get more favorable interest rates considering that the prime rate has almost doubled since the time when the bond was originally sold. So, if you can answer that question, I understand
that under state law, you have to be able to certify that with the refunding bond ordinance that you'll have a savings of at least 3%. In other words, if the total amount came to $10 million just to have whole numbers here, you'd have to be able to prove that um with the refunding ordinance, you would save
at least $300,000. But when I looked through the verbiage of this statement on the board docs, there was something at the very end that caught my eye and it indicates that the the town hall CFO and I assume that the town hall still
has to provide shy for the the the monies that are being being lent. they have to provide collateral in case the board of ed defaults. But at the at the very end of this, it says that the the CFO of the town hall has um ascertained
that this refunding ordinance is going to increase the town hall's bond deficit by 200 $285,000. So if if the town hall is incurring nearly 300 $300,000 of additional
expenses, does that subtract missio from the 1.48 million that you're claiming? Because you know, in the end, it all comes out of the same sources. It's all of our wallets here in Belleville. So if if you if the if the board of ed is saving us 1.48 million, but the town
hall now is incurring a nearly $300,000 increase in its obligations. Does that mean that the the net savings here is now automatically reduced to about 1.1 million? It's still a savings, but I just I'm trying to understand what this
verbiage is in the last section about the the town hall CFO uh verifying the calculations and indicating that the gross debt is I'll read exactly what it says here. The gross debt of the township is increased by $285,000 as a result of the authorization of the
refunding school bonds. So, you know, is there is there some other exp and then the other thing here is that if you go forward with this um all of the lawyers and and other financial professionals involved, it looks like that's going to cost another $200,000.
So, does that further reduce the 1.48 million savings or is the 1.48 million already taking into account what you're going to have to pay professionals to renegotiate this bond refunding bond ordinance? So, there's some legitimate concerns here and I well I have uh about
45 seconds left. That's pretty much what I I'm going to ask tonight. I would really appreciate not only for my sake but everyone else in this community who ultimately has to fund these matters if you could provide some meaningful answers to this. And I apologize I broke a tooth last week and I'm lisping a bit
and whistling. It's I have to wait six months according to my dentist before I can get an implant. So, I apologize if uh if I'm I'm a little bit tongue-tied tonight, but uh if you can please uh answer those questions and I'll return to my seat, hoping that I'll get some explanations for those questions. Thank
you. >> Thank you, Mr. Sheldon. As the board attorney, I'm I'm happy to say that we have the bond council here tonight. He's also my law school classmate, by the way, for anybody following at home. Uh Tony Salami is so he'll be able to answer some of the issues and questions you raised. Um and I think we should
probably um have him do that. I would suggest after the next person who speaks so that all the stuff can be sort of collected together. There was one more person as I recall on that list. Is that right? >> Shore. >> Yeah, Miss Shore is up as well if if you're looking to speak on the bod ordinance. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Sheldon. Uh can I please
have Arlene Shore please approach the podium? I I want you to know that as much as I tried to learn about this, it's overwhelming. Uh but the biggest concern in in our
town is obviously what can we project will be our in effect our our tax burden because of this. Um, we're a modest town, but
our our we our local taxes um are significant uh obviously between the municipality and the school board. And as you know, within this uh situation,
each side blames the other. And that is unfortunately the thing that happens in the town. Oh, it's it's the school district's fault. Oh, it's the town's fault. Well, here specifically, we are involved with the school district
and if we're going to have a projection over the years, what is going to be the impact on the residents? I I can't say anything much more except that it's an overwhelming
figure. And I know that obviously the bond is a necessity. I'm not arguing against the necessity of the bond, but what I'm arguing about is we need clarity and
communication to the community as to the what the impact of the bond would be. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Shore. Uh, could we please have Mr. Tony Salamine, our this is our bound a bound council to answer some of the questions from uh our residents. Thank you.
>> Uh, good evening everyone. Again, Tony Salamy from Wens Goldman and Spitzer. And just for the record, I'm much younger than Jonathan even though we were classmates. Um, I think the two members of the audience raised some really good questions. Um, I'm going to answer your questions first. So these
are bonds that are already outstanding. The district is already paying these. So these are already in your debt service portion of your tax levy. This is just an opportunity to refinance those bonds at a lower interest rate to save you money. So this is not going to cost you
any additional money. This is actually an opportunity to save you money. Um and and then to answer Mr. Sheldon's questions. So uh the first question was about rates. So bond rates are work a little different. Uh bond rates are established off it's called an MMD, the
municipal market database. Um that is set and it's based off the AAA bond rating and then every uh public entity trades off of that bond rating. So when these bonds were issued in 2018, rates were pretty good. Um but your financial
adviser uh who is Phoenix adviser has done projections and they are estimating that if you sold these bonds today those are the numbers that Miss AKO uh presented that you would be able to achieve a lower interest rate in the current environment. Um the other
question about the town guaranteeing the debt. Uh the town doesn't guarantee the debt. The school district and the municipality are two separate legal entities. You have your own borrowing capacity. The municipality has its own borrowing capacity. But what is required
and what you referenced in the resolution is um the municipality is required to prepare what's called a supplemental debt statement every time you issue new debt. So the reason why there's an increase in that supplemental debt statement request in the
municipality is because this ordinance we are going to refund the principal and interest on the outstanding bonds. So your financial adviser used an estimated cost which is higher than the amount of bonds outstanding and that's because we not only have to refund the outstanding
principal we have to out uh refund the outstanding interest and you also have to pay. So that's just a an initial number based on a not to exceed amount. Once these bonds refunded, a new supplemental debt statement will be requested which will then reflect
reflect the actual amount of bonds uh refunded. Um you asked a lot of good questions about the actual cost associated with the refunding. The numbers that Miss AKO uh those were all net numbers. So those
numbers all reflected uh the cost paid for the professionals, the cost of doing the refunding. So those are all net savings to the school district. So that um 87,000 approximately a year, that's net savings to the school district. That
$1.4 million, that's gross budgetary savings over the life of the issue. uh that around $1.1 million. That's that net present value because that's the law how we're required to we're required to to have the savings be level over the
life of the bonds. And we're only allowed to do this transaction if you can achieve at least a 3% net present value savings. And that's a safeguard to make sure that when you refund this debt that professionals don't just make the
money, that there's enough money to make sure that there's actual tangible savings for the school district. So, we're not allowed to go forward unless we can achieve that 3% net present value savings. Um, and also we're not allowed to extend the life of the debt. So,
these bonds will mature at the same schedule and the same way as your 2018 bonds. It's just an opportunity. Um, I know normally lawyers don't give you good news, but this is just all good news. Um, we can only go forward if we save you money and we have to save you
at least that minimum level. I'm happy to answer any questions that the board may have as well. >> Thank you, Mr. Salomini. Can I please have a motion to close the public hearing for the bond ordinance? Can I have a motion, please? >> So move. >> Can I have a second? Second.
>> All in favor? >> Any opposed? Right. Moving along. We are going on to remarks by citizens on agenda items only. Can I have a motion? >> So move. >> A second. >> Second. >> All in favor?
>> Any opposed? All right. We are now open for remarks by citizens on agenda items only. First up, can I please have Mr. from Michael Sheldon. >> Okay. Uh, good evening again everyone. Michael Sheldon, 47 Floyd Street. Now, Mr. Sman just left, but I was going to
tell him I've already marked my calendar to be back here in in 16 years to make sure that all all of these numbers are are realized. So, I'm I'm looking forward to to that uh meeting in 16 years from now. Uh couple quick questions about agenda items and they're
both in section 11. Firstly, uh 11.3 boiler replacement for school number eight. Um my recollection is that it was less than 10 years ago that we replaced the boiler in that same building. I I I don't understand how a brand new boiler
could be failing this short into its life cycle. my own home boiler system came with a 25-year guarantee. Uh and yet, you know, we're we're having to replace boilers that were mostly uh done with the referendum uh money uh this
soon into it. So, you know, you guys have the board is hires people services every year to do maintenance, routine maintenance. You've got uh our own staff who have the black licenses who are certified to uh maintain these systems.
Why? Why are we seeing such a failure? And is this possibly going to be covered through any insurance means or warrantees? It's another $225,000 uh for a boil new boiler. The other thing I wanted to ask about is 1117. Uh
this was an an addendum. It it deals with a transportation agreement with Newark. $300 per DM and a total of $27,300. Could you just clarify this a little bit because at first blush it looks like we are we may be paying to transport
students between Belleville and Nutley. I've done Belleville and if that's the case why why are we escorting students from Belleville to Newark or vice versa that you have to live in the district. So could you just please clarify what what's going on with
that? And lastly I just want to say thank you thank you thank you um both to Dr. Alfonso and Miss Aichio for announcing that the lease agreement uh with 335 Union Avenue is will be coming to an end on June 30th. I don't think I
need to tell you why I'm so happy about that, but you made my night and in telling us all officially that that lease is over uh by uh June 30th of this year. So, if you could answer those other two questions about 113 and 117, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.
>> Sure. Thank you for your questions, Mr. Sheldon. I'm happy to answer those. So, if you look back at I don't have it in front of me and I'd have to dig back through board docs. I want to say it's April of 2025 when you guys passed your public budget. Uh the businessman administrator
at the time set aside capital funding uh for a number of of items for this year. Um it was a $4.5 million withdrawal from CAP into this year's budget to do a number of projects. So, the projects were itemized. this is the last remaining project from that $4.5 million
list. Uh Gerald Depetta at the time back then even said the boiler is end of life. Um you're right that boiler is is relatively young. It's a baby. Um his uh explanation for it is just that the tubes are failing and need to be replaced. So it's my understanding that
uh it's sort of like a foreign piece of equipment and he says it just really wasn't well made. Um the ones we contracted through CJ Fanderback are um I believe they're made here. They're made much well. They have much longer warranties. Um so the money we've spent
even fixing it this year um has been significant. So uh that's why it's in there. It's I mean it's failed a couple times already. So um and then as far as 1117 um I apologize if the resolution was slightly misleading. I can I can certainly reread it, but that's actually
a transportation agreement where we are receiving uh the money. Uh so we are the host district. Newark board of education is paying us that that money uh for the student that needs to be transported here because they are unhoused at this time. They're displaced.
Oh, you're welcome. >> Thank you, Miss Ikeo. And thank you, Mr. Sheldon. Uh we can I please have a motion to close remarks by citizen items only. So moved. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed?
>> Okay. Moving along. We are now moving on to resolutions recommended by Dr. Aonso on personnel. Uh for a little transparency, the person personnel committee met on 252026. Um we can't share with the public what we sh uh what we spoke about because
obviously it's confidential because it deals with our employees, but we did meet on February 5th. Uh with that being said, uh do we have uh for the trustees, do we have any questions or discussion for any of the resolution items 81
through 826? Okay. Hearing none, seeing none, can we can I please have a motion to approve items 81 through 826? >> So moved. >> Can I have a second, please? >> Second. >> Uh Miss Ao, please call the role. Trusty
Garrow. >> Yes. >> Trusty Gillis. >> Yes. >> Trusty [snorts] Munoz. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pacheco. >> Yes. >> Trusty Santana. >> Yes. >> Vice President Dr. Majia. >> Yes. >> President Leon. >> Yes.
>> On to resolutions recommended by Dr. Alonso on board action and board policy. Uh do uh Miss Vice President Maju, will you please give an update on our governance committee meeting, please? >> Yes. Uh the governance committee met on
February 5th and there were several items that we discussed. Um [snorts] one of them Dr. Alonso already spoke about the Pilas Institute um which would replace product uh project adilante um he Dr.
spoke about it earlier in his report. Um, and I'm sure there'll be a lot more information coming on that and it it really sounds like a wonderful program [snorts] and I'm looking forward to hearing more about that. Uh, we also briefly discussed uh what Governor
Murphy had signed into law on January 8th about the cell phone ban and we got a little clarification about that from Dr. Alonso where he mentioned that um the commissioner of education has
uh 90 days I believe it's 90 days wait I wrote it down um I'm sorry 60 days to come up with the parameters and this this uh the cell phone ban would actually go into place
for the 26 27 school year. Um and then um there were some other things discussed about the the uh non-renewal of these some of these leases that are expiring
and that's what I have on that. >> Thank you Madame Vice President. Uh would are there any questions or discussion from the other trustees? Hearing none. Seeing none. Uh, can I please have a motion to approve line
items 101 through 1017? >> So moved. >> Can I have a second, please? >> Second. >> Miss IO, please call the role. >> Trusty Gar, >> yes. >> Trusty Gillis, >> yes. >> Trusty Moses, >> yes. >> Trusty Pacheco, >> yes. >> Trusty Santana, >> yes. [snorts]
>> Vice President Dr. Majia, >> yes. >> President Leon, >> yes. [snorts] [clears throat] on to resolutions recommended by Dr. Fos Alphonso on purchasing and business services. Uh do we have any questions or
discussions from our trustees? Okay, hearing none. Seeing none, can I please have a motion on approving resolution items 111 through 1117? >> So moved. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> Uh Miss Ao, please call the role. >> Trusty Garo,
>> yes. >> Trusty, >> yes. Trusty Mos. >> Yes. >> Trusty Pacheco. >> Yes. >> Trusty Santana. >> Yes. >> Vice President Dr. Majia. >> Yes. >> President Leon. >> Yes. [snorts]
>> On to resolutions re recommended by Dr. Alonso on finance. All right. Uh the finance committee we met on 25 and uh we discussed several things. Uh, we discussed food services, the state of our budget, um, preparing for our
six-month bud bus inspection along with the snow removal. Um, I just want to take the time to thank, uh, Jerry and Frank and the entire building and grounds crew um, for all the work you did during that massive storm. Uh, we only missed one day of instruction time.
We were back to school on Tuesday. Some other districts were were closed on Tuesday as well. uh you know uh we're also dealing with bursted pipes and and you guys are doing a great job uh making sure the kids aren't missing any instruction time. So I just want to make sure that we take the time to thank you for your hard work. Uh it does not go
unnoticed up here. All right. Uh are there any other questions or discussion on purchasing and business services from our trustees hearing? None. Seeing none, can I please have a motion on approving resolutions
111 through 11? Sorry. 121 through 125. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Miss Ike, please call the role. >> Uh before I read the role or excuse me, before I call the role, um I do have to point out that resolution 12.1 is our
official uh second ordinance. So, uh, regarding that resolution of the board of education of the township of Belleville in the county of Essex, New Jersey, authorizing certain actions necessary in con connection with the sale and issuance of not to exceed $38 million aggregate principle of refunding
school bonds and authorizing the appropriate officials to do all acts and things deemed necessary and advisable in connection with the sale, issuance, and delivery of said bonds. That being said, Trusty Garrow, >> yes. Trusty Gillis, >> yes. >> Trusty Manoz,
>> yes. >> Trusty Pacheco, >> yes. >> Trusty Santana, >> yes. >> Vice President Dr. Majia, >> yes. >> President Leon, >> yes. All right, we are now moving on to remarks by citizen on any uh topic. Uh,
can I please have a motion to open up remarks by citizens? >> So moved. >> Can I have a second, please? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? All right, we are now open for remarks by citizens. Can I please have first up Mr. Mike Mong.
>> Good evening. Mike Mon, 387 Union Avenue, Belleville. I want to preface uh what I have to say by starting off with I come in peace but I also come in truth. So um I just
want to remark on that it's been you know 30 days since the last board meeting and to this date we have had no communication with the leadership in this district. I mean that's quite concerning. Um, also at the end of the
last meeting, um, I don't know, I guess I to put in a better in in in better words, I I was I was quoted as being untruthful on the issues of, uh, school 4, which um were not I mean, I guess we could if you know, the the reports are
out, the arrow reports are out and anybody could see them that that wasn't really a um sagging partially detached ceiling tile. It was actually a collapsing of partial part of the ceiling. Um, anyway, um, I'm not going to come up
here and tell you guys lies. Matter of fact, Mr. Leon, I did reach out to you about the issue, and I thought that was going to be a way for us to start to communicate, and instead I I got a response that pretty much said, um, go through your proper channels if you want
to grieve something. And this wasn't a grievance. It it very well will be a grievance, but that's not the reason why I reached out. I reached out to try to extend a hand to try to get some kind of communication going. What are we actually asking for?
Really, what are we actually asking for? We're asking for one, communication. It's in your policy. Your policy says 24 hours before any [clears throat] type of construction goes on in the district that you contact
the the the the members in that building. And if it's an emergency, promptly. That's all we're asking for. Communication. Let us know that there's work being done, what that work's about, what kind what's your what's your process of of ensuring that we're going
to be breathing in clean air, you know, those kind of things. I I don't really see that is asking a lot. And that's only just the the the the tip of the iceberg of the amount of issues that we have to resolve between leadership and the BEA leadership, between district
leadership and the BEA leadership. And we can't get past this. Okay? I mean, I have to say if we had a standin meeting every week, once a week for the end of the year, we probably still would not be able to c catch up with the amount of issues that are going on in this
district. And I have to tell you all, the morale in this district is at an all-time low. All-time low. You don't have to trust me on that. You can go and reach out to your own people. These are your people. They you're they're employed by this board of education.
Okay? But I hear it every day. The morale is low. The morale is down. The morale is down. So, we can hype it up all we want here, but that is the matter that is a matter of fact. Okay? This is a labor management issue. This is not a labor between labor issue. We're not
complaining about the people that are working within this district. We're complaining about the disconnect between the management in this district and the labor in this district. And in my case, it would be the teachers, counselors, CST members, and the nurses. Okay? There's other labor in this district
also. So, I mean, again, I don't know how this gets fixed, but like I said, Mr. Leon, I told you this last time. This only gets fixed by this board. Only this board can set the culture in this district that says we insist that you
communicate with labor and that you guys collaborate together on things. I heard you say, uh, Miss Majia, that we have a cell phone, uh, um, uh, policy coming or a cell phone, um, law that was passed, legislation was passed. I heard that this weekend. And I was at a meeting
this weekend on health and safety where the Belleville Education Association won an award from NGIEA for health and safety excellence. Okay. So, I was there at that award and cell phone uh the cell phone policy is part of that uh health
and safety. It actually falls under that. And from what I'm hearing, there already is perimeters out there on on what that cell phone um what the commissioner wants as far as cell phone banning. Um, again, this is a what I
don't see how, and I hope that you guys can all agree, I don't see how the educators in this district aren't going to be part of that conversation. I didn't see how we weren't part of the dress code conversation, but we weren't. So, I don't see how we are not going to be part of that conversation. So, you
hear it here first. Um, uh, uh, Dr. Alfonso knows I spoke to him already about this that I wanted to be part of that that we want to be part of that cell phone talks. I know it's not until later [clears throat] that we have time, but I just don't want that to lapse and let's not be part of that also. So,
that's all I have to say. It's all about communication. Thank you so much. I have to leave. No disrespect, but I have to go right now. But thank you all. >> I'd like to comment for the record. There was an email sent on February 4th by BEA requesting a meeting was
responded on February 4th with availability for that Friday. The BA told me that they had a meeting that what was the other availability? I then responded the same exact day. How's 2:30 on Tuesday? Unfortunately,
does not work for us. How about another? I suggested a morning meeting which we have instructional time that is not the best time to meet when our students need servicing. It's preceded February 9th, February 10th. So, we've been having conversations back and forth since February 4th. So, I would just like to
clarify that statement. As far as notifying BEA regarding construction or any major damage of sort, what was stated, I received a call from our buildings and grounds director at 5:25 a.m. By the time we figured out what was
going on, I contacted the principal at 6:17 a.m. Briefed her. By the time she got her thoughts together, put out an email, the BEA staff, the staff of HEC received an email from the principal at 8:11 a.m. So, needless to say, considering urgency
and the timeline and all things considered what happened at HEC, I would say that there was communication and there was notification. That was from the principal. And I also sent out a district-wide blast that I'm sure most of you in here also received. So, communication is not the issue. It is
the grounds of the wanted communication, what the availability is and the quality of the communication. We rely on facts and statements. Thank you. Uh just a the when Miss M said that he sent the email about an issue that happened in
one of the schools. Uh that is true. Um I'm not sure what the angle was, but we as a board cannot get involved in day-to-day operations. Okay, I received the email of whatever happened in school district and it's forward to Dr. Alonso. It is he is our CEO of our district. He
handles the day-to-day operations. For us to get involved in any situation, maybe disagreements between Dr. Fans and the BA is premature unless it gets to the level three grievance. Uh so it wasn't to be dismissive, but there is a
process in place. All right. Our job is not to tell Dr. Fonta to do his job. We provide oversight. We're governance. for policy. Okay. Uh in terms of talking about the morale being low, you know, we live in town. I see men use at a local
bar, wherever the case may be. At school where I pick up my daughter, you know, I'll genuinely ask, you know, how's everything at the schools? I never hear anything negative. Um you know, for to say things are a matter of fact. I think it's a matter of opinion. Um again we're at meetings in the committee uh
committee meetings meeting with various workers in the in the workplace and I don't get that sense that people are upset people are not happy. So I just want to set the record straight on that. I don't think it's a matter of fact and you know I just want to clear the air a little bit.
Thank you. >> Can I please have up next Mr. Alex Pecarelli? Did I pronounce that right? All right. Great. Good evening. Alex Pearelli, 688 Union A. I am the president of the Belleville Custodian and Maintenance Association.
I was born, raised, educated, and still reside in Belleville. That being said, I take a lot of pride when it comes to my job here, and I know I share that feeling with my co-workers in our association. So, I'm here to set the record straight about lies that were told at the last
board meeting. After an incident at school 4, our association was tasked with repairing the issue, cleaning the room, and make sure it was up to standards for the students to come back to a surf a safe learning environment. After repair, the classroom was wiped down and cleaned, including all desks
and chairs from top to bottom. In fact, to show how above and beyond we went, the entire classroom was repainted when in reality it really wasn't necessary for the BEA president to publicly claim otherwise was a slap in the face to our association. Whether intentionally
directed to us or not, we all felt it and we took some offense to it. Our members work, sorry I'm short. Our members work without complaint in any condition whenever we are called. We were the only association here working throughout CO. We are the first to
respond to any emergency regardless of the time of day or night. Without us, the schools do not open. They do not get maintained. They do not get cleaned. And yet, it is often that we go unnoticed only until someone has something negative to say. I acknowledge that we
are not perfect, but the hardworking men and women of our association do not deserve that kind of disrespect and other unnecessary comments that are happening all too often lately. Not by anyone up here. In closing, I'd like to thank our supervisors, the central
office, Dr. Alfonso for having great communication with us. We hope that we can move forward together having the students best interest always. I will proudly stand here as many times as it takes to defend our association and I'm just as proud to work alongside these
men and women any day of the week. Thank you, Bonote. So, Mr. Pearelli, uh thank you and the association for all the work you do. I can't even thank you guys enough. Uh if I gave you a thank you every day, it wouldn't be enough for what you do. to
the fact that you worked 36 hours around the clock just for snow removal and we got complaints because we were too prepared and people wanted to stay home. You know, sorry, I'm not sorry. But again, that's testament to your work. The way that school 4 was done in the manner it was done over a weekend and
you all responded on a Saturday to come in. Again, kudos to you. We pay people much more money an hour during the school day to try to get them in and that's not always the case. Sometimes we have lack of uh volunteers and you're right, custodians and it you two are the
two departments that no one notices until something goes wrong. So we tried to be proactive and acknowledge you every chance we get because it is not when things go wrong that you should be noticed. It should be the dayto-day. Sometimes no news is good news. That
means everything is running the way they're supposed to be running. So again uh kudos to you and thank you and just know that you are appreciated. you are acknowledged and you're valued. >> Yeah. If I may add on to with Dr. Alonso, I mean, he always speaks great about the building and grounds school uh
crew. Um anytime he tells me that there's a a water pipe burst or we have a snow, my first question is how does it affect the kids and how long are we going to sit? And right away Doc will say, uh Steve, this is going to be it's not going to affect the kids at all. uh
when we had the issue with the ceiling, the kids were back in the classroom that Monday. And then with the snowstorm, same thing. We missed one day of school, we were back in. So, you guys do a great job. Unfortunately, your name only gets brought up when negative things come around, but I'm glad you came up. You defended yourselves. You kind of set the
record straight. And, you know, hopefully you keep coming to these meetings anytime they drag your name in the dirt. All right. Thank you. All right. Uh, may I please have Miss Arlene Shore approach the podium? Thank you. Just a few things. Uh,
I read the minutes of November 17th and I will say I was most impressed. I don't know who recorded and wrote the minutes, but it was amazing. I know it was an oversight. I'm sure it's her BA and I mean, but there was an oversight in that
none of the other minutes have been posted since November 17th. Uh I I know it's got to be a glitch, but I went back and I in fact happened to check today and after the 17th, nothing
was posted. But I commend you and on quality of your minutes. Uh the one of the things that I'd like to bring up which seems so strange but I know the work uh that
you're doing Dr. Alonso and uh Dr. massaga on on policy and I don't have very much to do. So I've been going back and looking at your policy and the dinging the three minute
dinging is not in compliance with your policy. You can go to I believe it's one 0167 and it's under public participation. Got it.
Okay. If you see it, I'm I know I'm speaking to our attorney, but I know he's got it on. It will say that within reason, uh, you project the potential of 45 minutes of public participation so
that we can do both agenda, non-aggenda, calculate. and your uh policy uh which was uh really uh reviewed or written. I
really didn't put that code into myself into directly but that policy was established or reviewed. I don't remember the language as of 2016 and what it says in that policy. So that that little ringing like it's your
kitchen timer goes off and you go [laughter] everybody's at least I do I guess the anxiety you seize up it says it is it is to be a minimum of three minutes
not a maximum so today out of curiosity I counted myself twice Mr. Sheldon twice, Minan once, and Alex, I don't remember your last name. So that's one, two, three,
two, four, five, six. Okay. So if, let's say, you were flexible enough beyond the three minutes. I don't mean to be pressed, but I'll say it. You barely have time to go to the bathroom in three minutes, much less make your statements
in three minutes. You can determine. It doesn't have to be 15 minutes a person, but let's face it right now. If you had five or six, you could all lot five to six minutes per person and it wouldn't be a big deal.
But it's really hard when you try to cover something in front of a microphone that you don't feel a little bit uncomfortable. At least I do. I want to cringe when I hear the way I speak. But that's the whole point. We're trying to
get everything in and you're trying it. Bing, there it goes. And counselor, you're the dinger. You're the one who for some reason over the years has been put in charge of ringing the bell rather
than the BA or another board member. I would assume no one as a board member wants to take the hit for saying, "Mr. Soandso, your time is up." And you know, Mr. Sheldon isn't the only one, Mr. Franon.
There are others, but I thought that you would find that interesting. And I have to say to Mr. Darer, who was one of your board members before, I could see from some of the dates that there were some policies that were brought up to date,
but it's not Dr. Alonso's job or even a member independently of this board to take a look at your policies when so many of them are at 2011 or 2016 and
there's no review update. You just can't let it sit. And in fact, one of the ones that I thought was interesting, I'm sure I'm running out of time, was your job descriptions are as of 2011.
Okay. Your um your district school BA in that things have changed, haven't they? 2011 was your policy. Thank you for shutting the dinger off, but I'm really not gunning for any of you because you weren't here. You're new. All
right. >> This is what Dr. Alonso, thank you Dr. Alonso. This is what you've inherited. >> Good luck. My blessings and my prayers. We need We need the help. We need the strength. >> Thank you, More.
>> And please look into that policy. >> Please look into that policy. It's written by the [clears throat] board and you're still trying to enforce a policy that is not. Thank you. Thank you. >> So, if I could just speak to the policy,
Miss Shore, [clears throat] uh, for a moment, and I know this has been in effect even from when you were on this board. Um, 0167 is a bylaw, which obviously the board governs, uh, itself through that. And, you know, the board has a number of ways in which it tries
to enhance public comment. We for example the pilot doesn't speak specifically to the separation between the agenda session and the general public comment session and so for example there's there's a you know there's a threeminut period for the
agenda session which is no fewer than three as it says in the policy but in addition >> right then there's also a fivem minute session as well and so in total >> so okay Miss Shore miss shore okay I I I would love to have a conversation with you separately But at this point, we're
in a formal meeting and I want to be able to address them. Okay. I I I got it. So the So the real So the real issue here, the real issue here is that there's a state law that governs the Open Public Meetings Act, and every board of education, mosquito commission,
municipality, whatever it is, is required by law to have a public comment portion. We have more than the minimum, more than our policy requires in terms of a minimum portions for public participation. and the board, you know, in the end can decide how it wants to
enforce under Robert's rules its own policy. And so what it comes down to is state law trumps board policy. Um the board policy or bylaw allows for the board to do what it needs to do so long
as under state law we allow reasonable amount of time and I think this board is certainly more than reasonable in the amount of time it allows. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Miss Shore. >> Morning, just a comment on the policies. So, we actually contract this stress estate
>> a couple months ago. They did an audit and um they are in the process of revising the policies. They need revision. Some are the date might be older, but nothing has changed. So, there might be one that's from 2011 and it's still in compliance. Their job is to make sure we're in compliance. So there is a full audit being done on that
end. >> M sure. It's not supposed to go back and forth. We're just answer we're just answering your question. >> I understand. But it's you spoke and then we answer your question. You may not like it, but it's not to go back and forth. But >> you could send us an email and we'll
answer all your questions. All right. Thank you. >> It's certainly good feedback as the board moves forward with this next version of the bylaw. For sure. Thank you for your participation. >> Thank you. Uh, up next, can I please
have Mr. Michael Sheldon? Uh, good evening again, Michael Sheldon, 47 Floyd Street. uh not to belabor too much the uh point that uh Miss Shaw was trying to make. Um four of the board members here u are carryovers from last year and hopefully you remember at the
beginning of uh 2025 Mr. Darrow who's no longer on the board but I believe he chaired the governance committee last year he u stated last January that the that bylaw 0167 was going to finally uh undergo some modernization and changes
and he actually smiled to me. He said Mr. Sheldon's going to be happy to hear that we're going to change 0167. So, a few times during last year, he said, you know, that we're still working on it and Mr. Daryl now is gone. So, I would hope that maybe uh uh some of you will follow up on whatever Mr. Daryl was trying to
bring about. As I've said, you know, it would be a wonderful thing just if you did away with the sign-in sheet. Why is it necessary that you have to be here before 7:00 in order to participate? I I look at many other uh uh boards, their
meeting videos. They don't have signin sheets. When when they open up for public session, the board president just says, "Does anyone want to speak?" So, you raise your hand and wait to be called upon and then that person comes to the podium, gives their identification, and you ask your
questions. Why can't we do that here? Why do you put this roadblock of having to be here before 7:00? What about you? You show up at 7:02, it's too late in general. You won't have a chance to speak. So that's something you could do, you know, as a gesture for openness and transparency to be true to those words.
Uh there was a comment made by Mr. Mon. I I want to follow up on that. He said that um you know, he's obviously concerned that there isn't a a really good line of communication right now between the teachers and the administration. But uh during his
presentation, he said that with the recent changes of the dress code, um teachers weren't involved in any of that decision-making. Just want to uh you know, I guess now I'm kind of moving into the role of district historian. Uh but uh when I was on the board in 2018,
my first year, I chaired the governance committee and working with Chris Lampereella, who was our board president that year, we completely revamped the dress code. In fact, go back to the uh history books. The dress code in place at that time was really draconian. It
required that specific emblems be attached to all of the garments. You had to have, you know, BPS or BHS emblems. Uh those emblems, those garments were only available at designated vendors in the community. And I won't bel labor how
those vendors happened to uh make campaign contributions to some of the the board members who first put that policy in place all the way back in 2011. But Miss Lampereella and I completely you know throughout that dress code working with Dr. Tomco and in
the process we had multiple forums, work sessions. We brought in students, teachers, administrators, parents and working with them. We got all their feedback and then we synthesized all that into a new policy which is largely what is in place right now. But um I
remember Dr. Tomco saying publicly at the time in all the years all the experience he had working with various districts he had never seen as ridiculous and convoluted address code policy that existed up until 2018. So we
said goodbye and good riddens to it and it allowed more liberty, more flexibility for students, reduced costs because now parents could pick up clothing at Target or, you know, on Amazon, whatever. But um I I just uh uh I'm concerned that uh uh the line of
communication which was celebrated during the previous superintendent uh that that may be diminishing at this point. So something just to address. The last thing I want to um mention here in my remaining minute uh I ran out of time last month. Uh this kind of slipped
under the radar and that was the fact that the board approved a merit pay system for Dr. Alfonso. Again, without uh belaboring too much of the history of our district, Dr. Tomco also had a merit pay system, but in 2019 when I chaired
that year the finance and operation committees and Tom Groleman was the board president, we all but got rid of the merit pay program incentive. Uh, and now it's being brought back. Um, just so that everyone in our community is aware
of the fact and I opened the merit pay system that's been approved for Dr. Alfonso, that's bringing him uh an extra $34,000 a year, and that's on top of his $226,000
base salary. So now he is up to $260,000 uh in in his base salary without the inclusion of fringe benefits. Um not bad considering that when he left the caucus, his base pay was $184,000. So I you don't have to comment on the
merit system, but it's just something that we all should be aware of and I would hope that in short order once again the merit system can be done away with. It's not necessary. Thank you. >> Yeah, I'm going to speak to 0167 again. I didn't expect this to be such a hot topic tonight, but I know that the board
is, you know, obviously looking at the importance of public comment. I I'm going say this to you, Mr. Sheldon, that in the time that I've been sitting here, at least the meetings I've covered, u we've not viewed the sign-in sheet as a
roadblock. If you came in at 7:30, 8:00, and you wanted to speak, at least in the last, uh, president, and I know that this president, I can speak at least having whispered with him a couple minutes ago, um, nobody would be stopped from speaking to the extent that they wanted to speak. The sign-in sheet is,
let me just, the sign-in sheet is designed as a mechanism as it is in many public entities. Some places have the sign-in sheet where you have to call a certain number of hours before them. We don't have anything like that and nobody would ever dream of doing anything like that here. It's just an easy way for us to be able to go one by one and call on
people and then again if someone comes late in one case I think we had someone who saw something on online and they were concerned about it so they showed up at the meeting and I remember at the time that Gabby said you know let him speak. So, um, we're we're not looking to cause a problem. We're not looking to
cause roadblocks or restrictions. In fact, we want to hear from as many people as possible, which is, as I said at the last, you know, speaker, I explained that we have two sessions for public comment. But, you know, it's good feedback all the stuff. The fact that you feel that that's a roadblock is important for the board members to hear, but that's not what it's designed to do.
And certainly, if someone showed up now at the meeting to speak, they would be permitted to do so. So, I just wanted to say that. Mr. Shelton, so you can hear from the horse's mouth. If there's ever a time you come here after 7:00 and the signing sheet has been taken away, I will not prevent you from speaking. As the board
president, I have that discretion. I have no issue with someone who comes in late and wants to speak their their speak their mind. All right. All right. So, it's on the record. It's a little sound bite, but I have no problem with that. All right. Thank you.
And can I have our last speaker come up? Mr. George >> Basi. Thank you. >> I'm also a resident of Belleville. I live on 77 Tyiona Avenue in Belleville, New Jersey. I do have some stuff to pass
out. Can I hand it to him? Would you pass it down for me? I got business cards, too. There's a couple different things in there. I don't know if you're aware of this. I represent special needs children. After the school day ends, there's a complete
vacuum of programs for special needs ch children with autism or other disabilities to participate in. My organization, which I hope you will remember, is Special Dragons. Special Dragons is the karate program, a therapeutic karate program designed
specifically for children with autism and other disabilities. The program is designed by special education, special education teachers like myself and black belts also like myself here. What we do is we use very
basic karate techniques to address common challenges that many of our special needs children have. For instance, eye hand coordination, motor control, conditioning, balance, sensory integration, focus, timeline, task, just a plethora of things that we address
through basic martial arts within our special dragons program. Our program, as I just mentioned, is taught by special education teachers and black belts. I'm the founder, but the people who I hire are also other special education teachers and black belt
martial artists. If you're not a special education teacher, at least a therapist or somebody who's used to dealing with special needs children. We don't just let them come on the mat with them. Special Dragon now has five locations in Northern New Jersey. We got started 15,
we've been in existence after 15 years, special dragons, and we have a location in Belleville. That's the reason why I'm coming to you today. What we're looking for is um board is communication within your school system. So, so, so the special needs families actually know
that we exist in Belleville right now. And also, there's a location that Belleville has on Courtland Street. It's an athletic workout area on Courtland Street. We were like, well, I was in by I'm sorry, I could have said this before. I was suggested that I come here by the recreation department in
Belleville. I'm interested in the area in Courtland Street where we have that that um physical fitness facility for my students at the moment. If I have to pay there directly to go there, it's an extraordinary amount of money. We could never afford that. But I understand if
you come through the school system somehow, they won't have to pay anything at all. I don't know exactly how the system works, but however, but the recreation department told me I had to come to the board first or something like this. Um, let me see what else I can tell you about special dragons. We've been
existing for 15 years. I think I mentioned that we use basic karate techniques to focus in on common deficits that children with autism have. We have five locations in New Jersey and with our current program, we allow
parents to participate for free. payment for the program. Many students come to Special Dragons paid for by the government. The Department of Developmental Disability sends the students constantly or they go through Seestock. That's the um the New Jerseys
children's system of care which is the DDD for children in New Jersey. Um also through perform care and also through care management organizations in each county in New Jersey. Um, again, the two things I'm looking for is what I'm asking today is for
greater access to be able to communicate that we have a program for special needs children in Belleville at the American Legion. By the way, I work in cooperation with the American Legion. And also, we're interested in the facility that's on Courtland Street and how we can use that for our children.
Um, superintendent board, thank you very much for your time. I'll answer any questions that you like. Also, if I left anything out again, but George Bos story, Special Dragons is the name of our organization. Thank you very much for your time.
>> Thank you for the information, Mr. Bori. >> Can I please have a motion to close remarks by citizens? >> So moved. >> Can I have a second, please? >> Second. >> All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Okay, moving along uh to items remarks
presented by board. Uh though we didn't have anything for athletics in terms of approving any resolutions, we did meet on 25 to 226 uh with the athletic committee. Um Miss Trust uh Trustee Gillis, could you please give a report?
>> Um on the 5th of February, we met with Dr. Mara. The [clears throat] board received an update on winter sports as well as middle school sports. Um, Belleville Middle School volleyball has officially begun and we appreciate the continued support of our student
athletes and coaches. >> Thank you for that. Uh, Trusty Gillis, are there any other board members that would like to make any remarks or comments? >> I can speak. Um, I just wanted to give a special
shout out to school number eight. Um, they, um, celebrated the students at the school, um, which is something we haven't seen in a long time. Usually the kids come here, they get recognized here, but they only get recognized among the parents that show up. Um, it was really nice to see them get recognized
for honor role at their um, local school building. I think it builds pride and it helps with school culture. I'm hoping that uh more schools will adapt this. Um but it was really nice to see. Have a good evening. >> Any other trustees would like to make any comments or remarks?
>> I wanted to add because I didn't know we were going to do end remarks. I would have added it to my committee report. Um I just wanted to congratulate all the the Black History Month poetry contest winners and all our special honors of the month. Um, so we're so proud of the students who shared their voices and
powerful messages. A special thank you to Dr. Shanklin for heading the contest and all the teachers who guided and supported their students throughout the process. I'm also excited about the PAS program like my mom would say, pontas pilas because the work needs to get done in order to be successful and I look
forward to hearing about its positive impact. Stay warm and have a good night. >> Thank you for that, Miss Gillis. Anybody else? Any comments or remarks? No. All right. Can I please have a
motion to close? Oh, sorry. Correct. Um, the time is now 8:52. Uh, can I please have a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting? >> So moved. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed?
All right. Thank you so much for coming for tonight's meeting.