I like to call this meeting to order, please. Public notice of this meeting pursuant to the open public meetings act Has been given by the Bulletin board at the administration building transmitted the For your post, Philadelphia Inquirer and the clerk of Cherry Hill Township. Please rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Before we continue, I'd like to read the following statement from the board. As we open tonight's meeting, we would like to observe a moment of silence to remember two members of our school community who passed away this week. A third grade student at Clara Barton Elementary School and Mrs. Lavonza Daniels. The principal of Joyce Kilmer Elementary. The board honors their memories. Is grateful to them for sharing their gifts with us. And will keep their families and the Barton and Kilmer communities in our prayers and our hearts at this time.
Please join me in a moment of silence. Thank you. Mrs. Sugars, can you please call the roll? Dr. Braddock. Here. This is sure fain here. Dr. Dreisen? Here. Mrs. Gallagher, here.
Mr. Greenbaum? Here. Mr. Mayor? Here. Ms. Palmer here. Ms. Stern. Here. Mrs. Winters. Here. We have no board recognition tonight. Everybody just make sure that the sound on their computers is off. We have no board recognition tonight. We have no presentations tonight. So we're going to move on to the main event. Why everybody's here, which is the public hearing and adoption of the 2526 budget.
I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Sugars.
Thank you, Mrs. Winters. So tonight we are going to conduct the public hearing on the 25-26 budget. This is the same budget that was presented to you back in March for the initial submission budget. We have not made any changes to it, but we're going to go over it real quick just to refresh our memory. So, um. As you recall, this budget, we break it down into several broad categories so that we can condense some of the expenses the first category of expenses that we have are those that are directly attributable to the classroom.
To a grade level, to a special education placement, basic skills bilingual. Extracurricular and athletics. And so you can see here that The 2526 budget for this section of our cost, which includes teacher salaries, supplies for the classroom. Athletic costs such as officials and entrance fees, extracurricular activities. This section of the budget is 1 million and one $101,552,396 for the 25-26 school year. And this is a reduction of about 4.1 million from the previous school year in this area.
And the second category of expenses in the budget are what we call undistributed costs. These are not attributable directly to a grade level or a special ed classification, but These are costs that support the educational process. So we have out-of-district tuition, which would be tuition that is paid to out of district placements. Student services and instruction would be nurses offices, child study teams, guidance offices. Attendance office, those kinds of things. Administration would be everything that the state defines as administration, which is the principal's offices, the superintendent's office, the business administrator's office, and the technology department that falls into the category of administration according to the state.
And then the maintenance security section of the budget includes the maintenance maintenance custodial grounds and security offices of the district. Transportation is the transportation. Portion of the budget and then employee benefits are all of the employee benefits, health benefits tuition reimbursements, pension, et cetera, that falls under that category as well. And you can see here that we have an increase in this area of the budget of about 1.
5.7 million and most of that is attributable to increases in the cost of employee benefits and transportation. So these two sections of the budget make up what we call fund 11. And you can see that in this section of the budget, it's about 1.5 million more in 2526 than it was in 2425. And then to round out our general fund budget, we also have our capital outlay portion of our budget, which is fund 12. And you can see here that we have a decrease in the amount we will be spending on equipment, slight increase on construction, and then transferring from our capital reserve account to do some larger projects.
We have about almost a million dollar decrease there. Transfer from capital reserve to offset some of the debt payment that's made on the bonds. We've been doing that consistently for the past couple of years. That has remained the same. And then we have an assessment that we have to pay back to the state. Of 67,000. So in this section of the budget you can see It's about $1.8 million less than it was the year before. And overall, our general fund budget, which is pretty much all of the day-to-day operations of the district.
Is about $308,000 less in 2526 than it was in 2425. If we look at this graphically, you can see here that regular education is the largest portion of that section of the budget. Followed by employee benefits. And then after that, student services and instruction, which is about 12%. Special education is 10% and then You can see the rest of the categories there.
Make up the rest of the budget. If we look at this from a different perspective, we are a personnel driven organization. And so you can see that salaries and benefits. Salaries are decreasing 1.4 million. Benefits are increasing 3.2 other, which is everything else that is not salaries and benefits, is decreasing 2.3 million. And then we have a slight increase in our contribution to preschool, a decrease in the capital reserve projects. And again, that makes up that 308.
$308,000 difference between the 2526 and the 2425 budget. If we look at that graphically you can see that graphically salaries and benefits make up about 71% of our budget. Other is 26% with some other small balances there. So you can tell that the bulk of our personnel driven organization is salaries and benefits. So we look at the revenue side of this. Taxes is increasing 5.2 million between 24, 25 and 2526 miscellaneous revenues is staying about the same.
And then you can see as we look at our state aid, we lost almost $4 million in state aid. We lost equalization aid completely as a category, but we were held harmless this year to the 3% decrease. So some of our other categories increased transportation aid. Special education aid and security aid all increased We did not receive the stabilized school aid that we received last year during the budget. And so the losses in state aid, including the stabilized aid, came to about $4 million that we lost.
Federal aid is semi payments that we receive. There's a reduction in that due to how the state calculates that information. It affected all school districts, not just Cherry Hill. We used some more fund balance to balance this out, about half a million dollars. A little less capital reserve and then reserve for income, which is just a balancing figure. So you can see there on the revenue side. What makes up the differences between the two budgets years. And if we look at that graphically, you can see that Tax levy is 79% of our budget.
And if you combine the tax levy with the miscellaneous revenues. With the federal aid and the fund balance and capital reserve contributions. The district locally is funding 88% of our budget with state funding about 12% of our budget. So what's new in this budget? So we were able to include an additional math coach at the elementary level. And some additional interventionists, two and a half positions at the elementary level and three positions at the middle school.
And where were cuts made? We always start with our non-personnel sections first before we start to look at personnel. Equipment, supplies, contracted services, and professional development. On the personnel side, we eliminated some support positions. Reconfigured the middle school to a junior high school model. We had cut in administration and in high school sectioning. And what did we do on the revenue side? We used additional fund balance. We used a spending growth limitation adjustment for health benefits, which we'll talk about a little bit.
That allows us to go above our 2% cap on the tax levy. We also had some banked cap, which is spending authority that we did not use in previous budget years So we use some of that as well to expand that 2% cap beyond 2%. So our capital reserve projects, which will be funded by our capital reserve account, include the replacement of the turf field at West and resurfacing of the track which are now do for that out of warranty.
District-wide fencing replacements, just shy of a million dollars there. And again, the contribution to debt service of 4 million. And that total is 6.9 million. We look at the Special Revenue Fund, that's where we account for all of our state and federal grant funding. In the budget here, we have our preschool expansion aid. We have some aid from this year and some carryover from last year. Or two years ago that is in that budget there. We also have our title funds and our IDEA funds.
These are budgeted at an 85% of what we received the year before. That's how we're instructed to do it because at this point we don't know what those numbers will be. No indication that we won't be receiving those numbers. We do this every year, so this is not new. So we budgeted all of our title and IDEA funds at 85% of what we received the year before. The CARES ESSER, and ARP funds have gone away at this point. That's all from the pandemic years. We had to spend up all those funds by September of 2024, which we did.
Student activity and scholarship funds just kind of a holding place for them and then other grant funds Again, budgeted at that 85% of what the previous year is. So there's no tax impact for the special revenue fund. But it is part of our budget resolution. And so at this point, all of this is estimates except for the preschool aid. And we will. We'll get our numbers in terms of title and IDA and those things in the coming months.
We also look at our debt service. So the debt service is the payment of bond principal and interest. And so in 2526, we have a $20 million principal payment due. And an interest payment of 9.2 million. That's an increase overall from the year before of about 1.4 million. And again, to pay for that, we have $4 million in fund balance We have debt service aid from the state. We also have tax levy Both of which will be increasing For next year. And that is for the payment of our debt.
We look at our debt service over the next couple of years. You can see that in the 2526 budget year, we have a bit of an increase and then that number will start to go down. And so that will help with the overall tax impact. As that number starts to go down each year. So we take a look at our tax levy increase. I mentioned the 2% cap. The average assessed home, which is a number that we get from the township, and this is based on assessments and not market values.
Is $227,000 in Cherry Hill. And so we base our tax predictions on that average assessed home. So again, that's an assessment, not market value. And that number comes from the township. So as we look at this, you can see that the general fund tax levy increase on that $227,000 average assessed home is $112.23. The cap expansion that we have for health benefits is 0.33%, and that's about $18.25.
And then the banked cap that we used this year. Is about 0.37% and that's $20.83. So on the general fund. The tax increase overall is 2.7% and it's $151.31. For the debt service fund, we'll see an increase of 6.49%. That equates to $28.28. On the debt service fund and then total tax impact, again, on the average assessed home. Is just shy of $180, $179.59. And overall, it's 2.97% of the previous year.
So we have our public hearing tonight and uh you know unlike years past where there was a vote on the budget that was eliminated several years ago. We have a board public hearing. We have a board approval of the budget the budget is approved, we then go through the process of implementing it. And then we typically can open the budget up mid-May. And we can start planning for next year. Sometimes that allows us to get some capital projects moving. We don't pay for anything until after July 1, but we can certainly start issuing purchase orders
And things of that nature so Tonight is the first step in that process. And are there any questions from the board? Board members have any questions. Ms. Stern. So a conversation we've had internally was just kind of making sure everyone understands the cost of preschool. Current cost from our general fund versus from the preschool expansion aid that we get And also how that compares to what happened our general cost before we had preschool expansion aid.
So I, Mr. Grumham, you're always the best at succinctly explaining some of the nuances. I don't know if you'd feel comfortable just as a general overview, like the main cost that We don't have funding for with our preschool expansion aid. And also how that might compare to what we used to have to pay for before we had aid. Sure. Mrs. Sugars, I may have to look over to you for specifics, but I think I have a pretty good memory.
So one of the concerns that always comes up with preschool expansion is what does it cost the district? And the simplest way to put it is for general education students? Preschool expansion aid covers all of the expenses associated with it. The exact number of students were funded for is how many we enroll. The one piece that is not covered is transportation. That's always the wild card. Transportation costs are always a challenge that's not just for preschool, that's K through 12 as well.
In this case, the question I was asked earlier today was How do we know what preschool transportation costs are? All we can do is look at overall preschool transportation costs, which are around 2.7 million But that also includes special education. Previously. Before we had our gen ed preschool expansion, we still had a special education program. The state requires a district to provide preschool programs for all classified students. That's anyone with an IEP or a 504, as well as a gen ed offering
For inclusion and push and support. The cost of transportation with that was around 800,000. It was just shy of a million. These days, when we look at the total cost of transportation, we don't have a direct way to disaggregate which transportation costs go with gen ed preschool expansion versus special education. But what we can do is look at the percentage of special education students we have in Melburg. Which is where I believe all of them are housed. And we can extrapolate that out to figure out what percentage of our overall preschool population are classified and we could use that percentage to take an estimate of what our busing costs are for gen ed versus special education.
And it's not exact. But by our best estimates, it's probably roughly a million dollars, a little bit of an increase from two years ago when we had just special ed and no gen ed preschool expansion. So you subtract that from 2.7 and you're down to 1.7 million, which is the general fund contribution to cover preschool transportation associated with preschool prevention aid. It's a little bit higher than last year, where it's 1.5 million. It's something that we try to be cognizant of. It's a challenge we're always looking for ways to address But that's it. That's the one cost that is not covered by state aid for preschool expansion.
And it's something we try to be aware of as we move forward. Is that what you're looking for, Mr. Stern? Yes, thank you. There's another piece which i mean i can kind of just speak to and you may have more specifics but that is that you touched on this prior to preschool expansion, we did offer Not only special education students, preschool, but in order to And I want to be a little more specific. In order to provide the least restrictive environment, which is what the law is.
There are some of those special education students were in classrooms with general education students together, which we call co-teaching or inclusion or whatever you the right terminology is. So, and the general education students who used to be part of the program those families did pay some tuition. However, it was not nearly did not nearly cover the actual cost of having those students in our program. So essentially, we were, and we had this conversation before we had preschool expansion, but I just want to reiterate that, you know.
It's not kind of like, oh, it's 1.7 million transpatient costs. And then we never had costs before. We had costs for general education students before. Before we had preschool expansion aid. And the other factor too is now we have so many positions that are funded that are ancillary supports essentially, or I think of them as ancillary supports and resources that now can work with our special education and our general education students That we never used to have funded before. So there's just i mean besides the philosophical belief you know that some that drives our PEA program, you know, and the educational rationale for it. There is a financial rationale as well.
That I think helps. Again, it's more complicated. It's not a simple, straightforward answer, even though sometimes people kind of you know, see a little bit more straightforward so Just wanted to make sure we kind of put that out there as a reminder, you know, it's kind of good to put that out there on a regular basis. So, you know, I think, I think, you know. Those of us who've been having more internal conversations about it, just thank you for kind of bringing that up. Sure. And it's, you know, that's kind of where my knowledge of the preschool program is, is, you know, on the financial side.
Again, the question that comes up is what is the contribution from the general fund towards preschool? It's just transportation. There are other impacts, though. There was always a cost for special education preschool That number is what it is. It's something that we're required to provide by the state. I think that's a good thing. But the state funding software also will spit out a number what the per pupil cost is for classified students.
And something we observed last year is that by expanding our program that per pupil cost for classified students went down significantly. What we're seeing is due to economies of scale. The cost of the district of the cost of the district special education students has also gone down. So that was an added benefit on the budget side. But generally, the most common question I get is, what's this general fund contribution? And the short answer is. It's preschool transportation and some of that is from preschool expansion some of that is from special education, which we've always had.
Thank you. Other board member questions. This is your fan. Considering that there's clearly going to be a lot of stress related to the middle school restructuring. I was hoping that somebody could provide a little bit of insight on all the work that went into making sure that people had other opportunities within the district for the teachers at the middle school level.
Sure, I'll jump in and then I will pass it over to Dr. Birdie. After I jump in. So there's been a considerable amount of work thus far as it relates to planning for next year, planning the transition out in and of itself. Dr. Birdie has worked with a committee of administrators and teachers and and other faculty members to begin the process of designing a schedule, test out a schedule. And to begin to map out what this will look like.
In total, there's an elimination of 28 positions at the middle level across the three middle schools. We had started out at about 31, but that number is down to 28 in terms of the number of positions in and of themselves. Now, there are positions and not necessarily people, because traditionally We hire about 60 people, give or take, on an average year. So there are positions available throughout the system through attrition, through retirements, through other vacancies as well.
We are going through that process now. And we will continue to go through the hiring process as we move forward throughout really throughout the close of the school year and even into the summer months as well. So the goal and the hope is to reassign staff into vacant positions elsewhere throughout the district and the system. Dr. Brady, I don't know if you want to mention any of the work that's taken place with the committee and scheduling things along those lines. Sure, I'd be happy to do that. I misinterpreted the question as a human resources question first. I think I was pointing to Mrs. Lieber.
I would describe the process as collaborative and thoughtful. It involved folks from all of our bargaining units. It included middle school principals, the scheduling team, some of you will remember. That we convened a team two years ago to look at the existing middle school schedule. And then again last year. So we've got a group of really informed, knowledgeable eclectic staff that have been involved in the different iterations of the middle school and now the junior high schedule.
I think the focus really was on current state requirements, student needs. And then, of course, our academic and non-academic co-curricular non-negotiable. So I feel like the team over the course of about five meetings did a really great job of protecting those things that we believe are worth protecting and will continue to deliver what our children and families have become accustomed to.
I will say briefly that we've also been involving the technology team, Mr. Plavinski's team has been amazing as always. And making sure that whatever we're developing can be housed and can successfully work in Genesis and also Ms. Lieber's office uh from the human resources side. Again, making sure that what Dr. Morton said. You know, with reassignment was possible in every circumstance where it could occur so I think that's all for me.
Absolutely. Excellent. And I'd just like to mention just two other things. So I completed my last of the three student town hall meetings at Rosa Middle School today. I had an opportunity to meet with students at Carusi and Beck as well. To talk through this and to talk about what this means for them and their futures and for their peers as well. Additionally. We have three informational sessions scheduled at each of the middle schools where students, parents, families will have an opportunity to learn about the model learn about the schedule, have questions answered as well they're scheduled I don't remember what school, but they're scheduled in June.
The dates will be forthcoming and that information will be forthcoming. I know the dates. I don't know which schools go on which of the dates. So if we're saving the dates, I think there'll be a flyer from Ms. Barati's office coming Shortly, we'll also hold our annual, what really has become sort of a traditional big ticket event will be our annual summer orientation for sixth graders and new students, each middle school will still hold that in August as they traditionally have.
Thank you. And I will say that, Dr. Hardy were initially correct, but I think that all the information that you provided is important as well. And thank you. But I really wanted to highlight all of the efforts that Ms. Lieber has been doing behind the scenes because even though That number is hard to swallow. And we can't give definites because it changes every hour, essentially. But, you know, I think that we've gotten to a place where we're able to retain a lot of our talent within the district itself, which is comforting in an uncomfortable situation of making such a decision at this level. So I did just want to
Highlight all of the work that Ms. Lieber is doing behind the scenes with that. Other board member questions. You're processing. I know, I hear you. I have, I keep writing things down because it helps me organize myself. Ms. Stern. It's actually just a comment. So when we were working on with the community around the bond.
Issue and the reality is, you know, we're this is a tax increase right And that affects our community. And there are certain groups in our community that that's more challenging for, you know, and as they face that. And one of the groups is typically seniors um Who are often on a fixed income. So I just, you know, we used to talk about this during the bond and we kind of stopped and I just wanted to raise this again that there are New Jersey-based property tax relief programs
It used to be called the senior freeze I think they changed the name. So I just want to put this out to the community, not a little bit to us, but we're to the community that um You can go on the state's website. It's actually through the Treasury Department, Department of Taxation, or Simply Google search, which is how I got there. And there are a number of programs that are now available. And actually the application deadline is not till October.
So, um. Some of these programs would allow that these groups that are approved don't receive a property tax increase despite property tax increases is my understanding. So I'm not in that category of part of our community You know, I think it's nice to know that when there is relief available, people who are eligible We would hope would go for it and the threshold when the last time I looked through the numbers, I was actually a pretty high income threshold considering to be able to still qualify. So I'm hoping that's still the case.
Again, things have changed over time but I wanted to make sure I mentioned that. I think what's hard is listening to Ms. Schur's presentation. 88%. Of our school budget is funded through local taxes. And that… is that's the reality that we're dealing with. And I… think we need to continue to advocate for our fair share of state funding. I think federal funding is up in the air, shall we say at this point.
I remain optimistic as always. But I think it's 88% of funding our public schools through local taxes is really hard, especially when almost three quarters of that is personnel. It's salaries and benefits. And I think that's the reality that we were all facing. So that's something that I've really been grappling with and thinking about as we move forward. Is that unfortunately this is the system that we're stuck with.
That our schools are funded mostly through property taxes and that the cost of everything goes up every year. And, you know. I'm proud of this budget. That the things we were able to do in a bad budget year All of you know that since I joined the board, the basic skills teachers at the elementary schools have been something I've been talking about since 2022. I'm thrilled that all elementary schools will have access to a basic skills teacher. I'm thrilled with the additional math coach i think the choices we made and the investments we made in our students academic achievement and excellence are good.
I wish I had a money tree outside of Lewis. There would be a lot more good that we could do but we could do I think in a really tough year, I think this budget represents the best of what we could do To retain the excellent education that Cherry Hill is known for to support our students and our community. Even if it isn't necessarily fulfilling the wish list of all the things we wish we could do. If we had the funding to do them. But I do think that given the circumstances this is a this is a budget that works for us.
Ms. Gallagher. So I don't really have anything prepared. But, you know. As I was leaving the house tonight, I said to my family, well, I'm off to raise everybody's taxes. And it sucked, right? This is the last thing I want to do. Or that we want to do, but I don't want to speak for anybody else but um you know just kind of, as you said, like the majority of our budget is local taxes. And I know everybody talks about the state, the state, the state. And at some point it's just like.
I know a lot of people are like, I don't want to hear about it anymore. And I get it, right? And we can only… control what we can control. But I think this year really kind of um I think we've been really faced with the future of what of what our state thinks of education and how they're going to fund it and that it really does have to fall on, unfortunately, like
More is being pushed to the local, whether that's fair or not. It's not my, you know, I don't get to make that decision, unfortunately. And, uh. You know i appreciate Ms. Sugars and her department and this you know the unfortunately the significant cuts that we did have to make You know that's also not a fun thing to do and um I see a community member in the audience that came a couple of weeks ago that said, why aren't there 5,000 people in the audience?
Coming. And I'd love to know, like, I would love to know why, you know, we don't get more people involved and why we can't get more, you know. I don't know what to do on some level, but I feel like this budget is like the best of the worst case And I just think that it's, I said it before and I'll say it again, like this is where our strategic planning has to come in because like every year from now, we have to find ways to just be more Efficient and do more with less. Because we can't just continue to tax our way out of it. And unfortunately, I don't really know what other ways there are without then cutting the quality of our education, which obviously at the end of the day, like that's what we're here for. That's why we
Moved to this area. I mean, that's why we send our kids to school is for education. So I don't have the answers, unfortunately. And this budget I'm like, this is probably one of the worst nights of being on the board is like voting for the budget, especially when you're just like raising taxes constantly. I don't really have anything questions to say, but as I said, I appreciate everybody's work in doing it and uh I just think it's we've we've come to the reality where like we have to really kind of figure things out in a way so that we're not constantly
Burdening our community more and more every year. You know and how that how to do that i don't know. So sorry, that was unhelpful. No, I mean, but it expresses the sentiment of what we've all been grappling with up here. As we try to put together a budget that makes sense under really hard circumstances. Mr. Mayor. Yeah, I think I think Mrs. Gallagher has it just about right.
It's hard to and you know, we all come to this come to the board from different perspectives having you know lived different experiences, different skills um and we don't always see eye to eye on a number of things. It's the way it's supposed to be. This is an instance where it's hard for me, not that I look for reasons to disagree with other board members because I don't, but I'm. Very much in line with virtually every word. Mrs. Gallagher said, this is not a happy night. It's not a happy vote. This is not It's hard to say, is this the reason why any of us joined?
Maybe not, but maybe it is. Maybe this is the reason. This is the reason, you know. Threw my hat in the ring years ago because I wanted to help make a difference because I wanted to bring Cherry Hill back to what I knew it was when I was younger. When I wished I went to Cherry Hill West. Part of doing that is this kind of work. Part of doing that is working alongside collaboratively with the administration with the business office who who did amazing work in helping me understand the details, the nuances, the difficulties, the challenges.
And while this is a There's no reason to be celebratory about these numbers there is a lot of reason to be a lot of reason thankful for the work that Mrs. Sugar's team put into allowing us to be where we are. And Dr. Morton and the administration and their creativity In doing the same.
We are. We're in. Better shape than frankly, I thought we might be. A lot of that I think has to do with the fact that we have been fiscally responsible the last year, the last two years. Mrs. Sugars has seen this coming. We've all seen this coming. And that's helped. We are fortunately not in the type of turmoil that unfortunately some of our neighboring and regional districts are in.
And again, that's not reason to celebrate. But that is reason to be thankful for all the hard work that's gone into this budget. Which will allow this district to continue to provide the type of excellent student support, educational services. That our students deserve, that our staff deserves. And while it's not a, again, it's not a happy day, it's not a happy night. It's not a happy boat. It shows the perseverance and strength of the administration and the business office and our staff.
And for that reason. I'm happy to be in this seat tonight. Thank you. Ms. Palmer. Yeah, so obviously this has been a long process. You've all articulated, I think that the same thoughts I have in terms of how it feels to raise taxes again. I think we all recognize that that is not something we want to continue to do if we can avoid it. I am a middle school parent and from day one, I've been very clear with my colleagues here, with the administration about how difficult some of those conversations have been and the reality of changing the model.
But at the end of the day, I do plan to vote yes tonight because I think Number one, I appreciate the amount of work that Dr. Morton, the sugars the administration has done. To ensure, and while that process is nowhere near finished to ensure that, you know, number one, we're moving to a model that is responsible that does maintain quality of education. Whether we like it or not, we need to make structural changes sustainable changes that will help us as a district operate more efficiently next year and beyond.
And my hope, you know, we need to get through this budget. And then my hope that I've articulated is that the work is not done after tonight. Then we take a look at what else we can do because the reality is we know that worst case scenario, we could have lost $11 million this year instead of $4 million. And had that happened, quite frankly, I don't know what we would have done. So I think we need to continue moving in a direction where we rely less on state aid because while we work to fight for our fair share.
While we work to change the way that we fund education in New Jersey. You talk to the legislature and many of them will say the formula is not great, but it's working right now the way it's intended. There are winners, there are losers. And it is what it is. Message received. We need to operate within those confines until we're able to fix the system. So I do. I want to recognize that while there are difficult decisions that we've made as part of this process. As Mr. Mayor said, there are neighboring districts that have made much, much, much tougher decisions And I think decisions that are really short-sighted.
And impact the quality of education that they're providing their students and quality of life for their students in ways that we just have not had to do because we've been smart about it. And we've found ways to take some of the money we have and invested in additional supports that we badly need. So all things considered, while this is not a budget that I love. I think it really is. I think we've done a tremendous job and I do commend Mrs. Sugars especially and your team for getting us to where we are. The work is not done. I think we as a board have an incredible responsibility to
To move forward and see what else we can do so that we're ready for next year. And we can make some of these long term efficiency decisions a little bit earlier You know, and do the best that we can. So thank you. You know, let's see where this goes but i'm I appreciate where we are tonight. Their board members. Mr. Greenbaum. I'll make a couple very brief comments. I just want to build on what some of my fellow board members said.
You know this this budget still kept with our budget core values as our priorities, minimizing impact on the students retaining staff and keeping the focus on academic achievement. That's always something at the core we always want to maintain. We have a balanced budget through structural changes that'll produce long-term efficiencies. That's something the board asked for. That's something we're moving forward with. Through the transition to a junior high program. A junior high model.
You know it's nobody wants to raise taxes, but on the flip side, we left a lot of taxing authority on the table. We have more banked cap that we did not use. We had the same option as some of our neighboring towns to raise taxes double digit numbers, and there was not one person on the board that wanted to pursue that. I mean, that's not something that our township can afford. And that's, you know, that's not the right the right decision for you know for this board. And I'm glad we're able to find a way to balance the budget without increasing that burden.
Again, we're still prioritizing basic skills teachers and other supports to focus on academic achievement. That's something we can never leave focus with. Lose focus on. And as we move forward with our strategic plan, we have specific goals towards operational efficiency and fiscal responsibility. With their district goals, that's something that's always just underneath the surface of everything we do. You know, I think a lot of us are very happy to see it's specifically called out as part of our strategic plan.
To look at those things not just once a year at budget time, but throughout the year and continue to find those efficiencies. I always like to throw in a plug for Fair Funding Committee. It's a small but mighty group. It could definitely be bigger. We meet monthly. Please join. The work is not done. Although we're kind of at the end of budget season, there's still advocacy to be done in improving the formula. In this case, getting rid of the nonsensical multipliers that took away our equalization aid this year. There's always something to try to fix.
You know progress is slow but steady. And then just lastly, thank you very much to Mrs. Sugars and her staff for leading us through another challenging budget cycle. It's always a pleasure working with you and it your hard work is very much appreciated for you and your whole staff. It's my third one, and I guess the last one we'll be doing together. But thank you so much. Very much appreciated.
Other board members. Going once, going twice. Seeing that, I just want to call out one more time, Mrs. Sugars, it's your last one. Thank you so much for all the work you did. We really appreciate it. And so does the district and so do the kids. All right, we are going to move forward. To our first public comments of the evening, first of three. This is the public comment period on the budget only. This public comment session is for the 2526 budget only. There will be two other public comment sections later in this meeting. The first for agenda items and the second for any topic.
If you are a student in the district that would like to comment on the 2526 budget, please identify yourself as a student so that you may comment first. If you're online as a student, please put an S after your name so that I know to call on you first. Public comment is an opportunity for members of the community to comment on matters relevant to the operations of the Cherry Hill Public School District or within the authority of the Cherry Hill Board of Education. The board welcomes diverse opinions on relevant matters. Under established federal law governing reasonable restrictions on speech in public forums. Statements which demand as visual community members or groups or which are irrelevant to the operations of the school district or repetitious will not be permitted.
Community members who would like to present information not relevant to the school district are always welcome to communicate directly to the district superintendent, board president, and all board members via email or other alternative means. We'll start in the room as is our custom. Anybody who would like to speak on the 2526 budget, please approach the microphone. Give us your name and municipality.
Sarah Johnson, I'm from Cherry Hill. First, I want to commend the clarity of the slides that were presented and the discussion that came from the board. To elicit some questions that people may have had but may not have verbalized. I only have a short question. And it relates to the question that was discussed about preschool transportation. It's a twofold question. My understanding is that there is an option for parent drop-off.
Okay. And I know you can never predict based on past history of that, but I did want to point that out. And the question that I had was transportation to partner locations. Is that also provided by busing or is that a parent responsibility? And so I just wanted to raise that question because as I know over as the time going forward that is going to be a bigger percentage. So thank you.
Thank you very much. Moving to the line, I see a phone number ending in 788. It's your turn. Please unmute, give us your name and municipality. Yes, we can. Thank you.
Thank you, Dr. Podowitz. Dr. Podowitz, thank you so much for your comments. Going back to the room, is there anyone who would like to speak on the budget at this time? Hi, I live in Kingston and Cherry Hill. Can you give us your name, please? Oh, sure. Sorry. Michelle Hardery. Thank you. You're welcome. First off, I think it's an insult to think that only seniors care about property tax increases. I'm 55 with their children in the school district.
I care about property tax increases and I think every tax payer who pays their taxes cares about an increase. I also don't understand why we have this preschool. If it was up to me, it would be gone. I also want to know a big thing for me is what's happening with children that are coming to school here in Cherry Hill that don't live in the town. Or what's happening with that? I would love to know What rules are in place when you know that children are coming from other townships to get educated in Cherry Hill and the taxpayers are paying for them.
And nothing's being done so that's being done is a bother to it's bothersome to me. If it's $16,000 for preschool, I'm just wondering, $40,000 a student How many students are coming through? That's a big chunk of money. The other thing is I want to know why we're paying for this turf field as part of the budget. Shouldn't that be part of the bond that the taxpayers paid last year? Is that even needed? What part of education does a turf field have to do with our budget?
If it was for me, it would be cut out. I also wouldn't hire more teachers. You're running on that turf field. I also wouldn't hire more teachers if we're in a deficit like this. I just wouldn't. I'm a person that I would… whatever the budget is, as of last year, I would make it work with what I have to what I have to work within to ask the taxpayers to continually increase I take money out of their pocket. It's just unconscionable.
I also want to know that $180 that you speak of that the taxpayers have to pay additional Is that a quarter? Is that a year? I would love to know that answer. Can you answer that or am I allowed to get an answer on that one? It's annually. So it's $180 increased of what we paid for the school bond. It's just a lot. I really hope that you vote no to this. We can't keep paying. It's a lot. It's a lot for families. It's a lot for seniors. And it's a lot for somebody like me. I don't know. That's my two cents. I hope you vote now.
Thank you for your comment. Looking back online, I don't see anybody online. Looking back to the room, is there anyone else who would like to make a comment on the budget? No, no. I really love fighting over this. And I heard Cherry Hill. So I do have some concerns and I knew that your hands are tied But what happens? If we don't get the money for Title I through four and IDEA, Or what happens if the state is going to be in charge of that and we still get cut out of the monies that are due us for our students.
I would like to know I know that you're using the word positions now. The rumor mill says there's at least 40 staff members are going to be elected. Let go. Tonight I heard in regards to the middle school is it 28 positions just through middle school or throughout the district that was not clear to me. I would like to know tonight what's projected to be left in our capital reserve and fund balance at the end of the fiscal year, June 32005.
When it comes to mentioning the senior, blah, blah, blah, blah, let me just tell you something. There's no guarantee that's going to be there next year for us either. Okay, so… And it's really discombobulated application, trust me, this year. So I was kind of looking around being who I am. And I came up with some things. You're losing the supervisor of curriculum instruction And a supervisor of special projects. Some way, somehow, do you need to replace this?
That's almost $200,000. I would like you to look into how you're delivering the Spanish curriculum I think it would be enough meeting. There is a discussion about how you haven't raised SAC fees in a long time. And that's really sad because you do need to raise them. But you can't hit them below the belt. It should always be incremental. And as a product, my kids are a product of that. It's a wonderful program. And hopefully you could find a way to expand that. Tac fees. And the state mandates for transportation is still two miles.
Good. So hopefully, unfortunately, you may have to enforce that to the ninth degree because every bus you can save is better. I'm still flabbergasted that across the street one of my kids gets door-to-door service. It just it's just still flabbergasting. But my real concern is Title I through four IDA. What's the contingency plan? Because we're in really deep trouble. And as we all know, the formula may work for some school districts. It's certainly not working for us.
I know what my other question was. Have you, Dr. Morton. Because you always talk about fair funding, which is great. But have you all met with our local legislators Because if you have, you need to get that word out. Because some of us out here think that you're not. And we need to know that from a publicity point of view. And you have a young viable publicity person to do that for you. Thank you. Thank you for your comment. I'm looking back online. I don't see anybody with their hand raised going back to the room.
Is there anyone who would like to make a public comment on the budget? Hi, Laurie Neary Neary, Cherry Hill. I'll just be quick, echoing what Ms. Einhorn said. I am also very worried about next year and IDEA and Title one funding and I appreciate and i absolutely also hated when I was a board member having to raise taxes even one percent knowing there are folks that can't necessarily afford it. But I really appreciate
The thoughtfulness in knowing the process, how it works, what this took and knowing I'm sadly glad I don't live in my hometown in Marlton because of the catastrophic nature of what their budget was. And what they're looking at at 25%. Tax increases. That will most certainly put people out of their homes. So I appreciate that we have been so deliberate Over the years, this year included. In thinking about what that budget looks like and that you're looking forward.
Almost immediately. At what the next budget looks like to plan for what we won't get. Because frankly, independence of the system is where we may need to be in order to sustain ourselves because the funding is not going to be there. And I certainly don't believe it to be there federally. So again. It's not great. I don't think anybody at this table thought it was great, but it is much better than where we could have been. And I appreciate that you're going to immediately begin to look at the next funding cycle.
Congratulations to Ms. Sugar and her retirement, but I'm sad while when I was on the board, I know we didn't always see eye to eye and I was definitely tough in my questions. Ms. Sugars, you are really great at your job with the budgets and thank you. You definitely pulled a hat trick here to keep this afloat and it could have been so much worse. And I'll wait for the next public comment on the next item, but thank you.
Thank you. Looking back online, I do see someone with a hand raised. It says Lynn and Mike. Please unmute, give us your name and municipality and your comment. You're still muted. Please unmute. One more try. Lynn and Mike, you are still muted.
Okay, I'm going to go back to the room and then we'll come back to you online. Going back to the room, next public comment, please, on the budget. Rick Shore, Cherry Hill. My concerns with the budget is on the safety end of things. I don't know whatever happened to that what's called bus safety. We were supposed to get a report. In July, we were told I'm sorry, June of 2023 that we were going to have a PTA zone work on this bus safety So now we're into a second budget cycle.
And we don't have anything. You know, we should remember the child remember the child that almost died. We know that East isn't safe. Rosa isn't safe. We know that pain isn't safe. We know that Johnson isn't safe. And some of these are due to the designs of the curves and stuff like that. But you do nothing to make anything safer with bus safety. Just recently on just recently just really almost two years later A door blows open.
Mr. Short, please put your comments on the budget in this comment. Well, I want to talk about, yeah, I want to talk about doors. Because it's in the budget and it's not being used. You're not applying the money that you have for 3,183 doors to be replaced. And some of the doors, we know that I've been saying this for Eight years now cannot lock. And according to Dr. Morton on September of 2026, 2024, I want to assure you that safety and Security is our top priority. He said that in the newsletter.
And now let's talk a little bit about equity, equity and security. Yes, equity. We want equity, the same outcome for every school. Yes, not all the preschools have the same Mr. Short. Yes. On the budget. It is on the budget because you're missing certain pieces of security. Some of which I can't talk about. And then the final question. So there's approval for the bond, it says for the parking lot At West.
But in an email on November 4th, 2022, our previous superintendent stated that this was a capital reserve project. So is it a capital reserve project being voted on for the bond or is it not? Was our former superintendent incorrect in the email on November 4th? 2022. Again. I can't reiterate more. The student almost died. It was such a bad accident that the ENTs how to get inside the ambulance and you're not putting security of bus security first.
It's not even existent. Thank you for your comment. Mrs. Winters, can I make a point of clarification here? Yes. Thank you very much. So I wanted to provide some clarification on some of the comments Mr. Short made there. Not correct. And I do want to provide some correct information. The site work at High School West. That was referenced. This includes ADA access to the stadium and new pedestrian lighting. This is included in bond construction work for High School West.
I don't know what was said in the past. I don't have the context for that. But it's in the original bond presentation for High School West. You could look at it on the district website under Cherry Hill tomorrow. The only thing that's changed is now it's partially subsidized by a local recreation improvement grant that Garrison architects were able to get to help us obtain. As far as the issue with doors. Many interior doors are being replaced. This has been a discussion topic in several meetings, specifically at ROSA.
We're a replacement of all interior doors has had a budget impact that we've discussed multiple times. Many exterior doors are being replaced through construction of security vestibules. And again, we've talked about the timing and the scope of that work depending on the location and the impact to the building and to the students. We've had that discussion several times. We talk about security and safety. Particularly with busing. We have a $16 million line item for maintenance and security in the budget.
Which has been presented, I think this is the third time now. More than a million of that is earmarked just for security. As far as pedestrian safety, in BNF meetings, which unfortunately are not particularly highly attended. We've talked about working with the township to establish more safe routes to school. Through bond construction work, particularly on our parking lots and site work. We have revised a lot of the revised a lot of pick up and drop off areas for safety, specifically at Carusi.
There's a complete separation of bus drop-off and pedestrian traffic that was implemented back in September. That was something that was very important to everybody involved. But I wanted to provide that clarification. Everybody on this board cares about security and safety. And a lot of the issues that you bring up, Mr. Short, we are actively working. We discuss them at a lot of our meetings. And, you know, I'm happy to discuss further if you have concerns. But these are things that are in the budget this year or that are ongoing things. I just wanted to provide the clarification.
Thank you. Thank you. Going back to the line, the next caller, the name is Berkowitz. Please unmute, give us your name and municipality. We can. Hi, can you hear us? Hello? Okay. Hi. Yes, my name is Lynn and I'm actually here with my son who goes to rosa And my husband, I just have a couple of things I wanted to say. So the first thing is there was a comment that Like where are people like why are we not like upset about the budget When I saw the email about the LCs changing and the reasoning, I was very upset. And I thought about doing more and petitioning and things like that.
But the more I kept thinking about it, it seemed as though the decision was already made. So my voice did not mean anything. So that's why I'm not there, but I did want to listen and at least voice my sadness about the learning centers going away at the middle school. As a sixth grader, it's been wonderful for my son He has thrived, has been able to do has thrived all the music things that he wanted to do in the morning And he has also been able to do all the social emotional learning with his class before The other classes start and he has loved it. And truthfully, when I did hear the thing about the turf field, I thought.
Are you kidding me? Two million for that? And you're changing the whole middle school structure that affects my son. All his friends, everybody who goes there, as well as my daughter who will be going in a few years. Now I just wanted my son to say something and my husband wants to lastly. Hi, I… go to one of the middle schools and Cherry Hill Public School District. So my concern is my concern is Mostly for the teachers because they have like a period like a free period where they meet and discuss like what the needs are for all the kids.
And I am aware that that is going away because more classes are going to, you know, happen during these free periods and they won't have as many free periods during the day. So I'm just kind of scared for all the kids who might need the help And they're not getting it from getting it you know without the extra period And I'm going to give this to my dad now. Hey, I'll round this out. So we have a bond sitting out there that we all had to vote on.
Good enough so we voted and the bond went into effect How come there was no vote on what was going to go and what was going to stay? I would not have voted $2 million for a turf field. None of this was brought up. And any kind of there was no township meetings about this stuff. I've done my research. Maybe I'm wrong, but I haven't seen it. How come the parents, the residents of Cherry Hill did not have a voice? Was it just, and I don't mean to be disrespectful But was it the six to eight board members that made the decision?
Of a sports field over a field the education of our children. Thanks. Thank you for calling in and just thank you to the student and the student's family who called in tonight. We really appreciate student voice. I want to let you know that the conversation about the junior high model, the budget vote is tonight But the conversation about the junior high model and what that will look like is going to happen. The CNI committee, which is happening in June, it's the first Tuesday in June. That meeting is open to the public.
So I don't want the student and his family to feel like no one is listening. Because we are listening and I invite you if you're still interested to please come. There's also going to be information nights. At all three middle schools. I'm not sure if you said which middle school you're going to. But there will be, I'm being told it's Rosa. So there will be an information night at Rosa for students and their families to come and get information. So I invite you to come to that as well. That's going to be the information will come out through your schools.
But we always appreciate when students call in. So thank you for calling. I'm going to go back to the room. Is there anyone in the room who would like to speak on the budget? Seeing no takers. I'm going to go back online. The next caller is Sophia Fills. Please unmute yourself. Give us your name and your municipality. Hi, good afternoon. My name is Sophia Fills. I live in Cherry Hill.
I just heard tonight that we're increasing the budget again. After having a tomb you know over two million dollar approved on this last year and our taxes will go up to, I don't know, 2. 2.7%. I think as a member of a community is not receiving services at public school, I feel like Yes, there's a lot of people who use these services. However, my children and many children in the Cherry Hill community do not receive services.
In the public school system and we feel it is unfair, right? It isn't fair for my children who are not part of the system that I have to continue putting money and taxes when I see the complaints of the parents who actually do have children in the public school And they're still not happy. They're still not satisfied. You know, the kids outcomes are not great. The kids seems like a lot of parents are very, you know, unhappy with the outcomes of the high school graduations and the state of the structure of the school how bad the structure of school is and how it seems like the money and the budget has been mismanaged for a lot of time.
So I don't know who is managing the budget and what are they doing. I think that's community. We deserve transparency. When it comes to budget, when it comes to what are some money is used for, just like as the previous parent said how come it was the decision to the sports complex and not actually implement and use the money for things that the community and the people of Cherry Hill and the other areas actually needed, like maintaining the building like
You know given you know more resources to the people actually needed. And I think that if that problem is not addressed increasing the budget is not fixing the problem. It seems like the money itself has been mismanage or not adjudicated properly. I think we need some answers before we ask citizens of this community of Cherry Hill Can actually see that whatever money our you know hard earned taxes i've been used for because otherwise people are going to start moving away from here. If the taxes just keep raising and we don't see the value and we don't see how the money is properly being used in a transparent way
People are just going to start moving away from the area. This is going to become too expensive to be here. Or not having transparency in our local government. Thank you. Appreciate the time. Thank you for calling in. Going back to the room, is there anyone else who would like to speak on the 2526 budget at this time? No takers in the room going back to the line, there's no one with their hand raised online. One more try in the room, going once, going twice. All right, I'm going to close public comment on the budget.
For this evening. And we are going to move to our agenda. And I'm going to ask Mr. Greenbaum to please move the 2526 budget resolutions, which are item 7.3 to 7.6. Thank you, Mrs. Winters. The superintendent recommends and I move the following. 7.3, adoption of the 2025-2026 budget. 7.4 maximum travel expenditure.
7.5, motion to approve use of capital reserve to fund debt service 7.6, motion to approve use of capital reserve to fund approved projects for the 2025 2026 school year. Do I have a second? Mrs. Stern, are there any additional questions? We'll start on the end. I just would like a clarification. Dollars that are allocated for capital reserve those funds cannot be used for general education expenses right in the general fund.
Correct. So what are approved uses for capital fund dollars? Capital type projects. It's generally we do some smaller projects through the capital outlay budget and fund 12. Larger projects we do through the capital reserve account. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Chair Fane. Just a final comment because I didn't want my original comments and questions to reflect my vote. The way that I vote, I just want to make, because I feel like we sit here and we talk about like feelings and all this stuff. I just want to make it clear that I fully appreciate all of the hard work that went into this as your last budget, Mr. Sugars, I appreciate everything that you did.
I think this is a fantastic start to what last year I was hoping the budget process would look like. And I hope that tomorrow starts the conversations for next year's budget. Thank you. Any additional questions? Seeing none, Mrs. Sugars, please open the voting. Board members, you may cast your votes.
Okay, so we have eight yes votes and one no vote, Mrs. Surefain. Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Sugars. Moving on, we have no administrative reports tonight, so we're going to go to correspondence. To kick off correspondence. I just want to read a statement from the board this evening. Tonight, the board is wearing blue to recognize autism awareness and acceptance month.
We celebrate the successes of our neurodiverse individuals who contribute so much to our school community in our classrooms, on our sports fields. In creative and artistic pursuits As our friends and neighbors And for many of us around our kitchen tables. Our community is stronger with all of you in it. So thank you to that community as we close Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month. We're going to move on with correspondence. I am going to go around the table. I believe I'm starting on this side this month with Dean.
Go this way around. All right. I will never remember. I think I'm going to get it wrong. Literally 100% of the time, you guys, I'm going to get it wrong. There should be a 50 50 shot of me getting it right, but it's never going to happen Go ahead. My only correspondence on last Wednesday, April 23rd. On behalf of the board, I attended the Garden State Coalition of Schools April monthly meeting where the guest speaker was the Honorable Victor McDonald, who's vice chair of the New Jersey Council on Local Mandates.
None for me as well. I have a few things. I attended the Rosa Climate Showcase, which was the seventh grader showing off their climate projects in the Rosa Library. It was amazing to see all the hard work the kids put into it. I did attend a meeting with Assemblyman Lou Greenwald. He's the current majority leader on school funding and the budget. That was a question that from a community member, so I wanted to just put that out there. It was a really good meeting. We talked both about The current year's budget, the fiscal impact of the funding formula on Cherry Hill.
Next steps going forward, including the impact of the multipliers, which Mr. Greenbaum mentioned. We talked about making sure that there are no huge swings year to year that affect the district. We talked about the impact of property values in this town on and how that does not really impact people's ability to pay for the budget. We talked about the mismatch between the state calendar and the local funding calendar, which impedes our ability to actually plan well for the budget, because by the time we receive our state aid numbers, it's almost time to submit the initial budget.
So this was an initial conversation with the majority leader He was the budget chair, actually, when I was there in Trenton. So he understands the issues behind the funding formula. As I recall, he was one of the authors of the funding formula back in 2008. So he's well versed in it. And I, as always, remain hopeful that moving forward, we'll be able to make a real impact on the funding formula, I will continue to follow up with his office. And do everything I can going forward. Because obviously this is not a one-year issue. This is an issue that's going to continue into the future.
Today, I attended the ECAC, which is the preschool committee. It's for preschool through grade three. We talked a lot about preschool transition for 24, 25 and how it looks with kids transitioning to kindergarten. I was really excited to hear about it because this was a huge missing piece when I was on the full day kindergarten committee. There was almost no interaction between the preschool program back then and kindergarten. That was something that Back then I expressed with something that was needed. I'm really excited to see going forward. There will be Transition pieces for both our general education preschoolers and additional transition pieces For our preschoolers with IEPs, which also fits in with our board, I'm sorry, our district goal.
Around special education transitions. So that was really neat to hear about. And then lastly, I attended LMC with Ms. Palmer last week. A lot of the work was preparation for the LMC hub meeting that's going to take place tomorrow here in Cherry Hill. Ms. Palmer and I will be attending, we will be presenting a case study on the cell phone policy. So that will be tomorrow morning. That is all that I have, Mr. Greenbaum. Nothing for me. Thank you. On April 10th, I was able, I don't know the formal title of the activity, but I was able to attend the student presentation of their internships at the township building.
It was… put on, I want to make sure I'm saying her last name correctly, by Miss Castellani. At Cherry Hill West, who runs the internship program and all of the students that were able to have internships over the course of their senior year this year presented where they went, things that they learned and there are prospective schools and programs that they committed to at their colleges. I actually didn't realize a relative of mine was going to be there. So I was able to see her presentation as well.
It was fantastic. All of the students you can tell having whether or not they were going to go into the field of the internship that they went through, it was a very good experience for them to be in a professional environment and learn from who seem to be mentors for them for hopefully longer than just the internship but It was fantastic. Many students went through it. I think maybe around 20 students there were. They did a great job public speaking and giving their presentations and have really fantastic support. So huge shout out to Ms. Castellani at West for all of the work she does with that.
So I was able to attend and last week, I'm so terrible with the dates and I'm sorry. But it was last week. Our East and West High School students We're at Cherry Hill Township uh for student government day. So they spent the entire day with our council members and mayor and other folks who work in our government. And they had a real taste of what it's like to be a local government official and civic leader. And so that culminated at the end of the day with a meeting. So they held a government meeting township meeting And I was able to attend, Dr. Morton was able to attend. Many of their families were there.
And they sat at the dais and they ran their meeting, according to Robert's rules. They did a great job. Actually, I was very impressed. And, you know, they had two ordinances that they wanted to get passed and they did unanimously, which is interesting. And one was on the idea that the community members are bothered sometimes by solicitors who come to our doors.
And so they propose the idea of a pilot program of a sticker that the township could hand out to the township to community members who would like to put it on their door which indicates no soliciting at our door. So they had a full discussion of that, which is actually really interesting. I made a public comment about it. I thought they needed to have a little public comment, have that experience. And then they had a more robust ordinance regarding student engagement in local government.
Crossover and cooperation with the township and the schools It's basically more opportunity on in-person engagement, social media engagement. And they were pretty pumped about that. I think that was indicative of their I think it is a little more relatable to them than than not dealing with solicitors at their door. But it was great. They did a beautiful job. It was nice to see some of the kids that I've seen before and some new faces. The parents were really into it.
And of course, our council members and mayor and and the staff were very supportive. It was a great day. They were very nervous, which I can relate to. When you do that and you're up on the dais, it's a little intimidating um But I think it might be fun to have us do that. As well perhaps with board of ed someday. So anyway, just gave me some food for thought. But it was great to be there and it was really nice that Dr. Morton was able to be there as well and you know
I think the students really appreciate it. It was a nice evening. Thank you. Ms. Palmer. I'm sorry. I just want to mention Dr. Braddock did ask me to mention that he's sorry to step out for a moment. He did not have anything to report. Correspondence. Oh, here it comes. I like a dramatic entrance. Thank you. So earlier this month, I had the opportunity to stop by Literacy Night at Thomas Paine Elementary School, which is always a phenomenal event. It's nice to get the chance to meet some of our younger families in the district.
See there's just there's just a different energy in our elementary schools. See some of the young learners, see how enthusiastic they are about the activities. To see their teachers kind of in an off hours environment. So I appreciate how welcoming that the Payne community always is. I also last week attended the latest fair funding cherry hill meeting Great conversation as always about advocacy strategies moving forward anyone who is interested in the conversation we had tonight is interested in the future of state funding. Please get involved in that group. Fair funding for Cherry Hill Public Schools on Facebook, on Instagram.
Or the email address for that group is online. Our next meeting, I believe, is Thursday the 29th of May, although I don't have it in front of me. They're always at 7 p.m. On Zoom. Please get involved because as Mr. Greenbaum alluded to earlier, our work is not done on on the advocacy front. That's all. Thank you very much. Moving on to our student rep report, something else I also get wrong consistently 100% of the time. I believe it's High School East.
I won't, though, Dr. Braddock. That's the problem. I'm significantly older than you and I can assure you that I will not remember this next month. Go ahead, High School East. Okay, thank you. So to begin with, academics, the third marking period ended on Wednesday, April 9, and report cards became available to view On April 25 on Genesis, and we are now in the final marking period of the school year. Sophomore college night was held on Wednesday, April 23rd and led by the guidance department.
To help sophomores and their families learn more about the college application process. Tonight at 7 p.m, there was mandatory senior parent slash guardian meeting at East to discuss the upcoming prom, graduation, senior events, project graduation, and more. This Thursday, May 1st, is the class of 2025 Senior Send-Off Day, which seniors are invited to wear clothing that represents where they will head after graduation. Whether that be college, job, military, gap year, or still deciding. We'd like to say congratulations to senior Yutong Chen, freshman Kwan Yun Liu, and senior Sonia Yen for participating and winning awards in the Chinese Language Association of secondary elementary schools talent contest Yutong won second place in the art category. Kwon Young won first place in instrument and Sonya won third place in instrument.
Ap testing will be held at East through the school weeks of May 5th and May 12th. As far as activities go, the Mr. East competition took place on Friday, April 4th. In which eight senior boys competed for the title. They did so by modeling, performing skits, singing, and showing their other talents. Congratulations to Ethan Barraway, also known as Mr. Big Red, for winning the competition. And thank you to all who work towards the fun night.
A school-wide student government elections took place on April 9th. Congratulations to the new officers, President Anna Bardunez and the four vice presidents Logan Friedman, Alison Kang, Stella Kim, and Alvin Lynn. New East Student Board of Education representatives have also been chosen for the next school year. Which is crazy. Congrats to the upcoming primary East representative, Landon Schuster and the alternate Max Kukoffo. We know you will do great. East's annual Multicultural Day took place on April 11th and the parent night was on April 10th. Incredible performances by East Vietnamese Culture Club, Indian Cultural Society, Korean Culture Club, African American Culture Club.
The Filipino Cultural Society and Chinese Student Association were featured. Various cultural groups also had booths that highlighted aspects of their culture. The event was fun, enriching, and allowed for all in the East community to broaden their horizons through learning from presentations. Tasting delicious food and appreciating beautiful art. Thank you to the MCD committee co-chairs Dylan Hammer and Daniel Chen for their hard work in making the event a success. And thank you to all the clubs and advisors who work tirelessly towards the event.
Students also got a well-deserved and well-needed spring break from April 12th to April 20th. Take your child to work day was held on Thursday, April 24th. In which many East students visited the workplaces of their parents and many East staff members also brought their children for a fun day at school. Junior prom took place on Thursday, April 24th from 6 to 10 p.m. The theme was A Night Under the Northern Lights. The Cherry Hill East Coffee House, which is a talent show, took place on April 26th and featured many East students sharing the arts that they excel in while raising money for the Go for the goal charity.
62e students qualified for the International DECA competition, also known as ICDC, which has been taking place in Orlando from Saturday, April 26th. And it's actually ending today. Congratulations to all the students participating and thank you for representing Eastwell. Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week, in which we'll be taking special care to thank our teachers for everything they do. In regards to athletics, on March 27, the East boys golf team broke the school team record With a 145 led by Tyler Whitney who also broke the individual record with a three under par 32.
We'd like to end by congratulating the East Jazz Band who took part of the cavalclade of Bands competition on Friday, March 28th, and took first place with a rating of superior. Various east bands are also performing on April 30th tomorrow night at 7.30 p.m. The orchestra slash jazz concert is on Thursday, May 1st. At 7.30 p.m. As well. The one act plays, which are student acted and directed performances, will be on Thursday, May 8th from 5.30 p.m. To 9 30 p.m.
The spring choral concert is also coming up on May 21st at 7.30 p.m. We are so excited for all the wonderful performances and we wish all of the students good luck. Before we move on, I saw, I spied with my eye a beautiful reporting piece in Eastside about the board written by our board rep, correct? Thank you so much. We appreciated it. My son came home with it and he said, hey, is this about you? And is any of it true? And I said.
Yeah, sure is. And all of it is too. You got it all right. Thank you so much for your reporting. We appreciate it and for providing a lens for the student body into what it's like to be a rep to the board. All right, and moving on to High School West. Awesome. So for academics, students are in full swing preparing for AP exams, which will begin next week. Good luck to all test takers. We want to recognize the students who participated in the research and science competition for their innovation and their dedication. On April 5th, we had ACT testing at West. Interns wrapped up their their year with a special end of year program on April 10th at the Cherry Hill Township Municipal Building.
On April 22nd, West students participated in Cherry Hill Township Government Day, where they proposed both an ordinance and a resolution. Seniors will be celebrating College Commitment Day on May 1st, proudly announcing their next steps by wearing their college gear. For athletics, spring sports are underway. Congratulations to our flag football team for winning their first game. With a strong start to the season. The girls basketball team was, as well as the other spring sports, were recognized at the pep rally for their hard work and accomplishments this year and to come.
We also want to highlight the student athletes who were honored at the Olympic Conference Scholarship Athlete Breakfast. Wow, that was a mouthful. To represent West with pride both academically and athletically. West Athletics also competed in the Deptford Relize and the Penn Relays. Great job to all who represented our school. At the spring pep rally, teachers also faced off against the NHS Pickleball Tournament student champions. For a long awaited match. For arts, congratulations to our small group vocal ensembles for their performance at the Cherry Hill Public Library on April 11th.
Night of Jazz will be held this Wednesday, tomorrow, showcasing incredible talent of our band students. We're looking forward to the spring vocal concert on May 20th. Our theater department will be preparing for their one act plays to be held on May 17th and May the best grade win, but I did hear that the seniors are on a path to victory. The Night of Stars ceremony was held on April 22nd, celebrating the achievements of our student performers and artists who are historically not recognized. Furthermore, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory cast and crew finished their production in the beginning of this month Thank you for the board members who came out to support and Paper Mill Playhouse recommended over half of our cast and directors for nominations for several awards.
That are granted through them every year. Congratulations to all. In extracurriculars, congratulations to the students inducted into World Language Honor Society with the ceremony taking place April 28th. West will be hosting the cook-off, the world language cook-off tomorrow, April 30th, celebrating culture Through food, which is always delicious. Unsung Heroes were honored on April 8th for their quiet leadership and service. And the 5K Carnival and community day brought families, students, and staff together for fun and celebration. Look forward to field day and star games for more information coming up soon and we had Multicultural Day that took place on the 10th
And the 11th at West, allowing people from the West community as well as students to explore the rich culture around them. Finally, we have junior prom held this Thursday with the theme Rio Night Senior Prom on May 22nd. Important events for teachers appreciation next week that will be held by NHS. And interviews for the incoming West BOE reps will take place shortly. Please contact Dr. Burns for more details. Thank you. Thank you so much. So many exciting things.
Are all of the seniors here and the countdown. Does anybody know how many days are left? I heard it's 35. But who's counting, right? We don't have to say goodbye yet. You guys have one more month, but it's so exciting to watch you guys get to the end of senior year. It's one of the best things ever. We're so proud of you. Enjoy every minute of it. Madam Chair, may I just make a comment to our seniors? You may. Just as we approach May 1st, which you referenced. It's the decision day for almost all colleges in this country and I just want to congratulate, I've seen some of your posts about your commitments and heard about your commitments to college.
Congratulations to you three and good luck to you. So exciting. Next steps. All right, we are at. Well, it's first public comment, but it's not the first one tonight. So we have made it to public comment. This public comment section is for board action items only, which are items 14 through 17. There will be another public comment period for any topic at the end of the meeting. If you're a student in the district, you may comment on any agenda item during this public comment period. Please identify yourself as a student.
If you would like to speak, please identify the agenda item and clearly state your name and municipality. We will alternate between speakers here in the room and those that are aligned, and each speaker will be given a maximum of three minutes to speak. The timer on the screen will indicate the amount of time you have remaining. Public comments is an opportunity for members of the community to comment on matters relevant to the operations of Cherry Hill Public School District or within the authority of the Cherry Hill Board of Education. The board welcomes diverse opinions on relevant matters under established federal law governing reasonable restrictions on speech and public forums.
Statements which demean individual community members or groups or which are relevant to the operations of the school district or Repetitious will not be permitted. Community members who would like to present information not relevant to the school district are always welcome to communicate directly to the district superintendent or president and all board members via email or other alternative means. Mr. Greenbaum, I may make you do the third one. So we would like to open public comment. As always, we start in the room. Is there anyone who would like to make a comment on our agenda items this evening?
And on Cherry Hill, 16.1. Under human resources. So I'm going to miss Steve Redfern only because he always reminded me of how old I am every time I looked at him because I remember hiring him. And I also remember participating in the first Bali for education that they held many, many years ago as a fundraiser for the kids in our district so Steve, I know they're going on to a new venue an opportunity and I'm very proud to have known you all of these years. And I wish you much
Success. And Ms. Roskopf, I hope the next time I see you, you'll tell me about all the trips that you have planned. So good luck to you all. Thank you. Thank you so much. Going online, I see Alana Yaris. Please unmute, give us your name and municipality. Alana Harris, Cherry Hill, you can hear me. Okay, I think it's agenda item 16.3. We can.
Yesterday, uh. Kilmer community was in a little bit of shock. I think we're all still in shock about what had happened. I know that Dr. Rick was originally on the agenda for a different elementary school. I'm happy. I'm sad, but happy at the same time to see that He's being approved as the interim principal at Kilmer. I just urge you to urge you approve it without question because I know that sometimes there are agenda items that come up the day of board meetings and this came up today and you didn't have time to process it. And I just want to make sure that it's approved because the students and the teachers at that school
Need someone that they know and recognize who can help them get through this difficult time. I did see that it's until to be decided. I just, I hope that the job advertisement for the new principal goes out and that whoever you find understands that this is a community that's been in transition for a while and we need someone who will hopefully stay for a long period of time. I will have my fifth child starting kindergarten next year at Kilmer Elementary School, and this will be the fifth principal that I have for an incoming kindergarten student and That should not be the case. It's unfortunate that it's the case right now um but
I hope it's not the case moving forward. Thank you. Thank you for your comment. Going back to the room, is there anybody who would like to make a public comment? Andy McElvain, Cherry Hill. I need to apologize for my appearance. I didn't shave this morning and all of a sudden it popped out. I'd like to speak a little bit about personnel and a little bit about the budget. If that's okay. This is action items only Well, you took action on the budget, so technically it's an action item
That's okay if you don't. Just to… I'm being told it's up to me and I will allow it. Okay, thank you. The first is on personnel. Mrs. Sugars and Carol Roscoff consider to be friends and colleagues Both of them will be sorely missed. As a colleague, Mrs. Sugars, you're the best that I ever saw. And I mean that sincerely and you have my greatest respect Considering the budget, I thought about making a comment during the presentation, but it's pretty clear that the members of the Board of Education get what's going on and what's going on
Potential is. For the future years. And so there's a couple of concepts that I wanted to throw out The first of all is. It's always bothered me a lot. The concept of adequacy And the notion that the budget that's provided and the funding formula that's provided four cherry hill schools and all the schools in the state of New Jersey. Is adequate. Who in heaven's name wants an adequate education for their kids.
So you are faced, I think, in the next several years with more and more discomfort, more and more funding problems And I just wanted to say this. In the past, you've had the luxury at times and not often of making choices between safe and bold And I would just like to encourage you as you go through the next couple of years If you have a choice between safe and bold.
Be bold because you're going to need it. Given the funding situation that you're going to be facing. And I just want to thank you all for the care that you give to our community the fact that you serve in difficult times that you're facing more difficult times And you're here for our community and I appreciate it greatly. And this is 30 plus years of coming to these meetings. And if you think that's just a little bit strange.
It probably is. Thank you. Thank you so much for your comment. Going back to the line, Christy Badrin, it's your turn. Please unmute. Hi, can everyone hear me? Okay. Christy Badron, Cherry Hill Township. We can. I wanted to echo Alana Yaris's post. I mean, her comment about Dr. Rick, this has been a very difficult 24 hours for us to process. And I am thankful, thankful, beyond thankful to the board For making this possible, hopefully.
I'm just echoing what Alana said just please take in consideration that this needs to get put through, not just for our kids, but especially the staff who is reeling and who is reeling and you know going through a very very rough time And we definitely think that, you know, Dr. Rick would be a wonderful person. You know to it. The whole entire board, we're all very thankful for this so That's what I'm saying. Just please just vote him through. We appreciate it.
That's all. Thanks. Thank you for calling in. Going back to the room, is there anyone who would like to speak on action items tonight? Rick Short, Cherry Hill. I don't know if you can move the screen up a little bit. You can't see the time. 16.1, the retirement of Carol Roshkov. I can say this, and I've said this publicly many times No one has as much love for children.
As Ms. Roshkopf does. I witnessed this at a graduation one time. When I watched her hug many, many children. So I do look forward to Ms. Roshkop coming back under public comment to debate what she you know this is this is the one thing that… People, maybe why some teachers are leaving, but I look forward to the debate of keeping DEI or now it's called ERI. So I look forward to Mr. Roschkov
Coming here and advocating for it, I also look forward for Ms. Roschkoff to come here publicly and talk about how much Our consultants and how wonderful they are, like Dr. Love and publicly state that this woman wants to destroy America. Please stick to agenda action items. I am. Putting a public comment about… You're speaking about a staff member. A staff member, correct. And I'm making a public comment. Why are you interrupting me? It's my opinion of what I would wish I just said.
Let me continue. So I wish that she comes up in debates again how important our consultants are, like. And how much Dr. Love hates capitalism. And, you know, this is part of this is The belief here in Cherry Hill schools, right? How about Dr. King Day? These comments are more appropriate for second public comment when you can speak on any topic. Well, this is the topic. The topic is Ms. Roskop's retirement.
The topic is an HR agenda item. Right. And I'm wishing her good luck I just wished her good luck. I just start in the beginning when I said that She has more love than anyone, but I look forward to debating her and you keep interrupting me. Okay, so I look forward to Ms. Rushkoff coming up. And advocating for White fragility from Dr. D'angelo, how important it is to push white fragility because I look forward to Mr. Short.
Again, this is on the action item. I'm wishing her good luck and you keep interrupting me. So my job here is to Make sure that the meeting goes according to the rules. And the rules for this public comment period is that we're sticking to action items only. I was talking about Kyle Ruskov's retirement. I'm wishing her good luck. I'm done. Thank you.
All right, going back online. I don't see anybody online going back to the room. Is there anyone who would like to speak on an action item this evening? Laurie Neary, Cherry Hill on action item 16.1. I'd like to congratulate Steve Redfern on his retirement. I hope he enjoys himself. I'm very jealous. Ms. Roskov actually congratulating you on your retirement.
Nothing else. I hope you too enjoy much vacation, much rest. My first graduation attended as a board member was on the field at West. It was the first graduation post-COVID. I've never seen a more well-run event in my life like To the T. Phenomenal. And it was a great experience for the kids. You will be missed. So thank you.
Thank you. Going back online, I don't see anyone online. Going back to the room. I don't see anyone approaching the microphone. I will close. First public comment, which is really our second public comment tonight, but fear not, there will be one more at the end. Moving on to superintendent's comments, item 12.1. Thank you very much, Ms. Winters.
As I sit here this evening. I am… Reflecting back on my days involved in competitive athletics. And particularly, there's an expression that we utilize before a competition. And that expression was, you need to put your game face on when you step into the arena, the stadium, the field. Or whatever that venue may be. That expression simply suggest that whatever's happening in your personal life, whatever may have happened prior to the game.
Doesn't really matter. The game itself and the focus on what's what's the task at hand is what's most important. And as I sit here and i i look at My team here, each one of these members of the team has their game faces on. In the past couple of days within our school district, I've watched our faculty and staff put their game faces on. To support and work with our children. The past few days have been amongst the toughest days that I think that I've experienced Throughout my career which is my career Going to be 30 years next year.
My game face is on. Because truthfully, I'm heartbroken. By where we are. You know no parent, no parent teacher, no classmate should have to say goodbye to a child right we lost a third grade child in the Barton community. And then when you couple that with the loss of a principal who's a colleague, a friend a mentor to many. It's a profound level of grief i think that um you know that that impacts And hits us all. As I spent the last few days over at Joyce Kilmer, one of the things that the staff members wanted me to publicly express is just their love and their affection.
For their principal. I sat with staff members and said. Kwame, please make sure everybody knows how much we loved LaVonda Daniels. We loved her, Kwame. And this is no hyperbole this is a quote, beginning quote, end quote. The child over at Barton. An entire community rallied that young person to that young person to support that child. And, you know, even until the end I think with all that being said, as heartbroken as I am, the one silver lining that I have to say is that
There is such a tremendous amount of compassion such a tremendous amount of resilience, such a tremendous amount of heart that is evident within our community. Every one of our elementary schools, secondary schools sent staff flooding over to Joyce Kilmer. Yesterday to assist and to help out. Each one of these members of the team here ran over to that building and interacted with kids with their game faces on to allow our kids to the best day that they could
They could possibly experience. That is the type of unity Togetherness, collaboration. That we need within our community, especially during this time. You know, so I think… During times such as these, you know, it's important that those who are hurting particularly the barton community and the Kilmer community know that we are with them. They're not alone. We stand with them. We mourn with them.
And we're going to heal together. We'll grieve in our own ways. But we will heal together. And, you know, only time will allow that to happen. So just wanted to spend an opportunity just to share those regards and share those remarks. And also thank you to the board. I recognize your game faces are on this evening as well so Thank you for that. And I'll pass it back to you, Ms. Winters. Thank you. We are one community and and i think when one of us grieves, we all grieve together.
And… I have… I received and I know other board members received lots of messages and phone calls from people at Kilmer and Barton. I spent some time yesterday with Ms. Badron who called in the PTA president at kilmer And I think… what I want to say, what I'm most proud of is that our first impulse is how can I help? That is what I heard from literally everybody, from every board member I spoke to, from every community member I spoke to.
From people I spoke to at Zone PTA. Other schools the first thing I heard was how can I help? And I think that speaks to the character of this community. So to… to both communities you're grieving, we grieve with you. And then our next immediate question is, what can we do to support you? So moving forward, I will be listening. As I move around the district to find out what we can do to help. I've heard some really good ideas coming out of both communities about pieces they'd like to put in place.
And those will be conversations among the coming days. Just to echo your conversations, Dr. Morton, thank you for going immediately. You called me on your way over to Kilmer. Immediately to support that community over there. I know many of the administrative staff are over there too and made an impact and a difference. That was one thing that was said to me. I was told this person is here, this person is here, this person is here, and people noticed. Thank you to you and the administrative staff for rushing over there to do what needed to be done in a moment of crisis. We appreciate it and your leadership.
Moving on. Game face back on to our action agenda. I will move the curriculum and instruction agenda. The superintendent recommends and i move the following 14.1, approval of attendance and conference workshops for the 24-25 school year. 14.2, approval of attendance at conference and workshops for the 25-26 school year. And 14.3 approval of out-of-district student placement for the 24-25 school year. Is there a second? Dr. Braddock, are there any questions on the CNI agenda?
Seeing no questions, Ms. Shippers, please open the voting. Board members, you may cast your votes. And we have a unanimous yes vote. Thank you. Mr. Greenbaum, please move the BNF agenda. Thank you. Superintendent recommends and I move the following. 15.1, approval of minutes, board working session, special action meeting minutes, and executive session minutes dated March 11th, 2025.
15.2, approval of minutes, special meeting minutes and executive session minutes dated March 18th, 2025. 15.3, approval of minutes, regular meeting minutes, and executive session minutes dated March 25th, 2025. 15.4 financial reports. 15.5, resolution for the award of bids 15.6 resolution for the award of transportation And 15.7, acceptance of donations. This month we have a donation from the Cooper PTA to be used to purchase a portable gaga pit for recess at Cooper Elementary School.
A donation from the Manders family to be used for a scholarship in memory of East Graduate Class of 2019, Jacob Manders. At High School East and a donation from Sustainable Jersey to be used to further develop garden and SEL opportunities for students and staff at Beck Middle School. Do I have a second? Ms. Palmer. Any questions? Ms. Stern. I just want to make a comment you know we are a community that comes together And I want to mention our community came together when Jacob Manders passed away suddenly unexpectedly, tragically.
Just a few short months ago. So I see that his family is making a donation in his name. To a community that they love and are very dedicated to. So just want to really acknowledge that loss as well. Thank you for your comment and may his memory be a blessing. Are there any other questions or comments? Seeing none, Mrs. Sugars, please open the vote. Board members, you may cast your votes. Mr. Sugars, I just have to recuse myself from the fifth bill list for conflict of interest with employment with Maya.
Mrs. Sugars, I also need to recuse on payments to Bancroft on the fifth bill list. Similarly, Mrs. Sugars, I have to excuse myself from payments to effective school solutions. Also to avoid a conflict of interest. And Sugars, I'm going to recuse myself from bill list four.
Okay. So… Mrs. Sir Fane is recusing herself from Bill List 4. Dr. Dreisen is recusing himself from fifth bill list for Beata. Mr. Mayor is recusing himself from the ESS on the list and Ms. Palmer is recusing herself from Bancroft on the bills list. Other than that, we have a unanimous yes vote. Thank you. Mrs. Surefain, can you move the HR agenda, please?
Sure. The superintendent recommends and I move the following 16.1 termination of employment certificated. 16.2, termination of employment non-certificated 16.3 appointments certificated. 16.4 appointments non-certificated 16.5 leaves of absence certificated. 16.6 leaves of absence non-certificated 16.7, other compensation certificated and 16.8 other compensation, not certificated.
Do I have a second? Mr. Greenbaum, any questions or comments? Mrs. Stern? I have a few. So I just also want to thank a number of Very dedicated educators who are on this retirement list. I know Mrs. Ross Koff seems to have mentioned. Also, Mrs. Valleys, who's been a teacher for a long time in the district and i I've had personal experience with my own kids with her. Very dedicated teacher as well. I mean, Steve Redfern.
Kim Kaya Kiak is… retiring. And this is Abdul Rahman hasn't been with us as long, but she's made a real impact. And there are other names on here that I just maybe don't know them personally, but we just want to thank all these folks It's a heavy list. And then I also want to just speak to the appointment of Dr. Rick.
You know, when I heard the second Tragic, tragic news yesterday about Mrs. Daniels i mean i clearly more removed Then, you know, you, Dr. Morton, and your administration, your staff And the staff at Kilmer and the families at Kilmer very removed Compared to all of you who are in it day to day. You know. Really want to thank you. Our job as a board often can feel like we have to be the ones to oversee and look at accountability, but we also have to be the ones to support and acknowledge and recognize and appreciate
The all hands on deck immediately pivoting to support the support, the loving support from the staff and administration over at Barton on Friday. And pivoting to the loving and caring go right to go right to Kilmer, support those families immediately putting plans in place, immediately communicating with you know not just the very important Kilmer community, but also beyond supporting those teachers. I mean, it's just a shocking, shocking thing.
And tragic. You know just really want to thank you and all of all of the staff, all the administration. Thinking a lot about the families the kids hearing your decision about Dr. Rick to me was just the absolute right answer. You know, having sat Prior to my board service in the audience hearing about all the tumult of all the changes, hearing from parents when sitting here at the dais from parents, Kilmer parents.
About the frustration about the turnover with principals we finally had civility. Dr. Rick was a breath of fresh air. He was great in that building. I got to witness that. I'm really pleased and appreciative. That he's going to help the community whether whether through this tragedy. So I thank you for you and everybody who you work with. The support of your you know the leadership It's critically important. It's such a difficult time. So thank you.
Any other questions, Mr. Mayor? Yeah, I want to also echo Mrs. Stern's comments that you know often we We talk and we, you know, openly about nuts, bolts, money, plans, but not often enough about compassion and sensitivity. Dr. Morton, what you showed yesterday, today, and will in the coming days. For the affected school communities and for the wider school community and what your staff and the administration shows as a mirror of you and your leadership can't possibly be thanked of.
It doesn't go unnoticed. But it too often goes unacknowledged so i did not want tonight to be a night that that goes unacknowledged. I would like to make one couple of very brief comments about one of the retirement, intentionally doing so with her back to me so she can't, I can't see her faces. Which you might make just very briefly. Yeah, this is a pretty heavy list of of dedicated long-term educators in our district and it's a loss.
One in particular, Carol Roskopf, was a loss to the teaching staff When she came on board to administration, but again to administration and to the district As a whole, I will simply say As a teacher, since I had the opportunity to To see that upfront and personal with one of her students. Carol Roscoff was always a teacher who expected more of her students More importantly, she taught her students to expect more of themselves.
Not just in the English class, but throughout their educational careers and beyond. And that is a lesson Which will never truly be understood and probably until many of those students are older. And I've always thanked her for that. Many of her students may not thank her at the time for that. But the importance should not go truly remarkable and educator, a huge loss I look forward hopefully to seeing your exploits and your your travels. And I definitely look forward to hearing you at the microphone talking about I can't wait.
Any other board members have questions? Yes, Ms. Palmer. Very quickly, I want to echo my colleagues in thanking you, Dr. Morton, your team for how quickly you pivoted, the compassion you've shown. But especially in recognizing the unique situation that faces the Kilmer community and making the quick decision to move Dr. Rick, who obviously we had voted at a service interim at a different elementary school it's a unique situation. But honestly, if it were me, there's nobody else that I would rather. I think he'll bring a lot of stability. So I appreciate you recognizing that.
On a more personal note. I do want to congratulate Carol Roscob on her retirement. For those of you who don't know my background, Carol and I were colleagues When I worked for the township for a number of years, there were years when I kind of held out hope that Carol would still be a teacher at West when my kids got there. Obviously, they're not there yet. That dream went out the window a few years ago. But I want to thank you just for the years of service, the number of different ways that you've served this community for being a mentor. A role model as a woman in leadership in this community, as a public servant, as a genuinely good human.
I look forward to seeing all the Broadway shows that you get to go to, road trips with Mama Margaret. But just thank you for everything for everything you've done for the district, our students, our administration. Making this a better community. Good luck. Any other questions or comments, Mr. Greenba? Thank you. I also want to share a few words with Ms. Ruskov. I've known of you for a long time through your work with the township. And throughout that time have only heard amazing things about you as just a very passionate teacher that, you know, the kids always loved having you in their class And I've had the pleasure of working with you over the last year in your administrative role.
Something that always stood out to me is You always stand up for what's right and put others first. I've seen you respond to personal attacks, not by making it about yourself, but by standing up for others. And that's what I've always seen you do That's who I've gotten to know, someone who's always about being inclusive, ensuring everybody feels valued and like they belong. And I'm glad I got to work with you for the short time. And I wish you well in whatever comes next.
Any other questions or comments? Mrs. Winters? I'm going to roast Steve Redfern because he's not here tonight. I'm just kidding. I just need to say about Steve, I was on the negotiation team for the CHEA contract. And from what I had heard in the past, it had been a more contentious is I don't know if adversarial is too hard of a word for that, but definitely contentious process. And this time when we did it, it was time when we did it I think a different tenor and tone among the negotiation team. Not that we always agreed with each other, but that we weren't disagreeable.
And I think that's a testament to Steve's leadership. I wish him the best of luck in his new role. We're sad to see him go, but I think that the foundation that he laid for collaboration and cooperation between board administration and CHEA and through his work in LMC will remain. I think that the collaborative tone the ability to speak to each other, to work together, to consider other people's opinions and points of view, even when they're different than ours. I think that's the legacy that he leaves in the district.
I just want to say a brief note about Ms. Abdul Rahman. And she goes, Gigi the penguin, the best thing that ever happened to this district. Ask any elementary student and we will miss you. For everything that you put in to elementary math in your tenure here. It always brought a smile to my face to see you go out to the elementary schools and interact with the kids. And ignite in them that passion for math. So thank you for your time here. We appreciate it.
That's all I have to say tonight. Thank you. Okay, anybody else? Questions, comments? Seeing none, the sugars, can you please open the vote? When members, you may cast your votes. Sugars in solidarity with the Kilmer community who suffered an unspeakable loss i want to verbally Yes, it's my vote. Ms. Sugars, I'm going to abstain from 16.8, but yes, for everything else.
Okay, we have one abstention, Mrs. Schofain on item 16.8. Other than that, we have a unanimous yes vote. Thank you, Mr. Sugars. Moving on to P&L. Mr. Mayor, can you move the P&L agenda, please? Indeed. The superintendent recommends I move the following item 17.1, approval of harassment. Intimidation and bullying investigation decisions. Those were the ones which we discussed on April 8th of 2025. Item 17.2, resolution to remove people from enrollment in the Cherry Hill School District. That was the result of the hearing was which we held.
Earlier. Item 17.3, first reading of policy, and that is simply a That was the first reading to align longstanding district practice to the language of the policy. To make it that much clearer that staff, administration staff are not to transport sick or injured children. And that they were only to be transported by approved ambulance or EMT or parents.
Item 17.4, approval of waiver of policy 2340 field trips. That would be to allow the Cherry Hill East Robotics team to compete in the National Robotics Competition in Dallas, Texas. 17.5 approval of policy 511.2. Open enrollment and 17.6 approval of the waiver policy 551. Board member participation at board meetings using electronic and electronic device.
Do I have a second? Mrs. Sherffaine. Are there any questions? And Mrs. Sugars, would you kindly open the voting? Board members, you may cast your votes. We have a unanimous yes vote.
Thank you so much, Mr. Sugars. There are no agenda items under governance, but in a twist. We do have the governance committee meeting report out under new business this evening. So I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Gallagher. Yes. Hello. Thank you. So governance, we had a later committee meeting this month. That's why I'm doing the report out now. We met last Tuesday, April 23rd at 530 in the conference room. And we had, you'll notice that I had to cross on, we didn't get to everything. So we discussed um I don't have the date written here but in March, end of March, we had our quarterly evaluation with dr morton
And we discussed how that went how things were going. And then I really felt like our training on the 23rd the next night provided some good ideas for organization moving forward regarding evaluation cycles and goal setting. We also discussed our strategic planning. The full schedule is in one of our memos, so I don't need to go through it all, but we did discuss that in order to kind of streamline the process of discussing the strategic plan.
Committees would take the lead on certain priorities so committee meetings Next week, look at the schedule next week it's not going to be the normal schedule. So it'll be listed in our weekly email. So just, I just want to say that out so people C and I will look at priority one and five BNF will look at priority two, special education will look at priority three and then Communications, we'll look at priority four.
And then new business which we didn't really discuss, but I did. I'm just going to add it in here. All of our training that we've done this year with NJSBA is in the governance SharePoint. Under training, I want to kind of make like a training library. So it has all the slides from NJSBA and the YouTube link. So if you want to watch the meeting, you can do so. And as we do more trainings i'll add those or more Sorry, this is vigilita will add them to the SharePoint. So we will do that so that we all we can have like, I'm kind of thinking like for new board members, if they want to go and look at all the trainings that we've done.
And then, um, and then We're still scheduling the date, but governance will have a public meeting next week. I think it'll be Wednesday. At six, but look for the schedule just to confirm that. And if anybody would like to be a fourth. We're always looking. I thought we were thinking about Monday. Was it Monday? That's why it's late. I know. It's Monday. I thought we were talking. You're right. Okay. I don't know why I was thinking Wednesday. Yes, we were thinking Monday. But if anybody would like to join as a fourth member, it'll be Monday.
Potentially at six o'clock. So if anybody just let me know. So any questions or any comments from current members first and then Did I miss anything? That was fast. Ms. Stern. Yes, and I I don't know if I missed it in some of the communications that we've gotten, but I know you've been focusing on board member certification and JSBA certification. Have we gotten anything? Are you going to be giving us like recommended like trainings that you want us to take or, you know, are you is there any direction that we're going to be given Well, so I guess I kind of have sat on it because we haven't technically made it a goal yet.
Got it. Okay. I've reached like some people have presented like they're, and I can send it to like I asked NJSBA back in, I think it was January, I said, is there like a schedule that they recommend And they said no. So there is a list of Trainings online that we can choose from but we're not limited to those. But since we haven't technically made it a goal yet, I haven't really kind of formalized the plan yet, if that makes sense.
So once we get through goals, we can sit down and start to really kind of formulate how we're going to attack that as like a yearly a yearly um a yearly management so that we get to the certification within the four years. Yeah, Mrs. Winters. Just so you know, Mr. And there's also individual board member certification. So the process that governance is managing is full board certification. Which includes the trainings that we're going to And that piece of it. But then individual board members can also be certified through NJSBA.
If you want to look into that. I actually just signed up for a board president training in June to learn how to be a board president Because as you may have noticed, I'm flying by the seat of my pants. So I figured some training was warranted. But there's lots of training opportunities that are offered. And if you go into your member profile in NJSBA, it will show you any checkpoints that you've hit already and what you would also need to complete if you wanted to become a certified member individually. In addition to the board certification. I'll send you the list. Sometimes I can find the link and sometimes I can't.
Of the um of the the menu that NJSBA has. And if you have any recommendations I mean, if I could… And that would be helpful. I think I was like, are we going to get any guidance? Are we going to get any, you know, look here? And I understand now the timeline. Whatever you're pointing us in the direction of in terms of individual certification, in terms of you know a board full board certification I mean, there's lots of great trainings that we get notifications and in years past, I've done some of them, but it's been a while and
You know, there are sometimes cyclical. So yeah, if you send that out, I mean, I'd be interested. Maybe other people are too but um just knowing kind of like what are the criteria and you know what are we you know what are you recommending even Even if it's not a full goal yet, or we can wait till goals because that's coming up soon. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. Anybody, Mrs. Chaffane? I'm curious. Not to put you on the spot. My apologies. But I see that it says that you were planning on compiling all of our feedback from the strategic planning their strategic plan that we had by today so is today so
Were you able to do such tasks? Yes, I was. Okay. So is there any plan that we will be able to to see all of that? Okay. I was going to email Dr Morton After the meeting, I always feel weird emailing people when they're sitting next to me. To request that the compiled notes be put onto SharePoint. Perfect. I'll send the email too, but I just feel weird. But yes. And we'll put them in the strategic planning folder so that it's all there. And maybe, yeah, so that everybody has access.
And we can all see everybody's, it's all and not it's all It's anonymous. So like nobody knows specifically whose comments are whose But everybody will be capable of seeing all the comments. Okay. I just think, yeah, that's helpful because I feel like a lot I mean, I just I'm thinking about it from my perspective. So being able to see everyone else's before our limited amount of time to discuss it, I think will be really helpful. So hopefully by like, let's say tomorrow, Thursday at the latest, they'll be up. Awesome. Thank you. All right, any other comments, questions?
All right, perfect. Thank you. Thank you so much. Any other new business this evening? Any old business this evening? Dr. Dreisen. Yes. Can we just go back to 7.2? Because I've been trying to follow protocol. I guess I just a clarification and then potential comment. Mr. Greenbaum, you commented during the public comment. Was that speaking on behalf of yourself? Or on behalf of the board. I was speaking as a board member at the board table with a point of clarification just to Correct some information. So just Since we're in a public format, I just felt compelled because if it
Came across from the board I do have a hope, as this has been communicated previously. That we can work with more urgency around some safety issues, particularly vestibules. For example, I'd asked about it before and i asked um I understand the explanations given, but The reality, from my perspective. This is hard, but like the training last week said that we should try to be more direct and transparent with each other. I do think literally some schools are physically safer than others right now. In our district based on the vestibule, for example. So I just didn't want that comment to come across as representation from the board that all of these items have been addressed.
I know that we're working on them, but I'm just one board member, but I do hope that we can continue to work on some of these safety issues. Certainly. And when it comes to on construction projects vestibules My comment was simply that we have discussed The different time frames and the scope of work and considerations for each. Some have been done, some are scheduled for the future. Thank you for your comment. Anybody else with any old business? Seeing no old business, I am going to move on to Second public comment, which is really third public comment.
This is the public comment section where you can comment on any topic. If you would like to speak now, please clearly state your name and your municipality. We will alternate between speakers here in the room and those that are online. Each speaker will be given a maximum of three minutes to speak and the timer on the screen will indicate the amount of time you have remaining. Public comment is an opportunity for members of the community to comment on matters relevant to the operations. Of Cherry Hill Public School District or within the authority of the Cherry Hill Board of Education. The board welcomes diverse opinions on relevant matters under established federal law governing reasonable restrictions on speech public forums.
Statements which domain individual community members or groups or which are irrelevant to the operations of the school district or repetitious will not be permitted. Community members who would like to present information not relevant to the school district are always welcome to communicate directly to the district superintendent, board president, and all board members via email or other alternative means. Hi. And starting in the room as we do. I'll open second public comment. Alana Yaris, Cherry Hill, Chair of the Fair Funding Committee, a division of Zone PTA.
I just wanted to clarify that the next meeting of the Fair Funding Committee is Thursday, May 22nd. And then you can enjoy your Memorial Day weekend with a four day weekend because school is closed on Friday and Monday. I think everyone in Cherry Hill should attend these meetings. They're on Zoom. They are no more than 45 minutes because in case you didn't know, I have seven children and And I want them to get to bed And so I can only devote 45 minutes at most to a meeting.
Last meeting, there was a very cute baby on for 30 minutes of our 40 minute meeting and we received I'd say in air quotes privileged information because Mr. Oskoff had put in for her retirement, but the Fair Funding Committee knew before the rest of the public, because she shared with us because she attends our meetings, because The district cares and sends their staff, the board cares and sends a board member. So I just, I mean, come to our meetings we discussed future, what the fair funding committee is going to do, because we know that raising your taxes is terrible and the state sucks at giving us money and how to pester them but
Make sure they hear us. So we are only doing fair funding Friday and reaching out in whatever way you feel is most prevalent to you, whether that be phone call, email, social media. So, you know, check out our Facebook pages, email fairfundingchps at gmail.com and I'll get you on our list and minutes from our meetings. Thanks. Thank you for your comment. Going to the line, the phone number ends in 788. Please unmute. Give us your name and municipality.
Thank you, Dr. Potowitz. Thank you for your comment this evening. Going back to the room, is there anyone who would like to make second public comment this evening? Please approach the mic, state your name and municipality. I'm in person this time. I'm not in the car. All right. Christy Vedron, Cherry Hill. All right, I'm going to try and do this. As all of you know, our community was shattered by the boss of our beloved principal Daniels. On behalf of the PTA, I would like to sincerely thank the administration, first of all.
For their openness with information to our parents when we walked into the building. The amount of staff that was in that building was absolutely amazing. I would like to thank every single one that dropped everything and ran to our school to help our students and our staff. Today, as I sent my fifth grader into school and do a huge unknown. I knew that there will be people there to support her and her friends.
Through all of their difficult moments. When I received notice of our new interim possible principal. I felt a huge sense of relief that we would have someone who would heal our hearts. So I sincerely thank everyone who has reached out to us. My phone has not stopped ringing since 11 o'clock yesterday with everybody asking us what they could do. And I'm letting everybody know publicly that we have things that we are Coming up with. And we will definitely be in touch. But once again, I thank everyone for rallying around our kids And our staff members. So it's been a very difficult 24 hours.
Again, thank you very much for approving and bringing Dr. Rick. And I hope you find someone for Stockton. Thank you very much. Thank you, Christy. Going back online, I don't see anyone with their hand up going back to the room. Is there anyone who would like to make a public comment? Rich Shore Cherry Hill. Being… Being an advocate for safety is, you know, I've been doing it now since 2016.
Kind of been saying the same thing over and over again Can't believe we can't get this done right. The question is, you know, maybe you get too emotionally attached to it but I got to say i remember i got to say place I was when I heard that there were Seven shots fired at West. I remember the exact spot. I remember… that the bullets came maybe 50 yards from my children sitting in the stands.
I also remember the exact spot I was standing When I heard about the bus accident. Now, Madam President, Adam Greenball, you just challenged me here. Sir, I sent you an email on 413. Please address your comments through the chair. Okay, chair. Madam President, I sent an email to Mr. Greenbaum at On 413 at 1.52 p.m. I also sent another email to Mr. Greenball and dr morton I didn't get a reply on that one. I also sent an email on 416 at 7.08 p.m.
In my final email, I did say I do give positive compliments. Thank you for your consideration. I didn't hear anything. But yet again. Madam Chair, Mr. Greenbaugh did not say anything about the PTA zone report. Where is the PTA zone report? Also. Mr. Greenbaugh mentioned that he has $16 million a year what have you actually physically bought to improve bus safety.
Please tell me, have you bought a cone? Have you bought a bullard? How many years I've been talking about bulldards? And the angles that these pickups are for an accident to happen. Mr. Greenville also mentioned that you know, check the design, Mr. Short. Of the stadium of improvements well I remember the design improvements pretty well. And I'm Very interested to see the Oprah that i that i placed With Ms. Winters.
Which I still didn't have. I don't know technically i didn't know. If it was seven working days, I should have had it before the meeting. Business days, if you're off. For business days, then technically it's not business days, but I'm still waiting for the Oprah of actually what the project looks like. And again. There's more to this story and i will be more Back again, advocating.
Because you've done nothing from PTA zone. Thank you for your comments. Looking back online, I don't see anyone online. Is there anyone in the room who would like to comment? If this is too tangential, stop me. Kurt Braddock, Cherry Hill. Dr. Braddock, you're speaking as a private citizen. Private citizen of Cherry Hill. Some of you may have seen a few days ago a baseball league for disabilities whose name is escaping me right now of the Miracle League, based in Cherry Hill.
Had a lot of equipment stolen, a lot of baseball equipment stolen. The reason I bring it up here. Is that I saw that many of our awesome students at East and West came together and started getting word out to get word equipment back to this league. I just want to say that if anybody else wants to help this league. I'm going to read directly from the courier poster information you can read out. Members of the Camden County, New Jersey Miracle League play their spring season games on weekends in Boundless Field and Challenge Grove Park off of Borton's Mills Road.
It's for children and adults with disabilities. The official program founded and operated by Bill Jakes Place, Boundless Field is next to Jake's Place all-inclusive playground. Also on Borton's Mill Road. Equipment can be left with the Department of Events and Community Outreach at 1301 Park Boulevard in Cherry Hill. And more information is available through Karen Widener or Weidner. I apologize, Karen, if you ever hear this. If I mispronounce your last name, County Director of Programming for Individuals with Disabilities or by calling 866 216-2127.
I reached out to Karen and from what I've heard, the response from not just the school district, but Cherry Hill generally has been Fantastic. But if you want to help use that information. Thank you. Thank you for your comment. Looking back online, I don't see anyone online. So going back to the room, please approach the microphone. Give us your name and municipality. Laurie Neary, Cherry Hill. I just want to say first and foremost, thank you to the board and Dr. Morton for your comments earlier. Obviously. Not a great week for the community. And I just want to say that it's okay for folks to not be okay and that they're not okay.
Because it shows your humanity and your care for everybody in the community. We cannot agree we can not get things right. But we know that everybody is coming with the best of intentions so i I really appreciate that. We haven't always seen that in the past from previous administrations board and it's nice to see that acknowledgement And it's okay that everybody is not okay. I also like to thank the acknowledgement by the board wearing blue for autism acceptance month as we close this month out Personally, for me, it is a very difficult time for our community And I really appreciate outward show.
I know that many in the community Now, I don't want to say many. There are some in the community who struggle with DEI. Inclusion benefits everyone. And right now we're going backwards on that front. And I know many of our students and adults and community members on the autism spectrum feel very isolated and targeted right now.
And you have to stand and speak for everyone. Whether you're black, brown, trans, disabled, and disabled crosses intersects all areas of life. So I will stand here and say I hope that you continue to stand will make me unpopular and I don't mind that. It wouldn't be the first time and I did many unpopular things when I was on the board. However, I do believe that it matters. We need to care. We need to stand up for it.
You know, my son poured his heart out. In front of the public for Senator Andy Kim to hear about, he is scared. So I hope that we stand up for those children and we keep fighting for that. It's not a bad thing. Including people never hurts. So thank you for that. Thank you for your comment. Next person to approach the mic. Is there anybody on the line? There is no one on the line. Great. Andy McElvain, Cherry Hill.
I made an earlier comment about this being more than 30 years that I've done this kind of thing. I started out in 1991, 1992 as the Kilmer budget representative. One of the things that impresses me about tonight's meeting is how little things have changed in the last 30 years. And I think that's a condemnation of the educational funding process.
I just wanted you to know that The… the kinds of discussions that we had in the 90s and the 2000s today, they haven't changed and they haven't changed for one basic reason, and that is this. That the four formulas that have been in effect since I started 31 years ago. Are all based on the notion of property values. That may be appropriate for an agrarian society.
But when was the last time your home wrote you a check? It doesn't happen. So as based on that fiction, there is no way in the world that this state is going to come up with a formula however they do it, that if it's based on property values is going to not penalize Communities like Cherry Hill. It is financially impossible.
So I commend you all for the efforts that you make. For the care that you give to our kids I hope. That I am wrong. About the future of the funding formula. But if I'm not. This is only the beginning. I think you appreciate that. That's the the vibe that I get from this group. And again, I appreciate all of your work I wish there were better answers.
I don't have any. I wish I did. And good luck to you. Good luck to our kids. Good luck to public education. Thank you all for doing what you do. Thank you for your comment. We appreciate it. There's no one online going back to the room. Is there anyone else who would like to make a public comment? Dr. Yoniars, it's been a while. Sorry, help. I emailed this to the admin team and to Adam and Gina, but want to show the rest of the I've known about the crisis team since I was a student. I've shared often that I was during the suicide pandemic of Cherry Hill.
I didn't realize the impact of it till yesterday when it was there for my children. And today, and it'll be there for several more days. We are blessed to have an admin team that gets going. They are facing the trauma of their own. Our teachers are facing a massive trauma of their own. As an educator There are two worst nightmares for us. Losing a student and losing a colleague. Both those happened this week on Cherry Hill. And we have a team here that leaves with their heart. That puts themselves behind to be able to put everybody else together. Hearing yesterday, there were two emergency faculty meetings going on. My kids knew something was off.
But they weren't quite sure what was going on because they were able to keep the game faces on, as Dr. Morton shared. It was a very difficult conversation. I was blessed that my vice principal let me leave work early so that I could be there with my wife when we had this horrible conversation with our three daughters. We live and breathe Kilmer. We've joked. We're going to be there for a very, very, very long time. And to see what took place, I don't think my family will be able to express our gratitude to what you have done. I was on the phone last night with Dr. Rick calling just because he's a friend.
Bringing him back was the best thing that could ever happen. He is a giant teddy bear. My kids are already like, wait, this Wildcat Wednesday is going to come back? That he is going to bring things and more importantly for the staff, he's going to bring a level of stability and a level of care That staff has been through hell to put it bluntly. Even before this, they are still recovering from the trauma of other people who have been in the building and trying to get through it, but they have shown up to work day in and day out. The most important thing for the parents is make sure you give time. And I asked this of the admin team.
Take time for yourselves. I've been there, done that. I lost a friend in college and I was there. Doing what you guys do, running crisis. And eventually when it was done, I broke down. You're going to face it. Give your time and self to do that. Your mental health matters just as much as our kid's mental health. We need you at your completest because It's not getting any easier. So from the bottom of my heart, just thank you. There's really only more I can say is that thank you for everything you guys did on Friday for Clara Barton. Monday, we'll be doing the rest of this week as we all trudge through.
And figure out what comes next. Thank you. Thank you for your comment. I don't see anyone else online. Is there anyone else in the room who would like to make a public comment tonight? And I'm going to close second public comment and turn it over to the superintendent for superintendent's comments. Thank you, Ms. Wanters. Just two quick comments. There's a question about the number of preschool students enrolled. So in total, we have 41 classrooms, 615 children in total.
114 of those children are part of our preschool students with disabilities portion of the program, but 501 is the actual number of preschool expansion eight students. So those are the general ed students. So 501 is that number We've worked with the State Department of Early Childhood to identify that number. And the only other comment, there are questions about Contingency planning as it relates to federal funding.
So we have not been given any specifics as it relates to any sanctions or funding that's going to be withheld? From the federal government. There was a letter that the commissioner, New Jersey Commissioner of Education. Issued indicating that the state is in compliance with the Title IX guidelines. Other than that, we've been advised not to respond directly to US Department of Education. And we're doing just that. With that, I'll say thank you to everyone for their comments and have a great night.
Thank you so much, Dr. Morton, for all you do. Today and all the days. I make a motion to adjourn. Do I have a second? Ms. Palmer, all those in favor? The meeting is adjourned.