##VIDEO ID:v8KvST1puVI## Good evening. Please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. to read our public notice. A little bit out of order here, but we'll do it. Public notice of this meeting pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act has been given Secretary, on November 25th in the following manner. November 25th, 2024 in the following manner. Posted notice on the school bulletin board at the administration building transmitted to the courier post, Philadelphia Inquirer and the Clerk of Cherry Hill Township. Mrs. Sugars, can you please call the role? Mrs. Surefain? Here. Mrs. Gallagher. Here. Mr. Greenbaum. Here. Mr. Mayor? Here. Dr. Rood? Here. Mrs. Niaz? Here. Mrs. Tong. Here. Mrs. Winters? Here. Ms. Stern. Here. Okay. Tonight we do not have any board recognition And we do not have any presentations. But we do have an administrative report. And that is going to be a project update, I believe. So this is sugars. We go right to you if you would be able to give us the administrative report. All right, so we thought tonight we would give an update on where we are with some of our larger projects. We're not going to talk about everything tonight, but we're going to talk about some of the ongoing larger projects that we have going right now The first one we're going to talk about is our all-purpose room additions. We have six of our elementary schools that are getting all purpose room additions. I tried to put these in the order of their progress. The first one that we have here is Sharp Elementary School. This is the one that over the summer was the last one in line. Kingston is the first one in line. So Sharp is the one that just now is getting the steel erection done. they'll be getting their roofing at some point. But they're still working on getting their brick put up. The CMU is done, but the brick is still going up. And so you can see here. the status of sharp. Next in line with our green wall panels, we have Barton Elementary. There was a very large crane there today. Couldn't even get the whole thing in the picture, but… They are moving along there as well. That's the second. They do not have their roof yet but um They are working on that. I believe that's probably what was delivered today. And that's why the crane is there. But Barton is moving along as well. Very active construction site today when we stopped by to visit. Next, we have man. Man is, they're working on the interior of the building at this point. They have their roofing and their windows in. And so that project there is moving right along. And then we have Johnson, our yellow brick building with the blue there. That also has been enclosed and they are working on the interior at this point. And then night. So night is moving along as well. They are second in line in terms of work getting done. And they are working on the interior in that building as well at this point. And then this is the inside of Kingston. I know some of you had the opportunity to visit Kingston over the summer. And so you can see What progress has been made there? This is primed and getting ready for paint. So we're excited that that building is moving right along there. And then also the playground is open. And this is also a picture of the exterior of the building as well. So we're very excited for that project to be moving along. In addition to the all-purpose rooms, we have our Carusi renovations. You may recall that The Carusi project is being done in four phases. We are just about to complete the first phase. which is the renovation of A Wing with the gym and the locker rooms. This will wrap up in the next couple of weeks. They're working on the main office area and the locker rooms right now to finish that part up. And then as you can see, we have three other phases that will carry us over the next couple of years. This project has already been fully bid. We are already working with the contractor, which is Newport Construction, and they will be doing all four phases all four phases of this project. So you can see here the before and after with the main office area. Dr. Birdie, you may recognize your old office there. So that project is moving right along. It's very bright. It's very welcoming, looks clean with the new paint and the trim there. And then I had to dig up this old picture. I just had to because when you see the difference in the locker rooms, it's pretty shocking. what was there before and what we're moving towards now. We have bathrooms being installed in the locker rooms. If you notice in the picture in the bottom right with the lockers, there's an epoxy floor that has been installed. Also at the top with the cages, that will be storage for both athletics and for the gym. gym equipment so Moving right along there. Then we have the gymnasium with the new bleachers, the curtain has been installed. And I thought this picture was very telling. This is on the right is the gym lobby. And when you look down the hallway, just the difference in the lighting is striking. They are. It's just striking how much the difference is there and how overdue they are for an update. So we are also doing preschool editions. That's through Rod Grants. That's not bond referendum work, but that's through our Rod grants. And we will be adding eight classrooms at Comer and eight classrooms at Malburg. They're going to be very similar in design and size and layout. Also at Malburg, they will get 13 individual toilet rooms added to existing classrooms. And Kilmer will get two new playgrounds. So they will get a preschool playground and they will get a playground for the other children there as well. So they just started that project. There's not a whole lot to see there yet. But they're moving right along, trying to get somewhat of a shell in place before the really cold winter strikes. So they're moving right along. there, their contractual completion date is December 20th of 2025. upcoming projects you may have seen on the agenda that we have the Rosa Middle School bid out right now. That bid opening is scheduled for December 10th and hopefully we will be awarding that at the next board meeting. The Lewis vestibule here, that will be a four to six week project that we anticipate will start after winter break. And Carusi Middle School, we have been negotiating temporary classroom units and we expect that installation to begin in April of 2025. There is a lot of site work that has to occur. There's connections with electrical, plumbing. PA systems, all of those things that have to happen. So if we get them in in April. we will be ready to go by the time school starts in September. In design, we have the Beck Middle School project. we had uh we had part of that project already designed, the main entrance area. It was a previous project that the board had not moved forward with. So we still have that design ready to go. We will include some other areas of the building in that as well. And we expect that to be out to bid in February of 2025. And the West Stadium, which is lighting and ADA accessibility, that work will be out to bid in the spring and will start after the fireworks on July 4th. Next on our list, our tentative list, 2026, we're looking at the Auditorium for East. In 2027, F-Wing at East and the Auditorium at West. We want to be sure that the district has an auditorium available to them. We don't want to take both of them offline at the same time. So that's what's what on the short list right now coming up. So I wanted to talk briefly about the financial piece. I know that there has been questions about the financial piece and what that looks like. I know that when we get our new website. we will have some kind of dashboard on it where we have financial information. But I just wanted to share, this is what we share with the board every month so they understand where we what we have spent and what projects have been completed and what are in progress. So as you can see from this, we have spent of the 363 million, we have spent 104, almost 105 million of that. So just shy of 30% of the funding has been committed. And that is to a combination of soft cost and professional fees. and construction fees we have just under $260 million in funds remaining. And you can see there the list of the projects that we have completed or started. And what we are currently working on. So we have completed most of the roofing work and some of the site work and playgrounds. VAT tile and lockers at Rosa. And currently, just as we just saw, we are working on Playgrounds, HVAC, APRs. And the renovations at Carusi. Just to keep track of where we are. The final column, we really don't put numbers into that column until The project is completed. There's allowances, there's change orders, things of that nature that have to be considered. And so we do have some shortages and some overages in that last column there. But overall, we are trending well. With about $456,000. to the good in terms of the projects that have been completed. So this gets shared with the board each month. We also give them a breakdown by school of what that looks like. So that they can keep track of the spending and what it looks like. Are there any questions? Just want to say this is exciting. It's great to see. And I know we're not you know we're a third of the way through but Financially, but that much to the good is good to hear as well. Really good to hear for our taxpayers. Thank you. Okay, thank you so much, Mrs. Sugars. We will move on. to correspondence. Do any board members have any correspondence? Mrs. Winters. So last week I attended an NJSBA webinar. It was a fall legislative update. And it was a run through of all the bills that are currently pending in the legislature that we might want to keep track of. But the one that I think we'll all be interested in is Senator Gopal has dropped a bill. It's S-3917. It has to do with the school funding formula. Which we're all feeling impending. I don't want to say doom or dread, but I feel like everybody's having feelings about what our funding is going to look like next year. So the text of that bill is currently not available yet. This is not uncommon in the legislature where the text is unavailable. But it will be discussed on Thursday and the Senate Education Committee. I'll be listening to that meeting. from what the NJSBA liaison said, they think the bill is going to have to do with tax cap flexibility. with increased funding for extraordinary special education aid. And one thing that we talked about last year during the budget was smoothing out the fluctuations in year to year funding, which is something that is important. changing how the local fair share is calculated. And also, which I thought was really interesting, was greater transparency to the districts and how that aid is calculated so that we can understand the calculations. Because last year, I think for a while, all of us were puzzling over where the number came from and why it was so unexpected. So like I said, there is no text available yet to the public. This was just what I heard on the meeting. The meeting is available on YouTube publicly if anybody wants to watch it. this bill was discussed at the very end. And like I said, it's up for discussion only, so no vote, just discussion only on Thursday in Senate education. So if anything exciting happens, I will be sure to report back and I'll keep following it action is expected in the month of December. So if there are any changes to the funding formula, I'll let you guys know. Thank you. Any other board members have correspondence? So I was at the Spirit Week dance last night at last night last week at East which is why I missed the meeting. I made the decision to attend that instead. My last year having kids in that school and in that dance. So it's getting a little nostalgic and I made that decision was really cool. seniors were sorely disappointed that the juniors won the dance part of the competition. Disappointed is a nice word. There were some other words that I could use. But of course, the seniors won the overall. So, you know, that was okay. But it was a nice night and saw a lot of a lot of uh Great to see the kids, you know. doing their thing. And before that, I got a chance to go see Rocky, the musical. some people at this table know a little bit of something about that. Really, really an amazing performance. Very impressed, as always. At West, some kids we know involved in the musical. So it's just, you know, another amazing production of the west theater productions. So anyway. just you know great singing, great performance, really good acting and Something that is always noticeable to me and was again this year was the level of inclusivity of our students. there's a place and a room room for everyone to participate who wants to in our theater program. And there was you know there was participation that of of kind of you know representation visually of inclusivity and also not always so visual but representation that you know I just really appreciate what it means for, you know, we talk a lot about belonging. And for students to have a place to be part of something that is so positive and successful and so much so enjoyable. That's great. So always a shout out to West Theater. You know, just always impressed with the work that's done there and the dedication of everybody involved so Thank you. I think that was all. All right. Any other correspondence from board members? All right, we move on to our First public comment. It's not even 7 o'clock yet. Look at that. Okay, I'm not jinxing. Okay. So this is our first public comment section. students always have the opportunity to speak first about any school related topic during our first public comment. However, the non-students, the adults who are not students. can speak. on our board action items only items 17 through 20. And there, of course, will be a second public comment period, which is an opportunity for any adult to speak on any school related topic, not just our action items. So if you are a student in the district. and you would like to speak now. If you are online, please put an S after your name. If you're in the room, you're more than welcome to approach the microphone and speak there. If you are an adult speaking when you come up to the microphone. Please be sure to identify the agenda item you are speaking on and everybody at the microphone, please state your full name and your municipality. We will alternate between speakers who are here in the room and those who are online, and each speaker will have a a maximum of three minutes to speak. The timer on the screen will indicate the amount of time 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 We're within the authority of the Chair 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 war groups were irrelevant to the operations of the school district. district or a repetitist will not be supported. 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. And with that, we start in the room I don't see anybody at the microphone. see someone approaching the microphone. Please state your full name, your municipality, and the action item you are speaking on. It's just so crowded. I didn't want to be first. Anne Einhorn Cherry Hill, New Jersey, 11.2. Is this for the ensuing school year of 2526 for the acceleration program or is it a continuation of this year's, and I'm not even sure if it's still ongoing acceleration, high impact tutoring. Because I know that we receive monies for 2425. What is this for 2526 or ongoing for 2425? And what student population will it affect? Thank you. Okay, we go back to the line. or to the line. And I see one hand And it's a phone number that ends in 788. Please state your full name, your municipality, and the action item you're speaking on. My name is Jeff Podowitz. I live in Cherry Hill and it's 17.2 and 17.1. First 17.2, it's the resolution Authorizing the acceptance of building capacity for career pathways and comprehensive schools. It's about vocational education. The grant started in March 1st of 2022 and it ends June 30th, 2026. It gives us approximately $168,000 a year, and that doesn't even come close to the expense of vocational programs that are very, very expensive. And I've said this before, hugely expensive. I'd like to know what exactly has this and will this cost? I mean, the equipment alone, I mean, is unbelievably expensive. Just look at what Camden County Vocad or Burlington County look at what the aid they get is. This is really costing us a lot of money. How much? I don't know, but it would be interesting to know how much it is. And moving forward how much It will be. So I would say vote no, but you've voted yes already. But 168,000, what is that? The cost of maybe Two teachers, three teachers. The other is 17.1. Very good approval of workshops. Yeah, approval of workshops. Let's look at the XXFXSW education conferences, South by South Wars Education Conference. The total cost for two staff members will be about $5,000. It's a couple of days and it's a beautiful San Antonio, Texas. And I mean beautiful. I really saw a promotional video and the promotional video is just unbelievable how what it talks about is it's the crossroads of technology, of culture and philosophy, of history, of heritage. It is a place, it's a wonderful meeting of the minds and you you bring people together and the key advisors say that this generation of founders, it talks about the next generation of founders, that this is a multi-trillion dollar industry. And it is one you could build companies from. It's really amazing. And the video was amazing. And I think everyone should read So to listen to that video. Really, everyone should just listen to that video. SW Educational Conference. I would say, why don't you do something that doesn't cost $5,000 for two teachers. Why don't you do it for like a thousand or a conference for 1,000 and to $1,500. And take that other money and maybe the leftover $2,000 or $3,000 and put it towards tutoring. put it towards a tutoring grant. Because really, I mean, got to listen to that promotional video. I mean, they have such, I mean. multi-trillion dollar industry. Thank you, Dr. Potowitz. Your time is up. Thank you. We go back to the room. Not a single person at the microphone. When you go back online. Not a single hand raised. I'm going to close first public comment. And we will move on to our Committee of the Whole. And we will start with… Mrs. Winters, could you please lead our discussion? for our CNI. committee sure so cni has a few items on tonight I'm going to ask Ms. Stafford to help me out with some of the description. The first one is a research request. And it's Kennesaw State University. Good evening. Kennesaw University received a $3.5 million grant in which they're studying the implementation of AAPI studies. Asian American Pacific Islander studies into curriculum. They've approached us because they know that it is a state mandate that it be part of our curriculum. And we have a course in AAPI studies that is offered to the students at both high schools. So the grant allows them to do research and then in turn provide us with resources and additional enhancements for that programming. They'll be doing some interviewing and some onsite work. And so they've presented their research proposal to us. So that is that particular piece of it. Any board members have questions about the research request? Okay, the next thing is a grant acceptance. It says year three of the Centers of Workforce Innovation with Camden County College. Yes, so that particular grant is part of Camden County College in their expansion of esports programming. So we had received that grant last year and they have extended it again to us this year this year's grant funding will be $3,000 to each of the high schools and $1,000 each to the middle schools for to where there are esports programming. Right now we're looking at the high schools into the broadcasting and communications. program to see that we can expand that. And then for the middle schools, we'll look at their esports clubs and programming as well. Excellent. Do any board members have questions about the grant? All right, the third thing is I think it's sort of like a preview of updates to the course of study booklet for 2526. It is. So just know that the course requests have come in in terms of new courses to be proposed. into the course of study, and we will be doing a full presentation to the CNI Committee on January 7th. and to the full board on January 14th with all of the changes to the course of study as well as all the additions. So it was more like a teaser trailer for a course of study. I'm very excited. It's one of my favorite things every year And I would also like to ask you on 11.2 if you could just clarify the additional high impact tutoring money that we're receiving. Yes. So the Department of Education has awarded us because we were one of the original awardees of the original grant For high impact tutoring, they came back to all of us and provided just a small sum of money for this school year. So again, we'll be looking at fourth grade right now in English and mathematics. recognizing the data from NJSLA and noticing some of those trends. So we've just started reading the RFPs to award the vendors for that grant, but that was an extension of the grant from last year. So last year's grant ended August 30th. And then we got information from the DOE in September that they had a small amount of money to give all the awardees for this year to work again. So that will be implemented in the beginning of 2025? February. We're looking at a February implementation. We're looking to award our vendors this month and then get everything in place for February. to do another 12-week, 36 sessions. And will that be in person or virtual tutoring or both? A combination. So we're looking to do both. Ideally, we'd like to do it during the academic day. At times that becomes impossible because there's competing priorities for students and the things that they're involved in. Excellent. Do any board members have questions, Ms. Gallagher? I have two questions. So the first, since we're talking about the high impact tutoring grant, we'll just start there. How many students Are you hoping that this will like help because it's a significantly smaller number versus last year Correct. So right now we have identified approximately 150 students that have been identified by their schools that could potentially benefit from this grant. Okay. And then going back to the discussion items of the course catalog. I'm just curious, I feel like I've asked this question before. I don't remember the answer, obviously. How are courses like added and taken away? What's the determination there? Is it like just based off of like enrollment like is that how students like how is that how classes are kind of taken off the books or is it just due to lack of teachers being able to teach it? I'm just curious the process as to like how to add a class and how to how to remove one. So excellent question. We look at the course of study and we look at sectioning over time. So we'll look at courses. that have not run in the most recent five years. And we'll remove them from the course of study that way. Students have a full sense of what really they can take and be part of. So our numbers are more accurate. when we add courses to the course of study, we are looking at how they connect directly to the board goals and the building goals and how we can move those goals forward through our academic course catalog. So when we're doing that, teachers actually proposing the courses. have to answer a questionnaire about how does this tie directly into the vision of your building of the district and the goals that have been set forward for us. Thank you. You're welcome. Mr. Fain. Sorry to keep flip-flopping back, but back to the high impact tutoring. These students that you identified for this new increment of money, are they different from the students that received the additional support before. Not necessarily, but they have been identified using the same process through What we know is the INRS or Intervention Referral Services. as well as the MTSS process. Awesome. So there will be some students maybe that will benefit that didn't Maybe didn't fall. Yes. And we leave that to the buildings to make that determination based on how they have viewed the data, especially the most recent NJSLA. reporting. Mr. Greenbaum. Thank you. I was just going to add the BNF side of the high impact tutoring, the RFPs are listed under 12.4. Under the BNF agenda, and I'm guessing that'll be on our next action agenda when we have bids to approve. Excellent. Look at that Committee of the Whole in action. Any other questions under CNI? There is one more 11 points. Oh, 11.3. Sorry. Resolution authorizing acceptance of New Jersey Community College Consortium for workforce and Economic Development. Right. So I believe that that's the that was the four-year grant that High School West receives for building capacities. it actually enhances current programming. So it's not introducing additional programming. It's enhancing the current programming that is in place. It supports the finance program as well as the design and build program. Those are the only two programs that that grant was permitted to support over the four year cycle. So is that the action item under 17. Two on tonight's agenda or is that different? That 17.2, I apologize. So the 11.3 is the Camden County adding to esports. So we're good. Okay. Now I'm confused. I apologize. I skipped. I went forward. Oh, you went into that. I added the 17. to address the question. Well, that's good because then I don't have to do it when we do the action agenda. So now that part's already done. We're covered. We're good. We're covered. Do any other board members have questions about CNI? Ms. Gallagher. Ms. Stafford, would you just mind repeating what you said about 17.2? I was reading the 11.3 as you were explaining it. I was sure. the building capacity for career pathways grant was was awarded to High School West back in 2022. It is intended to only support programs that were currently in place. So it is meant to be an enhancement to their design and build program, as well as their finance program through the business department. It was not permitted to create any new programming or do anything else. It was strictly to help support those two programs. and build a more robust catalog for them in terms of connecting beyond our classrooms. So traditional funding to support programming that already exists at High School West. Correct. Correct. So I think that was in response to the first public comment question. Okay. Anybody else? Excellent. Now, I know you're all want to be CNI members after that. So thank you so much. And we will continue to update on course of study in January. Thank you. All right, we move on to Mr. Greenbaum's going to lead our business and facilities discussion. Thank you. We have one topic for tonight, which is the 2025-26 budget priorities and preliminary numbers. And I am going to hand this off to Mrs. Sugars for an overview presentation. Yes, I thought it would be a good idea as we are starting our process for 2526 to talk about sort of where we landed last year with our 24-25 budget. So this is information that we shared with BNF a couple weeks ago. But this is sort of just a refresher of what happened last year and where we're headed potentially this year. So you can see from this our general fund, we have two components to our tax levy. We have the general fund tax levy, which is what we discussed primarily as part of our budget process. We have to board approve that. tax levy ultimately to support the budget. We also have the debt service fund tax levy and that supports the payment of debt. that is resulting from the bond referendum. So the total tax levy between those two items has increased. from 22, 23 through 24, 25, fairly significantly A large part of that is due to the debt service portion of the tax levy. You can see the dollar increase there. $10.4 million. It increased last year. the percentage was 3.6% because we use some bank cap. for that. And then the tax impact for the general fund was $194 on the average assessed home and with the debt service, it was $101. 2% on the 1,900 and one one million nine hundred million 196,200,891. I apologize, it's been a long day. 2% on that which is typically our tax levy cap would be about 3.9 million. And the estimated tax impact at this point is $111 if we went to that full 2%. So just to give us an idea of how much our tax levy can increase and what that tax impact would be on that increase. So if we look at banked cap. We just talked about banked cap briefly It is taxing authority. It is not a pot of money. It is available on a three-year cycle. So the bank cap that we generated in 22, 23, the 1.3 million. will expire in 2526 if it is not used. the tax impact of the entire amount that's available, which is the 4.7. million dollars in banked cap. is about $135 on the average to assess homes. The 1.3 will expire if it's not used. The 3.3, which is the additional amount that was generated in 2324, we would have another year to use that. before it would expire. We use 2.1 in Bancap last year, and we had about half a million expire so That's what's available should we need it or desire to use it. Our total budget last year was 254 million. Our debt service budget was 27,800,000. Total budget, 282,459,183. our state aid last year, as you can see there. lost about $7 million in equalization aid. Our transportation aid, our special education aid, and our security aid remained flat. We did subsequently receive $3.1 million in stabilized school aid. And so that did restore some of the 7 million that we lost. whether or not we will continue to receive stabilized school aid or if it will even be available is a big question. The other question we have as we start to develop this budget is what number are we using as our state aid number? Typically, we will budget with flat state aid. And I believe it would be prudent to not include the 3.1 million in stabilized school aid in our projections in the event that we do not receive it. We also received over $7 million in preschool aid for the preschool program. And $8.5 million in debt service aid for the payment of our debt. So whether we use that stabilized school aid for? We reinstated cuts that we had made to the ROTC program. to some of our extracurricular and athletic programs and to some of our alternate high school positions that we had cut. We use some of the funds for building modifications for the movement of the alternative high school over to east. The largest piece we use for enhancement of the teaching staff salary guide. We added four additional elementary sections and then the remaining amount was for ELA, interactive flat panels, software, and things of that nature. So that made up the 3.1 million that we received in stabilized school aid. I wanted to talk a little bit about debt service because even though it's not part of the budget, it does have an impact on the tax levy. You can see here. We had an increase in 2425. We'll have another increase in 2526, and then it will start to trend down. This projection is assuming that we will see similar percentage in debt service aid. And that the district will be able to continue to contribute 4 million out of the capital reserve account to soften the impact of that. As far as capital reserve is concerned, last year we used capital reserve dollars for projects that would complement or supplement the bond referendum such as the bleachers and the scoreboard and the curtains. the backflow preventers we have to do. And then some of the other projects that need to be done You can see that our projects totaled 3 million, just over 3 million, and then we used 4 million for the payment of debt service. So we've used just over, we've allocated just over $7 million in the 2425 school year towards capital reserve account We want to keep that in mind moving into next year. So our capital reserve account is estimated at June 30th of being 17 million. we allocated 7 million in the 24-25 budget, which leaves us at this point with a capital reserve account of approximately $10 million. So as we discuss some of the things that we have been thinking about, such as the conversion of this building. Adding additional preschool spaces, things of that nature we need to keep in mind. that our capital reserve is down to about $10 million. This is why at the end of the school year when we're closing out our books, we have that resolution on the agenda that allows us to replenish that capital reserve account. Because in a district with 19 school buildings. It is important that we have a healthy capital reserve should there ever be a concern or an issue that we have to deal with. And also to address goals and things that we want to do with our buildings. Just keep that in mind that as of June 30th, we're looking at about $10 million. also um Last year, we allocated $4.3 million more in fund balance. This was a substantial increase over what we had used in years past. To balance out the budget. So once you sort of increase that threshold you kind of need to stay at that threshold. So that also potentially has an effect on what winds up in the capital reserve account and what the board can allocate towards the debt service payment. So quickly, let's talk about our budget calendar. Right now, all of our schools and departments are working on their budgets. Their input is due. December 20th during the month of January, we conduct our administrative review of the budget that's primarily superintendent's council. And then by the end of January, we should be in a pretty good position to start having some initial discussions about what we're seeing, what it looks like. Then we roll through our BNF committee meetings and our board meetings provide updates. We anticipate the governor's state aid numbers at the end of February. So we're going to have to watch the timing here. Last year, we had to add an additional meeting Because we didn't have a meeting between the time the state aid numbers were released And the time that we had to submit our budget. We have to submit our budget by March 20th, we have a March 11th board meeting and a March 25th board meeting. There may not be enough time in that timeframe to make sure the board fully understands the position, what we're doing, all those kinds of things. So we may need to schedule another meeting in there. And then the public hearing Once we get through that initial submission process. has to be held between April 24th and May 7th. And ours is currently scheduled for April 29th. So sort of our calendar and what we're looking at. Moving forward, we're not really excuse me, in a position at this point to start talking about cuts or what that looks like. We still need input. from our schools and our departments before we can get to that point also As you know, we not only get our state aid numbers very late, we also get our health benefit renewal numbers very late. that has a significant impact as well. So are there any questions? Mrs. Truffin. Going back a couple of slides to where you mentioned the preschool aid Was all of that money allocated to allocated whatever services we've provided. And if not, does that roll over if we did not use it all? Yes. So it does go towards the preschool if there is funding left over We do have carryover. However, carryover is carry over two years later. if we have carryover from 2324, that will be applicable next year. any carryover from 24, 25 would not be applicable until the 26, 27 year. Mrs. Gallagher. You mentioned, um. I'm curious if you know what the average DISS home would be for the debt service for 2526 for next year. did not calculate that. It would be He said it's going to go up next year, correct? Yeah, so the total tax levy for 2425 was the 15.2. And we're estimating it'll be 16.1. So it'll be a slight increase for next year. And then it'll start to trend down. All right. And then on the slide where you were talking about the capital reserve and the fund balance, you made a comment I was going to ask you to repeat it when you were there because I wanted just clarification. You made a comment about like the increase in fund balance impacts the amount we can put into capital reserve. Is that what you said? And I guess, are you saying that more because Can you just expand on that? Thank you. So fund balance is sort of um sort of our savings account, our district monies that we have. that we contribute towards the budget. So at the end of the year, just like you would in your personal budget, you look at what income you had and what expenses you have, you close it out. what you have left for us is our fund balance. So we use a certain amount in our budget each year. We're only allowed to maintain 2% of the prior year expenditures. we're only allowed to maintain a very minimal fund balance. either you're using it in the budget or you're putting it into the capital reserve account. And the reason that you do that is because you don't want to create a situation where you have a lot of fun balance and you have to put it in the budget and then next year you don't have a lot of fun balance or you want to try to try to keep that sort of even. as much as you can. So the more that you're using in your budget to sort of balance your budget. means that when you close out your books at the end of the year, you may not have as much left over that's where the kind of replenishing of the capital reserve account comes from. And that's what allows us to use some of it for debt service. So as we jump in $4.3 million of our savings that we've put in, we will have less savings as we continue on that path. That makes sense. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. Just one quick for Mrs. Sugars. Do we have any indication of where we might land with the health benefits impact. We are trending very well. I do not anticipate that it will be a 0% increase again, but I do I'm hoping that if we continue to trend as we are, that it'll be modest. Any other questions from board members? Okay. Well, seeing none, thank you very much, Mr. Sugars, for sharing that. And I look forward to Future discussions. With that, I will hand it back for HR. Okay, thank you. And this is Lieber because HR is typically a confidential committee, right? We will not have any public, there's nothing to discuss in our committee of the whole public discussion tonight. Getting the yes, that's correct so um I get to now turn it over to Mr. Mayor for the policy and legislation uh committee discussion. Sure. Thank you. Just two items for discussion this evening the first would be. regarding updates for from the HIV Parent University. meetings that have taken place so doctor Mahan, if you would be so kind as to go over those updates with us. And then if there's any questions, we'll take those. Okay, thank you, Mr. Mayor. The HIV Parent universities have been on our agenda for the past few meetings. I just wanted to give one last update the parent university sessions dedicated to HIV have been overwhelmingly successful. in comparison to other parent university sessions, we had strong attendance with over 150 participants over the four sessions. The presentation is posted on the website, so if anyone would like to view it. They certainly can at their leisure. There were lots of great questions and feedback from participants. An example of that feedback is thank you for taking the time. This was so informative and everything was explained thoroughly. We did a feedback survey, which was not completed were reflected of the attendance of 150. But for those who did do it, it was positive. And we did notice that respondents are asking for more information on the appeals process for HIVs, which is something we will take into consideration. As we continue to work towards educating our families on the HIV process and meeting the board goals under student wellness, we have done the following. uploaded the presentation to the website, which is asynchronous. All participants of the parent university receive the slide deck via email after the sessions. We have created an HIV infographic, which will be shared at a later time and posted to the new website when it is launched. All staff have been trained by the anti-bullying specialists at the building level. This is follow up to the mandatory hiv back to school trainings that all staff must participate in. And lastly, HIV findings from the HIV survey via thought exchange will be shared out February 11th. to identify strengths and weaknesses with the current HIV framework. So we look forward to building on the momentum and to educating Cherry Hill Public School staff, parents, and students. Any questions? Yeah, before we get into questions, just thank you for that update. It's good to hear, again, consistent with what You reported last at the last committee meeting that engagement and community engagement has been extremely high. I'll just note, at least from my time on the board. the improvement in the trying to identify better ways to communicate with families and to educate families of nature will be HIV is in the process. over the course of the last several weeks or a couple of months has probably been the most aggressive and hopefully impactful At least since I've been here. Hopefully that continues to move forward. Well, I know that it will because it's, you know, it's a focus for us. Do any board members have any questions? This is your thing. It's like a question comment, I guess. So I attended one of those meetings and I personally thought that it was incredibly helpful and really well delivered. And I'm curious if we… supply any information to new families coming in, especially now that kindergarten registration is amping up. ramping up. If we provide any, even if it's just, hey, there's a link on the website, this presentation is available, because I think a lot of people probably need the information when it's too late because they're actively involved in the process potentially. Because I know the session that I went to, there was a lot of clarifying questions about the legality of it and the Everything that comes from a state level and that seemed to be the topic that was most confusing to a lot of the families And I think that that was honestly the biggest reason why I attended too, because it's helpful to hear the information given from that perspective and not this perspective all the time. So I'm just curious if we provide anything to new families coming in about So we do not provide information to new families coming in, but what you raised is a topic of conversation now. We have already started to talk about when do we have a captive audience where we can share information around HIV to everyone where the same message is delivered across the board. So you would have heard, but I'll share now, on February 11th, that one of the things that we are looking to implement similar to what we do for family life curriculum is giving a blurb to every teacher in the entire district that will speak to HIV that will be shared at back to school night. So we're trying to navigate what that will look like but We have several topics that across the board, across the district, we have everyone share the same information and we thought that would be a good place captive audience. to everyone who attends and timely at the beginning of the school year. So. Great. Thank you. You're welcome. Mr. Stern. And Dr. Mahan, in your time when you were in the CNI department and I was a parent of elementary kids, I remember actually it was when the HIV laws first came into effect. That was the process. It was back to school night there was I remember being told very clearly what the parameters are, what to expect as parents. So it was definitely a very helpful way to deliver the information. So I think it's great that we're revisiting that. Any other questions from board members before we move on to the next discussion topic? Seeing none, we'll do that. So the next discussion topic actually is more of a ministerial Addition is policy 51. 11 eligibility of resident and non-resident students for education here in the district. There are no substantive changes at all. to the policy, the revisions and they're really just very few are simply to ensure that 5111 is aligned with other existing policies in terms of language and in terms of also removing A couple of references to obsolete references to programs which no longer exist. policy is also cleaned up just a little bit to make it easier for those who are reviewing it, it's obviously a relatively dense policy. to identify the section that they might be most interested in. But again. There's nothing substantive that's being changed. There's nothing substantive that's being abolished or removed. That said, though. Dr. Mahan, and we did have a discussion this morning if you just wanted to touch on a couple of those highlights for board members. I'd invite you to do that. And then if there are any questions, we'll take those. Thank you. Just very quickly, there was reference in the policy to another policy, policy 5118. Again, that policy no longer exists. So we wanted to remove that language. There were updates to the preschool portion of the program, including adding in age requirements, the registration process, when families would contact the Stel v Malberg. for special education services. Just for ease of reading the policy because it is quite dense, you'll notice like on page two under proof of eligibility that's now underlined. So all of the subcategories all are underlined so that they pop out when you are going through the policy. And then just one of my things, and we have it in some policies and not in others as I've been reviewing them. if we have a number written out, for example, 30, we've put the numbers, numerical numbers, three, zero in parentheses. This one had several of those, so we added those in as well. So those were the changes. Do any board members have any questions? Mrs. Gallagher. So I was just looking at the policy and under the policy Children of non-resident full-time staff members Obviously, I don't know how often this happens, but it does state that um children of non-resident full-time employees of the Board of Education may be enrolled in the elementary, middle, except Rosa. Would we keep that as a note? What page are you on? Oh, I'm sorry. Page 10. It's at the bottom, the last paragraph on page 10. under children of non-resident full-time staff members. That's a great catch. That should be removed. Okay. Yeah. And I will have that updated. Thank you, Mr. Gallagher. Any other board members have any other questions? none, that concludes Committee of the Whole for policy and legislation. Excellent. Thank you. And now we move on to Dr. Rood, Strategic Planning, last committee meeting that you will be leading on the Board of Education. And it is. Turning it over to you to please discuss. Strategic planning. Okay, so in strategic planning tonight, we just have one discussion item on the docket. So League of Innovative Schools and Digital Promise are I'm going to be discussed. Dr. Martin. Thank you, Dr. Root. I'm going to take that one. So just to give a bit of an overview, I know there's been some discussion and questions about League of Innovative Schools, Digital Promise. what they're all about, how much it's cost us. So on and so forth. This year, our district was one of 30 districts across the country to gain acceptance into the League of Innovative Schools. In total, there's Slightly more than 150 districts across 34 states. It's about… 4.4 million students or so served as, you know, through that um through that partnership essentially membership into the league allows the district and the leaders in the district, including myself, an opportunity to interact and interface with some of the most dynamic superintendents, administrators, teachers, and districts across the country who are all focused on improving conditions for their children. Through innovation, collaboration, creativity, things along those lines. The idea is that there are different opportunities for these networking sessions to take place. They are in-person opportunities. One of which was the fall convening that took place in Lindsey, California. that myself and Ms. Roskov attended. Truly phenomenal experience. Phenomenal, phenomenal experience great learning experience as well. to see a strategic plan come to full fruition in a district. Strategic plan that had gone into effect maybe 15 years prior But to see the outcomes of it was truly remarkable. We had an opportunity to see that firsthand. There's other opportunities as well that occur virtually. Also, there's something called League Learning Collaboratives We are a part of three of those collaboratives. One has to do with reimagining high school. redesign of our high school. One of the projects that we actually have our superintendent's student advisory council working on is just that redesign or reimagination of the high school experience. So there's the synergy, there's connection between much of the work that we're doing the collaborative efforts that we're a part of as well. We mentioned maybe a meeting or two ago, we mentioned cybersecurity. We're focused on building a pathway around cybersecurity. But that's connected with our work with the league as well. and the other collaborative we're a part of has to do with student voice and engagement. We value our students, we value their perspectives. And we think it's important to include their voices into the fray. That's why the superintendents Student Advisory Council, for instance. working on three. engage engaging type projects. that will later be presented to the board. It's truly, truly a great opportunity for us. Membership in the league comes with a league membership fee. That fee is $3,500. There are great benefactors that are… provide funding and provide other opportunities to the various districts within the league As such, we've had some conversation about the $5,000 grant that we received through our partnership with the league for our cybersecurity initiative. Again, that's no strings attached. It's $5,000 through one of the benefactors. that allows us to offset costs. So there's cost associated with curriculum committees, for instance. We bring teachers together to design a Well, there's a substitute that you have to pay for on the back end when the teachers come here for the day. the grant fees will allow us to offset some of those costs. We're excited about the opportunity. Like I said, some of top districts in the state are a part of it. It's not the thing that's taken for granted. You know, there's a rigorous application process that we have gone through to be a member. And we're definitely looking forward to our work. We received… just this week received. Resolution, joint legislative resolution from Senator Beach and Assemblyman Greenwall, Assemblywoman Lampert's office, you know, recognizing the significance of the significance of inclusion of our district and League of Innovative Schools. We're excited about the work. Our next in-person meeting will be a spring convening that takes place in March. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where we'll have an opportunity to go there and visit a number of school districts that are implementing various forms of innovation reform and Things along those lines. It's it. Okay, before I open it up to all the board i've A quick question. So the the question The fee to join is 3,500, but this year it was covered entirely by a grant like it We received a $5,000 grant. Is that correct? We did receive a $5,000. So what happens is when there are various partners, so IBM in this instance, IBM through cybersecurity. seeking to partner with a district that wants to move forward with cybersecurity of cybersecurity pathway you know If you know me, I'm quick to raise my hand. Me, me, me, me, I'm it. You know, I want us to be a part of these cutting edge things. So we were agreeable To be one of the first districts in the league to say, we want to partner with IBM. They vetted us, had a couple conversations. that partnership formed. $5,000 essentially was provided. So it wasn't necessarily directly to offset the membership fee through the opportunity and through association with the league, we were able to receive a $5,000 grant. And how long have we held our membership with the League of Innovative Schools. since September of 2024. Okay, so it's really new. Yes. So that kind of makes the next question a little bit. Maybe we're not there yet, but I mean, it sounds like a great program. to pay into, what value do you see coming back out of it? I mean, obviously there's already some You talk about cybersecurity and some opportunities for students to delve into a new a new area of interest, but if you could just maybe provide us if there's any other examples from your meeting in california like what value do you see it bringing to the district in the future? Yeah, so there's practical and relevant value add for us. So the trip to California was amazing because we're immersed in a five-year strategic planning process as well. So we had an opportunity to go to Lindsay California School District. This is a district that's primarily made up of The children of migrant workers you know their reality had been low academic achievement low matriculation into colleges and careers and things along those lines. prevalence of prevalence of gang activity and things along those lines within their community And listen, everything I'm saying, they share with us. So I'm not tempted to be disparaging in any way. But to see where they are today. where you have these self-directed students that have clear understanding of what it is that They are attempting to accomplish. They have a platform and a framework that they utilize that all the kids are familiar with. where they take the onus and the ownership of their learning It's dynamic. The graduation rates have soared. kids are matriculated into colleges. we met and I was actually escorted by several individuals who had gone through the school system going to college, graduated and come back And they're now working within the school district as well. But that was all a result of a strategic planning process that they went through and this process is exactly what we're attempting to do here. So it was sort of like validation. They went to the community and sat and had community meetings community forums where the community came together And had an opportunity to provide voice and input into the direction of what it was that they sought for their children. with that portrait of a graduate in Lindsey, California looked like. So for us to see that firsthand And to talk to, well, it wasn't the superintendent who's there currently was not the superintendent at the time But the work has endured. But to talk to people who were there. And to see people who have benefited from that. practical application relevance relevancy for us as we're going through that same process now. I said, that's amazing. So one of the other things that we have the student advisory council working on as well has to do with AI, AI policy, their thoughts around how that can be utilized within the framework of their framework high school experience and just within the district in general. But obviously, the league, innovation technology the use of AI is something that is being explored and examined by districts throughout the league. So, you know, that's another piece and component that we're working on. And we're going to eventually be able to come forward with framework, including a policy protocols for how AI should be utilizing Cherry Hill Public Schools. Thank you for offering some additional insight. Sorry to be greedy, everybody. So let me open it up to the rest of the board for questions. Mr. Nietz, I saw your hand up first. Thanks. So I guess a few questions, Dr. Morton, further. Thank you. Such a rude because they're helpful information that from your questions. So we'll just take AI for instance so You know, we are at the dawn of the AI impact on education, right? And it probably will be kind of like the dawn of email and the dawn of the world wide web, as we used to call it, right? the internet. I mean, most people can't imagine life Many people were never around when there was life before the internet, but now it's just such a daily part of our lives. AI may become that. Right. It will. So, um. what I'm hearing is sounds like we are accessing kind of group think essentially you know access to to larger sources of information and data other people who are trial and erroring, so to speak. So, you know, um. you know a question of, well, how does Cherry Hill Public Schools, how do our principals, how do our teachers how do they know how to handle this in their classroom. Well, you know, part of it is a At professional organizations, they go to professional development they read You know, they get publications, they get emails, but they're also part of organizations Right. And that sounds like this is yet another kind of a kind of example of how large groups from across the country Which I would imagine brings different perspective. You know, from, you know, I mean, obviously the population of the school you're referring to in california has some similar and some very different challenges from our school district, right? So I guess, you know, I wonder. So I think like that's I see the value of that regarding like being part of more of an you know a larger pool of information. and resources, but also very targeted and specific. focused. Correct. You're answering all the questions that you're asking. I just want to make sure I'm like capturing it right. But I do have a specific question um and that is, you know. We're in New Jersey. So bring it back locally. How does this kind of apply to us? Where else in New Jersey Is this being utilized? And is there an example of something that you think is a helpful takeaway, maybe more locally. That might be useful in our schools. Well, so there are several districts in New Jersey that are part of the league. I'm just pulling up the list here this year. hillside. joined the league. Teanek. We hawking. In West Windsor Plainsboro. So the representation is that all those superintendents are a part of these discussions. they become part of a professional network That individuals whom I can tap on and who can tap on with me as well. As we have as we have as we have our learning collaborative meetings and other meetings as well is an opportunity to have discussions with leaders from I just mentioned New Jersey, but there's others from multiple states as well who are engaged in the work. Some may be a little behind, but Others may be further ahead. of where we are as a district. There aren't many people who walk in the position that I'm in. currently. So to have an opportunity you know to have bounce ideas off of individuals and to also co-plan these action projects together, it's just tremendous opportunity, tremendous opportunity for us. And, you know, well worth were worth the time and any investment. into the league. Thank you. you it sounds like it right now it's um smaller, not smaller, but smaller ideas and initial project focus, especially specifically with students But you could see things being more applicable in a larger way. Yes. So yes. So we've just begun our partnership and our acceptance into the league just this year in September. I think they made their announcement And we couldn't really fully move forward until October. So, you know. December now, but we're immersed in multiple groups, multiple projects Dr. Birdie, I know definitely Ms. Roscoff. staffing have been engaged in meetings As well. So, but I look forward to the work that will take place and the things that will come to fruition. Thank you. You know, I… I remember. a teacher saying to me a few years ago, asking me, what is the educational North Star in Cherry Hill. What is the philosophy of education here? And the teacher said, it's not clear to me. And, you know. They felt that was… in order to have a clear direction, you need a philosophy. You need a North Star. And it sounds to me like you know with our strategic plan And I think having all this available kind of pool of resource, not to mention, by the way which i I'm a big proponent of, I remember Mrs. Sugar's sitting on the alternative funding committee that you were a part of. And, you know, we talked about, well, how do we find alternative funding? You know, is it bake sales? Is it finding sponsorships? And it sounds like this we don't have to go look for those types of things it sounds to me like these companies and supportive organizations are coming up to the League of Innovative Schools. And so they are a resource pool for us to tap into, which, by the way is nice. But I think overall helping us move in a direction I mean, we could stand still if we wanted, right? We don't have to innovate Right. We could stand still and kind of follow a path of what's forced upon us like when we're forced to have it. you know um you know changes in curriculum or what have you And or we could choose to lead the way. So I guess I'm normally in favor of Maybe too fast sometimes, but of leading i'd rather lead the way and make those decisions, especially have our students having so many students be part of it. I think I love that. Thank you, Dr. Rood. Mr. Fain. When you mention cybersecurity pathway, is this a course that we're creating for our students? Yeah, ultimately the world will be a course to support the pathway as well as uh experiential learning opportunity. So we partner with industry professionals to have them provide like an internship for students. So for the students to understand cybersecurity, not for us to work on our cybersecurity. Just to clarify. And then we're looking to The other piece of that as well is a connection to college and university also. So there's a matriculation and a progression upward. Awesome. I do have one other question. I'm curious how you knew about what seems to be such a lucrative secret society of administrators Such a small portion of the country is involved. So I'm curious how you know about it and what were the requirements to be accepted into the program? Yes. So I had an opportunity to talk to To… the former commissioner of education in New Jersey. Well, no, personally. And it was, you know, through advice that, you know, you should probably get connected with this organization because They're a great organization to support work that we're trying to do in terms of moving forward. So application process required writing an application. rather lengthy application. We needed to speak to work and experiences that have taken place in the past innovations that are currently taking place in the district. vision for the district in terms of moving forward. We then went through, once we went through that round, we went through an interview process We're a team of four people from the league, interviewed myself and several of the members of our administrative team as well. sort of like that our responses we had to send a video submission over as well so Thank you. Sounds like the secret is out. Now, I mean, now it's on YouTube. So there we go. Secret is out. Any other questions from board members? Let's talk. I don't have any questions. I am in favor of innovations. Appreciate it. All right, anyone else? Seeing no other hands, I'll pass it back to you, Mr. Stern. Okay, thank you very much. We will move on now to our special action agenda. Mrs. Winters, can you please move the CNI agenda? Certainly, the superintendent recommends that I move the following 17.1, approval of attendance at conference and workshops. The 24-25 school year and 17.2 resolution authorizing acceptance of the building capacity for career pathways and comprehensive schools Cohort two, cycle four. Do I have a second? Mr. Greenbaum, are there any questions? Seeing no questions, Ms. Sugars, please open the voting. Board members, you may cast your votes. Mr. Sugar's my laptop is not playing nicely, but I am a yes vote. We have a unanimous yes vote. Okay, Mr. Greenham, can you please move the BNF agenda? Certainly. Superintendent recommends and I move the following 18.1, financial reports. And that is it for tonight. Do I have a second? Mr. Fain. Any questions? Seeing none, Mr. Sugars, please open the voting. You may cast your votes. Mrs. Sugars on 18.1, I'm going to recuse on the second bill list. Jewish Federation of South Jersey to avoid a conflict of interest. those same lines, Mrs. Sugars. on the second bill list for ESS. I must recuse myself for a similar conflict of interest. Mrs. Shookers, I will abstain from… 18.1 to do SAC financial report for September. 2024. Okay, so we have an abstention from Mrs. Niaz on the financial reports. We have two bill list abstentions, one from Mr. Mayor. for ESS and one for one Mrs. Stern for Federation of, yes. Other than that, we have a unanimous yes vote. Thank you. I was waiting and I realized it was my turn. Come back to it. We do not have any items on the human resources agenda. So we moved to policy and legislation. Mr. Mayor, could you please move the P&L agenda? Sure, the superintendent recommends that I move the following item 20.1 approval of harassment intimidation and bullying investigation. decisions do i have a second. Mr. Greenbaum, are there any questions? Seeing none, Mr. Sugars, would you open the voting? I'm assuming you can see that, but I'm abstaining. I was not present. Mr. Sugars. I was at the Spirit Week dance during this HIV exec session. So I'm going to abstain. Okay, so we have three abstentions. Mrs. Surefain. Mrs. Tong and Ms. Stern. Other than that, the rest of the votes were yes votes. Okay, thank you. So now we move on to new business. Is there any board new business? Seeing none, we move on to old business. Is there any board old business? This is Tom. I want to bring up the topic regarding the graduation on the New York Chorus Center. If there's any way we can find a way to save money And do it within our school district. That would be nice. This is probably a good question for Dr. Morton or Mrs. Sugars. Perhaps just about the cost of This is a good graduation at the course versus another option to have it in district. Yeah, so… part of the reason we have it at the Leo Korra Center is because of the capacity. And because we never have to worry about the weather, right? Because we can have it indoors. We have to keep the cost of graduation below the bid threshold, $44,000. Otherwise, we would have to put graduation out to bid, which is not something that any of us want to do. I'm not even sure how we would do that. So we have worked with them each year to keep that cost under that threshold. And they have been pretty accommodating with us in terms of that. I'm not sure in district where we could hold it, where we could have the number of attendees that we do. And, you know. when we go to the Leo Chorus Center, they supply us with the sound system and the setup and chairs and all those kinds of things, which we would have to price out what it would cost to bring all those things in internally to host it internally. I do know that We took a look at it when we had during the pandemic year when we hosted it at West. was not a significant difference in the price between having it in district and having it at Leah Court Center. And like I said, I think you give up the number of attendees that can come, which is very important to families and then you're beholden to the weather. Because if we had had to have those graduations in the West Auditorium, it would have really limited the number of people that could have attended so I… You know, I understand. the concern about cost, but I do think that in that situation we're probably making out pretty well with the situation that we have. This is Tom. Yeah. I'm not sure if I can ask if we can see the numbers, the differences, if that's possible. Thank you. Sure, we certainly can get that in our memo. It doesn't have to be today. Yeah, no, I think we could get that in our fighting memo. I mean, I just want to piggyback. So something I never thought about, but I know there is a a local district, high schools does high school graduation That's about… a third size smaller well Actually, no, it's not a third size smaller bit. Schools are a little smaller than ours, their high schools and I know that they set up chairs in the gym? as well as outside. They plan for both Inclement and clement weather? So I always think about the cost of that. I think about the cost of security. I remember when we had them, you and i were at the 2021 graduations, which were outside and outside luckily beautiful, although blazingly hot for some of them They were really nice and a lot of people like them outside right at our own schools But I remember thinking, I'm not sure that the cost is would be any less. So we'll find out. But I think if we were considering what it would take to set up for both weather options. And of course, that other piece about limiting And thinking about, you have to think about accessibility, all that stuff, which is not easy either at, you know, at any venue for with a large group of people, but you have to prioritize that as an important piece. So anyway. We'll see what the numbers are. Well, thank you for that. Actually, I just want to find out because the community have asked me some questions. So I just want to clear that up before my you know, last of a few weeks I left here. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, I guess the question is what is a significant cost and what's the cost benefit, right? Yes, that's one of them. The other one is convenience. I think they like to be within the school. They don't have to travel to Philly. which they don't feel comfortable. A lot of parents are. from the community I heard, I don't know if other people heard anything about it, but for me, that's what I heard so I just want to get that information out. Thank you. I definitely think parking would be interesting here as well. Right. Thinking about how many Thousands of people. It's a lot to think about. So yeah, good questions. Other comments about that or any other old business from any board members? Seeing none, we will move on to our second public comment. Period. This is our second public comment period. Again, I will always say that if we have students who'd like to comment. You are always a priority, so please put an S after your name if you are online and if you are in the room, you are welcome to approach the microphone First. We will alternate between speakers who are here in the room and those who are online. Each speaker will have a maximum of three minutes to speak in the timer on the screen. We'll indicate how much 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 forms. statements which demean individual community members or groups or which are irrelevant to the operations of the school district or are repetitious. will not be supported. 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. And with that, we start with the room. If anyone would like to speak, please approach the podium. When you do, please state your full name and municipality when the timer comes up. Full name is Laura Ann Einhorn, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. There's a lot of murkiness still, Dr. written about what the League of Innovative Schools will help us accomplish. So some of the things I heard you mentioned, like redesign of a high school, cybersecurity. student voice. I thought we were doing pretty well with student voice over the years. I'm not sure what the design of a high school means, if it's that a clinical site or if it's the anatomy of a high school graduate that you were referencing. And I thought if i'm correct Incorrect. I'm sure you will. correct me, but I thought you said that the $5,000 is really mostly for cybersecurity. didn't have anything to do with our league membership. And how long do we have to belong Or are we allowed to belong? Because I still can't figure out the criteria from looking at their website. And at what cost will it cost us? A lot of the confusion was initially when it was on the agenda. It said we're going to get gift cards for the staff and this and that. If you recall, if you go back on the agenda, that's what it said. And we're like, well, for what? Okay. And I think some of us, particularly, I want to know how it's going to trickle down to our students. Because to me, the priority right now is getting our academic achievement up. over and beyond the presentations of the last couple of board meetings. So I need help. Because I still feel I'm in a level of murkiness as to what the long-term goal is. for our school district and our kids. Thank you. Okay, and now we go to the line. And firsthand and line is Rosen. Please state your full name and your municipality when the timer starts. Hi, Mindy Rosen. Unmute. Mindy Rosen, Cherry Hill. I'd like to know if there is a law or policy that excludes a parent advocate from an IEP or 504 meeting if the parent does not check the box saying they are bringing anyone with them. There is nothing in the federal law that allows this. So I'm asking if Cherry Hill has a policy that allows this exclusion of people who have knowledge of the student that are not as allowed by law, that are not allowed in to these meetings. I have written this to Caitlin and I have copied Dr. Morton and Carol, but I have not received a response. The second thing I'd like to talk to also is about digital promise. And I appreciate your question, Dr. Rood. I also question what is the value And I want to reiterate that the $5,000 in my estimation is for the cybersecurity. I know that you have received $2,500 so far and are set to receive the next 2,500 I think next year and you have paid the $3,500 membership dues and the $3,000 cost for The conference for Dr. Morton and carol in California. So we have expended $6,500 already and the $2,500 that we are getting is supposed to offset the programs. And so I do, and the next thing i would ask each board member is to go on digital promise And look at the application process. I think it's really important if you read the part that says. Who is given priorities to join And why we are looking for certain districts to join. I think it's really enlightening to see that this digital promise is looking for a certain kind of district. And there are four priorities. And I really think it's important for each of you to read that i think It would be eye-opening for you. And so I also agree with Anne that I don't see You know, where our benefit is, where's the value And like, how much will this Pittsburgh conference cost? So I think there's a lot of questions with digital promise and my time is up. So thanks very much. illnesses. Okay, we go back to the room. If anyone would like to speak, please approach the podium. Okay, and there's nobody, I'm sorry, the microphone, not podium. So we go back to the line and the phone number ends in 788. If you could please state your full name and municipality and When the timer restarts. My name is Jeff Polito. I live in Cherry Hill about something that was said in the meeting today and said before. We did not receive over $7 million in preschool expansion aid for this year, 2024, 2020. 2025. Go to the DOE website and you will see that for 2024-2025, our preschool aid for preschool expansion was six point one million dollars not the approximately 7.5 million our school board and leaders are telling us and have told us before. At previous meetings. First, it's important to understand that next year, preschool expansion are slated to go up from 300 to 900 students, tripling of students, and there will be a pruning of costs from the district. We should receive well over $20 million next year from the state. actually from the state for preschool expansion aid. I hope so. We're going to need every dollar. Remember how our aid was cut this year? Wait till next year. However, our leadership's Don't fight for us. By saying that the state has provided us 7.5 million in preschool aid when instead of the actual 6.1 million, they are not going to stand up to the state, but they are agreeing with the state. Instead of saying that what we're doing is shifting funds to preschool for the students with disabilities, that's what the 1.5 billion represents. They're saying that that money that is our money that we're shifting is actually state aid. That's false. So the number is not 7 or 7.1, it's 6.1. That's a misrepresentation of the facts. And why don't you say it is? Because that's what it is. Anyone could go to the website. Also, if you read 7073, we didn't do that well compared to other districts. in the state in our SATs. I think we needed to focus on learning loss. All right, especially Cherry Hill West. No excuses. We need to focus on learning loss. Not on other things. Not on digital promise. All right? Basics. reading and writing. We're not doing that good in one of our schools. And not so good compared to the whole state. in either school, to be honest with you, relative to South Jersey, one school, yes. You need to fight for us. And you need to present the real numbers. It's not 7.5. I guess that's it. I'm finished. Why do you keep on misleading the public? That's one of the reasons why I say you mislead the public. Anyway, thank you for listening, but you're not going to do anything. And we go back to the room. If anyone would like to speak, please approach the microphone. Okay, nobody at the microphone. We go back to the line and it is the name is Sarah Jocelyn. If you could please state your full name and municipality when the timer restarts. Hi, this is Sarah Jocelyn. I would like to thank you for presenting some preliminary budget items. I had a question just for clarity as we move forward. We had an excellent preschool presentation, the last meeting. And it was not clear to me where the costs were fully equipping the preschool classrooms will fall within the budget. As I recall, I think you're going to have a series of about 25 classrooms needing to be set up each of the next several years. to accommodate the preschool students that were coming in. And I realized that probably is a relatively small part of the overall budget But it is an unusual part in the going forward. And as we've prepare for our buildings, which of course were under the bond program. I'm just not clear how that falls within the budgeting going forward and I'm sure that will be explained as we see the next series of budget discussions. So again, I thank you for presenting a preliminary view of the budget going forward. And of course, we want transparency for our district. Thank you. Okay, we go back to the room. Nobody's at the microphone. Back to the line. No hands are up online. I'm going to close public comment And I'm going to now turn it over to Dr. Morton for superintendent's comments. Thank you very much, Ms. Stern. I do have a few comments. and responses to some of the questions that were just offered. First and foremost, though, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday time spent enjoying some relaxation, unlike the Morton household, no relaxation but lots of fun and socialization with family and great time spent. um so Last Friday, November 29th. mark the 49th anniversary of IDEA. IDEA originated as the Education for All Handicapped children act which was authored and launched in November 29th, 1975. We talk about inclusivity quite a bit. And I think, you know. We live in a time where we may not understand when there's certain protections and things weren't provided. Just to give you, for instance, I know my family's history very well and One of my dad's brothers, my uncle. I was born in the mid-50s. He had significant cognitive impairment. There was no school to accommodate my uncle Freeman. He didn't have a school. So my grandmother growing up or living in Brooklyn, New York at the time. was left with very few options in terms of what to do and how to educate Uncle Freeman. He wound up at one point in the Willowbrook state school the notorious Willowbrook State School for individuals with neurological impairment. I was there in the early 60s, 65, that school was exposed as being I think what they called maybe Robert Kennedy called a snake pit At the time essentially at the time place that just had multitude of individuals such as individuals Uncle Freeman. in a room, you know, not being treated fairly and being fairly treated appropriately. Thank goodness. Thank goodness for IDEA. and acts that require and demand that inclusivity is a matter of fact and it's a thing that, you know, that we have to ensure for all of our children. So truly a wonderful thing. truly a wonderful thing for us. I want to make sure that we bring recognition to to this act why it's so important And why inclusivity is so important for us as a district as well. Just in response to a few things that we heard, so reference to the X SXSW conference that a few of our administrators are going to. important understanding that we have to have our administrators have a contractual right to attend conferences up to an amount of $2,500 per school year. It's written in their contract. It's written in the contract of all CHASA members. It's written into the contract of our directors and our assistant superintendents and myself as well, the opportunity to engage in professional learning. This is how we better ourselves. And the thinking is if we're able to expand our knowledge base and better ourselves, we're better able to inform and serve our children. So there's direct impacts there. conversation about the League of Innovative Schools and why it's important. I'll just make an analogy. Probably one of our greatest family friends is a dermatologist. And this individual is a person who doesn't have many peers within the field of medicine. in order to better herself and to expand the skill base and to get better you know this individual Dr. Washington attends conferences. Dr. Washington has a network of other dermatologists across western Pennsylvania region. but also across the country that she can tap into. that helps her to better her own practice. And if we can't understand that, I mean, I don't know what else to say. I mean, the thing is. the opportunity to tap into other superintendents who are doing the work and who are doing the work well is priceless. It's a priceless opportunity for myself. And that opportunity is extended to members of the administrative team as well. to tap in with other districts that are doing the work and doing the work well. that's what association does. That association allows us to have a better understanding of the work that we do. and better opportunities to impact our children. Just as a reminder, next week we have… preschool, elementary, and middle level conferences. I suggest parents if you have your child is doing great or if your child is not doing great, you know, talk to your child's teacher, make that connection. make that connection. It's very important so that's very important there'll be early dismissals Monday through Friday. next week for the children. middle level conferences. And the last thing, I guess, on a positive note If you were up at 530, I believe, Ms. Barati-ish, 5.30, 6 a.m. this morning. Pretty early. You look tired. You were up early this morning. But the cast of Miracle on 34th Street was featured on CBS News this morning. Truly outstanding. It was wonderful to see the kids. It looks like they had uh a wonderful time. High School East will follow up on the magnificent show that was Rocky. And our superstar who's sitting here in a room who played Adrian, I'm not going to put Her on the spot. You know, truly wonderful. It's great to see the kids in their full splendor and being celebrated. With that, I say thank you. Have a great night. Thank you, Dr. Morton. And with that i say I make a motion to adjourn. Do I have a second? This is Niaz. All in favor? And motion carries. Meeting is adjourned.