has been provided for this meeting. Uh, Miss Coleman, roll call, please. >> Mrs. Brown, >> here. >> Mr. Chu, >> here. >> Mrs. Demarco >> here. >> Mrs. Divine >> here. >> Mrs. Mcowsky >> here. >> Mrs. Sherman
>> here. Mrs. Z >> here. >> Mr. Dulkus >> here. >> Mrs. Maya >> here. >> Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. All right, we're going to move on to section two. There was no executive session um at this time, so we're going
to move past that and enter into committee of the whole. So, can I get a motion to enter committee of the whole, please? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> All in favor? At this time, we're going to have our presentation for the budget highlights
and then we'll we're going to move our seats. I think we have the PowerPoint and then we'll come back and we'll talk. Okay. Okay. So, good evening everyone. Thank you so much for being here. We are here to present the budget submission for the
202627 school year and provide uh just some updates into uh the budget that is being submitted uh to the state uh for review. So as with all budgets, our budgets are
aligned with our mission and vision. And so building on the strengths of our community in order to make sure that we have an inclusive and supportive environment that in uh inspires and empowers every student ultimately to focus on the foster the qualities necessary in order to make sure that
students can contribute uh to their local communities. We are also a school district that is driven by our core values student success equity and inclusion and team and family. We use this to drive policy practices and uh inform overall culture.
The district leadership uh is responsible for ensuring a a few items. First, analyzing systems and removing barriers. Moving from compliance to making sure that our actions are directly aligned with instructional improvement. Reframing
mandates and uh translating them into what does it mean to be uh effective at teaching and learning? commitment to supporting our leaders and also commitment to supporting and retaining dedicated faculty and staff. These are our school district priorities
for the 2627 school year. From an administrative perspective, improve the alignment of administration to better support our strategic goals and objectives. Actively engage the community to address our infrastructure challenges which are well documented. Continue to identify strategies to
secure adequate school funding. actively pursue additional revenue to support student learning initiatives and ultimately commit to supporting and retaining as many of our dedicated faculty and staff as possible in curriculum.
implement our ELA pilots with their alignment to the science of reading as well as as we transition out of readers writers workshop, expand our universal screeners to include math and uh English language arts and then a continued focus on data driven instruction aligned with
schoolwide goals and then implemented at uh the grade and at the student level. prek through five, maintain universal access to high quality preschool for Collinswood families, and then ultimately update our infrastructure to
support and sustain our MTSS model. Grades 6 through 12, support the transition to a 6 through 12 unified campus, also update the infrastructure to support MTSS or multi-tered system of support, and continue to implement our
math curriculum with fidelity. In terms of our operations, establish school-based technology lead program in order to support instruction. Establish consistent cycles of technology replenishment to support instruction and actively seek operational efficiencies and additional shared service
opportunities. So the big question is what is our budget challenge? In order to answer this question, we have to understand the fiscal environment in which not just Collingswood but all school districts are currently operating under. We live in a time of challenge and uncertainty
as it relates with uh public dollars as it relates with rising inflationary costs as it relates to the growing uh needs of students. So persistent inflation and rising operational costs continue to be a
challenge. fluctuating student enrollment patterns, local budget gaps, continuing mental health uh challenges, supports, needs that evolve on a regular basis, unfunded state mandates,
federal grant cancellations and expirations, elimination of other federal programs and services, reductions to overall K12 uh funding, and growing teacher shortages in specialized areas. What is our long-term funding concern?
The Collegewood School District has been what the state considers below adequacy since 2009. We have operated with a structural budget deficit since 2013. What does that mean? In 2009, a 2% tax
cap was put in place which limits how much funding schools can collect from local property taxes. The tax cap only allows districts to increase the local tax levy by 2% each year despite operational costs significantly exceeding 2%.
Over time, the gap of what we need and what we can collect continues to grow. And the longer this trend continues, the harder it is for our schools to be able to meet the growing demands for our students. And ultimately, significant cuts and reductions have become necessary in order to balance the
budget. What are some of those costs that are increasing? Our personnel cost for the 2627 school year was 6.5%. That is not adding additional staff. That is maintaining the existing staff.
It has increased over the last five years a net 1% despite previous staffing reductions. Health benefits 22% increase from this year to last year. In the last five years, health care
costs have increased by 53%. This is despite staffing reductions and the health care costs have increased by 53%. Out of district tuition rates, those are trending at flat for this upcoming school year. However, over the last five
years, they have increased by 18%. required maintenance. The average annual increase to maintain our facilities and our facilities have an average age of about 90 years is 6.5%. Utilities over the same period of time
have increased almost 80%. And so the bottom line is is that the cost to operate or the cost to maintain significantly exceeds the revenues that are available. And so if we look at 2425, 2526 and 2627, you notice a trend
in the areas in blue shows the cost of of operations. In yellow are the revenues that are available through state local taxes for the 2627 school year. To maintain what we currently have, there was a $4.8
million increase in operational costs with no new additions. We received or we uh uh received a decrease of $35,000 in state aid, but we were only able to increase uh
revenues of $1.5 million, which includes a 2% cap and the healthcare adjustment. School districts are permitted to increase a health care adjustment when the state employees health plan exceeds a certain level. The state employees
health plan is 33% this year. That translates into us being $3.3 million in the negative in order to maintain current staffing levels and programming. What is the impact to our schools?
There are only two options. Increase revenue, decrease expenses. We are legally uh not in a position to increase revenues at this particular juncture. And so the only option afforded to the school district was to decrease overall operational expenses by
$3.3 million. So what has been done to address these challenges? We continue to advocate for the last four years fair and equitable funding. School districts like Collingswood are disproportionately affected with the
current state funding formula. Different districts around the state are also negatively affected. With last school year, 50% of all school districts were in the negative based on the way that the formula is currently configured.
125 of those school districts were so much in the deficit that it forced the state to allow the school districts to go beyond the 2% cap with a one-time program. That program has not been offered this year. And so thankful to
community members, to staff members, to board members. Um, letter campaigns have been helping us to open doors that were previously closed in terms of advocacy. Technical reports and white papers have been written by various legislative groups pushing and advocating for
change. In Camden County, there is a New Jersey Fair funding collective that we are a part of that we are an active participant in pooling resources within our area to advocate for the necessary change because many of the districts in
Camden County are also negatively affected. Public hearings, we've had board members participate in state hearings advocating for change and advocating on behalf of our local community. We've also had Collingswood residents
that have developed information websites to help us better understand and garner additional support around this important topic. And then as I shared previously, we did we took full advantage of last year's tax levy incentive aid program.
We requested the maximum amount that was allowable per uh state law. um and we were approved uh $2 million short of what was requested. What are some additional cost-saving measures that we have been implementing
over many many years? External relationship management actively seeking grants, philanthropic support, additional resources and revenue in order to offset some of these financial challenges. We are in insurance joint ventures in order to make sure that we are getting our insurance at the lowest
possible rate. We are in a utilities consortium to make sure that our energy costs are as low as possible. We participate in cooperative purchasing in order to make sure that we are not overspending in the acquisition of supplies. One of the things that um we are
extremely proud of is our continued growth in the area of shared services between Collinswood, Oakland, the burrow, and seven other uh school districts. Uh this helps to generate income and to offset some of the fiscal challenges. In terms of transportation,
we operate for our vocational technical program. We operate uh one uh special education bus to lower our transportation costs. We participate through Oakland uh public works for trash removal. And then we also believe
that by offering robust programming that helps us to stabilize enrollment and increase uh the likelihood of increasing enrollment over the long term. What is the current status of our funding sources?
And so to lead us in this next section, I'm gonna have our chief financial officer and our assistant superintendent of business and finance, Miss Bethanne Coleman. >> Good evening. Um so this slide you can just see the our enrollment. Um we're on
a downward trend. Typically, um, if you do see a spike in enrollment, Trenton will let you increase your taxes. They'll give you a enrollment adjustment so you can increase your taxes, um, for the additional children that have been enrolled in your
district. Unfortunately for us, we got a we got a double whammy this year. Um, not only were we decreased in state aid because they consider us overfunded, but we're also seeing a downward uh, slide of enrollment, particularly at the high school. Um so this slide just represents what's
currently um in the school district budget and I did post the budget to the website as far as um what I have put in the budget and have available for revenue to support our expenditures going into next school year. Fund balance which is basically a savings money I gen I did not spend last year
basically savings account that I roll into the new year. Um I typically like to see that in years past I've had that closer to 800 to a million dollars. So you can see how close we came to spending our budget completely last year. Um uh $156,000.
Um local tax levby 25,39,859. Um just so you can see the state state aid is about just shy of 25%. And they consider us overfunded at that rate. The rest we have to generate locally. Um, tuition is $6.3 million or
14% of our budget. What we're having the issue with tuition and last year I we we I spoke about it also is obviously we have Oakland and Woodland that sent to us and now we're in the spiral where we're cutting our budgets. So we set our tuition rate and we agree on a number of
pupils 15 16 months in advance, right? And then come to find out that the children that we thought were coming, maybe they decided to go somewhere else and then I'm also cutting district budgets. So the cost per pupil that we estimated winds up being different. So we're
always in a tuition adjustment cycle. Um that's what's going on here. Um our tuition is relatively flat from last year. Um so you know there's a limit to what I can charge our sending districts for tuition. Um, so I try not to max them
out because they're obviously in the same situation we are. So there's a sweet spot in tuition, but um, the last few years the number of kids that I was told were going to come, there's usually 10 or 20 off from what I was told, and it automatically generates an adjustment where we have to pay the money back. At
the end of each year, we have to square it up. Basically, um, I'm withdrawing $52,87 out of maintenance reserve. Um, I will say to the board and to the community that is depleting our maintenance reserve. That's the last that's all I have left, um, state law says we can
have a maintenance reserve and I can withdraw from that to help pay for some of our maintenance projects. So any surplus I generate in this year, I'm going to be looking to replenish some of our maintenance reserves, but that is depleting it at this point in time. Um, capital reserve 136,000. Um, the law
also says if I have capital reserve, I can with I can withdraw it for certain capital projects. I can't just use it to balance my budget. So, we're going to be doing some work um around the district and that 136,000 is going to support that. Um, student activities, admissions, facility fees. So, when
people want to rent our building or or the like, we generate about 37,000. Not a lot of money, but um I just wanted to give you a full picture of all the areas that we're we're generating income. state aid um 10.7 million. We were about 11 a little over 11 million last year.
Semmed this is an area um basically the federal it's a flow through the state of New Jersey from the federal government. That number has been dwindling. Um but again I noted here and then miscellaneous um that 479,000 that's basically the income we generate from
all of our shared services in the area. our interest, income, any refunds, basically anything that doesn't fit in any other category. I'm just if you're a picture learner, um just
gives you a representation. Um and here's a excuse me, our expenditures. So, 666% of our budget is direct direct in the classroom um instructional cost, 28.6 million. Another 16% is 6.9 million is
student services. So that would be your child study team, your counselors, your school nurses. Um facilities 11% and then administrative is um 7% or $3,42,000. And then again and the year-over-year comparison, what
everybody wants to know on the increase in taxes. So, we went from 2425 um 18.7 million. Again, we got the tax levy incentive aid last year. So, the current school year we're in 2526. We're at 23.7 million. 2627, we're looking at
25,39,859. A little over a million of that is um the healthcare adjustment. And um it comes to $332 a year to the average house. Um average house assessment is $448,100.
About $28 a month to the average home. Did you want this? >> Earlier in the presentation, you heard me reference uh local funding, also uh referred to as local fair share. And so this is generated through local
property taxes and goes towards uh schools in each of the communities. And so this chart um that you're seeing, there's two areas I'd like for you to look at uh with the red dashed line being 100% uh uh funded in terms of
locally. The green is the state funding received and the blue is actual percentage of local fair share. And so uh noted in red. So these are all of the the school districts in Camden County and you will see where Collinswood falls as it
relates with local fair share. We are the 10th lowest in local funding in Camben County of what we actually receive. The green shows where Collinswood receives 138% of what the state says we should be receiving in
state aid. So what is the local funding gap? According to the state funding formula, the Collingswood schools should be receiving 28,884,796 for the 2627 school year. The local tax levy, what the bureau is scheduled to
provide and what they are required to provide by the current funding formula, is 24,255,68. That translates to roughly a $4.6 6 million gap in what the state says we should be receiving versus what we're actually receiving.
This is another way to look at it. And so there are four categories. Starting at the top there is uh local funding. Uh next is uh actual taxes collected. The green in the middle is K12 state
funding. And then the bottom is excess surplus. And so that is uh cost savings that schools are able to generate over time. And so what you see is that going back to 2013,
we have seen a uh continued either leveling out or steady decrease in our ability to create surplus to help offset uh local contribution. State aid has been flat. The local tax levy has
increased, but it is not increased consistent with the rate of what the state is expecting the local contribution to be. In terms of taxes, we live in a state where taxes are high. Um, anyone who owns a home, myself included, the taxes
are are incredibly high. However, Collingswood has the third lowest tax rate in all of Camden County. second or excuse me, third only to the city of Camden and Haden Township which has significantly more uh commercial property. And so in the long term, we
cannot cut our way to a better future and we can't tax our way to a better future, but it is important for us to look at the myriad of of options that we need to to come together as a community in order to address this financial
challenge. So what is the status of state aid? So at the top you will see what the state calculates the district should be receiving in state aid which is roughly $5.3 million.
The state adjusted our state aid uh uh funding based on the significant gap in local funding and we're actually receiving $6.7 million in state aid which means that we are being overfunded by the state of New Jersey by $1.4
million. So what does this mean? This means that probably for the next five plus years, we will continually see decreases in state level funding until we get to where the state believes that we should be, which would be 100%.
What about grants? As a district back in 21-22, we aggressively pursued philanthropic dollars, federal dollars, and local state dollars in order to offset some of these structural deficits. And we were able to generate uh roughly $7.1 million
in total grant funding. During the last uh election cycle when the government changed over uh we received notice not notice that our federal grants would be cancelled because they no longer were aligned with
the new administration's goals and priorities. And so as you can see um two uh pretty substantial uh grants uh were canceled by the federal government back in January. We've also had smaller
grants in order to bring in new programs and provide additional services that have expired. So, what does this all mean for the 2627 school year? Our anticipated reductions, considerable reductions of full-time and
part-time positions, administrative, teaching, secretarial support, and facilities. the closure of Garfield Elementary School, the consolidation of the middle and high school campus, the closure of the middle and the high
school wellness center, select athletics and co-curriculars will convert to paytoplay, and reductions to other operational line items. And so what is the budget timeline? Tonight the board will uh participate in
deliberative uh conversation in their committee of the whole to talk about uh the impact the implications um of what the numbers are telling us. We will not be going into specificity in terms of details because that is not fully known yet until we receive state approval
based on the numbers. And so what's being submitted tonight is a uh spreadsheet with uh line items making sure that the dollars that are in each line item are present a balanced budget and that the funds are in the appropriate line item based on their
intended purpose aligned with state and federal guidelines. Uh the goal will be to submit uh the budget to the department of education by March 27th. Uh while we wait for uh state feedback and approval, we will be meeting with
building administrators to discuss the impact um of the budget. While we plan uh for April, we'll continue to plan for new and existing programs, staffing changes, and ultimately facilities projects. Uh in April, it will be our focus to go out to bid for uh summer
facilities and capital projects. and the pub the public budget hearing which will have uh details of the budget and its impact on April 27th. In May, we will open the 26uh 27 budget and this will
allow uh schools to begin the ordering process in order to prepare for the 2627 school year and uh we will be working with our contractual obligation to issue uh employee contracts by May 15th. That concludes our presentation. Um,
questions from the board. Okay. So, at this time, uh, this is our committee of the whole section, and we're going to allow board members to have a conversation and ask questions, um, and do our best to try to ask
questions that are relevant and, um, hopefully generate some good discussion. I know we talked about this in our committee the whole but I just thought it would be worth asking. There's still no notice about uh potential tax levy
program through Governor Cheryl. There's no option at all. Um, I have several questions, so I'm going to get my thoughts in order, but I want to first make sure that we're thinking about the revenue accurately.
Um, the state aid is 10 million. Uh, but our more detailed slide suggests 6.7. So, I just want to make sure I'm frame framing this data correctly. Can you just help me with that?
I printed out your more detailed state aid where >> oh I believe oh so the the slide you're referring to um >> the summary slide lovely >> well it's a summary slide of just one one type of state aid that's equalization aid so let me explain what that is that's only part of your state
aid so um usually if there's a gap between local fair share it's going to sound funny because it's going the other way but Trenton determines that there's a gap in local fair share and state funding technically Trenton supposed to make it up and they call it equalization
aid. Um but they consider us overfunded in that area. So we get state aid in about five or six categories. We have special ed aid, we get transportation aid, we get security aid, um special ed aid, equalization aid, preschool aid. So this is that's just one category.
>> It's not the entire pot. >> Total aids are 10 yes, 700. Correct. And the one that is more articulated in terms of the over funding is the equalization aid which is to compensate for your local portion.
>> Correct. That's where that that's the one that um was cut this year by 305,000. >> Okay. >> Um which and that's the one that I would anticipate would continue to be cut. >> So that is us projecting the potential rebalancing over time. >> Yes. >> Okay. And then can you help me just
thread the needle on um our enrollment projections? um high school. We all know I'm on campaign get students here from all districts. Um but want to better understand preschool and particularly our focus has been on of that elementary
secondary. Uh so how are we going to keep the pathway going if uh prek seems to be smaller yet we've created more locations for preschool. So can you just help me with the preschool projections? >> That was a quandry to me as well. We
actually applied for uh 225 seats for preschool. Um so when we in years past we find out from preschool about a week before state budgets due. Um we found out about our preschool revenue and our preschool enrollments at
the same time as state aid was getting released. But we applied for 225 seats. Um the state only awarded and are funding 217. So my guess is that the Cheryl administration didn't have enough money in the budget for all of the protected
preschools because I think some schools are opening brand new preschools. So we weren't awarded all the seats that we have available. So we're only being funded for 217. >> So we should understand going into the next school year we will have fewer prek seats than we do at present.
>> Correct. >> Yes. >> Fewer seats or fewer funded seats. Well, those are the seats that Yeah, it's the same thing as far as concerned. The budget that so the way the preschool
budget is and it doesn't make sense, but bear with me. Um, even though I have to in included in the budget document that was uploaded to the state website, there is a preschool section and everybody can see it, but the office of early childhood sends bear with me an Excel workbook
um that I then have to um manipulate, but it's um the funding is based on 217 kids. So they figure out the amount per pupil times 217 kids and let's just say that number is I think for us it's like a little over $4 million. So they put the $4 million. So that's your total
budget and you can't exceed it even if you wanted to, right? So they have it locked in. Um the number of seats and the amount per pupil that is being funded that is that is your to your basically your total preschool budget. >> Can you tell me what is our current preschool enrollment? Just I don't
remember and it's usually not pared out. >> Yeah, Meredith is pulling it up right now. >> Thank you. because it does fluctuate rather often. >> Yeah, just snapshot in time. >> Um, I have a question about the the state aid piece. So, the state
said it was giving X amount of money is giving us 1.5 million more, but then we're go So then we're overfunded. No, no. >> Oh. Oh, yes. Right. Sorry. >> The numbers are very similar. >> We're going to be, I guess, essentially penalized in the coming years until it goes back down.
>> Yes. Or unless enrollment goes enrollment goes up by some >> some force. Um, >> how how does that happen? Like why would they do that then? Why would they give us more if we're just going to be paying for it later? >> Because back in the day, it was called hold harmless.
Sorry. Back in the day, I think this started under bear with me. I think Chris Christie um instead of just taking the state aid away, they would like hold districts harmless. So, um you've heard you've heard me say the last 10 plus years, you
know, we're flatfunded. So, instead of taking it away, they just didn't give you anymore. So that's basically what's been happening um to Collingswood since like I say maybe 2018 2019. We're kind of like flatfunded or held harmless, meaning they're not taking it away, but they're not giving us anything. This
year they actually took it away. Um we were limited. Um the Murphy administration last year um and the Cheryl administration this year did the same thing where no they made a point to not penalize any district more than 3%.
So nobody got cut more than 3%. But those that received state aid, I don't think anybody got more than six%. So it was like a sweet spot. So I envision probably another 3% next year and another 3% the year after that. Um
so yeah, but they just held us harmless. They never really took it away. Um but again, the state the funding formula did change during that time. So now they're looking at they're actually looking at how you're funded. They're looking at the wealth of the town, which they never did before. it was never a problem, right? We never had to worry about over
under um because they never really factored in, you know, the value of the property in the town. But now that's part of the the formula and they are actually are looking at that. So, and this might go to what Megan was saying as well, like in the eyes of the state, because of
property values and because of, like you said, quote, the wealth of the town, we should, according to the state, be able to fully fund our district even though our local share is below what the state believes us to be
getting. >> Correct. And that's where lawmakers whatever they say that but then they cap our ability to ask the taxpayers at 2%. So,
you know, um my opinion is if that's going to be the case, then give us the ability to ask. And if the town says no, then that's one thing, but at least give us the opportunity to to ask and have the discussion. But when you're capped at 2%. Um so, but yes, that is true.
>> You you mentioned that um the state could increase our aid based on enrollment going up. Does it have to go up exponentially? Does it have to recover? Like it was what 138 down. Does it do we get a 100 extra students and
then they increase it next year? Like do we know how that works? Number one, if we if we had an increase in enrollment, the enrollment adjustment would be we they let us increase taxes because we have more kids. It doesn't necessarily mean we get more state aid. We could potentially. The issue is when
they look at um uh state aid, they're always looking you're they're looking at a five-year weighted average of kits. So, we would have probably to generate a sizable increase in state revenue. We probably
have to be increasing enrollment several years in a row for there to be enough of a percentage for Trenton to then for it to trigger. But our enrollment's been fluctuating um more in the last two or three years on the downward slide. But when they look at state aid, it's the
five years. >> Miss Coleman, just did I hear correctly? You said the the enrollment adjustment uh thing that would trigger would be that we could then raise local taxes. >> Yes. >> Over the 2%. Correct. Just like the
healthcare adjustment. There's a few things that >> are included in in um the state funding law that allows you to go above 2% without any you know acts of god and one would be the healthcare adjustment and the second would be an enrollment adjustment. I have appealed to the the
state and when we meet with Luke Greenwell tomorrow it is on my list of things is they should let us do that for special education costs that go beyond a certain dollar amount or that are outside of our control. But we get a lot of push back when we say that. But those are things that are hard to plan for
that we're morally and statutoily obligated to provide and that you know um we should be allowed to do that in that case too. Um but yeah >> you said enrollment is weighted. Um how does the state the enrollment like do
the high school students are they weighted more than the >> Yes. Um so it starts out um well they don't rate pre-K they they wait kindergarten 1 to 5 6 to 8 9 to 12 and then there's a an additional weight added um for special ed categories.
>> So specifically to special ed because I you know we have actually talked about having inclusive schools grants and you know I'm trying to balance these uh reductionaries with what our model will be going forward in that space. Can you share has our special ed portion of
state aid reduced or is it the same? Well, I I understand the state aid is special ed equalizer like the local versus state transportation security. So, of those which ones actually getting shifted the most would be helpful because I would I'm trying to really
ground myself in the areas we've prioritized inclusive school model. What will that look like? understanding the levers we are presenting here. Um >> so our our state aid shifted in in the following categories. Hold on a second. So transportation was cut
um and special ed um special ed was cut. We were reduced in special ed from prior year. And is that number based on need enrollment in the program or is it another calculation that is
difficult to understand right? Is it based on our enrollment and students who are in our are services we can offer internally or is it how what generally drives that just for >> it's based on enrollment. >> Okay. >> Yeah. They don't um every every fall um
I complete the ASSA which is the application for state school aid. Not that they fund it that way, but I have to break I count every child in the district and I count them by grade and if they're special ed by special ed category and every additional service
that they're given. Um so the state does that have that information. So considering the the fact that um high school is weighted more uh would the decrease at the high
school level level have impacted our um our aid this year? >> Yeah, it is possible. I mean like I I I've attached on into the agenda again I not a calculus professor but the the the nine pages of the state aid calculation
um it is very confusing. Um yeah and with with us having less high school children that's also affecting our tuition. >> So yeah and I just >> which is another big source of revenue for us obviously. >> So Miss Coleman I think that was going to actually be my question as we have
discussed enrollment. We specifically are seeing reduction in those who are being coming into our district that's tuition which is part of versus kind of the ones in our immediate community. Is that a accurate assessment of the the
slope is Woodland Oakland is reducing far faster for lack of a better word than Collingswood? Would that be a fair statement? Are they all going at the same rate of reduction? >> Uh Oakland seems to be holding steady. I
would say probably Woodland and Collingswood. Um we're seeing less resident children in Collingswood, but I know the number of Woodland children that are coming over. I think there it has been less in the last couple of years. >> This is also this is something that we
had discussed during committee hall last week. Um and so I think to to reiterate here too, I think the the most impactful change in enrollment in terms of our year-to-year budget is would be tuition paying students. So that would be the
decrease. you know, if we're seeing fewer students coming from Woodland, then that is has a very immediate impact uh on the year-to-year budget. um you know whether it's right or not the uh specific sort of enrollment fluctuations
within Collings would uh I would argue do not actually affect the um state aid amount because this again the state aid the state considers Kingswood uh way overfunded uh and there's that 3%
decrease cap that uh Miss Coleman spoke about previously. So what that means is that uh the state should be cutting, you know, a couple million of our state aid, but they're only cutting 300,000 because of that 3%. And so really the the change in enrollment within Kings would won't
necessarily affect our state aid right now because uh we're already capped in our losses um because of the you know 3% cap there. But the change in enrollment, let's say from Woodland, that would be a that that is actually a very impactful
year-to-year um impact on our >> Yes. >> uh running budget. >> That is accurate. And and not just what I'm able to book as a revenue, but if they overpaid, we now have a we have a liability on our books where I have to pay them back. So,
it's kind of like a double whammy. It's less revenue and then I'm paying money back for kids who didn't come. Do we have any idea why the enrollment has gone down in Woodland? Has there been conversations with our neighbors about where like what's going on?
>> So projected um 20 20 students opted to go to uh Camden County Technical School. Um they have some uh some new CTE programs um that are attracting students and so and transportation. So those are
the two variables. when we met with the superintendent um over in Woodland, uh those were those were the two items that she shared with us. >> So, two things. Um when kids opt to go to uh Camden County Tech, we we pay for
that transportation or is that Yes, we do. Yes, we do. No, it's not. Um, no. It Collinswood kids who go to tech school, we pay the tuition's 32 3211 per pupil and then um I contract
with Camd County Ed services for a bus. >> Yeah. >> I'm sorry. You're talking Collingswood kids or Woodland Kids? >> Collingswood kids. So Woodland pays for Woodland and then Collingswood pays for Collingswood and Oakland pays for Oakland. Is that how that works? >> Yes. Yes. Um and another quick question
in terms of um the projected enrollment, is there a way to to increase those numbers like to come in low instead of coming in high? You know what I mean? Like in like I feel like we're thinking we're going to get 30 kids and we get 20
kids. Why are we not projecting 20 and then if we have 30 we have an increase? We did do that this year, but the law I did I did adjust it this year, but it's incumbent upon the district sending to me. So, what the the the code says is the sending districts have to notify me
I think it's by December 15th of the number of kids, right? And then we get our certified tuition rates in January. Then we set the new tuition and that's and it's locked in like 50 kids at this dollar amount. here's your tuition expense, my tuition revenue, and both
our budgets. Trenton like matches them up kind of like the IRS does with the tax returns. Trenton matches them up to make sure that we match. Um, so it's really incumbent upon the sending district telling me the right number. Um, but we did I do try in the areas
that I can control in that um in the sending districts is um our number of resource center periods. So those kids that are in and out of resource, we bill for that. Um, and that fluctuates constantly. I always have like a a running five-year average of the number
of periods and I'm constantly adjusting that number because that's within our control. Um, but um, yeah, we do I really rely on getting that number from the other district. >> It's one of um, my questions or thoughts
that I'm having up here is like what is our strategy to address some of these items which is, you know, the burrow local fair share and how are we moving the needle? you know, we focus a lot on w plans and facilities, which feels like more money, not more investment. So, how
are we moving the needle there? and then uh enrollment and attracting students. And just I would ask that as we move throughout the course of the rest of this year that we understand what are we doing to um really attract um students
and retain um our students because I I still don't you know I as I look at this list of reductions I'm trying to make sure that at the end of the day the excellence that we are doing here is really top of mind for families. Um but we are still getting confronted with
increasing reductions each year or consistent reductions each year in enrollment and I just want to understand our strategy to stri try to push back on that because I I I don't know that we have spent much time up here talking about what are we going to do differently. Um, and I also want to
really push and um, and I will hold the frame of I cannot imagine that we are expecting to tax our way out of this gap. And so would like to make sure we are really clear about what does next look like because it is pretty significant even though we approved an
increase last year, right? This board has I sit with that um, and want to make sure that we can rationalize these reductions relative to what we thought we were doing. we could shore up last year. >> So, I think it's important to, you know, since we talked about last year, the gap
last year was 8.7 million gap between local uh local contribution. The uh board last year approved uh the application to request $6.1 million. The state approved 3.8.
um they cut the $2 million out because the things that we requested they said did not qualify as a thorough and efficient education. Things like um athletics, things like extracurricular activities, uh things like social workers, uh media specialists, um
classroom uh aids. Uh we argued uh that that was uh inconsistent with the spirit of the law. Uh but it did not change the approval. Uh, in terms of long-term, I'm not going to I'm not in a position to speak for the burrow. What I would say is that municipalities and school
districts are all struggling with the increase in operational costs. And so, yes, uh, local contribution is one of multiple variables. Um, but we should not, uh, uh, assume that, uh, the bureau
is sitting on millions of dollars in surplus that they can just hand over to the district. And so, I just want to make sure I'm being very clear. It's going to take a comprehensive uh community approach in order to strike the appropriate balance and and the decrease in operational expenses, the
consolidation of effort between the district and the bureau and parallel to that uh uh moderate consistent increases in overall revenue at least to be consistent with the rising cost of inflation. And so much more discussion
is needed between um our entire community. Uh Zaki asked a question about enrollment decreasing and what we're doing to address that and I didn't hear like are we doing you know stay through
like marketing all that like addressing you know when kids leave middle go to high like staying in Collingswood being a Collingswood Panther your whole career and how we're you know emphasizing that for our rising nth graders, rising tth
graders, rising 11th graders. >> So, great question. I think I I think it's also important for us to actually encapsulate what does this mean? And so, projected enrollment are numbers that are coming in in order to configure the budget. They don't actually they don't necessarily uh directly reflect actual
enrollment or students on the books. And so, if we go back to 2023, uh 14 students uh rising nth graders transferred out. 2024, 30 transferred out. Uh 2025, 38 transferred out. And so
for the greater part of the last four decades, um we have had a myriad of of families that have transferred to other schools. 92% of the transfers are to parochial schools, specifically for families that have a desire for their children to have um um uh parochial
education. And so when we think about uh what can we do, the things that we can do is to continue to offer high-quality programs and opportunities for kids. Case in point, um we have a phenomenal uh performing arts program as evidenced
by our students that performed over the weekend. Those things attract additional students. We have we have a continued emphasis on uh inclusion, making individuals feel welcome like they belong. Um but we also
have uh some some challenges that we're still hoping to reconcile as it relates with culture and climate within our schools specifically related to the secondary campus. And I think that some of the uh uh items have been addressed by our uh administrators at the
secondary campus in terms of making students feel welcome, getting a handle on culture and climate. Uh in terms of marketing, marketing, that's a whole other beast. We are combating misinformation, toxicity,
um and unfortunate bias within our school community that has to be addressed. And so until we're able to reconcile that Collingswood High School looks different in 2026 than it did in 2006, and that is not a bad thing. Um,
we're going to continue to have uh the question mark out there. Academically, Collinswood High School has continually improved both academically and in collegegoing culture. We've increased the percentage of students that are
going to uh college on scholarship. We've increased the students that are earning uh uh college credits while still in high school. Double the rate of the state of New Jersey. We're including more students in all of our extracurricular activities, in our
sports, in our academic programs, and those other those other core things. And so I think that we're going to need a concerted effort within our community to reframe what quality looks like. Um we're going to have to reframe what our high school looks like today and the
nostalgia of what it looked like 25 or 30 years ago. Uh we want to recognize that there is value in traditions. Um, but I think that we're going to have to to to come together as a community and figure out more meaningful ways to promote what our students and what our
staff are doing right now. Um, and they're making significant progress. >> Um, so I have a whole spiel that I will not um actually present, but what I did want to remind all of us is that the budget is the most important uh function, you know, as a board of
education. Um, and it is our duty to make sure that our budget aligns with the priorities in our community. Um, and looking at the one slide here that talks about reductions, what I really am missing is the financial impact of each
one of these bullet points. I don't know how to vote on anything without understanding what the closure of Garfield Elementary School means to the community or means to our budget. How much are we saving? how much are we saving reducing full-time part-time
positions? How much are we saving, you know, restructuring the uh secondary campus and so on. Um, so it would have it would be really helpful to see either a percentage or a number or something that we can tie to actual dollar
amounts. Um, so we can make sure that the reductions I mean, nobody wants to see reductions, but I I don't this is just a bunch of bullet points. I really would appreciate um seeing how that impacts um also what I don't see on here or maybe some more detail and hopefully
we'll see it in um April but you know is there a reduction of non-UN personnel I mean is administrative teaching secretarial support facilities who does that encompass um also you know we is the lease for good sheeperd still
in this budget while we're closing a school and you know making class sizes higher for um our students. Um so I um I would like to understand also what
paytoplay means uh for our families so we can kind of start having those conversations. So if there's any way to kind of put a dollar amount or something for those reductions, I it would be appreciated. So I'm going to echo uh that that was one of my notes I also had
here is if we can get at topline the percent of impact um because it is to me some of the sub bullets I I will tell you as a parent of a classroom of 25 I don't know I don't know that I can accept even one more student in that
class and so I have to push what does that mean um is it moving a whole class into a room in another school or is it saying push students into classes that are already quite high? Because I we have celebrated excellence, but I will
say we will push our children too far if we keep thinking that the class size can just keep getting bigger and may hope it works. So I do think we need specificity here. I do want to, you know, I really appreciate how you have articulated how
we are here, the why, the work I am holding myself and this board and this community to how do we make this less difficult, but we I I just want to balance some of this. My last comment question, the wellness center, what portion of it was federal dollars versus
local budget? because I understand it was completely deleted because we have an energy from outside of us that does not believe in well-being and mental health. Um, and so how is that what we're talking about or how much was still in our budget that we need to account for is what I'm trying to square
with that particular bullet. Um but if we can at a minimum get top line 10% 15 20 30 like something to give us a sense of the impact so we can really push on the prioritization of which lever goes first second or third.
>> So I want to I I want to caution us um by making a a pretty direct and bold statement. Um, none of this feels good because it's not good. U, we don't want to make any reductions. But I think that it's also important to encapsulate. We're talking
about $3.3 million. We're not talking about a 50 $60,000 lease uh for office space when market value for that is triple the price. We're not talking about um one or two positions. We're talking about $3.3 million that had to
be reduced from this budget. And in terms of impact, uh, we will be working within schools in order to be able to answer all of those particular questions. The exercise that we're here today focused on is does the budget is
the budget balanced based on the revenues that are available. We are not in a position to talk about ultimate impact broken down by different category until we've gone back to our school leaders and helped to actually craft and structure what that impact will look
like. And so when we're talking about the loss of a significant number of positions, yes, there is impact. The exact impact will need to be broken down school by school because we have to make sure first and foremost that every single child within our district has a
classroom to go to. And so that work will be done over the next several weeks. And so impact will also be determined over the next several weeks. Details on what some of these line items consist of will also be determined over the next several weeks based on on uh
students affected um and based on the pending approval from the state to make sure uh that we're meeting the needs and the values of our community. And so yes to those details will be made available uh uh to the board in the
coming weeks. Um but what happens starting tomorrow is we then go back to our schools and share with our schools where we landed and then we have to do the restructuring at the individual school level first and then report back to the board.
>> Uh can I ask how will the community be engaged in that conversation? And I'm saying that as someone who would hope to hear if my students class is going to be bigger before we're welcoming a new student. And so I want to make sure we understand the impact. How will we communicate? When do we expect to
communicate? Because transparently we're talking about enrollment because we must retain what we have. And I would offer that it could be detrimental to this district if families feel the class size is too big and how are you going to shore this up? That is the that is I I
get it. We this this is no joke and I I don't think anybody is expecting it. We are deeply feeling this to the core of any child we see on the street. What does this mean to them? And so I'm I'm looking for specificity on when will we know and how will it be
communicated to staff certainly first and families who will definitely be affected. Right? That's I think can we get clarity on what we're anticipating in terms of that communication >> over the next several weeks. will be working closely with our school leaders and it looks different in each campus
and so our school leaders are going to help us determine what is the most appropriate mechanism for each campus to be able to engage our families um because impact will vary from building to building and so it'll be important for this next phase uh to to begin
taking place and so I would from the community perspective um each school community will be engaged over the next several weeks um after uh we have formed formalize what this actual impact is uh at at each individual school level.
Tomorrow morning, we will be communicating districtwide um the culmination of the reductions that were uh shared this evening. Um and then basically forecasting for our community that further community engagement will be taking place over the
next month. I'd like to uh jump in also uh echo what Miss Jamuski and and uh Miss Divine said about having those figures for um how much each of those uh kind of bulleted points uh save us. You know, I think it
is helpful for us to see the magnitude of each of those those cuts. In parallel with that too is the question of whether or not there are other options, right? Because I think one of the things I've heard is
well um you know how much does the closure of Garfield Elementary School uh and the associated uh um you know reductions in full-time staff there? How much does that actually save the budget and is that dollar amount
uh worth it for that? Right. And my my I guess my follow-up question there is are there other options? Because if there are no other options for for for cutting then in many ways yes it's good for us to know the amount but if we don't have
any other options you know what what uh what can we do my understanding having been involved in a lot of these discussions and one of the reasons why we pushed so hard last year to uh bring in additional revenue was that there really are no options and and
so I guess you know Miss Coleman, just you know, I know that we've talked before last year about how difficult it is to close a hole of this size. I mean, what other are there other options in terms of of of cuts?
>> No, I I I we we struggled through this. This was um in a word heartbreaking and and very stressful. Um I don't know where we go from here.
I'm I'm being as honest as most of you who know me. I speak very frankly and I am honest. This was this was this is not good. This was not good. and uh speaking to colleagues across the state, there's a lot of districts struggling and doing the same exact thing that we're doing.
Doesn't minimize what we're doing. Um but collectively um we're not alone, but um I don't know where else we go. So when we develop this list, um it was
hard getting to that number even with the items that we we spoke about. Um, I don't know that I could do it again like once we do this. And I know that that this question has been asked of me a lot after this. I I don't know. And I
know I've said this uh to a couple board members. I I told I threw my hands up in the air with Kelly. I'm like, I don't know what to do after this one because, you know, something something's got to give. Um, our buildings not our buildings are not large. So, it's not like we can't we cannot continue to do
this and just put everybody in our buildings because our buildings aren't overly large. Um, so we are going to have to again after we get through this horrible period, we're going to have to get back to the table and start looking at
um how we generate more sustainable revenue so we don't have to do this again next year. >> But in in a word, no. I couldn't have done this without the cuts that have been presented.
>> Um, and so one thing is is is yeah, I think what you've said is is that this is a a terrible situation in terms of there are very few options for us in terms of cuts, which I think goes back to what was said, which is it's really difficult to cut to cut our way through these things and understanding that that
these costs are are rising. I mean, we uh you know, we are it's inflationary costs, right? in terms of of um all of the the costs of of materials of of of staffing of um
>> well just health benefits alone if we didn't have >> leading into the last two years our average healthcare increase was eight or nine% went from 9 to 22% in one year that's over a million dollars so just take that off the table that would have
put us at 2.3 still not great but not three point, you know what I mean? So, just one line item going up by over a million dollars is just it takes your breath away. That's, you know, and thank god we're not in the state health benefits plan. There are some school districts that are at 33%.
Um, but that one line item that that, you know, if you take that off the, again, it's an outlier, but if you take that off the table, we're still not great, but that $1 million swing, that's a tough one. >> And >> so, we have to stay that. And I did say this when I when I met with lawmakers,
they have to do something about the health benefits because um right now they're just pushing it on to the taxpayers. Um so they have to do something about it. >> And so what I what I'm hearing too is that I know that you know from listening to the board discussion here, there is definitely some concern about uh among
board members about how you know some of these cuts uh may make it difficult to retain students. um and while also, you know, uh rightfully pushing for us to do
our best to retain students. And so I I think this is one of those chicken egg problems where as a board one of the things that we I think can and and should do is you know if we can't purely cut our way out of this we also need to
ask ourselves are we willing to ask the community whether or not they would like to contribute more to our revenue. If we truly believe that larger class sizes uh are going to send our district into a
death spiral of enrollment, then is that something which we as a board are willing to discuss and see, hey, do we try to go out for referendum, ask the town whether or not uh uh they're
willing to contribute, we are willing to contribute more to keep those teachers in the classroom to to pay for this healthcare um to try to keep these class sizes smaller. So I I think that is part of the responsibility of the board um to
to try to be on that part of the equation because that's one of our actual powers is is to ask the community about that. And so it seems like we have to attack this from both sides, not just from the cut sides, but to ask, you know, when and if and how we we would be
uh able to ask for more revenue uh to fund schools. >> So I Oh, sorry. >> No, go ahead. >> I was just going to ask because during the presentation you said legally we've met the cap of what we can do and Roger is mentioning going out to the town.
What does for everybody here those mechanisms look like? What can we ask for in those things? Because I I know that there are parameters um so that we could bridge some of this gap and we're not losing staff blah blah blah blah.
um when Governor Murphy was governor. So there's four times a year that school districts can go out for referendum. And typically in the past um it was referred to like for capital projects, but they expanded it after the Robinsville uh situation that those of you who tuned in
last year heard me talk about. So they did expand it to allow school districts to add their to to ask their their towns if they would contribute to the operating budget. Um, so it is possible to go out. Um, there would be four
times. September, I'm going to do this again. I'm going to get it wrong. September, December, January, March. So, so and the general election in November. Um, so between now and the next budget
cycle, we could ask four times. Um, the board could listen, I'm not saying ask for 10, but you could ask for whatever you wanted. But my recommendation would be to tie it into our local fair share because that's been it's all over our
website. It's all over the fair funding. It's all the was the close the gap website. That's it's what we're measured by. It's how Trenton measures us against our peers. Um but to at least get to what Trenton determines is what
taxpayers should be paying. at least to get to that number. So that that number that Fred was talking about I think was 4 point 4.6. Um I would start there as a discussion point. Um because then we are meeting or because
there are some districts that are above their local fair share. So some are like 130 140 150% funded by their local. Um we're not even at the hundred. We're not even at the the starting gate at of at that some of our other um compatriates are. So that's probably where I would
open the door for discussion and then obviously um you know the board and the community would have to decide what's best >> but you know knowing that we are very much overt taxed in the state of New Jersey but again we also value education
and our children very much. So it's it's it's it's something we're going to have to talk about and struggle with together and come to the right decision as a community I think on this one. So, what were the months again? >> I know I'm gonna get it wrong every time. September, December, January,
March, and November if it's a general election year. >> Okay. So, >> so yeah, >> this idea of an operating referendum would not affect what we're currently discussing. >> No. Any, let's say it, let's say, No.
So, let's say it passes in September. >> Taxes could be raised as early as January. Okay. So, half of the year. >> Um because I believe that's when the new tax bills come out. Um but for all intents and purposes, it would be for the next budget year going forward.
>> Okay. >> So, as not to confuse my budget and the and the bureau's budget, it would be for the next school year going forward. I I appreciate you asking those follow-up questions, C Stacey and Roger, for bringing up that kind of you the
forward thinking, solutionoriented thinking that I think this board is also responsible for. And I really wanted to I know this is a very long-term discussion for us to start to engage in. I appreciate the work that Kelly and Zakia have been doing in opening the door to regionalization, which I know is
a very long process, but it is something that um state legislators are talking about. Um I know Miss Coleman has been having conversations about that as well. Um but you know in the meantime and we've talked about this you know with with Danielle and our regalization
meeting having some of those conversations with um our neighbors in Oakland and Woodland and perhaps some other areas including Haden Heights Haden Township who are also facing the same kind of cuts that we are facing and
are also facing continued years and years of uh drops in state aid. Um, and so alongside potential stop gap measures, asking the community to support our teachers and instruction, I think there needs to be a continued
effort um to really engage some of our neighbors. Um, so I appreciate the, you know, groundwork that we've started to lay for that >> and I do appreciate the the focus on solutions and I I I will hold myself accountable for maybe not prioritizing
having a plan to close the gap before today, right? So like that's what I'm sitting with very respectfully. We've talked about rack plans, secondary campus, not probably appreciating how big this would be so that we were out socializing a potential referendum,
right? like we that that is the balance we need to strike as we move forward the rest of this year that we are prioritizing the right conversations with the community because frankly we already are writing on the wall there will be more that we need to go for in the future so we need to make sure we're
really laser focused on those items that will reduce the need for us to get to this level of cut um and some may right so I just want to offer that I'm also So just asking that as we proceed
throughout this school year and the next that we're really focus our priorities are going to drive towards a different kind of budget conversation ideally um going forward so we can support and and offset this level of stress that we probably could have been walking eyes
wide open into a little bit more um is what I'm really charging us to do as we move forward. And that, you know, that means some other plans will not be sustainable right now until we can get this shored up, right? Like to be really direct. Um, and that is that is my
position in this moment. But, um, I I do appreciate that solution. Um, and really partnering with the bureau to better understand what is possible from their perspective as well. >> So, um, I I do have a question, but I want to let everybody know that we
understand we're not about the kids. We know that you are a family. We know that our communities are rooted We're going to do everything we can to pull ourselves together and try to stay focused on solutions, but I want you to know that we care.
My question is about um cap sizes in classrooms. Are there are there cap sizes for classrooms that we have to be concerned about? Mary, >> did you want to answer that? Uh yes, there is a a board policy. The
specific number is escaping me, but I can reference mo it mostly from memory. Um uh it is that we shall in grades K and one aim to stay under 25. Kelly, you as about class size caps, right? I just want to make sure I heard you correctly.
Uh that we shall aim to stay under 25 in kinder and first grade. Um, and there's another range then up to 30 um, in the grades above that. Um, again, I'm doing that from memory, but I can triple check that. Um, there are some caveats and
allowances um, if we um, should need to depart from that um, board policy. Um, uh, that's that are also spelled out um, in the policy.
Hang on. I'll direct our attention to it just so that we can reference it. >> Is uh kindergarten capped at state law as well? State law caps kindergarten sizes >> if uh if you're a title one school. Yes. Um if you're not a title one school,
it's an internal aspirational number to stay below. Meredith, is that one teacher as if there's 30 kids in that class and there's no aid? Just one teacher per 30 for 30 kids.
>> That's correct. >> Um Um I have a question as far as like the kids. So what exactly does that mean for like the relocation of these kids? Like where will will the kids just be kind of like dispersed throughout the different
schools or will they be sent to like I I'm I'm kind of confused on it because I don't know. I guess I also probably don't really understand it, but like what does that mean for the kids? Like are they just going to get dispersed throughout different schools? Um so the uh current kinder through
fourth grade students at Garfield um will be carefully and thoughtfully reviewed kid by kid, family by family. um uh siblings obviously connected together. Um in in partnership with
looking at current seat availability at our other four schools um where we have five home room classes, one home room class at Zane, Newbie Sharp, two home room classes at Tatum. So there are five
general education home room classes in each grade level of the remaining four elementary schools. um along with um self-contained classrooms at Zane, Newbie and Sharp. Um so when we talk about our total enrollment in a grade,
some students are in a self-contained setting and some are in a general education setting and some are in an inclusion setting. And so, um, we are in the midst of spring IEP annual reviews that will determine special education students programmatic needs for next
year that will, um, in part drive seat availability at our four remaining elementary schools. And so, um, we will be closely collaborating with the Garfield families and the other four
school communities, um, to to answer that question of where are the new school assignments for current Garfield students. Based on the numbers that we have right now, um, if we were to remove all of the children
out of the Garfield School, do we have enough space in terms of the cap sizes and all the other classrooms available to house all these children? >> Mer, are you done looking for policy? No, no, no, no. You don't have that's fine. You don't we don't have to wait
for it. I just wanted to ask another 23 uh 2312. >> Thank you. Um do you want to talk any more about that? I have another question, but I don't want to interrupt the conversation. Okay. Um so we're we've been talking about healthare, how expensive that is. Understand I mean everybody's deductibles are going
through the roof. Um do we have a number on the increase of health care amounts and it's going to tie into a comment? So I >> the total expenditure you mean? >> Yeah. Like or or the difference between last year and this year. Um, and because
I know we talked about this on Thursday, um, that we are increasing our tax levy because the state allows us to increase based on the insurance. Um, so the difference between last year and this year is roughly 1.5 million. Uh, go ahead.
>> Okay. So, um, health care costs um, in the current budget year are 7,331,000. >> Okay. >> Next year is going to be 8,521,000. >> Okay. So the 1.5 covers most of >> Yes. So we generated the healthc care
adjustments a little over a million >> and then the tax levy was like 405,000 that got to the 1.5. >> Okay. >> Um and then what I'm asking is just to kind of wrap my head around because if we weren't allowed to increase the additional money, we would actually be
at uh we're at 3.3 now. So we would point Yeah. Okay. Yep. >> Okay. So, because we're allowed to do that, it's beneficial. I mean, I know it's a tax increase for our families, and I'm not minimizing that, but it's also helps us to not cut more. So, I
just wanted to make sure that's not the 3.3 or 3.5 is after that healthare cost. >> Yes. >> Got it. All right. Thank you. >> Just talking through it and making >> actually Thank you for asking that question because my comment was since we
are going for so much more than the normal 2% levy. Is there a communication plan to the bureau as a whole about why we're asking for that money? What that money is for
that's been a constant question in the past from community members that what are we paying for, where is that money going, what is it being used for? Um, and in the absence of information, there tends to be a lot of misinformation created. So, What's the communication
plan for making sure that Collingswood as a burrow understands that $ 1.5 million tax ask what the excess is and what we're doing with it? >> So Chris, thank you for the question. Um by the end of the week, uh we will send
out uh so we'll be sending out um a letter to the community tomorrow morning. We'll be sending out the full presentation with an attached FAQ by the end of the week that breaks down um some of those some of those types of questions that breaks down like what's included within that, why do we why do
we qualify for that? What does it encompass? So, um, we do not have numbers that will give us an idea of what these planned cuts will do to that 3.3 million. Um, but you know, uh, I know I
had I had thought about this before. So, if if we are telling the community that we have to close the school, um, then what will be done with that property? Because It's, you know, and I know the plan for the referendum that failed was
to sell that building. Um, what is what is the plan for that? >> Board will need to deliberate and discuss next steps with that. So I would um I appreciate the question and also agree we'd have to talk through
that and with our solution mindset right that it's an asset now that is available to help us plan in the future. Um and I I I think we're just trying to you know dot our eyes and cross our tees around on the what's the list of solutions. So
it's more referendum as sale we think if poss where possible right there's all of these levers that we're trying we will need to balance as we have very focused conversations after this one right like I'm holding that that's the stuff we're going to be
talking about going into the rest of this year right um because I would offer if we hold those numbers in our mind that should get us through some of these gaps that are articulated in this presentation and so I think I want to make sure we mythbust the stories and
narratives that we're creating even in this t I'm like quick math trying to make sure like hey does that building help us not come back to all of you and myself for more money right like I think we need to be really clear about what those opportunities are that are in our control and outside of our control that we need to go back to so that is that
messaging we should be really intentional about um articulating I guess in terms of the communication to the community I just want to echo or understand our broader community who just got told we we did this. We were able to offset the ex um some of the
expense this year with last year's tax increase will hear and we still have to move forward with these changes to the broader burrow community via a letter from the district to every resident. I just want to make sure I understand or
is it going to be in like a article? We would assume >> the first letter will go to the school community. Um we will request uh the burl to use their uh community messaging um to to use their network. Also um I
also want to caution us in in terms of uh disposal or selling of a district asset is a one-time infusion of revenues. And so we cannot build an annual operational budget off of one-time funds. And so any of those funds would help us to sh up and to
provide a higher degree of stability in long-term financial planning. Um just so that we're all thinking about uh I mean unless there's a lovely developer high online if you want to pay us 20 or 30 million dollars for one of our buildings
we were more than happy to have a conversation. But I think that uh in terms of the long term taking a very um proactive but balanced approach to looking at all options um to be able to make sure that we are shoring up our
operational expenses while parallel to that thinking about what are uh appropriate ways to generate additional revenue that does not continue to lay the burden at the feets of at the feet of our homeowners. Uh I think that's uh
that's our next step. >> Miss Coleman, I just want to ask a qu question. You mentioned that the maintenance reserve is fully used in this line item. So it are it's zero today >> and those funds support what just I like
we need to put a finer point on. >> This means if we need another set of stairs, if we need something fixed, we do not have the funds and reserve to pay for it. This budget uses every penny we have >> for maintenance reserve. Yes.
>> So, a leak. Is that what we're describing? >> I mean, if you get an insurance claim, that's lovely, but I'm just offering like what kind of >> Right. I just want to be really clear that we have no cushion at this point >> through the buildings and grounds department. Um, and it's in the detailed budget that's online. It's there's a
whole building section. So, the maintenance reserve helps fund all of those things. Um, my hope is, um, as the school administrators can attest, I froze spending very early this year and I'm making everybody jump through hoops to buy stuff. Um, because my hope is to
put some money back into maintenance reserve uh, in June. But, um, but right now with this budget, it will be depleted. That is correct. Um, if there's a project that needs, we do have capital reserve. So if there is an emergency, let's say, um it's an
application to the county office in the state to be able to withdraw the capital. Yeah. >> Um with this closure of a school, red reduction in staff, we're looking at
increased stress on the staff that's here. Are we focusing on retention of our staff that we are keeping? Are we creating an environment where they feel comfortable and safe. Um, I really I
love my children's teachers. I don't want to see them go. So, I just if we have a plan, it's articulated. So, for the community, as you can see, um, this is very emotional for us all.
And so, um, I think that it's important to note that the majority of us that are sitting on this day are, uh, not only residents, but we are also parents. Um, I have two children, um, who attend our schools. Um, I am a Garfield parent,
and so, uh, we don't go into these decisions lightly. Um, these decisions personally affect, uh, my family. Um, at the end of this meeting, I will be having a very uh difficult and painful
conversation with my third grader explaining why um daddy is making a recommendation to close her school and what does that mean for her friends. Um, and so I think that in terms of of staff retention, um, we care about all of our
staff. Um, we can definitely do a better job of demonstrating what that care looks like. And I think that the best thing that we can do is to uh work alongside our staff in order to figure out uh what this transition actually
means um to hear directly from our staff. And that's our commitment is that what we're asking for folks to do is not easy. Um it's not comfortable. Um, but we at this particular stage in the development of our district, we have
very few choices and options as it relates with closures, staff reductions, and funding streams. And it's going to be incumbent upon us to work collaboratively to figure out what does this mean for next year. And so when we talk about uh the adage of doing more u
with less, that is actually false. We don't do more with less. We do less with less. And what that means is is that we get very detailed and very specific on what are the most important things that we can focus on leveraging the expertise of the professionals in our buildings.
And we do those things and we do those things better than anybody else. We're going to work to the degree possible to try not to overburden as best we can our staff that are directly impacted by these changes. Um but it's going to be a work in progress and it's going to be
extremely hard. And so I believe that the way that we honor our staff is to work collaboratively with them, listen to their feedback, and try to co-construct what our next transition looks like. So, you know, knowing last year that it was, I think, after the first budget
submission came out that the state uh and the lawmakers uh let districts know that there would be a tax levby incentive aid program to allow us to try to close that local fair share gap. um you know if I don't know
if there is a somehow a miracle chance that that that program comes out again uh are we I guess as a board able to meet in those quick like the assuming quick succession to come together and discuss whether or not uh we as a board
believe that we should go out for that program once again to avoid these cuts. Yes, we would meet if that were the case. Yeah. So on the topic of um collaborating with the community and the
staff, I just want to let everybody know that we do have uh regular roundt discussions uh that we are trying to have at various locations across the district this year. Um we just had one recently in the LMC.
Um, on that topic, just FYI, we are going to need to reschedule our April roundt discussion because I believe that is Passover. So, we need to change that. Um, but we will re try to reschedule for another day in April to, you know, if anybody wants to come out and talk to
us. Um, I encourage the community to come talk to us because it's a less of um, it's not a formal setting. It's it's informal. There is not a quorum of board members there. So there's only about four or five of us and you can have some
more in-depth conversations with us that come up at those discussions. I also want to let everybody know that there is a general um CBOE uh contact email that you can reach out to us if you have concerns or questions and anything that
you send to us um goes directly to Zakia and I and then we forward that directly over to the rest of the board. Um, so the, you know, there are ways to reach out and engage with us about your concerns and I just want you to to be
aware of that. >> Um, I I just have one last question. Um, uh, I just have one last question about, you know, like different programs being cut, um, or being closed. Um, there was mention of the wellness center being
closed. Um, My question is what does the closure of the wellness center mean? Um and like what service will be provided for the students who rely on the wellness center? Um like is there going to be another program that's implemented in place of this? You know, because I
feel like a lot of students rely on this as far as speaking their mind and kind of like having a place to go that is safe to talk and speak up about their feelings. Especially because you know like students are growing not like through high school students are growing not just physically but mentally as well
and a lot of them deal with challenges and you know not everybody feels like there's a safe place that they could go. So does the closing is there going to be something else implemented for these students that rely on this? So the the great Kenneth, great
question. The unfortunate um closure was precipitated by the cancellation uh of the federal grant. Um initially in 2022 when we were awarded the grant, it awarded $970,000 a year um for mental health services and support with an
opportunity for renewal as long as you adhered to the goals and the objectives. Um we did we could not have anticipated um that our grant would be cancelled. And so what I would say is is that uh when we start uh uh the process of going
back and meeting specifically with our middle and our high school leadership team um understanding the impact, understanding the need, working alongside our our counseling and our mental health staff that are on campus to determine what's our capacity and
then what that transition needs to look like in preparation for September. And so uh there will be a degree of support. We're just not able to what depth the support will look like until we've met with the leaders on campus.
>> Uh Dr. McDow, I just want to make sure I'm really clear the closure of the uh wellness center is directly related to the federal funding reduction. It's so that is almost it was going to have to happen because we don't have the capacity with within our budget to
absorb that program. Correct. So, I just want to make sure as we, you know, asked for what portion will impact what this was already out kind of outside of our >> budget. Um, and okay, just making sure. >> Does anybody else have any more comments
or questions up here? >> Can I Meredith, can I ask another question? And this is probably already know, but I just need just more clarity. Is every staff member from Garfield, are they being able to go to another school
at all or is that just >> Yeah, we're not going to comment on specific personnel in this public setting, but um yes, as as every spring, we work strategically to um work through all of those processes. Danielle. Um,
it's about as specific as I can be at this time. All right. Um, I just want to let everybody know that we are going to come out of committee of the whole right now, which means that when you come up for public comment, this is our time to listen. We will not be answering
questions or talking back to you, but we will be taking a lot of notes and we will do our best to follow up on the back end um with your concerns. And again, there are other ways to reach out to us. You can come to the round table discussions. We will be announcing when the next one is. And there is also a
general um board contact uh email that you can reach out to. We can get you that. I don't have it off the top of my head, but we can get that for you. Um, but we will be listening today and we will not talking back be talking back during public comment. So at this time I'm going to make a motion to exit committee of the whole. >> So moved.
>> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So we're going to move on to section five, future dates and miscellaneous information. Um, we're going to move on pretty quickly now. Um, please take a look at the uh
miscellaneous dates and information. Um, just an FYI, that round table discussion on April 2nd is no longer happening. We're going to reschedule that and we'll keep you posted on another date and there are a lot of other events around the schools that if you need to add anything into your calendar, um, you
know, that's a good reference for it. Uh, we're going to move on to section six, routine business to approve the minutes of the meeting. Can I get a motion? >> Some moved >> up. Uh I'm sorry. The uh meeting of the
uh February 18, 2026 and February 26 for the regular board meeting committee of the whole and regular board meeting. >> All in favor? >> I at this time we're going to move on to our uh student reports. So we have I think Chris and Kenny here tonight to
report. >> Uh good evening everyone. So, while Kenny logs in, um I'm gonna kind of start a beginner, uh winter sports report, um on some of the highlights of the season. Um mainly our girls basketball team. Um they had an
incredible season. They uh held a scoring record over 1300 points for the whole season across 33 GR across 33 games. Um three of the star players, Tatum Henson, Nora Roseboro, and Gay Ciph who together scored over,00 points
of their 1300 points. Uh um Tatum Henson uh scored over 550 of those points um holding the school record for most single points in the season. Um Norah Roseboro with over 400 and Grace II with over 240.
Um and then as well as Sophia Angeluchcci with the most rebounds with over 200 rebounds. So, um, so brand new coach for the season, uh, Coach Mchuan, and just a phenomenal out of the gate season. Um, and Kenny
has it more in detail. Uh, I will be going over the kind of like the sports preview for the spring sports. Uh, so first up, we have softball, who is under new management, uh, with Ashley Pence being the head coach. Uh, their first game will be Tuesday, March 31st against Haden Township. And then moving on to
the baseball team, there's a there's new management as well there with uh head coach Paul Woodley. The first game is April 7th against Haden Township as well. The boys volleyball team is coached by Kevin Lamb. Their first game is March 27th against West Windsor West
Windsor Plainsboro. The tennis team is coached by Wayne Pyer. The first game is March 30th against Haden Heights. And the lacrosse team is coached by Aaron Waller and their first game will be April 1st against Milville.
Um, and I I I apologize for the late question. Um, but my question I have I have a question about the sports becoming pay to pay to play. What exactly makes the sports pay to play? So, we won't we won't we we won't have
that conversation tonight. Um, further discussion is needed. We're working with the athletic department in order to assess participation um and what sports may or may not potentially be affected. Thank you. >> So, and then my usual report, um, I give
out the student survey. Um, students are ready for spring break. March is a very painful month. Um, no breaks, no nothing. Um, and juniors are especially burned out with taking the NJGPA testing last week. Um, so we're all ready for that nice spring break to come. Um, so
this form that I had was, um, heavily concentrated around, um, computer science. Uh, when I came back from my injury, um, I had several students come up to me. Um, one student in particular, Max Mullen, who started a student
petition to get signatures for, um, advocate for bringing back computer science. Um, now with with all this discussion, I know it's it's a little more difficult. Um, but I wanted to bring up the the overall student interest in the class. Um, there are
over 80 signatures for uh the petition to bring it back. Um, which is of the enrollment that I saw up there of uh 613 students, it's 13% of the student body is interested in bringing back computer science. Um I went ahead and I pulled stats from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics for the job outlooks of um computer science fields. Uh computer scientists have a 20% job outlook for the next decade, 9% overall for computer-based jobs. And the um the total job outlook for um all other occupations is 3%. So computer-based
jobs are well above um the average job outlook. um the salaries for computer research scientists um low-end 80 grand, high-end 230, average 140 thou $140,000 a year. Um so the point is is um being
able to offer subjects to our students that um can offer them very rewarding careers um and a lot of different ranges. um as seen in the recent retrospect article um for the town um it covered the
February 26 meeting um where a vote was held that um cut computer science from the course catalog um even with some decent student interest um at a meeting on February 3rd about
concerning unification um computer science was brought up um and it was stated that in order to bring a class back, it would need 50% enrollment, which is of the average class size of 24 means 12 students. Um, we have well over 12 students interested in it, which um
would hopefully push it to bring it back even further with student interest in it. Um, you know, like just majority student interest in a class should be the reason for bringing it back. Um, and like I said, I didn't have much part in
the petition. was all student led by Max. Um, and on top of the 80 signatures from students, we had um a grand total of 109 that I checked earlier today. Um, the extra 29 coming from parents,
alumni, grandparents, eighth graders, um, and people in the community who work in the tech industry. Um, I know the class um, had a had a full course outline with it. Um we still have
the tablets and the iPads left in the um computer science room um being unused if we are able to get those back. And um most importantly concerning the budget um I did pull up um a grant called the Perkins grant which is for CTE classes.
Um I on public record it stated that uh the Collinswood district received $15,151 for 2026. Um I know that's not a whole lot, especially considering how much we've lost this year. Um, if it's possible to request more or reapply for
that grant, um, that would be a way to help fund the computer science class. Um, I I know it's really rough asking for a class to come back and in all this. Um, but I did have to make that announcement from the the student voices.
Um, so that was that was my main point for the night. Um, you know, classes are important. Computer science is important. I mean, look at this table around us. We've all got a most of us have a computer open. It's being live streamed with a computer running it. Um,
to be able to teach students that is incredibly important. Um, and I and from student interest, I believe we should bring it back. Um, and that covers most of it for tonight. Uh sorry, there's one more thing that I
was going to touch on is the pause TV program. Um as many of you know, there was a there was a short stint where we were out of live streaming, but I would just like to say that we are back up live streaming, which I'm forever grateful for that. Um and the internet
has been restored in the MacBooks that we have that are that are essential for the student learning. Um and one of one of our teleprompterss, which is what helps us run the show smoothly. It's it's what um I'm sure many of you know what a teleprompter is. It reads the
lines and it goes up. Um has received Wi-Fi making the show run endlessly smooth. Um some of the technical issues that we are still having though is with the
MacBooks. some of our some of our um essential resources have been blocked for use such as so personally when I I had done a documentary on the wrestling team and I used the MacBooks to pull a
lot of images off of Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter kind of, you know, to help complete the project. However, when I went onto the MacBook that I that was given back after they were given back to us, um many of these sites that
I usually use to pull pictures have been blocked for our use. Um, which I I find it quite it it it it's hard to kind of figure out a way around that because I'm not sure what else we we can
do as far as kind of like getting that resource back because I feel like that is such an essential resource. There was I'll go into a specific clip. There was a clip from the South Jersey the 2022 South Jersey group two final that I had to dig in Twitter for. It took me like
40 minutes to look for this clip. But I if I one thing that I found quite complicating is that if I was at home using that, I I would not and I had a MacBook, I would not be able to kind of take I would not be able to take that
video to kind of tie my documentary all back together. Um, and another thing that I would that uh the pause TV studio needs more help on is the switcher is the our switcher is what we use to
switch the cameras back and forth, play, you know, videos or CG, which is the boxes, the box inserts and the pictures that we use. Um, our switcher has been damaged and broken and we we we ask for help for that because again that is
another essential thing. the the switcher is what makes our show run as smoothly as it does and it's what makes it kind of like a professional news studio. So, one thing that I that the TV studio ask is just for a little a little
help with the technical side of things. That's all. Thank you. >> Thank you both so much. Very informative. Um, and now we're going to move on to section eight, which is the superintendent report.
>> Um, I'm going to keep it um exceptionally brief uh given the weight um of what we have been discussing this evening. Um, and so if we go to section 8 uh 8.01 01 uh is the in the attached enrollment
report February of 2025 uh was 2220. Uh February 2026 is 2,197. Uh 8.02 03 and 04 uh are the school safety suspension and anti-bullying
report. Uh and just have a few uh positive announcements and general remarks. Uh first uh I just wanted to acknowledge that um this month our all of our schools participated in neurodeiversity celebration week. This
is our fourth annual district-wide celebration of brain differences providing us an opportunity to be able to discuss neurodiversity and disabilities in a strengthbased inclusive way. And so, uh, we continue to be proud of the progress that we have made in the area of inclusive practices
and appreciate the community's support as we celebrate the diverse minds within our school community. Um, again, I would also like to publicly say uh congratulations to the talented cast of Mamma Mia and just thank them for another season of performances. We have
some exceptionally gifted students and young people that put together um what should be award-winning performances. So, can we just give them another round of applause, please? We're also very fortunate to have um a senior leadership program. This is a
program where the young people uh uh at the high school they apply uh they interview uh and they participate in a uh campus leadership development program where uh they not only mentor uh incoming freshmen but they also uh
provide mentoring and support to our elementary schools. They do service projects um throughout the year and then each of the senior leaders identifies a passion project. And so, um, all of the senior leaders have passion projects, but the two I'd like to highlight
tonight, um, are, uh, Failen Pisatilo. Uh, his senior, uh, project this month was at the Collingswood Manor. Um, his project consisted of holding monthly technology classes to help elderly residents better navigate cell phones, tablets, and laptops. Um, and the second
project we'd like to highlight is Adelaide Arvo. Um, her project was to bring back CultureFest. And so it took place here um in in this cafeteria on March 20th. So in partnership with school leaders, the goal was to get as many students as possible to attend. Uh
tables were set up with food samples and different displays of different cultures represented within our school community. And so we would just like to thank all the students that help with these amazing projects. And special thanks to Adelaide and Failen for their leadership on campus.
In addition, uh we would like to uh publicly thank the Interact Club for their March Madness initiative. And so this past month, uh the Interact Club hosted March Madness also at the manor. And so they were able to purchase a ping pong table for the facility and they
held a ping pong tournament to celebrate. Um and so we just want to thank all of our students for their continued commitment to uh service and engaging with different members within our community. Um, in honor of ReadAcross America this month, students
worked hard. Um, and our and our annual readathons were another success. So far to date, our students have logged in over 315,000 minutes read associated with our ReadAcross America. And so students earned a variety of
prizes for their hard work, including homework passes, extra recess, theme days, pretzel parties, water, ice, ice cream, movies, popcorn, glow dances, gaga tournaments, and the like. Uh, and then they raised each campus raised
considerable funds, which we used to help support um experiences and field trips uh in the spring. And so we continue to be proud um of the efforts that we're making across our school community. And we would just like to publicly thank our parents, teachers,
and especially our students for showing up and working hard. And finally, uh would just like to um acknowledge uh based on what our student reps talked about, uh and we just like to congratulate our girls basketball
team again. Uh but special note, uh this past weekend, the Albert J. Corino Girls Basketball Club of South Jersey uh which is a uh an institution that for the last 50 years has honored excellence uh on
and off the court. Uh Miss Tatum Henson was named first team all group number two based on her efforts uh this year. And so we would just like to congratulate her as well as the girls basketball team for how they represent
um our community on and off the court. And last but not least, uh we would like to just point your attention to the back of the room. Um our leader, Miss Nissner, uh is representing the Comics Wood Panther Pantry. Um this is a
this is based on the continued effort um in order to support the the individual needs of families in Kingswood Oakland and Woodland um in a confidential and non-judgmental way. And so uh we support the mission through generous donations from our community. Um they are
accepting non-p perishable items. Um they are also accepting uh cash or checks in the form of donations and all proceeds go to help uh local families in need. And so uh thank you Miss Nisser and thank you to those who continue to support our pantry. That concludes my
report. >> All right. At this time we are going to move into public comment section section nine. Um so you can come up. This is our only public comment section of the night. Whatever you speak on does not have to be on the agenda. Okay. Um,
please stand, state your name and address, and keep your comments to three minutes or less. The public is reminded that attempts to resolve all concerns and complaints should first go through appropriate staff members and administrators. I believe Miss Coleman is going to keep time for us. Um, I recognize that everyone is feeling it
tonight. There are motions rising, but we will hold you to the three minutes. Good evening. My name is Mr. Goldberg, music teacher at the Tatum and Garfield elementary schools. I am here today speaking on behalf of the district music teachers, Miss Carlson, Mr. Gross, Mr.
Hartung, Miss Intricaso, Miss Lewig, and myself. It is the mission of the Collinswood Public School District's music department to provide every Collinswood student the opportunity to grow through a highquality, ability appropriate, universally accessible music education that inspires the
continuing study of music. It's been too long. Good to see you all again and a big welcome to the new board leadership. This evening, I'd like to give you some insight, some uh behind the scenes into how these music department board of education updates are made. The district
music teachers have one big shared document which we all edit, add to, delete things before eventually approving the final language by unanimous consent. If we don't get the thumbs up from everyone, then I don't read it. If there is something in need of discussion, we head to the department group chat, which gets used on a daily
basis for event planning, resource sharing, program highlights, or just checking in with one another early in the morning or late at night. Whenever I see that I have about a thousand more unrated messages, I know that the Cington music department is hard at work well after hours. Messages like, "High
school concert is on this date. Oh, wait. What if they have siblings going to this elementary event? Hey, how do I fix this cello bow? Does anyone have extra ukuleles not being used? I hear such and such district is doing this. Maybe we can consider something similar. Here are some pictures of what we're
doing for Women's History Month. Oh, that looks fun. Maybe I'll use that idea, too. Take a look at this new Squishallow I bought for class. Uh-oh, another Squishallow. Classic, Mr. So and So, we owe it to our students and our community to create one cohesive music
program that starts in kindergarten and logically progresses up to 12th grade. For this cohesive program to function, it takes a whole village from us teachers on the ground level to our supervisors to the building leaders all the way up to all of you sitting before us today. each level an indispensable
part of the process which allows our humble district to shine brightly even amongst the comparatively larger music departments in the area. It's the investment of time and resources that sustains a program that makes families want to stay in Collingswood public schools. With your support, the other
music teachers and I look forward to continuing to cultivate the programs that students, community members, and all of you can be proud of. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Karen Tany and I've been an English teacher here since 1998.
Um, I want to thank all of you. This has been a really tough evening. You love this community and you are working incredibly hard to do something that is incredibly difficult. And that is what we as teachers do every day. And one of the most difficult things that I as somebody who tries to
teach rhetoric and argument is to explain to people that two things can be true simultaneously. And the one thing that is unquestionably true is that we are at the mercy of the
state and their funding formula which is unfair. And there are people in this audience who are doing a phenomenal job and people in front of me who are doing a phenomenal job to try and bring equity to that formula. But the other thing
that is equally true is that in these hard times where hard decisions have to be made, those decisions become harder when there is a lack of confidence that our contributions will be accurately expressed to the public. when we have
these meetings and we as teachers are encouraged to come without pay on our own time. I mean, I have to get up tomorrow morning, be here at 7:30 to help kids make up work. I'm still here. Um, we do it because we believe that our
input will be accurately portrayed to the public. And in the last few years, we have not felt that way. And there are specific incidences where we have had teacher committees about the schedule and then when the new schedule was set out it was with our approval. It
was not with the approval and that eventually was taken back. Um there have been meetings where kids have been told if you could get those signatures we guarantee we will put it on the schedule and it has not happened. That makes it
hard for us to trust. You said yourself, you are going to have to go to the community and ask them for some really hard choices. But if we feel that we're not getting the accurate information from the district level administrators, that makes us less willing to make those
hard district those hard choices and it makes us less willing to work without pay, which is what we are doing every time we go to a committee meeting. and you are doing the same thing here, which is why I understand that you want to make sure that you are represented
accurately to the community and we as teachers have that same desire. Thank you so much. Good evening. My name is Kylie Smith. I think we're good. Okay. I'm one of the school counselors at the high school here to speak along with my amazing
other SK counselors, Mr. Adams and Miss Goodall. We're speaking specifically on behalf of the counselors in our office. Um, we would like to take this time to clarify some information that was discussed during last month's board meeting in order to make sure that we are fully supporting the students of the high school. We want to make sure that
information given is accurate. Regarding the grading policy, it was stated last month that the grading floor policy in the program of studies was initially created by the counseling office and proposed to district administration. However, that is not accurate. The counseling office was asked by district
administration to create a grading floor policy proposal. So, we did. Our policy included a grading floor for only the first half of the length of the course. That proposal was rejected. The fullear grading floor policy that was included in the program of studies was not
proposed by the counseling office and therefore the statements that our office created and presented the approved policy are not accurate. Additionally, last month a question was raised by the student representative Kenny about the computer science program and whether it would run this year. In response, it was
stated 12 students signed up for computer science and the program wasn't sustainable. For reference, during the 2425 school year, the computer science program had an enrollment of 64 students. Additionally, when we were told that the program would not be running in the 2526 school year, the
counselors had to remove all 52 students who were registered for the program. As you can see, 12 is a vast understatement. It has been stated that student voice drives class options. We've had several programs canceled over the past few years that students have expressed interest in taking. We are
extremely concerned about the narrative surrounding canceled classes. So, we are looking for clarity and transparency regarding the canceled classes, especially when the numbers do not support that narrative. Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Kevin Adams, a member of Collinswood High School's
counseling department. Numbers have been presented recently in student meetings as well as board of education meetings. And to echo my colleagues concerns about accuracy, I wanted to provide numbers which express student interest in programs prior to them being cut or put on hold. And please use those reference
sheets that we supplied to you. Child development total student requests 115. Creative writing 112, journalism 72, public speaking 47, digital photography
192, foods 86, sculpture 91, and the list goes on and on. We are asking for clarification about program cuts. We want to support our students and their families when it comes to course
offerings that will not only peique their interest, but potentially, and Kenny Olsson had this experience in his TV program, potentially become a path for them to pursue when it comes to college and career choices. Providing more options can help with our student
retention as opposed to the nearly 50% of Woodland students who are applying to Camden County Tech. Also, thank you. Also, these cuts were well before our current budget crisis. Thank you.
Uh Wayne Rossy, 114 East Palmer. Um, I actually personally, um, a computer science graduate from the College of New Jersey. I had the good fortune to have
computer science classes. In high school, I went to Shaunie High School, which at the time had probably about as many students as the entire Collingswood district. And the thing that always bothers me about these things is that
it seems like yes, I I want our students to have all of these advantages. I just don't know how a school district of this size can feasibly offer all of the curriculum that I think is really
that students really deserve. And while I I personally I I do feel for the students who who want computer science, I just I I think that you know it's one of the things that I think points toward uh
what was mentioned briefly during committee of the whole which is regionalization. And it it seems to me it's the only way to stop the bleeding, but it's also a path forward that ultimately leads to a lot more and diverse and in frankly
interesting um uh subject matter because I I really feel I benefited from being in a school that was very large and had a lot of d um a lot of uh subject matter to offer.
I I do want to say I always feel I I feel like you know any kind of school closing is tragic and I I really feel for all the people involved. Um, and I I think I don't think anyone
takes it lightly um that part of this. And I I hope that what happens also reflects um some of the concerns that have come up previously. If we're redrawing
catchments entirely, I'd like to see that there's um some more concern, some some ability to to not have inequities between the schools. Uh if we're breaking them up
between four different schools, I think that it's an it's a tragedy, but that we can at least make sure that we're we're ensuring equity in elementary education, which I think is so important for the students um
generally. So, I I really wanted to to make sure that's in people's minds as this goes forward. But, as I said, primarily it's a tragedy. I I'm sorry that you are all dealing with this because it's it's hard. Thank you.
Hi. Um, I'm Maxwell Mullen. I live at 221 East Madison Avenue. Um, and I'm here to just talk about computer science as a whole and why we should have it, of course. Um, and I actually chose to go to CHS other than, you know, other schools in the area because I was
excited, you know, to, of course, be with my friends and to study computer science. Um, but of course, this program was removed. But in this day and age, computer science is an essential course for any high school because I mean, every single student in the school has a
phone with way more computing power than what we use to put people on the moon. And most of you have computers open with even more power. And understanding the these computers and phones is essential
to even everyday life. But it's also essential to getting a job nowadays. It's been very difficult to get a job with the economy. Recently, and having a coding language or computer science experience on your resume can help out a ton with getting a job in STEM. Um an
example of this is with engineering that uh almost all engineers nowadays use CAD programs which are computer aided design programs and most of those at the level like at the professional level need a basic understanding of code at the very least.
Um, another thing, it is extremely difficult to actually teach yourself uh a coding language because there are just so many of them and they are so intricate that they should be taught in a school. Um, some of these coding
languages are Python, C++, JavaScript and Swift. Um yeah and also I found a statute uh of New Jersey law which requires uh computer science as a course uh it is
section 18A7C 1.1 of New Jersey statutes states no later than the beginning of the 2018 to 2019 school year uh each public school enrolling students in grades 9 through 12 other than a county vocational school
district shall offer a course in excuse me shall offer a course in computer science. Um so as uh Chris stated earlier I did start a petition to get computer science back and it's gotten
over a hundred signatures. I think it's at about 110 last time I checked. Um but yeah, in closing, computers are part of all of our labs whether we like it or not. So, computer science is an essential class. Thank you.
>> Hello. My name is Meg Walsh. I'm a Garfield parent with 206 Cresmont. Um, just want to say for the record, um, you know, if Garfield's closure is inevitable and happening, um, all of this is going to come down to
communication with everybody. Really, really well done communication plan about when things are happening, when we will know. I know that April, May is when the budget passes. If we are told in July what school we're going to, it's going to be a really, really hard thing to figure out if we have multiple
kids, multiple drop offs. So, we are entrusting you all here tonight to make good on communication around uh this transition. Thanks. Good evening. My name is Tim Faroh. I live at 911 Park Avenue and I want to
speak to comments that were made earlier about the decline enrollment at the high school uh by Dr. McDow. There was a reference to we need to change the narrative and I agree we need to change the narrative but there was also a reference to we need to move on from the Collingswood of 2006 to the Collingswood
of 2026. We need to not hearken back to the old Collingswood. We've heard this refrain. I at least have. I think we all have several times over the last few years. And what I'd like to move on from is the
refrain at all. I want to move on to a Collingswood that is stood upon excellence for all of its students. All of them. Old Collingswood, New Callingswood, white Collingswood, black Collingswood, brown Collingswood,
any person in Collingswood. We all have the same interest. So my request is that we please move on from this divisive comment that consistently is coming up over the last few years about whether
we're old or new. We all want the same thing for our schools. And dividing this community any further between what is old, what is new is not going to get us forward where we want to
go. And that's what we all want. Those of us that have criticized things that have happened at the high school does not mean we do not want new. Does not mean that we want old. It just means we want what's best for the
students and we all want that. I was at the orientation at the high school a month ago. Mr. Adams outstanding the presentation he gave at that. Same thing for Mr. Newman. I was so impressed and so thrilled to be there
and have a student going next year. But I also want to have computer science and I also don't want to see teachers leaving. But it doesn't mean I don't believe in this high school in this district that I criticize something
that's been going on. So that's what my hope here is that in these times that are so difficult and thank you all. really thank you from the bottom of my heart because this is really heartbreaking these decisions that have to be made and
it's heartbreaking for all of us in this town but most of all for all of you that have to do this work and not get paid for your time and put your heart and soul I know you put into it but we can't have on top of that this continued
division about these issues and those that criticize being lumped into one section of this town and those that do not on another. We're all together and we just want to move forward. Thank you. >> This enough for me. This is my name is
Julia Mullen, 221 East Madison Avenue. I just want to say um that you know Max did this on on his own. He was not coached by me or Joe and he's a reflection of this district. He started prek at Garfield. He went to Tatum. He went to CMS and now he's at Collingswood
High School. And as a freshman to be brave enough to start to like initiate that it, you know, he's got mentorship from, you know, Mr. Adams helped share his um petition like help spread the word. like it's it's really a reflection of the mentoring like the grit that we
teach these kids like to really stand up and we should all be proud of the district for that because these kids are really great getting great educations but um to support him and his you know quest for bringing computer science back and Chris too like I mean it is such a
useful I work at a university I'm not an educator but I'm a support staff and we um you know my own student intern is a computer science major she's is amazing. Um, there's so many cross disciplines. Like I'm an engineer, but I appreciate
you added civil and architectural engineering, I think it was on the course this year, but there's so many other ways to support engineering, the medical field, and it's through computers and computer sciences. And I think we really need to have a methodology to bring that into these
children's lives because they're on these devices no matter what we do. So, if they can turn that into a career or some method of cross, you know, discipline supporting the medical field with software. There's so many ways they can turn that into productive careers.
Um, and I think, you know, I checked uh Ruters, Rowan, and Temple today, and they all have computer science in their course curriculum. So, it's really sad that we don't have it in ours because we're putting our kids at a disadvantage for getting into a lot of the local schools that kids in Collings would tend
to go to. Um, regarding budget, I I caution like taxes in New Jersey are very high and I don't feel like we can rely on taxes every year to make up the difference. I know we're having to make hard decisions which are not easy either. Um, we've had to do similar
things at Temple. We're running into budget issues there, too. They've offered early retirement incentives and it's an upfront cost but it you know it kind of clears out a pathway for the younger teachers and the younger staff to kind of grow up and grow up into
those leadership roles meaning um and then um you know our senior leadership too. I saw there was a class of like some like I think it was like music education for elementary like is there other ways for seniors to get more hands-on and
help in classes having some of those classes maybe too because our senior leadership is limited to what 20 or 30 students and they really do a great job of pushing into the elementary school. So those are just my thoughts and again thank you. So, I know we're all in a really difficult position and we don't
want the we don't want to lose staff and we don't want to have to make these decisions, but um just wanted to say thank you and give my thoughts. Thank you. >> Hi everybody. I'm Allison Smith. I live at 921 Eldridge Avenue. Um I have three boys in the district. I have an 11th
grader, a ninth grader, and a seventh grader. Um earlier it was talked about how do we retain our students, keep them in. And I have to be honest, I kind of wish and I'm hoping to pivot with my younger two boys. I have an 11th grader
who got into the engineering program at Pentech and it was a a pretty impressive program, but at the time Mr. Kimble, I think, was the director for STEM. He was new and he talked us into staying. And at the time, Mr. Newman was going to be the new principal and we were coming from Sharp. Loved him. Mr. Adams was
coming over here or he was here already. So we thought okay we'll take a leap of faith and we'll go to Collingswood. We're digging in. So it wasn't we're doing great on the anytime someone online dissed Collingswood I was the first to say we're having a great experience. It's been nothing but good
until August mid August this year. My son got his schedule and AP physics is an online course for the six kids who enrolled fine. Computer science has been halted. So, let me just back up. When he was in ninth grade, he did two tracks.
He was doing the engineering track, which was new with Mr. Brussia, and he was doing the computer science track, which at the time was Miss Scratch. Then it was Mr. Solomon. Either way, he did dual credits for both. So, again, I'm I'm defending Collingswood to everyone.
Sophomore year, he is taking the AP Compsai with Mr. Solomon. Uh, he disappeared two weeks before the school year ended. Um, and then junior year he was going to take computer science engineering and then the goal was senior year he was going to do cyber security
and I think it's civil engineering for seniors. So we were yeah gung-ho and then it kind of just got pulled out from underneath him which is as a parent with one kid and two more to go a little disappointing. So we're talking about retention. I don't know if I want to
keep my kids here because we're looking at college now and I'm thinking, are my kids going to be ready? Talking with what Julia and Max and Chris said, are they going to be ready when they go to college and engineering programs and the other kids in their college or high
school careers have come with all of that education? Are they going to be in for a rude awakening? I don't know. So my point is I am just concerned and just felt like I needed to piggyback on Chris and Max and Julia, but also just to end positive note just because there's one
positive thing I can say about this year that's changed. Well, there's a there's a lot, but the yonder pouches I think have been a good addition to the school this year. So just gonna end it on a positive note. Thank you. Hi, my name is Sarah Valari. I live at
215 Cresmont. Uh, just wanted to echo the comments of my neighbor Meg about, you know, I have a daughter. She's a kindergartener at Garfield. And I have to say I'm a little gutted by this news. Um, this comes as a bit of a surprise. I like to consider myself a reasonably
well-informed parent. and I, you know, involved in the way that a kindergarten parent I think normally is. And this is a shock to, you know, every other parent that I've been in contact with in her class. I mean, we're I just hope to echo my neighbor
sentiment that the communication is really, really, please consider us and please consider that this is going to be really hard. I know that you all feel this. I know that this is a very emotional decision and a very emotional meeting. topic for so many of us and
just the communication is going to be key. It always is in things like this and we're just really counting on on you guys for that. So, please, please, please do whatever you can. The best thing you can do for our kids and our community as a whole is to just please
do whatever you can to make the communication as smooth, as transparent as possible. I think we all deserve that if we're losing our neighborhood school and that like little nugget of our community because it's really important. So, thank you very much.
>> Good evening. Uh Mike Paluchi, vice president of the CEA. Just gonna fix this here. Um, I just wanted to mention a couple things. Thank you for the presentation tonight. Thank you for your constructive input towards working towards solutions and the thoughtful
questions that were asked about it. Um, you know, we've got to cultivate the talent that we have here in the district and for about four years I've stood up here and I've said a version of the same thing every time, which we're now, you know, these checks are coming due. And I
don't mean financially. I mean, you know, there's only so much talent out there. You don't have to have a personal relationship with this special teacher or this person that this staff member. Like we can appreciate that in the buildings. Parents and students can appreciate that in their own way. But just from a even from a bean counting
perspective, there's only so much talent out there and you have to cultivate the talent that you have because we have situations where jobs get posted and we have one person interview for it. And you know, there's a way to treat people like adults and level with them
and be upfront with them and honest with them. We could we could all be pulling in the same direction. I've stood up here. Go watch the tapes on YouTube. I've said it for four years. We should all be pulling in the same direction. There is no difference in ideology that's really that big between any faction of us here. We all want what's
best for our kids. We all want equity and inclusion. We all want robust, powerful schools that serve the needs of our community. And the way that you if you fail to build a coalition when you're coming to the public with things, then it's never going to be sustained. It's never going
to be sustainable. You need to rely on the people that you have to carry the message for you. And the way that they do that is if they believe in what you're saying and in what you're doing because they they know, you know, pe people know there's limit. People can't
say all of the things that go on in their schools because they're professionals, but they know the way they're treated. They know things they're told that are not necessarily the reality of what's happening. And we have an obligation to protect our students and to be confidential and to be professional. We can't always say those things, but people feel a culture
in the place of work where they work. And that's true of Collingswood just like it's true in other places of employment, you know, around the country, anywhere. So, I want us to think about what we can do to cultivate the talent that we have to lessen the
impacts of these of these cuts. You know, I've you guys know this, but there's people who have family members who are sick. They're waiting to find out if they have a job. At a meeting this morning, not even a meeting, it was an impromptu meeting lasted almost 45
minutes. There was three of us in the room talking about one student. One student who I have who's in a class of 26 among six classes that I have. We're all maxed out. 45 minutes talking about what's best for that one student. Three of us, 66% of the people in that room
don't know if they're going to have a job by the end of the school year. That's what it took to meet the needs of one student. So, we really need to think about how we can all work together, put our differences aside, and treat one
another like adults by being upfront, honest, and innovative. Thank you. >> Hi. >> Hi, everybody. Um, my name is Evangelene Gutwine. I live at 170 Lawnside. Chris is my neighbor. Hey, Chris.
Um, I actually work in Collingswood and I have kids in Collingswood and I live in Collingswood. I love Collingswood. I love the teachers in Collingswood. They're fantastic. I just want I'm trying to get I remember last year this happened. It was even more complicated
because we didn't have contracts. And then we had like a big thing with the with the burrow, right? the burrow came up and they were like, "Hey, how like what's going on? How can we help? Let's share good sheeperd. How how
can we like help lift up and resolve the budget?" And I was wondering if anyone was like, "Hey, Burrow, here's what's going on. Do you think we can have that talk again?" because it sounded to me like my memory of it was that it was like a they
were it was a union between the board of education and the bureau and it was to work together to help remedy the budget issue. That's my memory of it. I don't know if I'm correct, but I I would like to hear more
about that and see if maybe that's something that is possible and maybe as a result could save jobs and airfields. Thank you. >> Um, hi, I'm Aubrey Emer, 35 Harvard
Avenue. Um I have three kids in Garfield right now and um I just sort of wanted to build upon what um Meg and Sarah had just talked about um that in addition to communication I just I would just ask that you work with as much dispatch as
possible um if you're going to be reassigning you know 113 kids to different schools. My kids are going to find out about this very soon. My fifth grader won't have to deal with this but my fourth and my first will and they're going to Where am I going to go to school? Am I going to get to go to
Newbie with, you know, kids I know from soccer? Do I get to go to Tatum with kids I know from baseball? They're going to be super anxious until they know where they're going to school next year. And I would just really respectfully request that you work with as much
dispatch as you possibly could to alleviate. Every kid in that school is going to want to know where they're going next year and um it's going to be really stressful for them until they know. So, thank you. Hello. Um Nancy Ready 254 East Knight.
Um also a Garfield parent. I want to say thank you to the Garfield teachers who are here which like I could just stop telling you like the the people who have loved my children. you taught them to read like
Miss Nash doing like tutoring on Zoom. Um, and it's just such a warm and loving school and I know it's not an easy decision obviously to close a school. Um, but it's frustrating as a lot of people have alluded to because it feels
like like a little bit of like Groundhog Day. Like we've been here a couple years in a row, I think, where all of a sudden it's budget time and and folks seem to be like, "Oh no, we don't have any money." And last year, I feel like I made a version of this comment, which
was kind of like, where is the forward planning on this? Last year, we super scrambled. We raise taxes in a way that has been really tough for a lot of families. It has. My family pays more in taxes every month than we do on our mortgage. And I know that is the case
for a lot of people in this town. And like if there's the possibility to go out for a referendum if people really feel like that's what we need to do, why haven't we done that prior to now? Like the lack of forward planning is
really distressing for me. I will also say this just feels like it feels like a difficult time to be going through something with leadership that I will just say I do not entirely believe is being like straight
up with us. It is dishonest for example to say that families are leaving for Catholic schools because they suddenly got religion when their kids were in eth grade. That's not what's happening. If you talk to families in this town,
that's not why they're going to Paul 6 or why they're going to Bishop Eustace. And the fact that our leadership is not able to be honest about the things that are driving our students out of the high school is really troubling to me. And I really hope that the conversations people are having tonight about
especially course offerings at the high school, staff retention, that you all are really listening to that and taking it in. Okay, it doesn't look like anyone else is coming up for public comment. Thank you all so much for coming up and
sharing your thoughts with us. We're going to move on to section 10, business administrator board secretary report. All right. Um, item 10.01 are the February 2026 budget transfers.
10.02 is your February financial statements. 10.03 is your student activity cash report. 10.04 is the food service financial statement for the month of February. And 10.0 05 is the purchase orders issued
for the month of March. And 10.06 is a listing of the warrants to be paid tomorrow morning pending approval this evening. Okay. Thank you, Miss Coleman. Um we're going to move on to section 11, buildings and grounds and finance.
Check. Can you keep going? Okay. Thank you. Um so items 11.01 01 through 11.08 um is requesting approval for all of those financial items that I had just mentioned. 11.09 is requesting uh permission for
submission of the 2026 2027 school district budget to the New Jersey Department of Education. 11.10 is submitting the 2627 uh preschool budget to the Department of Education. 1111 is um uh approving a a new
scholarship to be offered at the high school um from the Collingswood Civic Collective. 11.12 is a resolution um to be in compliance with the new law regarding um how we advertise for our board meetings. Um basically they will be um a hyperlink
on our website and it will also be registered with uh a state website. 11.13 and 11.14 um approving the mental health screening grants and the school-based mental health grant. 11.15
um is approving a special ed um out of district tuition agreement for a child. 11.16 is approving um a tuition contract for another uh special ed out of district trial. This one at Burlington County Special Services
11.17 is approving um Burlington County Special Services um attached is their list of of rates. So every child that we send there um had the attached has all the rates the different tuition rates depending on the program and the amount for instructional assistance and other
services like OTPT. Um 1118 is approving the 2627 tuition agreement between Collingswood and the Camden County Tech School. 11.19 uh is approving $5,000 grant with the
Sustainable New Jersey. 11.20 20 through 11.22 are revised shared service agreements with um Oakland where we pay Oakland for um uh preK support for our preschool classes that are housed in their
building. And then 11.23 through 11.28 are all use of facilities request forms. Okay. Uh we are looking for approval of items 11.01 to 11.28. I have a cheat sheet tonight just FYI on the approval
of items just um any questions or comments from board members? >> We first sorry for can I have a motion to approve the items 11.01 to 11.28 >> and a second. >> Second.
>> Okay. Questions or comments from board members? I just want to make sure I'm really clear on our timeline. We're going to this it's submitted, county reviews it, we will have clarity of the state, but in the meantime, prompt and diligent planning and
coordination to communicate to families by when will happen, right? Like I do want to just make sure I'm clear on the timeline beyond the budget approval process of how these impacts will start to get communicated. Yes, at the at the school level. Um so
starting this week, we'll be going back to our school leaders being able to identify and detail um impact of the budget for f for future presentation. Parallel to that, we will be engaging um
specific school communities uh like Garfield um parallel to this process because that's going to take a very different approach than some of our other campuses. And so all of that will be taking place over the next 30 days. But there will be communication that
goes out uh first thing tomorrow morning uh that kind of encapsulates a summary of what was uh presented this evening uh with more uh details and frequently asked questions by the end of the week. Um and then we will be engaging um guard
uh excuse me Garfield families directly uh and we'll be reporting back to the board uh on a regular basis leading up to April 27th. I understand the the timeline. Thank you for that. Um, for those of us who would
like to see some um exact numbers behind some of these cuts, when will board members um be able to see like when will this be filled out a little bit more in terms of, you know, this many positions, not not people obviously, but this many positions, this is how much we're going
to save. How much are we saving by um you know getting rid of the operational cost of Garfield? What happens to that building? Um where you know you said positions across the board where those positions are coming from. Uh can board members expect to get that information before like before the next committee of
the whole in April or you know >> it'll be very close to the committee of the whole date. Um we're talking about a massive undertaking and we want to make sure that we're giving you accurate information. Thank you. I have a a question about communication.
you know, given given that I think what we've heard about communication being uh really important and I think the sense that I I got also from some of the public comments was that uh uh there are folks out there who maybe don't necessarily
um uh uh say believe or trust um uh certain things that the the district themselves are sending out. uh knowing that a lot of these uh like the tax race for example is really important that the that we have
very few options here um to to have a closed uh have a balanced budget um and knowing that communication is really important. My question for for board leadership is whether or not as a board uh we will be echo e echoing
um with our own messages uh the necessity of of these changes and and and the re rationale behind the tax raises um so that we can make sure that the community understands from multiple different places uh how these are really difficult choices but ones that that
have to be made. >> Thank you for um the comment, Roger. Um, we're going to do everything we can to stay in close contact with the district administration and um hope to meet with them on a regular basis to get some more
updates and get that all out to you and to the community as best as we possibly can. >> I I do think we also need to acknowledge that the the partnership burough district partnership I think Kelly and I since we've been in this space have been asking for several conversations. I do
want us to really brainstorm and strategize around what kind of conversations and what we're focusing on going forward. Um because I can appreciate depending on the frame and where you're coming into this conversation, you're not sure if this is a continuation of what we did last year or we are really trying to rebuild
getting back to that point. Um, so just want to also task us with trying to how do we transparently articulate this to our burough leadership in a way that um also helps them understand their responsibility for helping us going
forward. Um, and and um just want to make sure we're showing up in that space because I think we've had several conversations and this has not been a focus of them and want to just make sure we remain focused on getting on the same page.
Miss and and M thank you. Uh yeah, I think I think what you all are talking about are definitely uh really important. Uh you know, my experience from last year and from from these bud budget issues is is that um you know, I
know Dr. Ser and I our thought process behind it was uh to be as communicative to the uh community as possible, right? so that they're hearing, you know, both from district administration leaders and also from board leadership, uh, uh, and
also, you know, working with the burough as much as possible to to get out some of those messages. And so, you know, understand that that this is a massive change for our our town, our district, and also on top of that, you know, another $ 1.5 million tax raise, right? U, I would encourage um board leadership
to consider uh additional messages to help, you know, get the >> so the the message across. I will reiterate and echo what um um Miss Maas said. We will certainly cascade, echo,
amplify all messages shared and um articulated, right? Like that is our whole charge, right? I think that is our frame. I don't certainly don't want to speaking out of turn, right? We don't want to go a cart before the horse. So, we want to make sure we understand these
time. I'm pushing really on timeline so that we can better understand our timeline for echoing, supporting and providing the necessary scaffolding and reinforcement to trust the process, right? Uh and so I 100% agree with you
and have a few messages around like now around how will we all sing from the same song. So it is not lost on us that we need to quickly galvanize around the communication. I think the articulation of these details was some of why we were pushing in Thursday's meeting, right? To
prepare ourselves. Um, but without it, it, you know, we could only kind of determine how far we could go. So certainly we'll be there doing that. >> So before we vote um 11.9 or 11:09, um, we're voting on a submission of the
budget which takes out um Garfield, which takes out a number of positions, at least on a salary line, takes out athletics, but we still don't have that information to put in to for
the board. So, we took it out of line items, but we can't disseminate that information to the board. So, I'm a little confused on, you know, like I understand the details are what's going to continue to be worked on, but regardless, I look through the 107 page,
you know, submission and of course, you know, not line by line, but there, you know, there's no longer Garfield on there. So, what was the amount of Garfield that was in there last year that we can see the savings for? uh it's it's hard for me to kind of approve something where I don't see the drift,
you know, correlation to the reductions and the budget. I mean, I'm I guess I'm a little confused because these were the specific cuts that we discussed as a board at the board retreat at the beginning of February, including um the the number of
of potential uh uh layoffs as these were the exact possibilities that were discussed at the beginning of February. So I guess I'm confused about the the lack of that that there's >> I'm aware of but now that it's budget season I would have assumed that between
February and March you know or we've had you know six weeks since that that we would have had a little more information to share but doesn't seem like we don't we do so where where have we gone from retreat to now and how come more details
can be provided >> so and I maybe I will offer right we knew of the possible levers that could be pulled. The question is how much is proxy, right? We're not asking for a level of detail that I think is being
inferred through the question. Is this 500,000? Is this 20,000? That is what next to each decision the anticipated financial reduction because we've all
scrolled through an enormous document and to catch the difference between this year and last year is almost impossible. So that's really the question, right? We know you were doing a ton of work. We're asking, well, what's the m what's the math difference based on those things that were removed in generality? Um
because I I would offer we get it. We see that it's different. Um but just a summary is really the ask and and an average like I think we all where there has been details actually uh
as some folks have referenced the referendum was really clear about how much that school cost but this budget we can't be really clear about how much this school cost and I think that is really incredulous that we can reference something that everyone said no to but
right I and so I'm just asking for a ballpark, right? Let's just be >> So, let me let me let me go ahead and weigh in because we we can we're we are not going to continue to tiptoe around the the the to try to get to a number that is unknown at this point. When we
talk about reductions, we're not talking about specific people. We're talking about positions. And so, for example, the value of a single position if you do not include uh uh health benefits is roughly $62,000.
Okay? And so, at the end of the day, for us to attempt to encapsulate $3.3 million and break it down by specific program area, what we're submitting um is a balanced budget. And so in order
for us to give you an accurate number of the actual impact, it requires us to take a little bit more time. We were backs against the wall to make sure that we could actually fulfill our fiduciary responsibility of submitting to you for review a balanced budget. And so the
spreadsheet that you're seeing is what's actually being submitted to the state. the budget details, the impact, the movement, all of those core pieces for us to be able to appropriately determine where the actual savings are coming from needed to balance the budget. That
requires a whole other degree of calculation that we're not prepared to provide this evening. >> I really appreciate that response and also just want to sit in a space of the countyy's going to get this and they're not going to ask for the detail. Like I I'm actually just wondering like so on
average schools this much, right? That's what I'm just they're going to we are sitting in a space of it's balanced. They tr they expect that we have done our job at this table and the district leaders have done their job that this budget is sound and will have the impact
needed. So I just want to make sure that we're all I appreciate that the detail detail and I don't think we're asking for a level that is um what is being internalized. if it's 62,000 like what do the math this is x number of positions this is x number of programs
that is back of the envelope level um and I think that's what we're asking for but I also haste makes waste right you're being really prudent but I want to be back of the envelope is really what we're asking >> can um can give you uh categorical
numbers but it won't be explicit to uh Garfield >> I think that is fair and I just want to make a statement that that I expect that the board is hearing it with so that you were clearer and not I don't want to like got you said this number why isn't
it that number that is not the intention of getting this information um that and I will ask that we hold ourselves to this is to help inform the decision not to like remember it till um in 10 years okay
>> and and I think I think that goes without saying right I mean you know it's our it's our job to know what's behind the number that we're being asked to to vote on, you know, and I think I think that as Maggie pointed out, that's one of the few jobs that we have. So, you know, I think I think that's the
goal here. Any other questions or comments? >> Okay. Thank you. You get an idea of the area in the in the budgets that um I've cut. Um so, athletics um about 153,000
Um benefits obviously extracurricular 58,600 facilities 237,000 m just miscellaneous accounts like we just cut 32,000 um salaried positions $1.9 million.
Um that's all areas in in the budget. Um security we've cut 56,000 supplies 281,000 technology we trimmed back transportation I've cut back um and um tuition $75,72
so basically every area. But >> one of the things I know again because this is this is something that that the board's had to deal with for several years now. One of the I think challenges with the budgeting process which I think all districts go with is that uh there's
a dollar amount right cut and there's I think general planning about whether or not the the number of of of cuts uh is sustainable for a school district etc x y and z but there is a really I think
complicated process just for the public to understand um when it comes to actually enacting layoffs because of of a confluence of laws and contracts and and so forth. And so part of I think the the reason why it can be really
difficult to speak specifically about the number of staff uh I know from previous experience is that until every single domino in that process in the laws uh in the contract are are are taken through the entire process which
takes you know weeks you know long time. uh and every employee has uh has a chance to exercise their rights uh uh per the law and per the contract. The specific pos positions and number of of
positions and and so forth um can't be shared. And so I know that that is a really frustrating thing for the public for the board as well because we don't know. Um uh but that's one of those things where I I think the the 1.9 million piece that uh that Miss Coleman
just referenced. I mean that that's essentially the majority which makes sense considering that our our you know school budgets are vast majority personnel. The majority of of uh these cuts are going to be personnel. uh and and that's the
unfortunate piece of it and why I think we as a board need to again uh you know dig more deeply into the revenue piece about about what we uh can and can't bring in. >> So I I I >> god I'm using paper math that this is me
practicing what Sam has to do for homework right now. Um and so I just want to make sure that I am internalizing and u Mr. I totally get it right where there's a lot of detail. I think part of what will help everybody
understand just the extracurricular athletics that helps us just get a sense of what that means and that those gerine programs will be changing positions obviously will be the biggest portion. I I you know it's really how much does that equate to is going to be where we
are going to tussle a bit not tussle but have to juggle. So these are all All of these options are these numbers and we don't have it specific to so when we meet in April we will have specificity based on each of
these the detailed articulation of each of these. Okay. Thank you. I'll um I'll also jump in actually Mr. Olsen had a question way back when about the paytoplay thing and and something that I figured it it's a
like an esoteric term. So just I'm figuring more people will probably need to know what pay to play is. So when the reductionist said select athletics and co refer to pay to play what that means is is actually I think fully pay to play. So typically when you look at
schools um students who participate in extracurricular activity or sport uh they will likely pay you know their families will pay a certain amount right like oh you know oh I want you know I want to be part of the film club I'll pay 50 bucks right to be part of the
film club when something converts fully to pay to play what that means is you know instead of the district paying for you know a $100 of it and and your family paying for 50 you'd pay for the whole 150. So every cost that's associated with that extracurricular
would be paid for by by families. Um and so that's what that that means I think just to uh help explain that piece there. >> Miss Coleman, um the numbers that you just listed, do you have a total for them? What they add up to?
>> Those came to 22,937,996. Um the difference between and the 3.3 is tuition adjustment. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> I'm just going to say thank you for
giving those who like the math to math a bit more clarity. So thank you for that. >> I will second that. Thank you. Miss Coleman. Roll call, please. Mrs. Brown, >> yes. >> Mr. Chu,
>> yes. >> Mrs. DeMarco, >> yes. >> Mrs. Divine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Makowski, >> uh, yes, except for 11.9, uh, where I vote no. >> Mrs. Sherman,
>> yes, except for 11.08. I abstain check number 63708. Mrs. Z. >> Yes. Except for 11.09 where I vote no. >> Mr. Dulkus. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Maya.
>> Yes. We're going to move on to section 12, uh, curriculum update. There are a few important calendar pieces in here that I'm sure we're going to want to talk about. Um, so Mayor, I'm going to pass it off to you. >> Hi, good evening, folks. Um, thank you
so much to everyone who's still here. As has been said on a few occasions, I just want to take another opportunity to thank the cast and um staff leaders with MMA Mia. I had the opportunity to see it with my family on Saturday evening. Um I
think the board office can all attest that they are sick of hearing me sing the Mama Mia Mia songs at this point, mainly because I can't sing. Um I want to thank Mr. Gross, U Miss Hartman, Mr. Hartung, Miss Intraaso, Miss Goodall, and Mr. Jackson. It was truly um truly a
tremendous performance. We have really talented kids and really really talented staff as well. Um up for approval tonight are um items 12.02, 12.03, 12.04, which are all field trips.
Item 12.05 are um seven um out of district or home instruction placements. Item 12.06 6 is an outofd district placement that was earlier referenced in um Beth an
Coleman's earlier section. Item 12.07 is the revision to the 2526 school calendar June 2026 specifically. Item 12.08 is the approval of next year's academic calendar 2026 2027
academic calendar. that includes any of the clarifications that came up um or the color coding uh excuse me that came up at the committee of the whole last week. So those are all incorporated into the draft um for your approval tonight that's linked um in the board docs.
Item 12.09 is an is an approval for an outside entity to provide at no cost to the district onetoone assistance for a kindergarten student. I item 12.10 10 is a uh parent and guardian opportunity to
participate in a parent family workshop on creative alternatives to screen time. This is for prek families specifically. Um and I will take any uh questions or comments before voting.
>> I just want to publicly thank you again for developing a committee and uh meeting with everyone and getting everyone's input. Like I say, collaboration is where we work best, right? Um, and I wish we could do that more often and with everything. Um, I also wanted to thank you for uh the
changes or the suggestions that were made last week at committee of the whole. I did notice that, you know, for the calendar update that they were done. So, we appreciate that. >> Anybody else have any questions or comments? >> We need a motion. I make a motion to
approve uh section 12. We're looking for approval of items section 12.01 to 12.10. Can I get a motion >> and a second? >> Second. >> Miss Coleman, roll call, please. >> Mrs. Brown, >> yes.
>> Mr. Chu, >> yes. >> Mrs. Demarco, >> yes. >> Mrs. Dine, >> yes. >> Mrs. McCowski, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sherman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Z Mr. Dus. >> Yes, except we're required to abstain.
>> Mrs. Maya, yes. So, uh, any questions or comments from board members on section 13? All right. Can I get a motion to approve items 1301 to 1327? >> We're on 12.
>> Sorry. Okay. I just thought Yeah. Okay. I was like, >> we just did. >> We just did 12. >> Sorry. >> It's long. >> I did double check. >> All right. So, 13. We're looking for approval of items there. This is harder
because of this this format. I think it goes a little faster. Uh 1301 to 1327. >> Did we get a motion? Okay. Can we get a second? >> Miss Coleman. Roll call, please. Mrs. Brown, >> yes. >> Mr. Chu,
>> yes. >> Mrs. DeMarco, >> yes. >> Mrs. Divine, >> yes. >> Mrs. McCowsky, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sherman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Z, >> yes. >> Mr. Dulkus, >> yes. Except we're required to abstain. >> Mrs. Maya,
>> yes. >> Uh, we're going to move on to section 14. And I do believe that we have some uh pieces of discussion for section 14 policy. Who's presenting for that? I can jump in for the first one unless
Dr. McDow, you prefer we go in a different structure. Is that okay, Kelly? >> Yep, that's fine. Thank you. >> Um, I think there one, two, three, four. The the five underneath policy 9230 are all required
updates or revisions. Someone correct me if I'm speaking out of turn. Um, 9230 is the only current policy that is up for review and revision. It is attached for your review. um the language and um format and content of all wording from
the opening phrasing through items one through six that were listed were already in place. We've simply added a seventh um section. As you all are aware, we have updated our district bike policy to allow for younger students to ride. there are more bikers and scooters
and skateboard. And so we are simply using this existing policy as an opportunity to reinforce safety routes to school and from school for all of our students um and reminding families, parents, guardians that getting them to
and from school safely is a partnership with us, but we take over when the opening bell rings and release them back to you at the end of the school day. So that's the uh only addition or change to that policy. All right. Um, the
0142.1 is also mandatory, correct? And so is policy 2020. I know in policy uh 2020 there were some different options that we could choose from. How do you guys want to go about that tonight?
their first read. So, do we need to confirm which one in the first read? Okay. >> Yeah. Um I recommended to the Oakland board to choose the first option because that's the most like generic where you guys set um the expectations and what
you would like in the description. So just so the public >> instead of being instead of the policy being prescriptive the board who's seated at the time can you guys can decide. I think it's >> so just so the public is aware this is policy 2020 employment of chief school
administrator. It isn't a mandatory it is a mandatory policy. However we are trying to figure out there are two options on the table. One is when we're hiring a superintendent do we set the criteria as a board or the second option is to have a whole list of criteria that we can choose from. So the
recommendation is for option one is for the board to select to determine the criteria. So um I would like do I need to make a motion to vote for that right now? >> No. As long as everybody is okay with it, then we can make the the change for second read.
>> All in favor? Is that good? Okay. So I would like to u make a motion to select option one which is that the board would choose the criteria in the event of us hiring a a chief operating or I'm sorry a superintendent um long night. So, uh,
all in favor. >> Okay. So, uh, >> so we'll make the change and when it comes to second read, you'll see the selection that was made. >> And then we just have policy 55 uh, or 1552, sexual harassment for staff. That used to be merged into other policies
and it is now its own policy. So, just wanted to let everybody know about that if you didn't hear that last week. And then that is also mandatory as well as policy 2535, the library material policy. That is also mandatory. Um that I believe is a new policy based on a new
law that was recently passed. If I'm incorrect about that, please let me know. And >> you are correct. >> Okay. And policy uh 9130, which are public complaints, and that just had some minor word changes that I was aware of. We also have something up for a second read, policy 2430, co-curricular
activities. uh that's been updated to include grades three to five and there are no regulations at this time. So any questions or comments from board members? >> Motion. >> Can I get um Oh, motion before questions
come. Thank you. So, can I get a motion to approve items 13.0 I'm sorry, 14.01 to 1403. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions or comments from board members? Miss Coleman, roll call, please. >> Mrs. Brown, >> yes. >> Mr. Chu,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Demarco, >> yes. >> Mrs. Divine, >> yes. >> Mrs. McCowsky, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sherman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Z, >> yes. >> Mr. Dulkus, >> yes. >> Mrs. Maya, >> yes. >> All right, moving on to section 15,
miscellaneous items. Uh, we're just looking for approval of items 1501 to 1502. Can I get a motion to approve those items? So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions or comments from board members? >> Quick question and maybe it's in this
document and I just can't find it. I'm sure there's some way to track like every time there's police involvement on campus, right? Whenever like the law enforcement for the MOA I'm talking about like when the law enforcement is called to campus. Is there some way to
track like you know I'm sure it's wrapped up with our hip reporting but like how often police are come coming to campus or so uh the police they actually they track the calls um and they uh they send they send us reports
>> you do have access to that like our discipline officer that's in our Okay, >> Miss Coleman Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Brown, >> yes. >> Mr. Chu, >> yes. >> Mrs. DeMarco, >> yes. >> Mrs. Divine, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mcowsky, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Sherman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Z, >> yes. >> Mr. Dilkus, >> yes. >> Mrs. Maya, >> yes. >> Uh, section 16, public participation, is for the committee of the whole. If you haven't uh, you know, followed that yet, we're
only doing one public comment section per meeting. So the public comment section for uh section 16 is for the committee of the whole. So we'll do that again next week or next month. Sorry. Nobody wants to come next week. All right. So with that, I'm going to move
on to section 17. Motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> And a second. All in favor? >> I