Okay. The New Jersey public's meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provision of this act, the Belvadier Board of Education
has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted with the Star Ledger and Express Times and submitted to the town clerk of the town of Belvier on January 15th, 2025. The meeting will
be livereamed at www.belvierd.org. Flag salute, please. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. The mission of the Belvadier School District is to celebrate our past and empower our future while focusing on the four cornerstones of our district. Tradition, excellence, academics, and community. We strive to build confidence and promote collaboration. We encourage
an equal partnership with our students and staff as well as its community members. We empower everyone to develop the best version of themselves. The Belvier School District is committed to shaping students into global citizens who take initiatives for their success and contribute to the continued
excellence of the district. Our students are leaders in the decision-making process of their education and will be prepared to excel in the 21st centur century society. Roll call, please. Mr. Blum, here. Mr. Sbone, here.
Dr. Zepath, here. Mrs. Duckworth, here. Mr. Scott here. Stefan here. Miss Walton here. Mrs. Wer here. Ms. White here. Cherelli here. Mrs. Gardella here. Mrs. Robotham here.
Okay. So, we have a couple presentations tonight that we're going to go to, but before that, I would just like to stay say that tonight is our last board meeting with Mr. Kuba as our superintendent. Um, we would like to thank you for all your years of
dedication to our district. On behalf of myself, the board of education, and the entire district, staff, and students, I'd like to say thank you and congratulations on your retirement. I'm hoping the best of health and happiness for your future and the next chapter of your life. So, we would like to present
you with this plaque to say thank you. Yeah. School District in recognition of outstanding leadership, Christopher J. Karuba, superintendent. Thank you for guiding our district with integrity and purpose for 15 years. Your passion for education has been an inspiration to
all. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement 2010 to 2025. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Yep. Thank you. [Applause] All right. So, we're going to we have uh first we have presentations tonight. We have Miss
Bardell and Miss Prislac who were two of our winners of the uh or however you want to say recipients of our ED Foundation grants. So, they're going to talk a little bit about uh the process that they went through, what they came up with, and what they're doing with the funds that they received. So, take it away.
Here, no. Hello. Um I'm Taylor Prrislac. I'm Kim Wardell. Um and this school year, we uh requested a grant from the Belvadier Education Foundation for what we're calling the Belvadier Boost Carts. Um it's a way to
boost staff morale uh in the middle school, high school, and elementary school. um with beverages, snacks that is run by my middle school MD class and my uh first to third ERI class. Um the goals that we're focusing on is
stocking a cart. So, you know, the kids can learn, hey, I have 12 cans of soda. We sold three. How many do we need to restock? And there's going to be a person designated for that job. We have punch cards that we're giving to staff members, kind of like a Rita's reward.
So, if a staff member um participates all 10 months, they go into a drawing and they get a prize or a gift card. And a lot of community um businesses have supported us. Kings Gambit is donating coffee every month. Uh we got some gift
cards from Harper's Grill that is used for a raffle. Um who else? Uh Cafe Wawa. Yep. Wawa Cafe Boti and Hackett Town. um the found and the lost uh boutique downtown. So, it's a it's a
going to be a great way to kind of hopefully boost staff morale on a midday Wednesday or a Friday. In addition to boosting the staff morale, we have to boost our uh students self-confidence. Part of this card is they must ask what would you like? Uh
for some of the students, they don't like talking to a staff member that they don't know. So, that will help to build that. they it will um boost their literacy skills as well because they have to read what the staff member wants um and pick out the correct one. We have
three different kinds of juices. So you can't, you know, you'll have to say ocean spray apple or if you say I want an ocean spray, they must say I have three kinds. What kind would you like? These are life skills that they will take with them when they leave Belvadier. So we're really really
excited about the program. The kids are super excited about the program. Um, I know initially they think of it as time out of the classroom and it is, but that's also good for them. Education is not four walls in a desk in a book. It
it takes on many aspects. So, yeah, that's questions. Before you guys go, before you go, um, I'm going to put Miss Bardell on the spot for a second. She doesn't know this is coming. Um, we had a really cool visitor this morning for
our a lot of our special ed students and even some of our high school students, too. So, why rather than me tell the board how great it was, why don't you take a moment to talk about who our little visitor was and how much the kids really enjoyed it. So, um, I went to the New Jersey teacher
convention last year and Jenkinson's aquarium was there from down on the shore and I said, "Gee, you know, some of my students just can't sit on a bus this long. I really wish I could find somebody to bring the animals to us. Oh, well, we bring the penguins.
Oh, wow. And so I was like, "Oh, you do, do you?" Um, so Jack the Penguin, uh, Captain Jack, Captain Jack the Penguin visited our building this morning. The kids were beside themselves to see a penguin on
the table in in the agh. uh not behind a glass, not you know you know come here, come here in a tank or something like that. They uh educated the kids. The kids were phenomenal sitting and listening for 45 minutes and that's a
big deal for our kids sometimes. And then she opened it up to Q&As's and the kids were great with their questions. And uh so Captain Jack will be coming back. Maybe not him um but maybe some of his different friends will be returning
to Belvadier. But it was an it was an amazing day for the kids. It what was really great from my point of view was seeing not just your students but Mr. Duckworth's juniors and seniors in the same class all together interacting equally. It was it was it was just awesome to see.
It was we had um we had Mrs. Scott's prek to three kids in there all the way up to high school kids. And uh it really truly was something in my career I will rem it was great. Thank you. Thanks for sharing that.
Appreciate that. Thank you for your time. I don't know how. Okay. Just um with the Ed Foundation, we figured rather than bring everybody all at once and and make it a really long presentation, we'd bring a couple every meeting. Uh Mr. Duckworth was going to come tonight, but he he couldn't make
it. But he did ask me to read his write up and I suspect that Matt knew that I was going to read it. So it's a little bit longer than it probably would have been if he was reading it. Um but he wrote down the Belvadier Agricultural Education Department is pleased to announce the new tools and equipment purchased through a $550 grant from the
Belvadier Education Foundation. Agricultural biology uh in parenthesis animal science remains an integral part of the agricultural program with the care of our agriculture tank and water quality testing being a major focus in the curriculum over the past 25 years. While individual
chemicals have been purchased to replace those that have run out or expired, many of the tools, test tubes, collect sample bottles are worn out or broken after many years of use. By purchasing a new freshwater aquaculture testing outfit through the grant, our agriculture biology class now has the tools and a
surplus of chemicals to continue to care for the tank on a weekly basis. A mechanics, which is our welding and building construction, has also been an integral part of the A program for several decades with electrical wiring being a major major focus in the curriculum over the last 25 years. Over the past 5 years, our a mechanics class
has seen a revitalization with the addition of new equipment and protective clothing for our welding section as well as the new addition of welding magnetic welding holders which was also received they bought through the educational foundation grant. However, many of the tools for the electrical wiring portion
in the course were worn out and much of that wire inventory has been used by the previous classes. So Matt was able to purchase three electrician tool sets. 50 ft of res residential 14 divided by two ROMX wire which I don't know what that is. 142 sorry uh I
only know uh 22 220 221 whatever it takes. Uh 110 125 outlet tester to assess student performance through the foundation. So Matt says thank you and uh we appreciate the Ed Foundation. That's two great things that they've helped do for the school.
We're also going to now turn it over to uh young Miss Gardella who is uh she's not our full-time uh rep to the board from student government. Hannah Lee will be doing that, but I think when Hannah can't make it, Izzy's gonna Izzy's going to jump in. So, Izzy will let you give your report also because you probably
want to move along too. Um good evening. My name is Gardella. Um, I'm here as the Belvadier High School Board of Educa education representative tonight. As Mr. Kuba said, I'm not the full-time rep. Panel will be here most nights and I'm just
going to share some information about the upcoming events from our faculty and advis advisors that they would like to share. Um, our Leo Club members helped at the White Township community day and with they assisted the Lions Club with their popcorn stand. um a couple of the
upcoming events. On October 3rd, they have their first visit to the Mir V through with NHS and the Leos will be painting nails, playing board games, and hanging out with the residents. On October 4th, the Lions Club will be having Golftoberfest. And the Leos will be helping with the event. And also on
October 24th, the Leo Club will be helping the Evening Star Quilt Guild with setting up for their quilt show. The NHS will be hosting its annual stall day fundraiser on Wednesday of homecoming week to raise funds for a local family in need. And NHS also has
its first blood drive of the year on November 21st. And the NHS induction ceremony will be held Wednesday, November 19th at 7 p.m. We would love some members of the board to join us to celebrate the achievements of our students and enjoy a piece of cake.
FEA has 10 teachers aids in the elementary and middle school this year, which is up four from last year. They are still looking to place two more, but are off to a great start. The environmental science club has a new teacher that is running it and Mrs.
Duncan, who is our AP environmental science teacher. Miss Bader is no longer running the program, and Miss Duncan is excited to step in and guide students in exploring environmental issues. The club will meet once or twice a month during lunch period to discuss important current events and develop ways to
engage with and support our community. Students will have the opportunity to share ideas, learn more about today's environmental challenges, and take part in meaningful projects that make a difference. They will also be taking several fields. The drama club is having auditions and then rehearsals for their
fall play Alice in Wonderland to pe be presented on Saturday, November 1st at 1:30. Our pep bands continues to play at our pep rallies football games and will play at the Belvier Halloween parade on Wednesday, October 29th. And there Mr. Z
is planning for their annual veterans program is in full swing. And many veterans already saying they are coming on Wednesday, November 5th. Mrs. Damch and Mr. Z are working on an updating our website to include the veterans road of heroes, our wall of honor, and our
veterans program. And finally, mark your calendars for the high school holiday concert, which is December 11th. Student government concession stand is back at home football games. We had our first successful stand this past Friday at the game and will be selling at the next two home games, which are October 4th and
October 10th. We will be selling various items including hot dogs, snacks, candy, and drinks at night games and bagels, pastries, and coffee at the morning games. Homecoming is right around the corner and will be the week of October 13th through 17th, and students are
gearing up for the daily themes, hallway decorating, pep rally, and dance, which will be held October 18th in the high school gym. The theme for this year is homecoming throwback, honoring our school's rich history. Class homecoming t-shirts will be on sale until September 30th.
And finally, in a month into the school year, um FFA is now doing their fruit sale, which is navl oranges and ruby red grapefruit full cases, which are about 40 lb or $42, and half cases, which are about 20 or $24 with orders open until
Friday, November 14th. Up next, they will be starting their apparel sale and preparing land judging, fruits and vegetables, and milk quality, and product teams for the career development event day at Ruckers University on November 20th. You
Thank you very much. Update. All right. So, we will move on to committee reports then. Curriculum and policy. So, the curriculum and policy uh committee met last week. We reviewed the
SOP for our internal controls. Uh we're suggesting a more extensive view into this policy, just clean up some old language, update some possible technology guidelines, and just be on track per the state guidelines. Um the handbook
uh for middle school now has their own separate handbook. Um the handbook has been updated um for the the schedule has spring break marked as half days that has been corrected and posted now have the correct calendar in all of the
handbooks and the middle school handbook was also going to have a a discipline uh matrix Dr. McKe has already um shared with all the middle school kids. So that will be new. So this year we'll have three uh handbooks.
Um, NJSLA is rolling out a new format for standardized testing. This testing will be more adaptive and will measure growth year after year and the state is looking to pilot their first test in October. The high school buddy program, which the
future educators of America are buddying up with the elementary school, seems to be going very well. Lots of positive feedback. Both this both sets of students seem to be enjoying this program. Um the middle school buddy character program is now three days a
week instead of one. Um which is now which is more than they've done in the past. So they are learning other things outside of just going to the younger classes and then that way those when they go to the younger classes it'll be better more controlled environment. Um,
and we talked a little bit about some things that we could possibly move into um, a buddy character curriculum such as inner communication skills. Uh, possibly things around social media, proper ways to use social media, cell phone etiquette, things like that. And then
maybe even some health and nutrition. So that is a really a working curriculum at the moment. Any questions? I have a quick question. Are there any updates with the cell phone? No, I believe the policies. Okay.
Any other questions on that? No. Okay. So, now we are on to finance and operations. Um, okay. So, a big topic was the roofs. Um, all roofs are beyond warranties or warranty. uh cord.
There was roof sections two and seven that were corded that noted moisture under the roof compromising the base of the roof. Currently, there's no active leak leaks, but moisture is compromising the integrity of the roof system. Um which includes tenting of the roofs,
flashing is in poor condition, and additional um additional areas that are pretty worn. Um we can get a 34% of state aid for a referendum. um instead of paying 100% the state would pay 34% but
unfortunately the 66% would need to be absorbed by taxpayers. Uh research group we did research grants but there were none that were found. We discussed a solar option but that does not seem feasible based on how the current market is and they actually
stated that they see more solar coming down than going back up. Um there is a concern again for moisture. That's from a safety standpoint. So the next steps are to core all roofs to determine the prioritization of roof replacement. Um
consider a department of education application after discussion with the board which would need to be submitted in March um to determine what our our financial aid would be. It is an extensive process that involves the state and the county and it would also
require two department of education applications that would need to be submitted um because there are two separate schools the elementary and high school. Um we also met with the bond council not specifically but representatives from the finance
committee and right now we only have a capacity of $9 million to request um or $9 million. However, the roof estimate could be up to 15 million. Um, so the goal would be to begin replacement in 2027. However, we are asking
um if there are second um consults or opinions. Then on top of that, there's boilers. The high school boiler needs replacing. There's a potential grant available. Um TR TRC offers incentives through Elizabeth Ga Gas. Um, we have to
consider 5-year equipment lease to pay for the boiler. There's 168k in the current budget for funding eligible for debt service aid with referendum, but years do not necessarily align with the roof replacement and current available
funds in the budget. So, there's got to be a little bit more strategy from that standpoint on funding. So the next steps again is to expect proposals for the boil the boilers and the roof and also for further BOE um discussion and
potential approval and how we would prioritize these replacements. Uh we would also need to update our facility long range plan when submitting these applications to the department of education um and again consider a second link evaluation consult.
In terms of the third street auction, um there's been some discussion with Max Span who's an auctioneer company. Uh the best uh right now what's considers the best option based on our previous bid that was turn that we turned down is to
go out for auction and this could take approximately 3 months. The BOE will not have to pay commission however for this process. Um, Shelley was going to follow up on the max span cost if we do not accept a bid, which I understand the
most recent update is that we would not be charged if we did not accept a bid. We have the option of setting a minimum bid or no minimum at all. And uh, MaxFan was going to work to provide us what that minimum bid potentially would be.
And then also Maxpan um you know did auctioneers for two other schools in the region and trying to understand what those sales prices were for and also looking for another auctioneer for comparison
um pricing and um past sales history. Then we're looking at our unbudgeted expenses and our out of district costs which are contributing to over a $234,000 um deficit for the year. There are a
couple students that are going out of um district and transportation is certainly um a challenge when we're looking at um you know what that overall cost is and we're trying to negotiate uh you know around some of those challenges. But insurance liability does
does um make this difficult to do so. And um you know, Dr. Garcia was present on our our meeting and she um did state that she she thought it would be a good idea um for her to kind of better understand what some of these out of
district school our students are receiving in terms of services and see if there's anything that we can bring back to Belvadier and help to support those children um within district if possible. But again, lots to be determined and assessed.
um from an aid standpoint, there's been some uh discussion about the substitute versus aids and um you know what what's the cost savings there? And so uh based on some feedback from Shelley, there's no longer feasible to contract aids
based on current incentives of waving benefits and providing that OT waiver. and we reviewed the current club participation that are associated with um stipens, but this still requires a deeper dive and something that will likely be discussed in the negotiations
which is kicking off this fall and that's pretty much it. It was a lot a lot of stuff. Any questions with the with the boiler shel wasn't that a grant with something with JCPNL?
What what's happened with that? So that was in the spring. We initially were about 95% there to have our notice to proceed with the grant from JCPNL. And then we actually got additional information at the finance committee
meeting from the architect there that the state actually shut all of the um the grants down because of the way that they were doing the procurement for the projects. So we lost that grant. We tried to appeal it but we weren't able to get it continued. The lighting piece,
however, and you may have seen outside the building. I did. Yeah. That um Mr. Kennedy was able to find an alternative way to get the lighting going and that's at a 100% um grant. So, we have no cost on that, but that is all
underway. But the boiler side, we now have an additional grant option through a company called TRC and we are meeting with them to try to see what they'll be able to provide, how quickly we can get that done because we're trying to prioritize, you know, how can you keep
the school open? If you can't heat it, you can't have the school open. So, we figured boilers are come first. um if the roof fails, you may, you know, have certain sections that will be, you know, closed down, but if you don't have heat, you don't have a whole building. So, we're trying to look at get the boilers
done first and then the um getting the roofs done uh possibly through this referendum um as we keep progressing along. And is insurance does that play a part in any potential I guess with the roof? Is there any claims or anything that you put in?
No, not it's all wear and tear. Feel like that was a little grim. Thanks. Sorry, Shel. Is there any additional information, Max Span, that you need to share? I know a lot has went on the past week with all of that. So, you've been
working hard on it. Wednesday night that the finance committee met and then I did get answers from the finance committee's questions and I tried to get some of that out to the board. Um the latest with Max Span is that we asked them, we do have an
appraisal. Um and just because it's appraised, we found that that doesn't necessarily match up with what the bid was that we received when we did our public advertisement for bids for Third Street, which we did at the end of the summer. Um, so we're
we've asked them if they could help us come up with a value, not necessarily to put on the auction as a minimum, but as um, you know, just a key to help the board know what's a good price we would or wouldn't accept. Um, so they actually
came out yesterday at 1:00 and they're hoping to turn around a number for us as a, you know, another placeholder for the board to consider by Friday. Um, they did give us an agreement that if we wanted to go ahead and they have a
November auction coming up if we wanted to be part of that where they do all the marketing to try to bring in potential more potential buyers. Um, when we advertise in the newspaper, we only received one bid and our only marketing was putting in the newspaper. Um with
the auction there's no cost to the board and that includes even if we decide we are not going to um accept the highest bid that would come in that day. Uh we still would not have any cost they get paid through a 10% commission from the buyer side.
So they sent the an agreement. I had our attorney review that in case the board would want to go forward. They said we would need to have the agreement signed within the next seven days to get to be part of the November auction and then they with the holidays they
don't know when their next auction would be after that but they find that their marketing is most effective when they have a they stop um when they have a group of um I guess properties that they're auctioning at the same time. They did provide information back that they did sell the
um a school in Pohakan. I might get these backwards. One was the Shimemer school. Yeah, I know where that is. Um and then another one in Green Witch. One sold for around 400,000. The other one sold for 82,000. Both of them were prot were from what they explained were
in um disrepair. And apparently when they came out yesterday to look at Third Street, they were very impressed with upkeep of the building and that it's a much different piece of property that we would be selling um versus those as comparisons. Uh so I'm interested to see what what
value they give us. Um believe it. Does anybody have any other questions? I did get different emails. I tried to answer anything else that I'm forgetting. So, oh, we we did get the question, I
think at the last board meeting was, "What is the current cost of Third Street?" So, when I add up the 2425 utilities and divide it by 12, it's about $1,500 a month um to keep Third Street going. But, of course, that's, you know, that's changes with the
seasons. So, we're running into now the higher cost seasons as we have to, you know, begin heating the building um in the next couple months. And otherwise, there's a boiler cleaning cost and then our fire alarm panel um
inspections. The boilers, regardless if we're in a November auction or not, it I think once once you sell with the auction, it's 45 days after that to close. So, we would have to get the boilers up and running because it will we'll hit the heating season. So, that cost will have either way. Um and the
fire alarm panels were done in the past month or so as well. So those costs have happened, but basically I just wanted to try to get all the information out because we've been talking about it for a couple years at almost every board meeting that we're trying to get permission to sell. Now that we have it, we're just trying
to keep it going. So this is one option that does not have any cost to us. Um, we could go forward if you see fit. If not, we can look at other options. We did talk about I think Mr. recruit our attorney to say at the last meeting we
are allowed to use an a realer at this point. Um so we could look at that option but we will have to pay probably at least I'm I'm not too super current on real letters right now but probably at least 3% commission on our side if for sales that way. So, it appears from
the agreement um and the attorney's review review of it as well that we wouldn't have any cost to give Maxpan a shot and see um if we're able to bring in any additional biders to get a better price than we did with our own um public advertisement.
Can we get a realtor in in the interim just to kind of get an idea of a market analysis? We can. I did do that when we initially started. Um, and it was it was, you know, over a million dollars for the building. Um, we could ask somebody to come in and do that again.
I mean, it might be a good idea to just kind of have both to look at so we make a better decision. Um, I mean, it's just the more that I'm the more that I'm learning about it. I mean, it's it's worth what someone will pay for it, right? So, we're trying to get the more people out there and aware of it. So
that's why we felt I think it was like actually you know Miss Walton had a good idea like what about an auction and they have far further reaching marketing than we would do what if we'd have to pay for the marketing um to try to get more people involved in looking at it that might
I would like to see that though just to kind of compare because I know in today's I mean you have like the drones that do the videos you know what I mean like and you know it goes out on the garden state you know the whole thing so I'm just curious what the two marketing comparisons would look at look like because We could if you have someone who
focuses, you know, in a building such as this, you know, they might have a very robust outreach. So to to clarify, for full disclosure, I use Max Span. They are real estate company. They're not an auctioneer who just comes in with an auctioneer. They're they are a real estate firm, but
they sell additionally auction service and they have marketing services and outreach probably better than a local real because this isn't a house. So, you're recommending to have both done through max?
No, I I'm saying I'm adding clarifying information. I'm not making a recommendation. I want to set because all the terminology Shelley just used was auctioneer. Mhm. I want to make sure everybody hearing that understands they are a real estate firm and so they are not like an
auctioneer coming in to just sell stuff. So they actually do printed marketing. They my personal experience was they put up a large sign and they have targeted uh client list as opposed to targeting
homeowners like one of the many realators we all know and love here in town. So, I think we should at least have another another comparable firm. A residential more uh real estate agent is not going to be comparable because we're not
selling a residential property. But I do think we should have one. Right. Right. I've tried to find I don't but I just wanted to clarify that they're not works in real estate government sales and yes, we could find somebody I think the town may have them as well.
this may have used Maxan or they might have another idea. I recall from being a participant at a town council meeting that there was a property that the town had taken uh possession of due to back taxes and I believe if it didn't they were at least
looking to sell it via auction. So we might be able to reach out to our town council to ask what auctioneer service they had considered using and so then we have a comparable comparison. It might but I'm also think I think you're saying
to have a I didn't realize that Maxpan was a real litterer myself also. No, they they are a real leader. Um just to kind of say, okay, this is definitely the avenue that's going to get the most, you know, publicity visual, you know, just so we know, we've done our due diligence to make sure that we've checked all the boxes to make sure
this is the correct avenue to head into. And I think um you know, since the actual auction wouldn't be until the November time frame and then after the auction, we have 15 days to either accept or not whatever the highest bid would be. that that was something we can
we could do at the same time is have somebody else give us another value because really the information the board needs to know is 15 days after the auction is that a value that we want to go with or not and just to be clear I'm sorry
we have nothing to lose by going with this auction that's kind of what my feeling is from the research like we have control to accept or reject any of right it'll also get less exposure in right my opinion
but we still have to figure out if we're setting a minimum bid correct and what that would be right they're re not recommending that we do set a minimum bid well we can have a number I would imagine we're going to probably have some sort of baseline maybe you know what I mean where we can like a threshold yeah
where we know we all agree and stand right doesn't matter though because we're going to pick it we're going to decide 15 within 15 days after the bidding's done but I think I I think it would be what I'm thinking though is if we turn down the last bid for because it was 200 and something and then say all we get is 200
and something then are we going to go and accept that $200,000 bid or we're back at square one and then we're repeating another three months of this process. So I'm just trying to avoid that.
I mean I could say about the Maxpan realy they've been in business for decades like literally decades. is a junior situation, meaning his dad was doing it for decades, too. So, it's in their best interest to get the most amount of money for it also. Um, so I don't think they're they're new
to new to the business and they're local, right? They're from county, right? That's our thing, right? Is trying to get somebody who understands the uniqueness of the property as opposed to a house on Third Street, right?
And this is residential, right? It's all the building is considered the right now the town has it zoned residential um which is different than what we had heard at some of our previous meetings where they said it was cottage use
and can you just explain to me what happened with that because that was like something I didn't fully understand with a member of the planning board in anticipation of this discussion. It is in the cottage zone, but cottage only
applies to a residence where you have your storefront on the first floor. Isn't cottage a license? It's not It's not a It's a zone. Yeah. And then you Yes. Because the town says where you can have cottage like I believe I live in a cottage district
because I'm right on I'm a mixed resi commercial. So like found is a cottage. Mhm. Because the the first floor is their business. Mhm. Yeah. I understand what it is, but I'm saying what happened why we thought it was it apply it has to be a
residential property. The school is not a residential property. So it's it's a the school sits in a cottage district, but the type of property cottage but we're we're selling it as residential, but it's not a residential business
right now. So that's why it wouldn't apply. Still confused. But weren't we going to put it on the market to be residential or cottage? Wasn't that the whole point? I'm saying what happened? No, we when we put it out for public bid, it was with the it was like an R
something zoning because that is the zone per the zoning office. But we also put that any potential buyer needs to verify all that on their own because we weren't going to take the the liability for what the property is or isn't. And
but that's when we found out that everything in that area was changed to cottage use, but not necessarily the school because the school is a school, not a residential property, not a residential house. So therefore, it didn't apply. and anything the buyer
intends to do, right? They're probably not going to school. So, they're going to have to go to the planning board and get approval, whereas you go and you But that's where I'm and this was this was before you were on where I That's where I'm still stuck because we had Morris said that's done. Remember, we
had said that zoning's done. been kind of told that since many board members ago was not exactly with what happened, but that's what I'm asking. So, what happened? Well, I mean, that would be a more specific question for
the town. I mean, we've asked and gotten emails back and that's the best explanation that I've got is that it the area around it was changed to cottage but not the school. So recently changed I think recently like in the last couple few years that we've been talking
about this the former mayor there had been a push to move to more cottage to bring more businesses into town um as a revenue opportunity but again it's it's applicable to the building if somebody was living in that building.
So there was just miscommunication somewhere. That's what the explanation was. But whomever would bid on the property, it's they would have to do their own due diligence of what they're going to purchase. That would not be something that and then whatever they're going to do has to go for planning, right? Like that
we have church buildings in town that are now residences and if somebody wants to make a substantial turn that into apartments, they have to go to the planning board. So if somebody wanted to turn the third street school into apartments and maintain that beautiful playground, then they'd have to go to the planning board
because everything changed. Well, I think nothing ventured, nothing gained. I feel it's time that we move ahead on this on this. We've got nothing to lose. Therefore, I'm making a motion that we participate in Max Fans auction
in November. I thought we were going to get comparative like another auctioneer to compare. I also have issues with the fact that this wasn't on the agenda for the public to view in advance. I mean, as do I. I don't think we should. I
I'm not in favor of putting a motion on the agenda tonight and making a decision without us having properly disclosed that we would be making that decision in advance. So if there was somebody of interest or of concern, they could have
shown and participated. The way this is coming up on the agenda, that wasn't clear to the public unless you're one of the people watching or sitting and that I don't think that's I'm uncomfortable with that. I'd much So that's a little bit catch 22 for me. So the finance committee discusses it
and then until we come to a board meeting to discuss it, I can't put something on the agenda and then you everybody will get the agenda and say, "What's this? We're going to an auction. We didn't even say we're going to do this." We're interesting committee reports though right now. So I don't even know if we're in. So it's just it's just a tough one to
know what's the right way to do. Like so I tried to say, "Okay, there's a possibility for timing that we've been trying to sell this building for a couple years. We don't want to drag it through the winter because you know we didn't talk about it. So I tried to get all the information out to the board including the agreement that could be
read ahead of time. It was and then that way we could be able to add it on. There is no open public's meetings act anything that inhibits us from adding items to our agenda. like we put items out and that's as a courtesy,
but I think the fact that we've been sitting here talking about it for however long is extremely open and what we're doing is we're putting it out there to do a public bid. Like we're not doing a motion to sell the Third Street School to the town tomorrow. Like it's a motion to say we're going to
market it for the next month and a half to then have anybody publicly want to bid on it. And we've already had it out for public bid. So, I'm just confused why it becomes an issue as if we are not putting things on the agenda. I I have a quick question. So, I know
Shelley sent out the contract. So, should we take this into personnel so we can review the contract that Max Span sent out? Well, first of all, let's let's talk just protocol at the moment. Protocol at the moment is we have a motion by Mr. Blum. Yes. To move forward with this.
I'll second, Bob. So, now you have a second. So, now it's on the agenda. Now it's on the agenda. Discussion and then it's Mr. Blum made a motion. We can't ignore that he made a motion because we can't we can't talk about even Maxpan's contract in I thought we're not supposed to talk about contracts in
we can talk about contract negotiations in executive. It wouldn't be personnel. That's what that's what I meant. That's what I meant. I'm so used to talking about personnel and person in executive. But I feel like that the contract was sent out. So, we should talk about the contract for Max Span if because if this
is something we want to move forward with, then we still need to talk about the contract. And do we even want to know what they're saying it's worth? I mean, we don't even know what they're But it's a public bid like what they say the value is is just it gives us an idea
of what we think maybe what we have. Yeah. But I I'm just throwing this out there. If we commit, let's just say we say we're going to commit and and they say that we're only going to get $90,000. Do we want to go back to the person who already put in the the bid in
September? Well, that person could come to the auction. Well, they could come to the auction, but do you know what I'm saying? Like, the person who bid, I also had an extensive conversation with them. They actually promoted the idea of taking it to an auction because that's where governmental people go to look.
So it it feels like it's been very more than transparent to try to, you know, move it along. I know that it feels transparent to us because we got the contract yesterday. We got the email from you. We get the notes from finance, but the rest of the
public isn't getting all that. And sometimes it feels like we're not as transparent as we should be, which is why, you know, I sometimes we can't be. Sometimes we can't be. I understand that. I'm just not saying that we're we're we
are not voting to do anything but to give the public a chance to have an opportunity to buy the buy the property if they want. You know, we have protocols in place that for certain things at certain levels, we have to compare vendors, right? Anything that's going to be a
cost of But this is a zero cost. I'm I'm just getting hung up. But it isn't a zero cost. Yes. How is it not in terms of dollars spent to the realtor? You're
right. That's zero. But there is a potential cost if we pick and again I recommended this this party. So I have confidence in them. But if we look at another contract and uh another potential perspective on a
unique property like this and they're a they're better, we feel better for whatever reasons, then we could have missed out. So there's a potential loss, not an outright we're writing a check, we're deducting from
the proceeds, but there is the potential. There's also this board has been criticized for not being transparent and I agree wholeheartedly with Mrs. Serbone that the third street school is a very obvious thing. It is not a super private thing like contracts
but you know I was approached after the last meeting by someone who came to me and said why wasn't that on the agenda? I would have been there had I known. But to say what I mean we we did not break
any perception sometimes that is the cost not not the black and white of the law but the spirit and I 100% can understand and agree with that going on various things but all we're doing is saying we want to have a
public auction so that it's open to the public so we can talk about that once we have time to review you know would like to be able to review the contract contract before we vote on his motion. Um, but I think in light of the fact that we
already paid the fire and we're going to have to pay the boiler either way, the carrying costs for the rest of the year are minimally low. Right. I I would just want to circle back to the finance notes that what Mrs. Robbotham reviewed is that
selling Third Street is important to us right now. The district has has some problems right now and it's for the very first time in the 16 years that I've been here that the word deficit has actually been used appropriately. We
right now have costs beyond what we have funded for the 2526 school year because of a lot of the changes that have occurred in our special education costs among some additionals. It is the first time in the 16 plus years that I've worked here that
this is the case. So to be absorbing additional costs for Third Street and not potentially having that those funds instead coming back in to help us, it seems like we're putting a lot not willing to take a basically a free
risk to see if somebody comes in and says, "Hey, what if somebody comes in and says, "I'm going to bid something much closer to what our appraisal value is or much closer to what um maybe Max Span comes back and tells us on Friday that they think the value is." We're foregoing that by not doing something today because they said we have seven
days. So, if we want to have a special meeting on I mean, I guess we can see the quickest we can get a meeting advertised so that we can come back to next week and do this, that's fine. But I I think a little bit we do have some
really important issues right now. And I think we're maybe overanalyzing something that is so I I hear you. I don't think anybody here is saying we do not want to sell Third Street.
I also think it's fair to say we just got approval to sell Third Street in August, July. Okay. So, for it does feel very long that we've been carrying this cost, but the the that long stretch is over. I
think sometimes we tend to um you know cut off our nose to spite our face because we're in a rush because we're in a deficit and we're driven by money. We have not been in deficit before. So I get it. But let's just say
I think a long term a time deficit longterm we might it's just an extra couple of months is not Yeah, I get it. I just don't think anyone Shel is questioning the fact that we have to sell this property and I just want to make sure that right so I'm saying that we've heard a lot of nice things about Max Span but we
either decide we're going to I mean we have a motion so we have to So we have a motion and a second it's on the agenda to vote when we get to that point. Okay. So we're there. So now we're looking to go on to get a
motion to go in executive session. We'll be looking at personnel. We can look at the contract at that point. Do you want to do the special ed ad hoc then? Oh, I forgot about that one. We didn't even get to the second one. Yes. Well, let's let's move on. We'll do the special education ad hoc and then we'll
look to go to exec so we can finish this before we go to agenda items. Just Okay. Quick. Um, so we did send out the parent survey. Um, and we received the feedback from from the parents in the special ed. So,
we got about 20% return rate, which we were hoping would be a little bit higher, but for our first survey over the summer, um, you know, it is what it is, and we got some some good feedback and put into place an action plan. Um, we reviewed the questions of the for the
staff survey for the ESY program. I'm hoping that survey was sent and closing out this week. Um, awesome. Uh we also um received an update on the life skills room. So as of the special ed meeting, which I
believe was n couple of weeks ago, uh the life skills room was currently being painted. Um we did ask for a tour, but it wasn't in the condition for a tour yet. Um, but we are hopeful that we'll have an update pendant on that tonight
and see if we'll be able to hit the target of completion in October. Okay. Any questions on any of that? No. Okay. So, can I have a motion to go in executive session for personnel and to
review the contract for a negotiation of Third Street? Motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any nos? Any abstensions? Okay. Any discussion held by the board which need not remain confidential will be made public as soon as practicable. Minutes of the executive
session will not be disclosed until the need for confidentiality no longer exists. The board will reconvene in public session at the conclusion of the closed section session in approximately 40 minutes. I'm going to be hopeful. Okay.
are on to public participation for agenda items. This first one is for agenda items only. It will be limited to 30 minutes up to five minutes per um participant. So, anybody have public
participation for agenda items? No. Okay. So, our first agenda we're going to do is the um motion that was and seconded that was to add Oh, I forgot. I'm sorry. Correspondence. Is there any correspondence? We're so
out of order tonight. All that. And now, superintendent report. Let's do that before we do agenda items. I was going to say I couldn't I couldn't get my report. It's my last one. Yes, you can. I'm sorry. I'm going to go a little bit off my normal script. I think Izzy did an excellent job of capturing what's been going on at least in the high school. I will say though before I just say some
parting words that um over the last few days have done a lot more getting in classrooms and um I I was talking to Mrs. Bardell early this morning because I was actually in her classroom observing when she was talking she was she didn't tell the kids and she was so excited about the penguins but they were she kept saying we have a special guest
today. um spent more time just in the cafeteria with the students and for me um 15 years, three as principal and 12 as superintendent. Um proud of a lot of things we've accomplished, you know, starting to just put a list together. Um
I remember when I first came to the high school, we only had one AP class, so I think we're at 11 now. So I think that was a that was a big deal back in those days. Um but I I just walk around and I and I see our students and I I truly believe in our in our kids. um as they
did the day I first got here. We have truly truly outstanding students. We certainly always have a couple of problems here and there, but I think the kids and and I say kids still, I'm sorry, I'm old school with that. Um the good kids truly truly outweigh some of the problems that we have. And I think
sometimes we forget that. Um, but when you walk around the halls and you keep even just like I said, um, uh, we we talked real quick in executive session about just this morning when I was outside the high school gym letting kids in and and how appreciative I just said I was holding the door for him to hear kids, you know, that just say thank you.
Um, Belvadier, it's a great place. It's it's meant a lot to me for the last 15 years. Some great colleagues. Um, we have excellent teachers. We really do. We have excellent pair of professionals, excellent administrators. Um, I remember when I first came as
principal and then when I was taking over as superintendent, Derk used to say we we just do a lot with a little here and that's always been the case and um I'm just been blessed for the last 15 years to be here and and um I'm bitter definitely bittersweet going. I'm sad to leave. It'll be tough to walk out of
here next Tuesday. Um but I just want everybody know how much I appreciate it. I've been with almost 70 board members over the last 12 years uh between Belvadier and Harmony. Um, so sometimes it's easy, you learn, you know, Maryanne and Bob and Doc have been the whole way.
Um, some have been a little bit longer than others. Um, but I just appreciate my time here. Uh, I'm in the community now and and I'm just I'll always be proud of the S County Cedar. Um, so just thank everybody for the opportunity to be here. So that's my report.
All right. Thank you very much. [Applause] We'll see at all the games now, right? Absolutely. Okay, good. You can be announcing with me. Okay, so now we're going to go on to agenda items. So, our first one is going
to be um the motion that was made earlier to add agenda item A to approve max span agreement to move forward um with the possible auction for Third Street School contract.
Roll call, please. Mr. Blow. Yes. Mrs. Serbone. Yes. Dr. Zapp. Yes. Mrs. Duckworth. Yes. Mr. Scott? Yes. Mrs. Stefen? Yes.
Miss Walton? Abstain. Mrs. Wer. I'm going to abstain. Also, Miss White, no. Mr. Mr. Cherelli, yes. Mrs. Gardella, yes. Mrs. Robbotham, abstain.
Okay. So, now on to agenda items 1 through 12. Can I have a motion for items 1 through 12? Motion. Second. Any questions? I believe they're all second if I remember. Yep, they're all second
readings for the policies. Okay. Um, that's an all in favor. I Any nos? Any abstensions? Okay. On to personnel items. It's going
to be numbers 13 through 26. Can I have a motion for 13 through 26? Motion. Second. Any questions on any of that? No. Okay. Roll call, please.
Mr. Blum, yes. Mrs. Serbone, yes. Dr. Zepath, yes. Mrs. Duckworth, yes. Mr. Scott, yes. Miss Steen, yes. Miss Walton, yes. Mrs. Wer, yes. Miss White, yes. Mr. Shikarelli, yes.
Mrs. Gardella, yes. Mrs. Robbatam, yes. Shelly, I need to abstain from 24. I forgot that was on that section. Okay. And
now we are on to educ education items 27 through 41. Can I have a motion for 27 through 41? Motion. Second. Any questions on any of those items? Did the kids make it to the Peekquest River?
Uh the APS students that was scheduled for yesterday. Yes. The 23rd they did. Yes. And note there's the add-on to number 34 too. Everybody should have the add-on
sheet too. Pumpkin patch. Yeah. Yep. Any questions? No. All in favor? I. Any nos? Any abstensions? I just need to abstain from 29.
All right. There's so many papers to juggle. I'm sorry. I'm getting there. Okay. That brings us to business items 42 through 46. And I have a motion for 42 through 46.
Motion. Second. Any questions? Um I have a question. Um I'm not exactly sure which one it would be. Maybe approve bills. 44. Um I just noticed that when I was going through the line
items that we it looks like Shelly is booking some school financial costs and we're reimbursing. I'm not questioning the validity of the reimbursement, but I am questioning as to why we have a personal staff that's sending out
personal funds to do like utility bills. I think there was utility bills. There was the huddle um annual cost and then socks. Various reasons. One, school's not
allowed to have a credit card. Um, so there's times when things come late and they have to happen or they get cancelled and then somebody has to jump in so that it doesn't happen. So that's was the huddle case. It was a last minute piece. Edwards is
an ongoing problem where they charge us late fees of over $350 a month and we can never get our bills lined up with our board meetings and they refuse to work with us. Um, so I finally was able to get them to work out that we get the
bill 45 days ahead so that we can be in line going forward with paying ahead instead of on the right month. But in order to do that and not get the next late fee, the bill had to be paid. No, that wasn't I was able to do an a for that. What was the other one?
But it's a it was uh the a loss check. It it was a loss check to one of our utilities. Was it um Elizabeth? That's what it was. Elizabeth Town gas that said they were going to shut off the gas if it didn't get paid by the next day and we couldn't get you know
mail there and then they said that we could pay by phone so I paid it first. So it's should always be for a very anomalies. It's not a regular practice. Um
the socks for the boys soccer team was new coach didn't know to order them. They handed out uniforms, said, "Where's the socks?" Game was, you know, for two days. Not everybody had them. I Amazon them real quick that night so that they got there in time.
Um, I was going to say, do we pay for The difference is every sport has a budget and they choose what they want to. Got it. Girls soccer utilizes their money differently than field hockey different than boys soccer. Boy soccer generally provides socks. They don't get
many of the other things. I got $33 in socks. Yeah. Right. I guess it's a Thank you. Yeah. So, it is to to clarify on your comment that the school cannot legally have a credit card. Can we Is there a
prohibition on an on a debit card because that's not an extension of credit. Yeah, we can't we can't use any cards. I can find out about a debit card specifically, but I don't know of any. I could see a credit card because that would be an extension of credit, but a
debit card is the equivalent of you writing a check. It's it's more do we have dual signature internal controls, which we're we're our board package is not in compliance with our SOPs. Um
is there dual dual signatures required on our on our checks? Yes. Okay. So then then that would prohibit the use of a debit card because that's a workaround away around the dual signature. So that wouldn't be an option. Thank you. Okay. But the norm is not to ask our employees
to upfront cost. Not at all. But it does sometimes happen and then people know that they can't get reimbured taxes if they do that and that they have to have prior approval before they do it. If you just buy something on your own and then come back later and say, "Hey, I want to be reimbured for that." The answer should technically be
no. Um, you bought it yourself, but there are occasions and it happened. Okay. Thank you. So, I had uh similar questions on on budget items there in our material.
There's a reference to the Mueller scholarship fund. It was on page 29. And what is that? That is a a gentleman that in his um it's an actual scholarship he left us $150,000
with the was last year plus because the first year we gave out the scholarship was 2425 and it's to be used um for on the interest well we're supposed to give I'm going to I might get this slightly wrong but one $1,000 scholarship two
$500 scholarships um but these are scholarships awarded in the kids at the scholarship night and it's supposed to be based upon the interest and Mr. Blum and I have had discussions that the principal will never probably be
touched because the way it's set up and the amounts are smaller and there's only a few. We have a committee, you know, that decides who to give them to that. But we had to open a special account for it and it's part of our treasures report now to track it.
Okay. Um, one other reimbursement item. There was, uh, it was check number 26850 for plaques to be reimbursed to M. Yamrock. I assume that that's Mr. Michael Yamrock, the head of the Belvadier Alumni Association. So, I'm curious, what are these plaques for? And
why were we reimbursing the alumni association? Because that seems for the backwards. They're for the Hall of Fame. They donate to the school. Yeah, they're for the Hall of Fame and they asked us a few years ago if we would cover the cost for the plaques for the new inductees.
Okay. And um that was all my questions on the on those. Thank you. Any other questions on items 42 through 46? No. All in favor?
I. Any nos? Any abstensions? Okay. Can I can I apologize? Uh I lost track of where one of the items was on the uh number 27 under education.
When I read that document, it looks like there's a right. That's the That's this one, right? Okay. Yeah. in it. It looked like there were a couple spots where we should have filled in like Warren County prosecutor and some places that might not have been uh got dropped out as
opposed to somewhere just as law enforcement. Some since it's agreement, it appeared we needed to insert some. And then one of the requirements was the annual review. So when that uh review took place with Chief Scott, I'm assuming that was his
signature. Was there anything that came out of the review from this year in light of some of the events we've had happen in in the past few months here at the school? So the the the short answer is no. It's um because it's the the memorandum that
the entire county uses. So for that particular document, there was no changes for this current year from from 24 to 25 to 25 to 26. So it's not it's not going to wind up being part of that because as they call the uniform statement state memorandum
agreement. So the kind those kinds of conversations are just between myself and not I don't want to say make it sound like it's a super private conversation but that Chief Scott and I have about different protocols on certain situations that occur here. We're not going to put that into this
uh memorandum because it's it's followed by everybody equally. But did the the review process itself result in that we will be making any changes? You know, we we've had some stuff this year. So, I'm going to just back off of that
because I said to Chief Scott, any changes you want to make, you probably want to sit down with the new superintendent rather than you and I come up with sense. Thank you. All right. So, I think that already brings us into continuing business. Um, however,
um, yeah, continuing business in some way of new business after. So, is there any other additional continuing business? I'll just update on the life skills room just real quick. Um, we actually did a quick little tour before some of us actually ran down. Um, yeah. So, the the building is uh the room is is
cleared out, painted. Um, but Stephan asked about potentially replacing the floors, but there's some issues why we wouldn't want to do that. We'll leave that there. In the process of we're waiting just on an electrician to come in, which should be over the next few days, to just put in the appropriate
boxes. Um, Miss Wardell and Miss Prisac have been working with Home Depot to get full almost full donations of the um appliances and Mr. Kennedy's next step is to just uh cabinet everything. hoping that we can get this up and running by we're not gonna hit Tuesday, which was
my goal to see it perform done, but hopefully by middle of October. They're they're moving along very well now. It looks really good. Well, report that back. Y I have uh three things under continuing business. Um, I just wanted to know if there was an update just regarding the community member that came to the last
meeting about girls wrestling um and any any other about the state changing the requirement for for girl the girls team can no longer be inter. Yeah. So that's not going into effect till next school year. Okay.
So for this year um the plan right now for this year is to still do it the same way we've been doing which coach McIntyre has been working with the team. They Unfortunately for coach McInty it's mostly Sundays. Um but we do have the intention of hiring that next a coach when when we have to do that. Okay. And then um
there should be no there should be no reason why the girls would miss any tournaments or any um matches matches. Thank you. Couldn't get that up for 24 25 or 25 26 right now. Yeah. Sorry. Correct. And then um there was also a a
a like senior um community like boys basketball team like graduates of Belier that came a couple months ago asking to use the courts or the gym and I just didn't know if we ever figured that out. We didn't because it was an insurance issue. Oh okay. Yeah. So not not possible
was it? It's not impossible but they have to have some sort of insurance which we just I mean we could take on the liability. Um but it's a huge risk for the district. the board discussed it then there's no moving forward and then um my other question Melissa I
know you were working on this but board retreat with district board goals and eventually superintendent goals after um have that transition we did we set a date yet I don't have a date yet I did reach out
to um our representative um did not hear back and then I reached out again the following week and I have not heard back from her this week. She however though had some medical stuff going on and she did text me back saying that I will contact you, you know, soon
about that. Um, so I'm just waiting. Um, I I've only heard from a few board members. So it was looking like from those I did hear from that second Saturday of November is what I was asking her for. Um, but I do not have
anything confirmed with her because she's been out um of the office, but she did text me. So, I will try and follow up with her again on Friday when I'm more free um and see if she's up to looking at her calendar or not. So,
because um we could probably at least um whether we want to wait for that retreat in November, but we could probably start at least talking about go board goals as a group. Mhm. Yeah, because we were going to do that and we were going to do I asked her about setting up so we could do the board evaluation too, our
self-evaluation. So, it's all just sitting there waiting so that hopefully, you know, she will be up to helping us out soon or have somebody who will be able to help us out soon. So, we're kind of just depending on our rep.
Okay. So, just real quick, if we were to start working on the board goals, what does that look like? we have another meeting like how would we start doing that if we we initiated that before the it would be something we could talk about at the next board meeting and you
know start yeah start putting that together okay I had I don't know if this is business but I have or continuing but I had a question on um because I know we had the shelter in place and can you just kind
tell me a little bit or walk me through the process of so if you have the shelter in place what if you have students outside like what does that look like are there different levels of shelter in place so that staff or people know I guess the severity or what's going on or so um
not sure how to necessarily hit all those questions but there it's really one protocol okay um so the difference between a shelter in place and a lockdown just to maybe start there because I think that makes probably a good comparison in a shelter in place. We're just we're basically restricting the kids from moving throughout the building as best we can.
Um in a lockdown, we're telling the teachers to stop teaching, shut the window, shut the shades, and and whether it's in a corner, in a closet or something like that. Um in this particular case, if they're when the when the fizzad teachers go out, they usually have a walkie-talkie with them
or someone on the you know, if it's on the in the playground will have a walkie-talkie with them. Soon as they hear that shelter in place call, then they come right back inside. That's that's sort of how that protocol goes in this situation. Um because this situation took place in the gym and I'm I have to be careful about what I say because it's it was a medical issue for
a student. So I don't want to break anything specific. Um we went we what we'll do is we'll go into the the shelter in place like we did. Um we'll restrict the movement throughout the building as best we as best we can. I mean the kid has an emergency really really has to go to the bathroom then chances are you're going
to let him go. Um, and then what we'll do is for that short time that we're in the shelter in place, we we just monitor this the situation. So, um, in this particular situation, um, the nurse addressed it, but didn't feel comfortable just releasing the student.
She wanted the ambulance squad to come take a look. So, we knew that they were coming. And what we didn't want was them coming in the building when there's students passing. That's why you're going to the shelter in place. That's more often than not when we have a shelter in place, it's for the for that particular reason, for a medical issue. And then what about if you have students
outside in a lockdown? How does that students outside in a lockdown? It's going to depend on what the lockdown is for. Um if it's um Okay, it's the mass shooting. The teachers know not to come back in the building. Do you have codes? Like is it you know
like No, codes are out. Okay. Direct and say what's going on basically. Yep. codes codes are can be misinterpreted and codes can be I heard it differently I heard blah blah like something's happening we're saying and this is why we're going to lock down
okay thank you I was just curious what y any other continuing business or now we're moving into new business I have a new business well too just updates that on 108 the Warren County School Board Association will be having
their hybrid meeting um This topic is your guide to school district finances. That may be of interest. That's the That's the one I sent you, Kenny. Um, yes. So, that's hybrid. You have to make sure you register online. And that also is at Hawk Point. And then the
NJSBA workshop, which I see there's quite a few board members that are attending um and administrators, but that is scheduled for October 20th. And the agenda is finally out. and the mobile app when I start scoping out the
sessions. Just to follow up on that, uh 1020, since we approved the the cost for board members to go, according to our standard operating procedures, there is an expectation that's a report out to the
board of to what was learned. So, I just reminding so, we're in compliance with our SOPs. Um I have some new business as well. It's yes kind of I just wanted to mention two of our female athletes for
the month of September. Um Jillian Labar as of September 23rd had the second leading scoreer in the state and also the first week in September broke the field hockey goal record which was set in 1984. Wow. And a week later, Sierra
Christopholey uh broke the Belvadier girls soccer record. So, I just wanted to say congratulations to both of those individuals on a job well done. You know, on that note, if uh for those who were at this past week's football game, the final touchdown was scored by
a sophomore known as Tex, this is only his second year ever playing football. They are a diehard football family, but that speaks volumes to the program that somebody competing at a level where typically those kids
have played for years before they get to high school as an a young athlete. Yes. Well, on the sports note then, um, baseball is having their first annual
car wash on 104 from 1:30 to 4:30 and they'll be face painting for um for some of the kids if they or adults, however, if you want your face painted. Um, also on that date, they're having a garage sale on the front lawn of and I don't
know if is that our townwide? Yes, I think it is. Right. So they're renting space on the school properties there. So I think it's $20 for the tent. It's a 10 by10 I think tent that you get the space and it's and then you can sell your stuff and the proceeds go to the
Belvadier baseball boys program. So yeah, it's a great I mean it's a good spot. It's got a lot of traffic. So if you have some stuff you want to sell for $20, it's a good little option. On that note, and maybe this is for our activities committee as a takeaway, you
know, there's there's a lot of fundraisers, right? The car wash, the punch, the girls soccer at Victorian Day, Citrus, Cedar Cards Project, graduation rapper. Is there a way that because we have so
many parentrun organizations that support all of our activities and help keep our budget down for that. Is there a way we can get some sort of master visibility to these? Um, I try to follow every Instagram page, but I do have a job, so I don't want to miss any. if there's
some way. Not only that, I think it would be great if we had visibility because I did have somebody comment to me about the fact that our budget for uh athletics and activities is only 3%. But
we have great programs with record setting athletes. Obviously, funding is coming from someplace else. and we should have visibility to want to appreciate the efforts of those fundraising and uh a list of every
Venmo. I think I hit three Venmos for booster clubs in like the 10 minutes at Victorian days, but so we can help coordinate the effort so it's not just oh, you know, a baseball parent, you know, a field hockey soccer senior parent. Yeah. And I'll bring that up. Unfortunately, we didn't have our our
personnel and sports ad hoc committee meeting this month, but I mean, I'll definitely bring that up. And I know that or bowling t-shirts, lots of things. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot. And we've even talked about, you know, getting boosters together for collaboration, you know, so it's definitely something that we've been
we've discussed and, you know, we'll work toward that because I agree we we need to get visibility. All right. So, I have some new business. And number one, I'd like to thank Mrs. Coke and her students for providing us with some tasty treats for a little
gathering for Mr. Kuba's um retirement. They were yummy. Those culinary students did an awesome job and it's only been a couple weeks that they were cooking. So, we're all feeling well after eating their treats. So, kudos to them. She
said the kids were very into it and so just happy to do a project. So great job from her and her students. Um we appreciate it so much. Um also I am very happy to say that our superintendent um
Dr. Garcia will be taking her action very soon. Um we're expecting her October 9th. Correct. Yes. Okay. So that is great news for us and we welcome her and you want to introduce
but in the meantime um as of next Wednesday Dr. Tim Fredericks will be doing probably one of the shortest interim gigs of his career um and and Dr. Fredericks has certainly done a lot of those but um just for those that don't know Tim um Tim's probably a very
long now retired superintendent but has certainly been around the county for years. I've known Tim for 15 years. Um worked at Centinary, just finished in Hope um last year. So um Tim will be taking over for the those seven or eight days in between when I retire and when
Dr. Garcia takes takes effect. I'm happy to be here. Uh congratulate uh Mr. Kuruba uh for his long distinguished career here and congratulations to Dr. Garcia. And don't blink because you'll
miss me. Thank you both. Okay. So, is that the end of our new business? Continuing business. Okay. So, now we are on to public participation which is open and it'll be 30 minutes
up to five minutes per person. So, if you have the policy, well, we'll start the three next minute the next meeting. Um, so anybody who has public participation, come on up to the microphone, please. It's Mr. Perkins.
How's it going? I've never done this before. Do I have to do an introduction? Sure. Aaron Perkins, live here in Belvadier. I just wanted to follow up on an email I sent to Mr. Kuba back on August 24th regarding the parking lot with the elementary school. I'm just going to
read it for the record. I'm writing this email as a concerned parent about the new arrangements for the parking lot drop off the elementary school. I have a lot of concerns about the setup. The current plan that was released last week, which everybody saw on Facebook, probably wasn't the best thing that was
released. Uh there was abundance of errors, invites car accidents, struck pedestrians. We can all agree something had to be done, but the new plan looked worse to me. The first most glaring oddity is asking parents to cross natural traffic patterns twice. Once
upon entering the drop off lane, and once upon exiting. You can't ask the adults to cross traffic patterns without either proper signage, trained traffic, personnel on hand, or barriers to prevent head-on collisions. Next traffic pattern continues in both
directions around the drop off lane. Any parent that has children will risk having their kids stepping out into oncoming traffic. For example, the recommended child car seat placement is the rear passenger side. This provides maximum safety for the child exit a car onto a sidewalk, which we all normally
would do. With this setup, children would step out into the busy time of traffic. Next, your new red arrows as displayed in the new photo show traffic to drive directly in the opposite traffic direction. Again, this goes against natural traffic flow and laws in
New Jersey. Next, in the traffic pattern through the parking spots, you have traffic going both direction, which again will cause issues with your new lane. Traffic and people looking to park will not be able to safely negotiate the spots. Next, the cars exiting the drop off lane
will have to drive into oncoming traffic. You're again going against natural traffic flow and are violating laws in New Jersey. Next, you have what appears to be a half crosswalk at the end of a drop off lane. Not sure the purpose of that, but there's guidance
governing sight distance and stop lines and proximity crosswalk lanes. Next, driveway leading into the parking lot closest to the fields are left open interpretation. Are you allowing cars to exit? If not, wear the posted one way and do not enter signs. This is another
requirement for traffic safety. Uh, I finished up saying, you know, I I think the right idea was there because the behaviors of staff and people driving down the road was bad. It had to be fixed. Uh, the problem is is the
implementation. It was poor. Uh, it's inviting a disaster. It's inviting an issue when it comes to these cars traveling in. There's no signs posted. We now have a collection of cones out there. It's not
going to stop anybody, but at least if you as a board or whomever decides we should start putting up signs for safety, that might be better. And also changing the whole parking lot to a one-way travel. Now, I got a response
back, but I don't know. I I felt like uh Mr. Guba, your your response, I don't know if was AI generated. It it just didn't make sense to me. It really didn't I'm willing to share it with everybody. Just nothing. It wasn't it wasn't very cohesive in the message.
Talked about traffic spa safety specialists in the district that were going to take a look at this. I don't know. It it between that email that I received from him and then the second email I received completely different responses. So, uh also just a couple
other notes to touch on. An extra parking spot was added at the end of a sidewalk ramp and the ramp goes down almost into the parking like the little parking spot there. Probably not the best thing. Couple more handicap spots were added but no proper signage for
handicap spots. So I I don't know what we were trying to go for but we need to be just a little bit more careful in regards to that. So that's why I wanted to just throw out there and congratulations
Thank you very much. Any other public participation for this evening? No. Okay. So, can I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any abstensions? No.
Okay. Thank you everyone for coming out tonight. Have a good night.