good evening we're calling this special session of the kinds of board of education uh to order uh this meeting has been appropriately advertised roll call please miss Coleman Mrs brown here Mr craig here Mrs divine
here mrs maya here mrs mcowski here's absent Sherman here mrs oh she's absent mr mcmillan's absent mr dilus here and Mr ch here please rise for the pledge of
allegiance all right we have a short meeting today but we uh do have a couple of items to discuss in committee of the whole so is there a motion to enter committee of the whole so move and a second second
awesome and all in favor all right um so first I'm going to kick it to Dr mcdow okay uh good evening everyone thank you so much for being here um as always we would like to bring um continued positive attention to our Panther Pantry
located in the back uh Panther Pantry is um a community service project led by uh one of our amazing staff members Miss Nisser in the back of the room and it is also uh co-led with uh student participation they are accepting uh
donations of uh food items non-p perishable items and cash and all of the proceeds go to uh needy families in Collingswood Oakland and Woodland uh and so uh please stop by thank you so much
thank you Dr mcdow all right so there's uh one topic that I want to discuss during committee the whole and we'll actually discuss the uh tax levy resolution uh during uh the building and finance committee section section 4 uh but there's one topic that I do want to
discuss during committ which is about um uh what came up I think on Tuesday which is the uh discussion about $225,000 um provided by uh the the mayor uh for uh the contract um and I think there's I
want to discuss this here typically we don't discuss negotiation pieces but because this was a a very big issue and I know several board members were interested uh uh to learn more about this I did want to address this um so first I I want to mention that I think
what is the most important piece about this is that um our understanding as a negotiation and I discussed this to make sure that this was the case after uh Tuesday is that we have ever been under the impression that uh the mayor's offer
of a single onetime payment of $225,000 would settle the contract um we met on March 26th to negotiate and that was not part of saying that meeting uh
the mayor emailed us on the 27th saying an additional 225,000 to address open contract issues then on April 3rd we met uh in fact finding in mediation with a factfinder and again from that meeting it was not
our understanding that the mayor's offer of an additional onetime payment of $225,000 would sell the contract so to so that's kind of what I want to make sure that the board understands
that was never our understanding as a negotiation now what I think is is confusing to me and I think a lot of folks the rest of the folks on negotiations committee is that on Tuesday um it was
stated repeatedly that the mayor's offer of an additional onetime $225,000 would settle the contract it was stated by teachers by the teachers
union by the mayor by students whom the mayor emailed it's you know I think folks at home can't see it but we have uh many of our dedicated teachers out here right now i think uh uh with the same statement on social media it's been
said over and over again that an additional onetime payment of $225,000 would settle the contract and so even though that is not our understanding you know I would like
clarity on that and and unfortunately the um leadership from the CA is not here tonight but if it is actually the case that the mayor's offer of an additional onetime
$225,000 payment would sell the contract then let's sell tonight let's sell it tonight the negotiations committee is absolutely ready if the our offer plus the mayor's
offer of additional onetime $225,000 payment we'll sell the contract we are ready willing and able to meet immediately after this meeting to settle the contract
so I don't know if you know the the negotiations committee for the CA is available or not but we've been hearing it over and over again that that one time payment from the mayor would settle this contract and if that's the case
let's settle it let's settle it right now i see signs out there that say settle now we agree let's settle it now so that's my statement that I want want to make and make very clear that again that is not our understanding of what it would take to sell a contract but it's
been said over and over and over and over and over again since Tuesday that that is what would sell the contract and if that is the case then our offer with the mayor's offer of additional onetime $225,000 payment if that will sell the
contract let's meet let's meet now right after this meeting and let's sell this contract okay so that was my point for uh committee the whole um so at this point uh yep I mean do board members have
questions I I really want to go much more into negotiations but do board members have questions I don't know how much we can go so I I think we caveat with any questions that we have here in that it is still negotiations but
not any that would be the caveat i I'm not going to say much other than um you know I very much appreciate that you just said that publicly and I would see no reason if
that's the case also to to get the deal done so if it is that's great if it isn't then you know maybe this is a conversation started that they can really get you guys can get to the details of it and figure it out i'd like to say the same and you know
full disclosure as a member of NJA I I you know cannot say much do not know much um obviously however I'm thrilled to hear the um the
willingness to get it done this minute and I I really really hope that that can happen that's great and I was thinking the same thing there's a couple of issues here and there let's work it out that that is thrilling i I cannot state that enough
so thank you and thank you and I I really hope that this can this can happen because you know we have work to do clearly this is not the end of the road and and I think as Mayor Nelly said getting this out of the way and getting some some positive feedback from
everybody is the way to go thank you no for and absolutely for sure i think uh we've all been been eager to sell the contract and again it it has not been our understanding that that the that you know the the mayor's offer you
know no strings attached of of an additional onetime payment of $225,000 would sell this contract but it's been said over and over again over the last several days and so if that is the case if that is what will sell the contract then then yes let's settle and again I just want to be clear that
you said that it was your other offer plus that additional 225 right right yes and I I do want to go into that because I think one of the challenges that we've had has been again I don't I'm not going to detail the offer right but the but the offer is very clear i think the CA leadership knows it you know was discussed with backfire so it's very
clear what it is one of the the challenges that we've discussed for a while is that having continued recurring ongoing compounding costs right especially as we've seen that we we've had to leave 11 positions until two years ago last year
we've had to rift 21 positions this next year right right now if we couldn't find additional revenue we'd have to lay off 30 or 35 positions and close all those things right so understand that that continued additional compounding cost is a really big issue that I think has been
one of the biggest biggest challenges right and so again that is why we have not understood that a onetime payment of $225,000 would sell this contract but again we we keep on hearing since Tuesday on social media from teachers
from the CA from everyone from the mayor that that that's the case and if that is the case then again we are willing to settle and we're ready to settle tonight right after this meeting i've typed it all out right
here ready to sign and so hopefully you know we can get this settled uh quickly any other questions about anything no about the tax yes yeah no no no
so we'll we'll have a we'll have I figure we can chat about the tax incentive program we were talking about oh no no in in the uh in the agenda item itself because we have a short agenda oh okay so we'll do the discussion topic got it thank you cool yeah so um can we
uh do we have a motion to close committee hold so move and a second second right all those in favor fantastic so uh before we get to our one actual agenda item for vote we'll have
our first public comment uh section so um so the purpose uh of this public comment section is to discuss items listed uh on the agenda additional more general comments may be made later in the meeting public reminder to have attempts to resolve all concerns and click go first go through appropriate staff members and administrators the
intent of public comment is to give the community opportunity to provide feedback to the board we will be actively listening and taking notes that uh we can take all this that is being said into consideration um if appropriate clarifying comments may be made by the president at end of public comments for more detailed responses to concerns communication may go out there
to speak by the appropriate staff members or administrators or be discussed by the board during future committee meetings uh members of the public are welcome to speak and expect to do so with utmost sensity for everyone in attendance uh in all fairness to all who wish to speak there's a strict three minute time limit per person during public comments and Miss Coleman will assist by keeping uh
time please remember to state your name and address for the record and so the floor is open hi this is Crystal Ward 325 Newton Avenue um well it's great to hear that you're open to settling the contract because obviously that's a major concern
for everybody um as I'm sitting here listening I was here a couple of nights ago and um I don't know whether or not 225,000 is all it takes to settle the contract the question was raised it was not answered and um it just strikes me
as odd that um the approach to handling this is just to announce in a public forum oh let's settle it right now right now right after the meeting are you here let's do it right now like that just seems odd to me it seems a bit disingenuous and I would hope that there
is a normal communication flow between I don't know whoever the parties are sounds like there's a negotiating committee there's somebody from the teachers union wouldn't there be uh communication between those bodies to have be having regular sitdown dialogue
and wouldn't you as the board president know what the dollar gap is to solve the contract i I just I'm just a little bit flabbergasted sitting here listening to those comments point number two is on the tax levy i want to reiterate my position that as a local resident I am
strongly opposed to a significant material tax increase when the BOE has an option of almost a million dollars of free funding being offered by the bureau i get it that you uh want to take advantage of you know this opportunity
to raise uh taxes based on the cap but as the mayor was trying to explain the other night before he was interrupted uh that there is an opportunity to bank the cap so why not do whatever you can to take advantage of free money offered by
the bureau and delay as long as possible uh giving a large tax increase to residents almost $1,400 tax increase even even even the minimum per year options the other night of what was it close to seven or 800 if I remember correctly is still a major burden on
every household and we're going to be pricing people right out of town and then where are we going to be we're going to be right back in the same situation And I also wonder as point number three if so many other districts are facing the same problem have you been actively engaging in dialogue with other
districts to see how you might consolidate how you might help each other out what other options do we have because if we have 600 districts and 300 of them are significantly underfunded why are we trying to solve this just on our own so this I just wonder if really
there has been enough research and investigation and collaboration and partnership to try to really figure this problem out and I don't see much action at all trying to involve residents in this dialogue as was promised last month so thank you for
hearing me and hopefully you can get this damn contract settled [Music] i I I just want to address the comments that Roger made um the that the negotiating committee hasn't been clear and hasn't understood the two the 220
number when that that number came about at our meeting on March 27 when we when it was Bethanne uh Fred we got for the end of it uh where we talked about and kind of finalized or I thought went a long way to finalizing what the budget
number would be under the under the prior plan before things on April Fool's Day happen before the uh the change with the state rules And when we finished that budget number I asked what would it cost to resolve
the contract i asked what it would take to resolve the contract beth Anne actually had to get get go leave the table for a second and got her notes and came back and said 265 okay and I said that we would add
into what the what the burrow was going to pay into the into the into the into the district that we would add 200 in and that there was some concerns about whether or not there there had been some chatter that the burrow was not going to
honor this and so I said that we would amend our agreement and specifically say that we were making this payment for this year upfront and adding in that 200 i I went back to the office changed that language i actually made it 220 because
it made the number even 2 million8 uh that we were going to be bonding for it when I told when we had this discussion at the meeting u I had asked Fred to come sit in on that part of the discussion he said "Well I'll have to
get an MOA together before uh the factf finding." uh that that's how I left that meeting believed this was this was what what was getting it done we were there that understanding under that plan was that there would be an operations
uh operations referendum coming after that so that whatever was remaining to be done in the contract would be addressed in that so that's how that's where it came about this isn't just me throwing something out when I left that
day i I think we all had the understanding that we were getting an MOA together that it was done the contract was resolved okay that's where that comes from second thing is there seems to be a misunderstanding what I talked about the other night with all
the commotion that was going on what I talked the other night was not that we could bank that you could bank the tax levy what I talked about was that I was having conversations with legislative leaders the governor's office to make
changes to the state rules to set up a bank okay had more of those discussions today had had communications with the governor today and there are there are there's work being done to decide everyone seems on board with that idea
it is the rules have not been changed yet they're trying to decide whether or not it would be done as part of the budget process the state budget process or it would have to be separate legislation all I did was to try to advise you that that was underway and if
that was possible to stay open to the idea that the burrow assistance was still there still we were still ready to do something that if we were going to bank it over a few years
and ease the taxpayer impact that we could help offset to make up the the to get to the 3.6 gap to fill the year that was still available that's all I was here to talk about the other night things got a little went a little bit of
a different direction but that's where the contract is issue came from those numbers and that was the reason for being here the other night i'm still hopeful that the bank happens it's got no impact on what you're doing tonight but if it does happen the burrow stands
ready to try to fill it in to reduce that taxpayer impact more that's all thank you evan Linhardt 42 East Madison um just wanted to thank you all for your hard work um in navigating this very urgent
situation um our kids really deserve the opportunity our community depends on strong schools and of course we know this crisis is not unique to Collingswood it's a broken state funding formula affecting us all it's not just about budget issues certainly not about
priorities it's about a state level failure that we cannot ignore and now of course for the first time we have a real opportunity to take control um we've been waiting for this chance to be able to save ourselves no one else is going to come and do that in a
meaningful way and the time is now and I'm so pleased to see that you will be applying for the maximum funding to support our students number one our teachers and our community the board must fight for the maximum possible funding to buy time to create stability
to buy time for some of the mayor solutions for the partnership um for the regionalization for all of these mergers and and things that we have as ideas but don't have right in front of us right now um so I'm very hopeful for that but
I'm very proud to see that we're moving forward with this i also really want to address one other thing which actually concerns me very deeply you know as we continue to deal with these complex problems it's been troubling for me as I've listened and and attended that I see that board
members um are not seeing critical materials or seeing them I'm sorry seeing them for the first time during public meetings um you know this undermines the public trust it it hinders progress um our kids deserve better and each one of the board
members is personally responsible as elected officials to come to the meeting prepared so that we can receive the best outcomes um so preparation basic expectation um this is a pivotal moment
for our community's future um strong schools are a foundation for strong communities so please meet this moment with urgency as I know you are with responsibility and a commitment that our children and this town deserves i appreciate you all hi my name is Karen Tor i've been a
teacher at the high school since 1998 um I would really like to thank the gentleman who just spoke but he said that this was all predicated on taking the state money and getting the job done for the students and the community and
the teachers i have never felt less a part of that equation that I have in the last two years as I've come to these meetings before this began I come to maybe five board
meetings maximum because I felt that the board truly understood that if you don't support teachers you're not going to have a supportive environment for students i I do not feel that exists right right now i feel that someone once
told me that the board and people on the board believe that they can speak things into existence and I've seen that happen i've been at meetings talking about the curriculum where they talked about new classes and I said that's not how you make a new class you can't just say a
new class is going to exist you have to write a curriculum it has to be approved it has to be vetted and then the very next year a new class arrives that was not vetted that serves no purpose and then disappears a year
later when you speak things into existence you're not governing you're not educating you are believing that you know what is best for all of us and believe that you can bypass due
process to make it That's not logic that's faith that's a cult you need to come here and follow the same rules we've followed for the last 25 years and I feel like that's not
happening i feel like if you you repeat what we understand as misinformation over and over again you think we're going to believe it and I'm afraid that that is happening not just at the local but everywhere and
I caution you don't burn what little faith we have in this organization by doing that because you're not supporting the students and you're not supporting the community thank you very much
good afternoon uh my name is Tim Serabian uh I don't live in Collingswood i live in Green Witch New Jersey about an hour away and I've been teaching here for the last uh six or seven years um you know it's funny when I was coming here today I was actually thinking in the back of my head things of like that
I wanted to say um but it's interesting that now after listening to what was just said I can't help but think about um the emblem that I weigh around my lanyard of Superman and he is a representative of hope now here's my
thing the last couple of years or so I have not really been feeling that much hope especially when I hear things being said on both sides by the board of education who say one thing and then do another thing when people come to the
table with good faith and then things don't work out you have a mayor who spent a tremendous amount of time and effort putting together a phenomenal package which re revitalized our hope
that things were going to be better only to have the rug pulled out from under us so I'm not going to stand here and lambast anybody or anything because all I want to say right now is if you truly
want to settle and give us a fair contract I hope that that really is your intention because I I will say right now I don't think the staff the parents the town we can't afford to have the rug
pulled out from under us again it's only going to get worse so please do what is right follow the intention of hope to make things better
follow with truth and with justice and hope for a better tomorrow so that this way we can get our we can get our schools back together the students can be happy the parents can be happy the town can be happy and we can make this
place better for everybody i work not only do I teach but I also have a club called Trek Wars where we talk about all the fandoms that students love and I wear the symbol here and one of the key
things in Star Trek is the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one so please act for the needs of the many and let's settle this thank you uh my name is Caitlyn Cely i'm the
principal's administrative assistant over at the middle school sure um and I grew up in Collingswood i lived here until I married my husband who also grew up in Collingswood um and we moved to Bington um which is a lovely little town
we wish we could have bought Collingswood but you know teacher salaries stuff like that stuff happens um I'm gonna go off of what Tim said um I started during co I didn't have a first
year of school uh we closed down in March they sent us home we worked from home and then we came back in shifts um and it was hard it was really hard here I was my first big person job
right i'd worked hourly i you know all that stuff this I had a pension i had all these things and this huge thing happened and we were like "It's okay we got it we're going to do it we're going to do what's best for the kids." And we
did and we worked hard we worked really really hard and then they started to come back and they were different and sometimes not in a good way and we worked even harder for
them you talked about getting this tax which I think is wonderful anything that you can do to bring in money for the burrow I I still have family who live here and they pay taxes they're okay that's fine absolutely let's do
it taking away any kind of hope that we have which No offense kind of what you keep doing because it's a statement and then oh next day here's another statement but
it's different than the first those of us who have continued to hold out this little bit of hope that we can continue to help these kids and do what's best for them that grain of hope is so small
these days it is so small and It is getting harder and harder to hold on to that and not just give up like truly give up i wanted to be a teacher and I didn't finish school to be a teacher things
came up i had kids all that fun stuff but I thought well I can do something good by working here so let me go and I'll work at the school that I I went to i went to for years great i can do something
good i cried Saturday and I thought I'm just going to give up on the educational sector completely that's where we're at we're going to we're going to give up at all thank you hi I'm Danielle Patterson i teach at
Park School and I live at 122 East Madison Avenue i'm standing up here on behalf of the CA negotiations committee please reach out to us in a professional manner and we'd be happy to negotiate the contract thank you [Music]
hey everybody um Mike Paluchi V uh vice president of the CA as you can imagine I got about 75 texts in the last uh 15 minutes so um I will just say there is a a process and a procedure um Robin is
the CEA president um you got to email her send her an email this has to be drafted behind closed doors an MOA has to be signed all right this is not the way to do it but again we're not that far apart okay we're not that far apart
we're almost there we want to settle this okay the people who teach your kids those of you who have kids people who teach them want to settle they want to do their job let's be professional and let's return people's emails who have reached out and let's do
it okay thank you [Applause] hi everyone uh my name is Nate Canals i live at 245 East Madison Avenue uh I'm a teacher also not in the school district
um elsewhere and uh I've always thought like it'd be cool to like teach in the town that I live in and I came here to actually talk about the support for you guys taking advantage of the opportunity have at hand right now for the 5%
like there's no going to be no other better opportunity for you to take care of the schools the teachers and the students you could do things like bring back
activities work with the teachers to bring in programs and add value to the burrow here because of the programs that the school can employ and do okay now I'm not a public speaker i'm a
teacher so bear with me while I kind of think about my next step here i like wait time in my classroom um it really Oops it kind of saddens me
hearing about how we're negotiating and you're talking between these two entities in a public forum like this in my system in my in my union in my school district we've gone through
contract negotiations and as a teacher I've never even heard of people getting up in public forum saying "Here's the money we have here's the money we have." All that kind of stuff i've never heard of that it's all done as the last gentleman just said
through a process and to get to my earlier point like I would love it would be to have a shorter commute it would be cool to work maybe where my kids go and learn
but it's it's it's as a teacher it's disheartening to hear how this process is going so again do the 5% build up the community through your system build the education system back here when I first moved here people were like "Uh let's
hear about those schools." like hang hang tight i'm like okay I didn't have kids at that point i believe in these schools right now and I believe everybody in this room can work together to figure this out okay so thank you i look forward to talking talk to you guys
again in the future see as there are uh no more public comments I want to address a few points and then we'll move on to the resolution at hand um the the first point I I want to mention is that there was discussion uh tonight about the idea that uh the
district has turned down a million dollars of of free money um and I want to make sure that we're very clear that nowhere within any joint statement agreement or whatever that that we've had as a as a a board has there been
free money all of the that that has potentially been provided to the board let's say either through um pilot money or through uh borrowing money using redevelopment bond to provide it to
school that money is taxpayer money none of this money is free so I I want to make sure that that's clear in the end we all as taxpayers must pay for the public services that we
demand uh there was a comment about um ensuring that all board members had information critical information for uh board meetings so I want to make sure because this came up before that we're we're clear that um the information that
was discussed at the board meeting uh on Tuesday all that information was provided before the board meeting to board members the specific cuts were discussed on
March 6th and March 7th with the board um the uh the program was discussed over I can't remember exact dates but two separate emails last week to the board uh the uh specific scenarios that were
presented in terms of tax raises uh those were shared with the board uh the day of as we were still working on the presentation in order to uh present it so idea that board members were not informed of all the
information that was discussed is just false um finally I'd like to address uh uh the comments um mayor about how uh the amount of 225,000 came up um again I
would like to stress that as a negotiations committee that amount or or 260 according to merit is not at all close to what we understood to be the gap but
again one of the uh but again So I think something that uh I have to stress is because there are continued year after year compounding costs that we have to uh keep in mind but again what has been said
publicly in this room by the CA by the teachers by online by the CA is that the mayor's offer no strings attached of an additional
$225,000 with sellers contract if that's the case again uh I believe that that we absolutely I think there's another point when it comes to the talking about the uh resolution but I think we can address that during the actual conversation on
the resolution so at this point um I'd like to move on to section number four buildings grounds and finance committee mr craig is a chairperson and he will do my best to speak into the microphone uh the finance buildings and
grounds committee reviews all financial statements purchase orders and warrants on a monthly basis the committee also reviews and approves all contracts with outside service providers and oversees all maintenance and capital improvement projects districtwide uh one item of uh which is the tax levy incentive aid
application submission which is 402 and I will read the resolution into the record resolution to submit an application for additional expenditures and acceptance of tax levy incentive aid whereas the New Department of Education has released guidance dated March 28
2025 authorizing eligible school districts to apply for increased general fund appropriations under the FY26 state budget appropriations act and whereas the Collinswood school district qualifies for this opportunity having a general fund tax levy below its local fair share and total expenditures below
its state determined aggregate budget for 2526 school year and whereas the district proposes an increase in general fund appropriations totaling 6,442,543 consisting of a 6,135,755 increase to be raised to the local tax levy an additional
$36,788 to be provided as tax levy incentive aid from the state of New Jersey whereas the board has reviewed and affirms the application and support of the strategic use of these additional resources to support instructional programming and maintaining fiscal sustainability now therefore be it
resolved that the college board of education hereby approves the submission of the application for creations in the amount of 6,442,543 approves the application for an increase to the local tax levy in the amount of 6,135,755 and accepts the anticipated
award of $36,788 in tax levy incentive aid from the state of New Jersey it further resolved that the board authorizes the school business administrator to complete and submit all documentation necessary to punctuate the application and incorporate the approved increases in the
FY2.6 budget once approved be it further resolved that the board affirms the additional funds shall be used solely to support a thorough and efficient education as required by NJSA 18A7F-46 and
18A7F-70 and consistent with all NJ DOE guidance so seeking approval for item 42 is there a motion so move and a second okay so uh at this point we'll have discussion questions and comments I'm sure from uh board
members um I I do want to start off though with uh clarification i also want to point it uh passive uh Miss Coleman but really quickly just to make sure everyone's clear uh this step is a step to apply for the uh program and so this
application is due on Monday the 14th uh they gave us two weeks to get the application in it requires um line item justifications for uh for the entire tax levy increase as it says in the resolution right and it must be the tax levy increase must be
used to support a thorough and efficient education um the next step after we submit is that our understanding is that the Detroit Department of Education will then review the application and then get back to us with what parts of it have they uh uh
agreed are necessary for a a thorough and efficient education and how much of the tax levy they will approve and then after that the board through discussions will then decide how much of the actual tax levy that they've approved that we
will uh um make use of and that actual vote for the actual increase in taxes um the plan is for that take place on on May 5th and the vote itself will be the passage of the official uh school budget right so that's that process and what
step we're at right now um I do think that it's important for us to address uh a piece about the um potential or about uh being able to bank uh any of this this tax cap and this is not our understanding i think Do you want to discuss um your
communications with NDOE yeah after um Tuesday night after hearing that there might be a possibility for fluidity in the application and possibility maybe bank it over three or five years I contacted the state right away on Wednesday to see if this was a possibility so I could report it back to the board and they said um that it would
not be it was still a one time um application for a one time inusion increase our base tax going forward and that banking option so that's why it's written yeah and you know and I think uh there
clearly is questions uh because our understanding directly from the New Jersey Department of Education is that there is will not be an option to bank this and and this is important because this means that we whatever we end up
deciding to raise uh in May is the is the only amount that we'll be able to close our funding gap by we won't be able to in future years right if it were bankable we could maybe spread out over several years but but if because it uh our understanding is that it isn't we
can't and we have to do it this year now I think what what's unfortunate is that um is that it seems that the mayor has had conversations uh with with folks high folks in the state that uh have said that that might be a possibility um I
know this is not our understanding i I think it's unfortunate because um last Friday via email to the mayor via phone call on Friday and also a phone call on Saturday I asked as board president to be part of those conversations that the mayor was having with the New Jersey
Department of Education and with the governor's office and with and the mayor declined each time i think it's important for us to have representatives from the board in those calls so that confusion about whether or not we can bank the
cap doesn't continue um and so that I I I think that you know potentially if there are future calls then I it's really important for representative of the board be on those calls uh uh with the mayor so we have clarity on whether or not we can actually make the Are
there other questions members um so I I just want to um let the community know that we hear them and we appreciate all the feedback and we appreciate all
the teachers coming and talking tonight and everybody got really appreciate it we hear you um two things that um I guess that I gather from this whole process is is one um if we took
advantage of this that there is the 5% incentive from the state which makes which makes sense to me um and the second piece of it is that if we were to go out for a referendum that there would be a lot of overhead expenses as a result of that so and we would not have
the 5% incentive from the state so with those two things um that is leading me more in favor of this although I do want to say that we've very I specifically very much recognize the impact that this has on the community um I also think
that it is extremely imperative that we settle the teachers contract i mean there's no secret there um I want to make sure that they feel valued and they feel heard and and it makes me tear up when I when I hear that they don't um I don't know what we can about that as a
group but that needs to be addressed for sure at some point in time in the very near future um I did understand Mayor Mey's um information the other night as a possibility not as a definitive so the way that I understood the information
was that he's been talking to people and this may be a possibility this may be something that they're not willing to share with districts yet but it may be something that they're willing to share with local politicians i I don't know what the reason is but in any event um I wanted to say that we do hear you and um
the things that are important to you are also important to me and those are the reasons why I think that this is something that we need to take advantage of and I just put that out there i I want to reiterate again from this came up a lot on Tuesday the reason that
this is even an option is because of direct advocacy to the state saying that the 2% cap was an issue and that's been work that this board has been involved with other with partnership with districts like ours that are facing similar situations and that's how we've
gotten to this point i don't think that it means that we stop advocating because I think if there is an option where we can bank this over time we we go for that but I don't think we can even get to that unless we put in the prove for it so I think we continue to
move forward with this while we continue to ask and demand more from our representatives in Trenton and I think I do welcome the opportunity for the board to be partners with the burrow and to sit in partnership in these meetings and
talk about how this is going to impact us both i think that's what everybody wants to see and I think that's what we can commit to to doing um yes our voices together are going to be to say what needs to happen here because I'm sure every other district
that is considering and weighing this is also having to weigh the impact that it's going to have on their taxpayers but also knows that their kids deserve this money so I just wanted to really you taking some notes looking at other notes and echo Kelly what you've said and Matt as
well and really recognize that we like partnership is still really critical so like we cannot miss that or lose sight of that we are stronger together and I feel like it there's this tension that like nobody's trying to go solo and doing any of this right i don't think
anybody wants suffering at the other side of like trying to sustain one entity versus another right it is an either or and so I sit in a space of our communication um could be clearer and with intention of partnership and that
we will show up in that way with each other and hold each other accountable to doing that going forward i also really wanna there's nothing confirmed or sure about anything i think since we've sat here with a resolution to today it's all
hope and aspirations to get on a solid footing and so we need to do our best to get all of the avenues open and see how everything folds out to come up with a really comprehensive plan we don't know right i think we have to like be really
transparent about that we could application and it gets slashed in half right so I I I want to be really prudent that we must put our best foot forward in partnership with the burrow and hold the state accountable to showing up and not saying stuff and doing nothing and I
also I just have to speak to what homework have we done what does it look like we're looking everywhere turning all the rocks over i think my eyes will cross by the level of information and articles we're getting to see how this
has played out everywhere what do we look like what do we not look like what do we do that that place is doing we are trying to get there and there's a long game but there's a right now like there's a right now importance for contract there's a right now importance for getting programs that are going to enrich and continue to build on the
successes in our schools and we must make the first brave step of getting on a short and then come together and come up with a plan that is a I think that is a requirement and really partner so that it works for everyone
so So I'd like to just weigh in really quick sorry Sarah so I do not disagree with anything that our uh board uh members have shared but I'd like to change the tone for just a moment i feel like I'm at a funeral and so I think
that it's extremely important for us um to actually celebrate what advocacy looks like so I just want to I want to remind uh for for the public for the community for those who are online is that we began talking about structural budget deficit in 2021 this is not a new
conversation um we put uh systems in place in order to uh make strategic reductions that did not impact people in year one we leverage grant funding going out for philanthropic support in year
two uh to give us more time while continually advocating both at the local at the and at the state level for opportunities for the community to have uh the financial footing that they desperately needed and demanded and so
uh letter campaigns in Collingswood and Oakland community members uh some of you in this room many of you online I want to say thank you i want to say thank you for the letters for the notices for the phone calls that you made to our local and state representatives advocating for
funding flexibility and more of an investment that prioritizes students i want to thank the New Jersey policy perspective for writing a technical a pretty meaty report directly to the New Jersey legislature asking for dramatic change to the school funding formula
because there were issues with the formula that were widely known we've been talking about this school funding formula since 2009 not a new conversation i want to thank all of the community members who have already joined and I want to encourage you to join the New Jersey Fair Funding
Collective this was started by concerned Camden County community members as an advocacy group to ensure that all school districts across the state of New Jersey receive funding that they need for fair and equitable education i also want to thank the board members
from the deis and the individuals here and the ones online who participated in the school funding reform act public hearings with the New Jersey Department of Education these were brave community members that spoke publicly from the
heart about why this was so important i also want to thank two of our community members for the bridge the gap resource website on their own we had community members that came together and they did the hard
work of making this crazy funding formula and all of the moving parts make sense using real terms not the educ and they have continued to advocate as community members with no fight in the
game other than they want a positive environment for their kids and for their community to be able to provide meaningful information to help this make sense for the average lay person that doesn't have time to uh dig into the details so thank you to the bridge the
gap i want to thank the the burrow i want to thank the burrow for being a collaborative partner looking at this financial challenge and being willing to come to the table to assist with making sure that we had stop gap measures in place in order to avoid unprecedented
and drastic budget cuts and then finally I just would like to just bring attention is that the advocacy that has been taking place by and large across the state for several years has directly translated into this one time exception
and so uh I am boldly saying as a taxpayer as a parent of two small children who attend Collinswood public schools we moved here in 2017 for the schools i was already a superintendent i did not move here to be the
superintendent in Collinswood i was already a superintendent we moved here because we saw how our how the teachers and how the community stepped up for their kids during CO when the world was losing its freaking mind we saw teachers
get in their cars beep the horns to stand outside socially distance to tell children "We love you and we miss you." That's why we moved here and it is disappointing that we're looking at the collective efforts of so many in this
room as a negative and so I'm going to say that this is a moment for us to celebrate uh folks coming together and fighting for the children and the families in this community fighting to make sure that there is stable funding to be able to give our educators the the
the salaries and the compensation that they rightfully deserve funding to make sure that we don't have to close schools or do dramatic and drastic cuts to programs that our children desperately need and so I just wanted to make sure that uh we for the public record and for
uh the roughly 1,500 to,600 individuals who are watching this on social media that we are celebrating what advocacy looks like thank you i I appreciate that Dr mcdow because I was just going to say um I think it's really worth looking at there was a
comment like why aren't we reaching out to other districts why aren't we working in partnership um and the advocacy especially from the bridge the gap program made it so plain our next step I'm I'm a member of the New Jersey uh fair funding collective our next step is to meet with legislators we are going to
be meeting with some a group of them likely in June in May or in June to continue this effort so building off what Mr uh Craig brought up um and Dr mcdow was saying like this is a continued effort this is a first step um but this is the product of that advocacy
of coming together with other districts of working in partnership and going to the highest level um and the 300 or so districts that are doing this are also celebrating this opportunity because this is going to resolve how people
sleep at night um board members superintendents teachers and families um and so I think it is important to to keep in mind that this is just the first step um I I also appreciate all the positivity i just I recognize that people are scared and they're frustrated
and that's that's why we're here right and it's not our fault that necessarily that the state is putting us in this position and it is what it is um but we do hear that people are scared and they're very frustrated but there are a lot of things to celebrate for sure um a couple of things i think that this is a
very fluid situation and things are changing rapidly so again like Zaki said and like Jim said we really don't know from day to day how this is going to go so everybody keep that in mind that this is a very fluid situation and you've got all of us walk you know talking and trying to trying to make it happen for
everybody as much as we possibly can um the other thing I wanted to say is that um the Barrow partnership is still a thing still very much a thing um we have no intention of cancing any partnership with the Bureau whatsoever i think I speak for all of us when I say that um
and should this work out with the state we're still partnering with the bureau um should this not work out with the state we're still partnering with the bureau we want to make sure that you know our needs are met as a district as best as we possibly can um and Roger I just want to bring attention to um you pointing out about the information that
board members receive um I stand corrected i did not see that you had sent an email uh three hours prior to the board meeting with some pertinent information although I do continue to say that I did not get to see the full presentation i would like to see the full presentation in the future but you know you are correct you did send the
email that I did not see till the next day so I wanted to point that out to the public as well i'll also mention that that I think the that I definitely strive to get that information out earlier when possible because I understand that I do agree the
other and um the other issue I think you mentioned which is that it's a fluid situation and um in terms of presentation um we were working on it over the weekend and through and and basically until the board meeting happened and I think one of the things
that we have to be cognizant of is that our administrative staff uh is the administrative staff for two separate uh school districts that are both going out for this tax uh levy incentive aid program right so had to have redo
everything for two districts within two weeks and I think that's one of the reasons why things were having but for sure I think we absolutely I know uh Kate and I have have tried our best to uh communicate with board members
Um I I don't want to what has already been said um just to say that I do agree with a lot of what has been said um from from everybody um what I wanted to add is that um yes this is this is a relief i remember your
initial email i have I have great news um this is something that has this my third year conversations every year and it's been heartbreaking to watch what has happened um but that being
said you know Crystal I hear you i really do i'm thinking about what what my tax bill is going to look like as well absolutely so you know I'm not going to be from that so I just wanted people to know that I do appreciate that
so um you know I I don't think this is this is a funeral you you are correct there's a lot to celebrate absolutely with the advocacy but I think also we also have to have a respon we have to be responsible since we are going to be levying taxes on community we we just
need to explain to them that we do hear them this is not easy for anybody um and and that we appreciate that i also do hope that regardless of of the conversations that maybe there will be some validity um considering this is a an election year hopefully that will be
something that that lawmakers and and you know the governor will take into account as well we can continue to be hopeful um so I just I just wanted to say that and um also that this isn't the end of the story either and and as board members it it will also continue to be our responsibility once we do get the
number from the state to all of us engage in conversation about the budget how that money will be will be uh used and um you know engaging in those discussions um I think that making sure that they go
to student facing programs uh teachers contract being a huge part of that is essential and uh we just need to continue to have the discussions about that those decisions being made responsibly and with everybody's um best interest at heart so I just
wanted to say that thank you okay seeing as there are uh no more questions or comments uh thank you board members can we have a roll call please mrs brown yes mr craig yes mrs divine
yes mrs maya yes mrs mcolski yes mrs sherman yes mr dus yes mr ch yes all right um moving on to section five our uh second section for public
participation i'm not going to read out the the whole spiel about it but because I think most people were here for the first piece but uh this uh purpose of this public comment section um it's for additional more general comments so it doesn't have to be about agenda items um
as a reminder if parents all wish to speak there is a strict time per during public comment and Miss Coleman will assist by keeping time please remember to state your name and address for the record okay seeing as there are no public comments then we'll move on to
section six adjournment um is there a motion to adjourn this meeting and is there There a second all those in favor good evening