Yes, Mr. Vishel Patel >> here. >> Miss Pang >> here. >> Mr. She >> here. >> Miss White >> here. Miss Anja Patel will be late. >> Mr. Lugo >> here. >> Mr. Ronac Patel.
>> Mr. Ero >> here. >> Mr. Azerella >> here. >> You have a quum. Cool. >> In accordance with NJSA section 10412 Township Board of Education adjuns to confidential session for the purpose of
discussing the following confidential personal and board matters. Student matters. Pending litigation, legal matters, contracts, property acquisition, HB hearing. Motion to add to the previous session. All in favor? >> I.
>> I. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Sorry. >> No, no worries. Um, in accordance with the provision of the Open Public Meetings Act, Edison Township Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted in
the Bo board of education administrative offices. Copies of this notice were sent to the Home News Tribune and the Star Ledger. >> Thank you. And then just one more time, all in favor for previous session, all in favor. >> I I thank you. I >> And we will come back somewhere between
6:00 and 6:30. Thank you. >> All right. Do I have a motion to reconvene to open session? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I can believe them. >> Okay. We're going to start with the presentation for the Dior language
presented by Mr. Nero Lad. Good evening, members of the board, Dr. Alderelli, and our Edison Township public school community. I am thrilled to highlight a program that we have in our district called the Dual Language Academy. And you may be wondering what
the program is. So, the dual language academy is a full-time program of instruction. It runs from grade kindergarten through eventually fifth grade all at Washington Elementary School. So if you see on the slide I highlighted Washington Elementary School
because although the program is at that building, we accept kindergarteners from any of our Edison schools. The program provides structured English language instruction as well as Spanish in all core content areas. The dual language academy offers students an opportunity
to become bilingual and biliterate in both English and Spanish. The program integrates native English-speaking students with native Spanish-sp speakaking students for instruction which is presented in both languages. It is supported by teachers who are fluent in English, Spanish or both languages
and families must commit to six years of participation. This wouldn't happen without the support of our team. Um first we'd like to thank Miss Goomer for her constant support and her guidance in starting this program. um the principal, Mrs. Schlatter, our
assistant principal, Miss Vu, uh our curriculum supervisor, Miss Gil, and honestly, this program wouldn't be as wonderful as it is if it wasn't for our amazing instructional staff, our teachers, some of which who are here today, and our instructional paraprofessionals.
So, our academy follows what we call the three pillars of dual language education. The first one being bilingualism and biiteracy where students develop high level proficiency in understanding, speaking, reading and writing in two languages. The second pillar is grade level
academic achievement where students achieve at or above grade level academic standards in both languages across all content areas. Finally, multiculturalism. Students develop an understanding and appreciation of other cultures as well as their own. So, how
does the program work? We use something called the 50/50 model. Both English speakers and native Spanish speakers are enrolled in the program. Two teachers who share the responsibility for teaching all subjects in the curriculum. One teacher will teach entirely in
Spanish and the other will teach the same curriculum entirely in English. One class receives instruction in Spanish for the first half of the day while the other class simultaneously receives it in English. The classes will switch for the second half of the day. Both
classrooms receive the support from instructional power professionals. The curriculum that we use for the program comes from the amplify program. We use their CKLA English language arts program. In parallel with their Camino
Spanish language arts program, teachers are provided professional development, training, coaching, everything that they need to master their task. So the long-term planning of the program, if you can see on the chart, we launched the program in the 23 24 school
year with our first group of kindergarteners who are now in second grade. We are planning to continue to expand the program each year so that eventually it'll be a full K through five program. Transportation is provided for families
who are in the program. So the most exciting part of the program is we have our student panel tonight. We have students who are part of our first group, Ava, Isan, and Michelle. If you guys can come on up and Mrs. Schlatter is going to interview you guys and your
experience in the program. Please give them a big round of applause. Facebook. >> So, these three students started in our kindergarten program. They're now in second grade. Um, and I met with them today for a little bit to talk about tonight and we were talking about what
they knew before they came into dual language. Ava said she had a little Spanish from her grandmother. Michelle talked about how she spoke mostly in Spanish and Ean came in with English. um and was sure to tell me the first word he learned in Spanish was from sitting
on the kindergarten carpet where he learned bano, which I'm sure most of us would know. Um so Michelle, we're going to start with you. Uh what is your favorite thing about being in the dual language program? >> My favorite thing is that I get to learn
two languages at the same time and learn English and Spanish. And I and I really like all my teachers I had and they're the best teachers in my reason. My opinion is
dual. So, Ean says that there are 21 Spanish-sp speakaking countries that he will be able to um speak to because of learning Spanish. >> I didn't get that. I didn't >> uh that Ava likes to learn mathematics
in Spanish and English. Um no. Okay. >> Wow. >> Okay. We're going to read for you. Um you want to >> Yep. The students are going to read aloud a poem
about their experience in dual language. Because I speak English, I can listen to Abolita's talents and say familia. Because I speak English, I can learn from my teacher and say I love school. Because I'm a linguin, I can read books
and libros. I have friends and amigos. I enjoy songs and gunas games and hueos. And I have twice as much fun. And someday, because I I speak two languages, I will be able to do twice as many things, help us twice as many
people, and do everything I do twice as well. I love schools friends. Give them a big round of applause, guys. Thank you, Ava. Thank you, Michelle. Thanks, Ean. Thank you, everybody. Thank
you. Hey, next I'd like to invite Miss Donna Bamarco from uh James Medicine Intermediate School. Wow, that was amazing for our Washington dual language program. You guys were awesome.
Good evening everyone. Thank you, President Patel, Dr. Alderelli, and the Edison Board of Education for allowing us the opportunity to recognize some of Edison's truly amazing students this evening. Tonight, I am excited to share a glimpse into a program that truly
reflects the heart of our district and the power of meaningful connections across schools, our JMI peer-to-peer club. This initiative provides an opportunity for John P. Stevens Hawks to work alongside our JMI Knights completing homework, learning new
skills, and most importantly, growing together. Peer-to-peer is far more than academics. It's about modeling kindness, fostering inclusion, and showing our younger students what it means to be supported by positive role models who believe in them. The impact of this
program can be felt not only in our classrooms and hallways, but in the relationships formed, confidence built, and the smiles we see each week. This meaningful work would not be possible without the dedication and passion of the adviserss who guide the program and
make these experiences possible for our students. At this time, I am honored to turn it over to the peer-to-peer adviserss, Mrs. Kimberly D'Angelo and Miss Katie Pernell, who will share more about the program and recognize the JP Stevens students who truly make it all
possible. Good evening, everyone. We created the peer-to-peer program after recognizing how much students benefit from working alongside their peers within the classroom. Through these partnerships, students are exposed to new strategies, different perspectives, and meaningful
collaboration. Most importantly, we saw their confidence grow, especially among struggling learners. We are incredibly fortunate to partner with the Hawks Club at JP Stevens. Every Wednesday afternoon, these students arrive with positive energy, compassion, and a
genuine willingness to support others. Their work goes beyond academics. While they help strengthen skills and understanding, they also foster personal growth. They take the time to build relationships, learn about interests, and connect with our students on an
individual level. Now, to our Hawks. You might not realize it yet, but what you're doing right now is bigger than homework help or practicing reading words and solving math problems. When you sit next to an elementary student, you're not just a tutor. You're a role model, a confidence
booster, and sometimes the reason a child starts believing maybe I can do this. Younger students don't just learn subjects. They learn how to feel about themselves as learners. And you are shaping that. The way you smile when you get something right, the patience you
show when they struggle, the high five, the you got this, those moments stick. Years from now, they may not remember the worksheet, but they will remember how you made them feel. To them, you're not just a high schooler. You're cool. You're important. You're someone they
look up to. When they see you reading, trying, not giving up, being kind, you're teaching life skills without even realizing it. You're helping build confidence, resilience, and a love of learning. So, on the days it feels tiring, tough, or like what you're doing
just doesn't matter, it does more than you know. You are making a lasting difference and these kids are lucky to have you. Thank you for everything. We are truly proud to present these students with certificates in recognition of their hard work, dedication, and their ability to make a
lasting impact on the lives of others. Gio Patel Machi Rajvanchi, Fiona Anthony Arohi Pendit, Ryvic Banger. There is one student who has been with us for the past four years. Her hard
work, dedication and leadership is extraordinary. We are so proud to present this special award to Ana Sha. All right. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, I'd like to invite Miss
Christian to present the STEM Academy. Good evening, members of the board of education, Dr. Alderelli and Mr. Toth. It is my pleasure to introduce two outstanding Edison High STEM Academy students, Hi and Shereice. As part of
their experience in the academy, students regularly engage in real world learning opportunities that connect what they're learning in the classroom to future careers. Tonight, Hi and Shereice will share two of those recent experiences, a visit to Nokia Bell Labs
and learning from industry professionals at SHI. Good evening. My name is Shush Pasana. We're from the STEM Academy class of 2028 and we thank you for allowing us to share our experiences tonight.
And I'm Hi. I'm also part of the class of 2028 STEM cohort and we're really excited to share with you a recent real world learning experience we had at Nokia Bell Labs. So, our day at Nokia Bell Labs started off with a technical briefing at a
quantum lab about quantum communication and photon behavior. Up on the top, you can see a machine that they showed us during one of their demonstrations about photon behavior. >> We then we then were able to tour the
campus with the president of Nokia, Bell Labs, who walked us through a detailed timeline of the global technology of the labs. We got to see some pretty cool inventions like the very first telephone and the very first laser. And we'll also talk about uh another invention that we
saw in the next slide. Um our day at Nobel Labs ended with a mentor pizza lunch where we could sit down onetoone with um physicists and ask them about their career whether it be what they did in high school, college or
just how they ended up working as a physicist at Nokia Bell Labs. So, some of the main highlights of our visit are listed up above. One of the things that were really cool was that we got to see Nobel Prize winning artifacts um in first person. So, innovators at
Nokia Bell Labs have earned up to 10 different Nobel prizes for Nokia Bell Labs. And one of the main things we learned about was quantum dots. Now, quantum dots were really interesting because they're in our pixels of all our screens, whether it be in our phones, computers, or TVs. And learning about
something that we come across every day, but didn't really know the significance of um was really inspiring and interesting. >> We then were able to visit the acoustic engineering labs, which focused on sounds and vibrations.
And in these labs, we first got to go to the anoquake chamber, which is this completely soundproof room with walls that are three feet thick and absorb like 99.9% of all sound waves. We'll see a picture of the anquoic chamber in the next
slide. So, we had this Oh, yeah. The the picture of the anooic chamber. You can see the walls that are pretty thick and absorbed like the sound waves. We had this amazing guide that that popped a balloon outside this chamber and inside
the chamber to allow us to compare the noise differences. And it was pretty like the the the difference was pretty substantial. Outside we heard this really loud bang, but when we were inside it was it was almost non-existent. And then we got to visit
the rever the reverberation chamber which is the like like the total opposite of what an anooy chamber is. This loud echo room where sound sound waves bounce like endlessly off these hard surfaces. And being able to visit
these chambers like gave us a new perspective on sound engineering and opened us to possible careers in this field. Um, up on the top you can see a picture of us attending the quantum communication lecture. And on the bottom are two photos that I took while we were
taking the tour with the president of Nokia Bell Labs. On the left you can see the world's first transistor. Transistors are tiny chips that you can find in almost all of your devices again whether it be your phones, laptops or television. And you can also see the
Telar 1. Now this is a satellite which changed the the era of global live television. So both of these are some of the biggest breakthroughs that innovators at Nokia Bell Labs had.
So when you look at what the value of these field trips are for us STEM students, um actually before we went on this trip, we hadn't really taken an AP physics course yet because that's a junior year course and we're still sophomores, but we still had some
exposure to quantum um theories before this through AP chemistry. And actually a few days before this uh trip we did a pivot which is like a digital simulation of a lab. And in this digital simulation we used a laser interferometer. When we
went to Nokia Bell Labs we saw a real life laser interferometer. And we had professional physicists explain to us the significance and the time and effort that went into this innovation and the many discoveries that it led to. So experiences like this really made our
cohort more interested in these tools and more eager to learn about them in the future. >> Exactly. It shows us how like these local like small research projects stem uh I mean scale into like massive global infrastructure and more than anything it
gave our whole cohort a chance to hone in on our interests and actually visualize these real world professions. And and the real world learning doesn't just stop there. Yesterday we hosted two guest speakers who were pre-sales
engineers from SA SHI which is this IT corporation and they gave us a presentation on AI. >> So Henry and Angelina were our two guest speakers. um they were IT professionals
and they basically talked to us how tech architects act as translators which are basically people who bridge the gap between complex technology and the fundamentals that a business would need to function but they taught us how they do that with the use of AI and we
thought this was really useful for us to learn because we're living in a world where AI has become increasingly used in many professions so they told us how to use AI ethically and usefully not just in IT but in many different professions.
>> So when we look at stuff we love about the academy um one of the main things we get to experience through these field trips and guest speakers are that we get to sit down onetoone and talk to professionals that are in fields that we may want to pursue in the future. You
can look at how we got to talk to IT professionals and physicists at Nokia Bell Labs or even this past November when we went to the Rucker Ernest Mario pharmacy school and we got to talk to pharmacy uh professors and students and we also got to look at many different
labs and simulation labs where there were um mock uh emergency situations where students would have to come and try to figure out what to do in the situations. So these experiences really open up our eyes because I know me and a
lot of other people in my cohort thought that pharmacy was just sitting at a Walgreens and then dispensing these medications to patients, but it showed us that there was a lot more to pharmacy um through this trip. >> Yes. Um, thank you so much for allowing
us to share our experiences again and also continuing to sorry support the Edison High School STEM Academy. >> Thank you, Shish. Let them go. Okay, I think next I'd like to invite Miss Lori to talk about Bio Academy.
Good evening, Dr. Alderelli, Mr. Toath, President Patel, and all the distinguished members of the board of education, administration, staff, and community. I am Lori Merritt, the proud science supervisor for JP Stevens and Edison High School. It is my pleasure to
introduce our students from John P. Stevens High School's biomedical science academy. The program is designed for students who aspire to make an impact in the world of healthc care and science. Using the project lead the way biomedical science curriculum, students
engage in hands-on laboratory experiences and realworld applications as they explore areas such as human medicine, physiology, genetics, microbiology, and public health. This year is especially exciting as these
students represent our very first cohort in the biomedical science academy. The goal of the biomedical science academy is to provide students with authentic learning experience that open doors to a wide range of future career pathways.
We are incredibly proud of the enthusiasm and the commitment of our students. So many students wanted to be a part of tonight's presentation that we had to put their names on a wheel and spin it to randomly select those that
could come tonight. representing the north and the south side of our district. It's my honor to introduce Harini Rishop Wishaw and Javrov who are now going to share their experiences in this outstanding program.
Good afternoon everyone. My name is Vishwa Adenala and I'm here to represent the southside um of the John P. Stevens Biomedical Science Academy. So obviously when first entering it was a new cohort and everything was new and nothing was really explained. However, during my new
previous years, a new high school, especially being from the southside and not being able to attend Edison High School, but rather JP, obviously experiences have been very different. However, being in the John P. Stevens Biomed Academy has allowed me to int
introduces me to other aspects that maybe others in Edison High or regular JP have not experienced. For example, um couple months ago, we have done a dissection on a sheep part. And this dissection required us to dissect the sheep part, label parts of it, and
really just being able to have the true medical aspects of our program. And I would like to recognize how important this lab was as it allowed us to finally have real hands-on experience with medical equipment and just overall feel
the medical experience. Thank you. >> Uh hello, my name is Jagra Mitra and I represent the southside of the John P. Stevens Biomedical Academy. So when I graduated middle school, you know, it was all new cuz going into high school is definitely a big change from middle
school. Plus, I was going from the south side to the north side. So, there was definitely a bit of uncertainty. But now that I've completed most of my first year as a freshman, I can definitely say that this program is worth it. It's very interesting. Something that I would like to highlight is how hands-on it is. So,
at first, you get taught the material. So, for our forensics unit, we were taught everything about DNA, fingerprints, hair, and how to analyze and uh uh sort of find suspects. But then what I found the most interesting is how we got to do our own project where we ourselves had to find the
evidence, had to connect the dots and figure out who who was the culprit. That for me was interesting because it was hands-on and it prompted you to think and apply what you learned from this program. Thank you. >> Hi, my name is Harini Morali and I'm representing the north side of the JP
Stevens Biomedical Science Academy. So, what I really like about this program is that we're able to get more um hands-on experience as everyone else has said about and more laboratory experiences since we all have like theoretical knowledge through AP biology and getting
to like act on that in principles of biomedical science. That's been really interesting. So, one lab that we did like this week is we've been learning how to um transform bacterial plasmids and that's been that's been really interesting. We haven't got our results yet, but um I'm really excited for that.
And another thing that I wanted to highlight is a couple a couple months ago we did flabbotoies. We had a practice hand and we were able to draw fake fake blood out of that. And getting the experience to um do what real medical professional professionals do.
That's something that I found really fun. And also that we get um exposure to so many different types of non-traditional pathways. We've learned that being a doctor isn't the only way to contribute to um being in the biomedical science academy and I thought
that was really fun. Thank you. >> Hi, I'm Rishab Jindo representing the north side uh from JPS BMED. One of the key things I liked other than the hands-on learning like everyone else said is learning that in the medical field you don't have to be only a
doctor. that there are so many fields in the medical fields from pharmarmacology to forensics etc etc and another thing which I really like about the bom community is having this community and these friends who know have the same
passions as me h have the same dreams as me actually this watch I'm wearing is from one of my best friends in the biomed academy shout out to Aiden Manalo and I think one of the best things about
biomed is being able to learn from each other. That some of these people I wouldn't have even talked to or even met without this academy and be be able to learn with them. I'd like to thank you guys for listening
to us about the biomed biomedical academy and hope you have a good rest of your time. >> Thank you. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Okay, next I'd like to invite Dr. Joan Valentine to talk about workbased
learning opportunities and Miss Meldd. >> Hi everyone. Good evening. It's a really exciting time to be a high school student in Edison and I will tell you why. It all comes down to one simple
word and. A N D not end e N D. Our students don't just attend Edison High School or John P. Stevens High School. They are students there and have access to realworld learning experiences like
internships, job shadowing, community service, and mentorships. There has been a major focus for us this year expanding opportunities that connect what students are learning in school to where they're going in life. And we didn't just talk
about it, we got to work right away. And we are making sure these experiences are meaningful, structured, and aligned to student interests and future pathways. Since then, we've made great progress building partnerships, creating
opportunities that will open doors for our students across a variety of fields. To share more about where we are and where we're headed, I'd like to introduce our principal of special projects, Meredith Quick. Good evening. Thank you, Dr. Valentine
for that lovely introduction and thank you to the board for allowing me to be able to share this information with you this evening. So, we really have done some great things so far this year. Um, one is really focusing specifically on
our career connections and how are we making those pathways for our students. Uh, we are very proud to present to you this evening the career connections hub. It is a centralized strategic initiative designed to expand real world learning internship opportunities for our high
school students. Students who engage in authentic realworld experiences gain clarity, confidence, and career readiness skills that cannot be replicated solely within classroom instruction. Through collaboration
with school counseling, our content supervisors, as well as our Ruckers University intern, we have created one accessible hub where students can explore opportunities across multiple career connection pathways. Direct links to opportunities for
internship, mentorship, volunteering, enrichment, and research, as well as employment opportunities are located all in one location. The launch of this hub is just the
beginning of a long-term district initiative. We will continue strengthening relationships with businesses and organizations to expand meaningful opportunities for all of our Edison students. Since the launch of our career
connections hub, we have seen strong engagement with more than 10,900 interactions to date. This is only since the middle of February. This really highlights the level of interest from our students and our
families. To keep that momentum going, we are consistently sending monthly reminders home to high school students and parents so they can stay informed about available opportunities and upcoming deadlines because we know sometimes high school students like to
procrastinate. to keep that m again um in collaboration with our academic programs and CTE supervisors. We are working diligently to build new connections for our academy students. We're also expanding our partnerships.
We are currently working closely with the mayor's office. Thank you, President Fashel, for helping us with this m president Patel. Um and again to build those additional internship opportunities, we're partnering also with no pro. It's a no nonprofit virtual
internship platform where students develop realworld solutions for corporations. They build practical realworld skills and are mentored by experts in the field with the added opportunity to earn prize money. And
finally, we continue to collaborate with the support of ourmies, ensuring that these experiences are aligned with students career pathways and instructional programs. So we ask that you partnered with us. We are looking to continue to expand our
opportunities. Um we have shared here our QR codes which is for our connections website hub. um along with the ability for our local businesses to be able to sign up um whether it is for internships,
shadowing experiences, however we can connect and collaborate um along with any volunteer opportunities for our students. So, thank you for your time. Again, we look forward to continue to provide these opportunities to our Edison
students. All right. Thank you. Okay, I'm going to go out of order a little bit and uh I will invite Edison High School president, Miss Lavine Lavin, to give the report. Thank you. >> Good evening, members of the board of
education and ministers and community members. My name is Levven from Edison High and I'm honored to share this month's of March report with you all today. So, the month of March at Edison High School has been a busy and exciting time for our students across academics,
athletics, and extracurriculars. To begin, uh, sorry, to begin, March marked the start of our spring sports season on March 9th, where our student athletes quickly got into action participating in
scrimmages for girls lacrosse, boys volleyball, baseball, and softball. We are also excited to see how our teams continue to grow and succeed throughout the season. Academically, students were presented with several important opportunities. Our college fair on March 5th was especially valuable for juniors
that began planning for their futures. And in addition, EHS hosted the SAT on March 14th and NJBA testing that continued on this past week. Beyond the classroom, extracurricular activities were thriving. Highlights include the
senior's class March Madness basketball tournament hosted by the senior class board, a special iftar event at EHS, as well as the EHS theater department production of Chicago, which showcase the incredible talent within our school community. Events such as district band
night and our upcoming fusion show this Friday continue to show how students bring together and celebrate creativity. Additionally, the Spanish Honor Society introduced Edison's High School's first Barcelona Exchange Program. Through this initiative, juniors and seniors had the
opportunity to travel all the way to Spain and also host an exchange student or pen pal here at EHS, which created a unique cultural experience that we hope to continue to grow in the future. We would also like to recognize our seniors of the month,
Saiisha Fraser and Chris Sabadera, for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the school community. Overall, March was a month filled with growth, achievement, and school spirit here at Editton High. Thank you. >> Well, next, I'd like to invite Mr.
Arouch Bola from JP Stevens. >> Thanks so much. Hi everyone. My name is Arouch Bola. I'm a junior at JP Stevens and I'm also co-president of our student council and I'm here to give you a recap of what JP has been doing over the past month. Now that we're into the second
half of the year, what we're really seeing is students honing in on their classes, their extracurriculars, and really now their AP exams. On a different note, we're also seeing the seniors who are finally getting the last of their college decisions back, which must be a great feeling. And
really by April, most if not all of those decisions should be to them. So, uh, good luck to them. And on a tangential note, upper classmen are also preparing for future years. Maybe juniors are looking to their colleges. And then these freshman and sophomores are also looking to see what they're
going to do in future years. And finally, with the weather finally starting to get better. I hope I don't jinx that. There seems to be a lot more energy in the building. In terms of events, it's been a really busy but also exciting month at JP. At the beginning of the month, the JPS theater company
hosted its performance, Guys and Dolls, which was a great performance and combined a lot of groups from JP. Along with this, we also held our annual blood drive where a large number of students and staff came together to support a meaningful cause. In
mid-March, JPS also hosted its TEDex event, giving speakers across the community the opportunity to share their ideas and perspectives. Along with events, JPS also had a large amount of awards that were given out to students and also staff.
For example, we recently found out that 14 students were selected as national merit finalists, which ranks us third in the state. This achievement comes from taking the PAT NMSQT exam where students across the entire United States take this exam in the fall of their junior
year. And the National Merit Finalist Award is the highest uh achievement you can achieve. So getting third place in the state is incredible. In the visual arts department, four students were selected from the Middle Sex County Teen Arts Competition to advance to the state teen arts festival in June. On top of
this, our science olympiad team placed sixth overall at the state level. Lastly, with our performing arts, the band and choir program have been performing at multiple venues over this past week, representing JP with some great performances. I recently found out that our band performed at Monroe and
Roxbury this past week and then our choir performed at Carnegie Hall. From the student council side, we've taken this month to prepare for upcoming events such as our spring pep rally and also our Hawk Island event. And looking forward, we also have our battle of the classes event in June. And I'm truly
looking forward to all of these events. Overall, March has been a lively month and the JPS community wants to thank our students, staff, administrators, and everyone on this panel for their continued support. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Both the high school students can leave
so you can uh continue to study. Thank you. >> I think next I'd like to start with superintendence report. >> Great. >> Thank you so much board president Patel. Good evening ladies and gentlemen, members of the board of education. um uh report is going to be a little bit longer tonight as we have our
preliminary budget um for approval on the uh agenda. Um uh as we've talked about not only with the finance committee but the presentation for the board. Uh tonight's re resolution represents the preliminary budget for the 2026 2027 school year um the first step in the process towards the final
approval uh within the uh next couple months. Um it's important to note that these figures are also part of uh an ongoing uh review. We we continue to evaluate it up until the point of the formal budget hearing um which is going
to be uh later on. Uh but from this uh budget perspective as we've talked about not only with members of the finance committee but with um other board of education members you know uh when building it uh you know our goal is to maintain the high standards the programs all of which you know many of which you saw this evening being presented
tonight. um that the community expects, but not only to build, you know, not only to keep them, but to build upon them. So, this this budget that's presented this evening fully funds all existing programs, our dual language program, uh access to themies, our internship pieces, the work-based
learning, all of those pieces um while supporting the necessary resources uh to support our portrait of the graduate and our strategic plan. Uh you know we this budget also presents a clear commitment to uh maintaining all the things that we value here in Edison Township. Our
clubs, our co-curriculars, our sports, um all of our afterchool activities in relationship to that. Um, additionally, uh, al although the district has seen a, you know, a declining enrollment from this year to last, uh, in overall student enrollment in pockets, um, in
town, we've, we've made a deliberate decision to ensure that we have appropriate and and researchbased class sizes, um, and student teacher ratios to ensure that the level of quality of instruction that Edison Township residents and students have known um,
for years continues to exist. Uh this budget also resents uh represents a uh moving forward plan uh for many of the long-term goals from our uh strategic plan uh as well as uh some of the issues
that have come out of uh individual meetings especially in relationship to our finance and facilities committee meeting um and our infrastructure component uh for air conditioning for all schools within the immediate future uh to ensure some of and deliver on a promise from not only this board but
previous boards as well too. Uh this budget represents a commitment to our literacy program. It it includes a brand new K to5 reading program that will be implemented across all of our elementary schools. Um and in relationship to that
the professional development that's associated with that as well too. Uh couple of you know uh new music equipment at both the middle and high school level um which is sorely out of date. A phased in plan in relationship to that. some updates to our playground equipment at some of our elementary
schools as well too to ensure that they're safe, modern, and and accessible at that time, too. Uh all of this while while kind of navigating, you know, uh a couple of the pitfalls here, u you know, over the past couple budget cycles, you know, a loss um or a reduction in close
to $6 million uh in in in state aid uh while at the same time uh uh measuring the costs associated with our prek program. Prior to uh the inception of our program which was implemented this year uh these programs were fully funded
by the state. Now the um in order to move forward with these uh the board of education uh gets the burden of 60% of the the local funding in relationship to that. Um but despite that those are components that are part of our plan. Um those are things that um you know the
board has uh not only highlighted in the past but it's great for kids and it's great for our community members as well. Uh we're also looking at proactive approaches to you know not sitting by and simply waiting for state aid to return. Uh Mr. Toe can can get into that
in a little bit greater detail as we move forward into um our our our budget hearing within the next couple weeks. Uh but we're looking for, you know, major revenue generating initiatives to bring in, you know, non- tax resources uh into our districts to supplement those costs
uh those costs uh which will hopefully offset uh the costs of of and the loss of state aid. So all of those components in relationship to that are are are just the highlights of the preliminary budget. By March 27th, we are required by law to submit a budget to the county
superintendent of schools in their office um of a balanced budget. And again, uh as we continue to work forward and look at projections over the course of the next year, we'll dive deeper into the details of a final budget presentation before the board of education. for the purposes of this as
well too and and for transparency amongst the community. We uh will have uh kind of a information located on our website within the next couple days um about what this budget represents uh the uh the information in relationship to uh
the tax burden as well as the uh how that relates to the loss in state aid. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Next is president's report. I mean I I want to start with recognizing all the presenters today. Uh starting with Miss Baninda. I remember you know she
presenting this dual language program few years ago and and I mean I love to see to you know fullition after few years and and I would love to learn Spanish from EA and Michelle. I mean it's it's an amazing opportunity that kids are learning two languages at the same time. So thank you for leading and
executing it to the perfection. Um, I'd like to recognize also, you know, Miss Donna Bettoarco and everybody involved from JMI as well as JPS in the peer-to-peer learning program. I mean, I'm I'm a big believer of peer-to-peer learning, you know, mentor proteig arrangement where, you know, elder
students are teaching younger students because I think these JP students will end up becoming a role model for a lot of elementary kids, you know, in future. So, I hope that we continue this program and I I mean I love the feedback from the students as well. Um next I want to recognize you know both the academy
supervisor I mean I remember it's a vision of some of the board members you know few years ago where we wanted to start this program and and I love the feedback from the students right the two things I consistently heard from the students is real life experiences you know learning from the peers you know
having like-minded people around them um it's it's all good feedback that's where we are spending you know we spent a lot of our energy and money last year and we continue to spend that you know in future we're starting more academies and more pathways you know this year and and
next year um and last but not least I want to recognize you know Dr. Joan Valentine and and Miss Meredith for you know taking the board's vision to give real life experiences like giving our students opportunity to learn beyond classrooms get them ready after the
classroom for the real life. Um we already heard from the students who visited battle labs and and who just had a few hours session from the company called shei and they were they learned a lot from it. Now imagine what they would learn by having internship doing it day over day for for a month and a year
right so I think one of the first partnership we are having with is our with our township where mayor's office has committed twodigit interns all year around from the district right we are still working out the details but he's going to pretty much open up all of his
department and invite our students to intern with them all year around hopefully as early as uh mid midappril So lot of exciting things and lastly I know you know Miss Mr. Toth is going to talk about the preliminary budget. I
mean I I I see a lot of residents who wants to ask questions. So I would I would encourage everybody to ask questions. Um ask as many questions as you want and then we are here to give you the details and and then we'll provide you details either now or or via the website in in upcoming days. Thank
you Mr. Toad. >> Thank you President Patel. So the FY27 budget, the operating fund is estimated at $364 million. Uh the makeup of that, the funding of it, uh 101 million is coming from your state aid along with excess surplus and miscellaneous
revenue. Uh our taxes are to be raised are $263 million. That's about a $28 million increase uh year-over-year. So as compared to the current budget we're in, which is FY26. major uh uh budget impact factors were
uh the additional state aid cut of three million this year along with the cut from last year. It's a $6 million um cut because the funding never comes back along with $11 million less in surplus revenue. Uh about a $3.5 million
increase uh in funding for PE preK and $7 million uh for our contractual obligations for everything from salaries to health to our out of district tuitions, transportation, everything that uh you know we utilize to operate.
So that is the um operating budget in a nutshell. The overall budget will be 372 million. That the additional 7 million uh is on our special revenue fund which is estimated at about 75 70% of what it currently is this year. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Uh next is board member comments for pre preliminary budget. >> Okay. No comments. Do I have a motion to approve preliminary budget? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Okay. >> Roll call. Mr. Do.
>> Mr. Azerella. >> Yes. >> Mr. Erico. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lugo. >> No. >> Miss Anja Patel. >> Yes. >> Miss White. >> No.
>> Mr. Sheay. >> Yes. >> Miss Pang? >> Yes. >> President Patel? >> Yes. Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Review of agenda items. Dr. >> Thank you. Yep. So um
>> public comment it says on resolutions that >> please guys >> the quorum. Let's have the quorum. They can make their comments to There'll be a time for comments during the
>> No, no. In your agenda, it says we get to speak on the resolution. >> There will there will be a time for public comment during quorum. >> Excuse me. It was if you know the law. >> Excuse me. Please, please maintain public comment.
>> Okay, Mr. To I mean, Dr. Ali, let's continue with the meeting. >> Sure. Thank you. Um, so we have our personnel agenda items. against >> we have our personal agenda items. Mr. Deep Pasqual, please you'll you'll definitely have a time to do this if you can.
>> We are speak agenda. >> Please please stop disturbing the meeting. Okay. Please stop. >> That's go sue us. >> These are the games you guys play,
>> right? You don't want to hear from us. >> We Okay. You are gonna get a time to talk about it after >> the agenda. Can we >> Okay, please stop. Please stop. Okay, that that's it. >> Please stop.
>> Please stop. Dr. Let's continue the meeting. >> There will be a time for public comment during the >> quorum. We can speak now. >> I think we should just >> Yeah, let's let's go. >> Yep. So, uh, we have our personnel agenda items currently right now. We
have our resignations, terminations, our appointments, our change of status, all the regular pieces along with our district-wide programs um that we have that are title funded uh as well as some of our coaching stipens for the upcoming spring component as well too. We also have um from our administrative report,
we have the uh second reading of the policies um from the last board of education agenda as well too. We have the approval of our harassment, intimidation, and bullying report. Uh we also have a uh settle agreement that's on the board of ed education agenda. We
have our 2026 2027 calendar for approval. Uh as well, um we have a resolution that signifies the um acceptance of uh uh April autism acceptance month. Um we conclude with
those pieces in relationship to that from curriculum and instruction. We also have our field trips um of which we have a couple of um conferences that are currently coming up. Our DECA conference as well as Odyssey of the Mind. Um we also have the uh approval of our
professional development components for March. Uh the district uh the board of education support of uh professional development for our staff. Um and last but not least uh for my section we have the um special pupil services report for our out of district students.
>> Thanks doc. Uh on the uh finance and facilities section we have we open up with our usual monthly financial uh reports and minutes. Then we move on to our contract awards. are going to be awarding contracts, uh, some security contracts, uh, technology contracts, furniture contracts, uh, building
infrastructure, and some professional services. Um, as it relates to Ruckers, um, under procurement, we are going to be authorizing the use of competitive contracting to go out and procure our,
uh, health and risk um, consultants for the upcoming school year. Under facilities, we have a few change orders at some of our projects. Uh the JMI edition along with the John Adams addition and renovation. Um we do have a
few items under grant. Uh we're going to be submitting for the SNAP grant along with a uh an amendment to the ESA consolidated grant and the IEDA consolidated grant. And then we round out the finance and facilities with the transportation report which has nothing
at this time. Thank you. >> Thank you. Now I'm opening it for the public comments resolution only. Yes. Elizabeth Taly, 15 Midwood Avenue. So, we're allowed to speak about the budget. >> Yes. >> Stuff that just happened.
>> Okay. Dr. Aldderelli, Mr. Toes, please do not take this personal. It has no reflection of you two whatsoever other than you trying to, I don't know, squeeze a diamond out of
sand or something. I don't know. Um, lifelong resident here. I am appalled at what just took place. This budget is due to the state. What date is today? The 24th >> 4th. In three days
you had no input or listen to your public at all. For five years you sat here with 0% increase. And now today, Mr. Toe, can you tell us what the percentage of the increase of our budget will be so that the residents
at home know? >> We will answer all the questions at the end. Just use your time. Well, you can't keep asking. We're supposed to have discussion, you said about the budget. So, until we know and it's
and these are just numbers on a piece of paper. This is not a budget. >> A budget should be broken down. Mr. Toth, when you first came here, we had these wonderful elaborate presentations. I understand we're not having it this
year because a lot of the board up there has sat here for five years and not raised the taxes at all. Now that we're in the whole country in dire straits and people don't have the money, you're not even telling us
how much this is going to be, where the line items are. I know last year in June I was told there was only $1 million left in our reserves and we all knew that that had to go to JP Stevens tennis courts and the flooding at the new
auditorium there. So I'm not sure where all this money is magically coming from other than our pockets. And yes, you can blame the state for not giving us money. They are not going to give us money if for five years our town sits here and
says we don't need the money. We can do 0% so we can get a vote on the board. And that's right. You're not going to recoup it. And I feel so bad for Dr. Alderelli and Jonathan Toth to try to make this work because we had great
presentations today. It was wonderful to see what our kids can do here. But you I I don't know where you're going to cut because you're going to cut the staff from, you know, who are the ones who are actually in the classrooms helping the kids. And it's a shame, Mr. Patel, that you can't even look at me as
I'm speaking. It's disrespectful. You pull a little bait and switch here tonight. We have never, in all the years I've lived here, had a budget presentation like this where you say, "This is the amount of it. We're voting on it without the public input." I'm not
sure if that's even legal. If the attorney can let us know if it is, I'm not sure if she knows the rules. But if you're presenting a budget, we should see more specifics, not just two numbers on a piece of paper without public input and then you just all vote on it. Shame
on all of you. >> Yeah. So, as to the uh the questions, let me quick respond. So the percentage increase on the FY27 budget uh compared to 2026 which is the current budget is about 11.9%. Um that is the increase uh line items in
the budget right so just like it's been every year since I've been here uh we submit a preliminary budget to the county right they have to uh review and approve anything before we the board can actually vote on it well before you guys can make public comments and the board can vote on it and you know pass it
during a budget hearing. um you know if everything goes to plan you know we'll be submitting the budget to the county tomorrow and hopefully um there will not be too many questions they will not ask us to make any you know quote unquote changes to the budget um we will be doing our usual presentation Dr. Alderelli and I will there be more than
enough uh explanation um in terms of how the money is spent you know what's allocated to salaries health um infrastructure transportation so on so forth and we will have the userfriendly budget posted for your review and along with the advertised budget um all of that will be out there probably about uh
a week before the budget hearing so thank you >> and just just for clarity in relationship to that everything so the the presentation has um historically been done in May the final budget hearing so what in April and May yep So um what Miss Talki was talking about is is absolutely correct. We uh we will
have not only a full budget presentation. Mr. To talks about what it what the contents of the budget is in relationship to um uh the average household. Uh we talk about items that we're adding some items that could be potentially um reduced that we're looking at. All all of those components
are talked about during the formal budget hearing. This is a preliminary budget hearing that allows the board to submit this by law just as we've done every single year to um the county for for approval based off of those pieces.
This is not a step moving forward in relationship to um adopting a budget for the 26. >> That's correct. >> It's not final. >> It's not right. That's that's correct. It's not a budget hearing, right? We're gaining we have to submit by law um the
budget a balanced budget that is to the county every year on the 20th with this year there's been an extension due to the fact that there's a new governor in place um that budget has to be submitted so we are what we're doing today is obviously this budget you know we're developing it back you know starts in October all the way through uh now
working with administrative uh team and every building and central office along with the finance committee and the entire board right we have a balanced budget in place uh the board um authorized us, the majority of the board, the quorum that is here to submit that budget for to the county as is required uh for their review and and
ultimately their approval and then we'll be back if they you know if they appro you know approve it and we have no changes um then we can have our our normal hearing with budget with uh public input uh a detailed presentation and and a vote and this has been the uh
the practice every year since I've I've been here as far as I'm aware >> also this is not uh the time for a public hearing the board member members will make comments during their aotted time. >> Okay, thank you. Okay,
>> Sue Campion, Edison, New Jersey. Um, I just have a couple of comments about the calendar um that's out. So, I know that we deal with um educators, but the coloring of the um
emergency closing uh makeup days when they're colored in, it causes massive confusion because everyone sees colored boxes and thinks that the day is off. And as a rep, no matter how many times I explain to people, those are school days
and you only get them off if we don't have snow. It didn't work. So, I'm just asking that they not be colored and just listed in order the way that it always used to be the days that we would get back if we
don't have snow because it it just causes massive confusion and we don't want people making plans to think that they could have a long weekend and they really have school and um because it caused confusion this year. Um the other thing that I was very disappointed to
see is um my son is 35 years old. I've been involved with this district for a very long time. It is the first time I have ever not seen Passover recognized and I'm I'm really very very upset by that. Um, I know we want to move towards
not recognizing holidays, but we are not there yet. And we have had split spring breaks before to when it's been separated. And I know that the 21st is an early closing. That's the first night of Passover. But that's for the kids, not for the staff. And Passover is um a
family holiday that we have seder and dinner. And um working a full day does not get you home in time to celebrate that. And um we could do professional development on the 7th and still close early. You don't lose a day. Um quite
frankly, the 21st and the 22nd should be early closings because the first two nights, it's an eight night holiday, but the first two nights is when it's celebrated. And it's it's just very disappointing that um people have come down here and specifically said that uh
Passover is not needed. And to see that the board followed through with that is really very heartbreaking and very disturbing to me. So I really hope that you reconsider before you vote on this calendar because you wouldn't lose days. You could be respectful and just make them both early dismissals for staff
also. Thank you. >> Yes. No. Tony. >> Yeah. Tony D. Pasqual to Pine Street. So, I'm here tonight because the people of Edison are being asked to pay for
years of a bad decision. For over five years, this board has sold the public on a fake zero increase. And it sounded good. It was easy to came campaign on which many of
you did and it was a nice slogan but it was never honest. It was never sustainable. And the reason I say it was never honest because every year there was always an increase. Maybe a little increase but there was always an
increase. It was not zero%. And it was never going to be sustainable. But let me just tell you a little history of how this started. And this is on record on YouTube on the board
videos. Over five years ago, I attended a board meeting when Mr. Jerry Shei talked about 0%. And there was a discussion where I said to him, "This is not going to work. This
is wrong." And the discussion back to me was, "You don't know what you're talking about." And this is on video. Now there's some other people that also went on 0%.
Miss Pang recently in November 0%. Viselle 0%. Russell 0%. That's what you campaigned on. I just heard Mr. Tolt say 11.9% increase.
So, I'll go back to what I said before. You sold the public on a campaign slogan. You exchanged the honesty of what a board member should have with the
residents for your campaign. That's what you did, Jerry. I know. Whatever. Because you don't care. Okay? And I have said this many years that the board and the residents there
should be honesty between them. You guys represent many people. Many people voted for you, but you don't care. You care about your own campaigns.
And that's what the 0% represent. Because how do you expect to think that the state is going to go, "Oh, we're going to keep on giving them more funding even though they're not going to raise their taxes." Do you guys even
really understand how the government works? Of course, they're going to go and say, "Well, Edison doesn't need to raise taxes, so we don't need to give them more funding." Are you guys serious that you did not consider that? or maybe
it did and didn't comp didn't care because it didn't help your campaign. So now the residents are having to foot a bill of 11.9%. Where if you easily just went 2% every
year, it would not have been as difficult as people now having to pay a 12% increase. That's going to be over $2,000 for my taxes. And for me, many people it will be even
more money. But I will say this again, you don't care about the residents. You care about your campaign. That's what you care about. Now, I have some questions if you're
going to answer them or not. Will there be teacher layoffs? And I have to tell you, I know the majority of the answers already to these questions because as I have told Mr. Shei over the years, I know about a lot of stuff
and he doesn't think or the board members don't think I know or have ears about what's going on. Will subscri subscription busing be eliminated? Will class sizes get larger?
So, are you able to answer these questions honestly or are you going to just give us a whatever answer, but eventually you're just going to do it anyway because you're not going to care what the residents think, what the teachers
think. It's going to hurt the students. But again, you won your campaigns and that's all that matters to you. That's all that matters. It's not the taxes that the residents have to pay. It's not hurting the
students. The school district is about the students, not about the board, not about the board of education, not about any of you. It's about the students. The people deserve better than this.
They deserve honesty. Even a little bit of honesty would work. But you all sit up there, you make the decisions that you want to make all for your campaign so you can win again and
again and again. And that's what you care about. So I sure hope that I could get some answers to these questions that I have asked. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Yeah, please. Yeah, >> sure. Uh, thank you, Mr. Deep Easqu. Um, so in in relationship to uh teacher teacher layoffs um subscription busing um and and class sizes, yeah, there's
there's there is uh no massive layoffs in relationship to this. The the only layoffs that would I don't even want to call them layoffs when when when school districts lose stat lose students, right? So just to uh and I told the board this before between last year and
this year this time we've lost 778 students right that that's a substantial our enrollment has declined right in in certain pockets not on every aspect of town but districtwide 778 students where where districts get themselves in trouble where they where they where they start to develop that that financial
hole is when uh the enrollment declines staffing should equate to that right I mean that's normal business practices and things along those lines but but still maintaining maintaining adequate set class sizes. So, you're not going to see kindergarten classes with 35 kids in them and and we're not, you know, packing them to the gills. We're going
to use normal class sizes um that are low, right? For so for kindergarten, it's some, you know, the class size kindergarten and first grade I believe is the cap is at 20, right? If you get more than that number of students across the grade level, we'll increase the sections at that time. Uh second grade,
I believe, is 23 and uh it will be 25 in grades 3, four, and five. We're looking at some of our course offerings as well too. We want to maintain class sizes of at least 15 for some of those classes especially the elective classes in relationship to that. Um so so we're definitely looking in that but as a
result of our a relationship to uh enrollment. Um we also have a a lot of retirees as well too. I mean, if you if you take a look at the list, so that that's why we're balancing these pieces, too, in that in the event that we do see a loss in reduction on a particular end
of town and we have an individual that's retiring, well, you know what, we've just moved that individual over to a particular spot, right? Or if they have a different certificate and there is a uh retirement or somebody that's not coming back from maternity leave um at
that time frame, they'll be able to fill those spots. So, we're we're definitely making sure that we're we're there's no there's no blanket layoffs. We're we're doing normal fiscally responsible business practices in relationship to that um subscription busing. >> Yeah. I mean, with the the budget that's
been proposed tonight, right, it is an increase, but we are providing within this budget the resources to continue our uh subscript subscription busing program, right? And and and we have about about around just over 4,000 students that utilize that. and we you
know we hope to increase it right if if we can secure more routes and with the budget the preliminary budget that we have in place um we'll have the funds to be able to do such a thing so that you know granted these are tough decisions that have to be made made right um the student is the one who um is going to
get the benefit from this >> so that and the class sizes in grade three are 23 as well too second and third are 23 fourth and fifth are 25 I just >> thank you correction >> yes Uh Anthony Damarind um Edison, New
Jersey. Uh first question I have I guess is if you were to take in just hypothetical if you were to take in the school funding if we would have got it if we would have received it this year what where that would have put us in terms of percentage wise. Um,
but uh, you know, it's it's funny. I I what I don't see on the agenda is you guys giving yourself any pay increases. Um, I also believe that you guys work with a twice as much of a budget than than the town does as well. And I hope some of my friends who have come up here
will be joining me at the at the town meetings when they choose to uh probably raise our taxes six, seven, eight% this year. Um, the mayor also has uh some responsibility I believe here. The mayor in the past has taken credit for school
funding that in my opinion he did not deserve to take credit for um which was on the hard work and backs of other board members. The mayor also threw out the red carpet this past summer for the wouldbe governor. Uh you even had a former board
member, school board member who had the wouldbe governor at her home and made it portrayed that they were very close. The mayor came up with goose eggs this year and I would like to know if
what his input would any help that he got from the mayor's office um in regarding the school funding. I mean you can't have it both ways. So, the mayor honestly uh uh has some answering to do as well. Like I said,
you can't get it both ways. You can't take credit for school funding when you get it, which he really honestly didn't have any uh business to take credit for at the time. But then when we don't get it, uh you know, just go MIA. So, um you know, and again, uh you guys are not
increasing your salary. I believe you guys don't even have a salary if I'm not mistaken. Um, but here, and I'm not here to defend or or or whatever, but this that's that's just the honest truth here. All right. Um, so, um, I I'd also like to know, uh, again, what percentage
the, uh, that would be with the school funding where we would be at, and, uh, if the mayor had any help, any made any phone calls, any did anything, lift any finger whatsoever to his new friend, uh, uh, uh, the the the new the new governor. Uh, thank you.
Thank you. >> Yeah. Uh with with regard to the uh state aid, had we gotten the state aid um back that we got cut last year along with, you know, um an increase this year would have probably been almost 3%. So that that alone is 3% right there on the levy.
>> Thanks. >> Next. Yes, Miss Conway. Elizabeth Conway, 20 Netherwood Circle. I realize there is a process for the budget. We wait in the beginning of March for the state to come back with
their figures and then we have to quickly uh put together some sort of preliminary budget. But what I saw tonight was disgraceful, Mr. Patel, with the fact that
right now our state of economy is in complete disarray. and the way you handled it was completely wrong. Yes, we knew an increase was eventually happening because we've been saying for a couple
of years, you can't do 0% when everything else is zero. There had to be some sort of increase to go along with the increases of the world. Now
I have been astounded by Dr. Alderelli and Mr. Toe's uh budgets every year. uh in May we finally get uh the downto- earthth line by line budgets which we'll get to understand but tonight I would
have preferred to hear a little more so that we have an idea of what we're going to be looking at and you by your resentful attitude really upset many people in this room and that should not
be whoever put this budget uh this agenda together. It shows that we had a right to have public comment on the resolutions prior to you going further in the agenda. And I'm sorry, Miss Lawyer, but
you were wrong also >> by standing up for him. All you had to do is read the paper and you could see why everyone was upset. You may not agree that it was wrong, but once you put it in the agenda the way it is, you
needed to follow it. And I'm not a lawyer, but truthfully, we need to understand what's happening. Uh, one of the items that you talked about was subscription busing. Well, I know years ago the biggest thing with subscript
subscription busing was that it paid for itself. that there was no additional costs from the budget to pay for it. Now, there was a way of taking care of it by moving students around and if there was empty spaces on other mandated buses, you accommodated it. So, it came
out to zero. But we need to make sure that subscription busing is self-sufficient and that it is not a drain on the budget because regardless, subscription busing is a gift for
parents that truly need it. But at the same time, we're in the job and the business of educating students. We take care of the students once they get to the buildings and subscription busing should be
accordingly without draining the educational part of the budgets. As far as layoffs are concerned, I knew the key was going to be oh we may not lay off but through attition we'll lose teachers,
paras, and any other employees that we can. And years ago we talked about um with the Mr. Demographer that came and he said that at the elementary level as they were coming up we were going to be
losing students. It was at the higher grades where we would see the increase in population. But yet we're seeing JMI is getting an addition. John Marshall is getting addition. So, I don't know if his
demography was as good as the actuality of what's going on in the district. But the biggest problem I'm having is yes, it was a preliminary budget, but a little more defined would have cut kept
people happy and you just did not do it, Mr. President. Max. Yes. Joyce Ship, Edison, New Jersey. um within discussing the budget um with the
government with the people in Washington DC with all this stuff that's going on right now the amount of money I don't even know why not just with the board ed but I don't know why the town just keeps spending money like we got this charge card like we got a black card or something back
and forth and I do remember recently at the was supposed to be budget meeting at the council meeting and the mayor didn't have a council he didn't have a budget meeting at all he jumped up and said bye you have no input and you know
I just tell people when you get up and you talk about the board of ed and you talk about the council just speak fairly about each group about the money that they receive of course I don't want any teacher laid off and because you know
everybody because everybody's scrambling for a job now because there's a lot of people out here that have a lot of problems. And I know now that the school population is going to drop, not just in Edison, it's going to drop all over the place because young people can't afford
to have children because the price and electricity cost and all this all this information that's going on right now. And it just saddens me that everybody waits for a particular time to
say stuff about the board of ed about the council back and forth, but I would like to see more involvement at the meetings back and forth. Now, I I've gone to a numerous amount of council
meetings, but h they told me I've been here my whole life and everything, and you can't speak with four minutes, and I got to control the narrative. So, the same people that come up and complain about all you guys working for free and all the hours and stuff you put in, they don't say anything about the
people who just get extra extra money, that don't have time for you, that may give you like four minutes if we're lucky. But I'm just saying to myself, when this budget goes up 12%, and then our town budget goes up 8%. And through
no fault of the border edge, cuz you guys are not building the houses. All right? You guys have to overcompensate for the extra building and the ridiculous amount of money that's spent in Edison on parties and stuff. You guys, you know, you have to take the
brunt of it. And they're saying that you had a 0% from year to year. 0%. So, I I thought that maybe y'all would go up to three three to six percent this year because without the extra money coming in from the state, I thought that would
be a problem. But it's not just this town that's not getting that money. There's a whole lot of other towns, and I'm telling you, really, really good towns who have been very frugal with their money, and they're all all having problems now. So, I just want the town
council and the board of ed to work together instead of everybody getting up fighting each other. I just think that we should all work together and come out with a great deal for all of us for the taxes because everybody's hurting right
now because of the everything's going up except for our salaries. Some of us are on fixed incomes and I just want to see you know I want to see everybody just work together. We should work as a whole and I know for clarification
that we supposed to just see the preliminary budget right now and you'll go through it line by line with us because what I also learned about the council budget they were supposed to submit a preliminary budget in February. They're supposed to submit those but that doesn't happen. So, I'm just trying
to get a good handle on and a clarification of the actual taxes and what it consists of and the things that we will be using our money for. Because I have a problem sometime when
all the upper people have all the millions and millions the thousands of dollars and people look quick to get rid of a para or take away some health care from the people that are actually have pupil contact.
That's who the people I worry about because you know they're not uh making too much. And I know um I think it was like last year or whatever they did pretty good where they raised the money up on for the Paris. But I just ask people to be respectful
of each other and don't come up and start campaign campaigning ahead of time. That's all I ask. You know, just wait it out. And if you're going to but I'm going to criticize you. I'm also going to criticize criticize the town because I have no prospective person or
no one that I'm uh connected to that way. Thank you. Thank you. Next, please. Brian Rivera Edison been out for a while but I do want to say Eddie John you look great you know um I miss you guys hope
you guys are doing well I also want to say I feel bad that you're in this predicament because you and I we you know that we've had these discussions for the last three years and that this was predicted to happen 0% was not going to work we knew 0% was going to work when we were getting additional aid but
when the additional aid stopped we had those backdoor conversations to say this wasn't going to work so I feel bad for you individuals because you were put in a position where you advised people for what you thought would be best for the township and it was shot down.
So, I feel bad that you're in this position. So, I did want to say that. Um, the rest of the board, I'm pretty sure Virginia I'm pretty sure they didn't tell you anything that's going on. Chris, I'm pretty sure you have no idea what's going on. The nods in the head tells me everything. Mr. Azerella,
congratulations. The first time see you. I know you stopped by my house. you know, we still could, but I feel bad you ran on 0% and now you're sitting here saying, "Hey, it's 12%." Looks horrible for you. Um, but it is what it is. But
I feel bad for you. Let's just say that. You know, you you have to make a decision. But, um, 12% that's ridiculous. But we're also talking about the 12% that we're raising. Um, but we're not talking about the additional monies that we have to cut. My understanding is yes, our taxes are
going to go up 12%. But we also have to cut somewhere near about six five to six million dollars. So my questions would be, you know, when you do your presentations uh in May or even if you want to talk about it now, what is being cut? Because the rumors are yes,
subscription busing is going to be cut. And then we talked about how individuals paid 500 bucks for prescription busing. My understanding is, John, if I'm wrong, please tell me I'm wrong, but the bus is student. I heard it's well over $1,000.
So, the board's losing money there. I don't understand why we're subsidizing for other people's transportation. If you guys want, please stop by my house and pick up my kids and take them to school, too. I'll be happy to pay 500 bucks for the year if that works because I pay about 400 for uh a month to for
child care for my kids. But the reality is you guys have to make hard decisions. And I think everybody here wants to hear what you're cutting. Yes, people are retiring. Yes, people are being terminated if they're not performing well. But again, those positions aren't
coming back. So, if you're eliminating positions, they're not coming back. And the public needs to know that, which means class sizes are going up. And this is just the beginning. I've said this privately to you guys. This sounds very familiar from other things I've been
seeing going on in Middle Sex County. This is the beginning. It's just going to get worse. So, I hope you guys plan ahead. I hope the board of education actually listens to John and Eddie rather their own self-interests. You know, we pay Eddie and John pretty
well to do their jobs. Let them do their jobs. This whole thing of 0%, it's not working five years. It's not going to work six. And now everybody's got a shot in the ass. Here's 12%. That's not fair.
It's absolutely not fair. And then the kicker is you still have to cut. So taxes going up and you're cutting. So ballpark, if you guys want to talk about it, John already. Is there any specific areas you're targeting to cut $6
million? If you want to bring it up now, because I know the number six, it's not it's not a secret. Everybody in the room knows it. Um, but that's what the concern is is where's the money being cut? I know right now it's not positions, it's not
well, it's not people, it is positions because you're losing positions and they're never coming back. And anybody who's in a union, which I'm a union member, soon as you lose that position, it's not coming back. So other people are going to have to
take these responsibilities. I know people's positions are changing. The other thing that I would talk about is did a union talk to these members whose jobs descriptions are changing because there should be a conversation if someone's job is being changed. If I'm doing more work, I should be compensated
for more work. So, the funny thing is the public doesn't know this or ask these specific questions. And it's a shame. Not because they don't want to, they just they blatantly don't know. So, they need people to inform them. We need the union
to come up and talk and talk about what's going on in the schools. We need a public people that understand what's going on with this budget to come out and speak. I happen to know this budget. I know the operations. I already told you guys my situation. What's been going on? You guys are in year three of where
I was now in year seven. We talked about this. This is the beginning. Next year it's going to be much more different unless you raise taxes again next year because costs are going up, salaries are going up. I don't know how that you guys are managing it.
So my other thing is too, you guys spent n or want to spend $9 million on a property was obviously a campaign promise to something. You're raising taxes. You're cutting $6 million, but you're gonna buy a piece a property that you can't do nothing with because you have
no money to do anything with it. So, my last question, actually, just answer this question. Do you guys plan on still purchasing this property when you're in this such a bad way with money right now? Like, why would you spend $9 million on
a property that's just going to sit there when you're raising taxes 12% and cutting another six million? It just makes no sense. So, can you answer that one question for me at least? >> Cut the property >> cut.
>> I don't know if you can discuss. >> All right. >> Yeah. >> I don't think you can discuss, >> right? So, there yes, there are going to be reductions in in in staffing positions, right? It's done through attrition, right? So, um, you know, every year, uh, there's there's staffing, there's positions that, you know, through attrition are not bought
back. Uh, I think that the number was around possibly 20, doc, and that that correlates to a dollar figure, which helps us close a, you know, a budget gap. Add to that, we um, we're going to be reducing our our cost for substitutes, right, with um, our count our our contract service provider, which
is ESS. So we'll have we have some cuts there and we have some cost-saving strategies along with reducing the amount of PD that we're off that we you know offer up and above what's required per contract. We're we're bringing that back in line and uh you know you could look at the budget lines when it comes out. You know last year we allocated I
think it was $22 million you know for capital outlay. We're not going to have you know such a large uh allocation uh in this coming budget. So those are some of the strategies that we've used um in order to to to balance the uh preliminary budget. Thanks.
>> And and and to uh and to touch base just to complement what uh Mr. Toth had said as well too, we're also looking at uh you know our money that's associated with our title funds as well too. Correct. Utilizing that uh um in a manner for at least the the next year that will hopefully assist us with
offsetting those costs. So, some things that have come out of the operating budget and utilizing our title funding to support things like professional development, um some of our stipens that are associated with that, uh the cost associated with uh a new reading program as well too along with some of the PD that happens during the school day as
well also. So, that that's where that's where we would see those pieces. Um in relationship to the property, I don't know if can Yeah. Okay. It's off limits. Okay. It's currently within a legal matter piece. So, we can't divulge too much
along those lines, but we're in discussions. >> We can you can't you can't do this. >> Next person, please. >> Mr. Romano. >> Yeah. >> Mr. Jano, you pass. You know the rule. He he he
had six minutes. He's sitting down and that's it. He has opportunity to come back. Okay. We have a six minutes and we have three minute rebuttal. Okay. >> Mr. Jammano, please. >> It's it's not a Q&A session. You know
that it's a comment. >> Yeah. >> Mr. Dana, thank you. What is yours, Mr. Romano? >> Romano Edison. Uh, that's called breakage, Mr. Toth,
where you get people left, you bring people in. It's called I believe it's called breakage. Uh, I didn't want to get up and speak, but uh, I ran I ran against zero, which was
fine. Look, >> all I want to know is, and I don't need a qu I don't need an answer. The public deserves the truth. It's called we the people.
Not but it's we the people. And the truth is like I've said for the past two years, you can't really do zero.
It just doesn't work. And ma'am, ma'am, thank you for sticking up for that. Uh, of course this is only a preliminary budget. I know that
the problem that we have is that everybody's voting on the preliminary budget. I don't believe people understand what that means. It's like when you vote on a piece of property that you on that property that
you're investigating, purchasing that property, allowing the board or the attorneys to investigate that property. So what we're doing now, I think people have to understand
that the board of education, not the elected board, the board of education, who runs the board of education,
if I remember correctly in governance, One of the first lines is a board member has to see
that it runs well. Board members have to rely on the people who run the district. They have to listen to the people who
run the district. It's like our students that listen to their teachers. Our teachers are the backbone. Our students, like we've seen here tonight.
They're the ones that go out and do the job. They go out and find the answers. Mr. Toth and Doc
and all of the people that work to assure that the education system works and works well. That's what governance does. Now, I appreciate that you're going to put a preliminary budget together and
you're going to take and have the time to send it to the people that have to look it over. Then we we we the people,
we will get our shot at it. That's we the people. That's what people are forgetting. It's we the people. The end of the day when somebody votes zero
no like I did. I meant it because you can't run on zero constantly. Now, the demographic study
that I was involved with when I told the gentleman, I really didn't give. But I don't want another commercial that says that I'm a bad person. Right. I think that's what it said.
All I want to know is simple. Come up with your budget so you can present it. And the people here in the audience, the weed the people get a shot at looking at it.
Now, I know the breakage and I know that. Well, if there's three kids in that class and there's two in that class, we can put I understand that. I do understand busing. I'm not allowed to talk about busing, am
I? Wait a minute. No, I don't know. Can I Wait, ma'am. Can I talk about buses? I remember that you bought two new buses, but you replaced two. You didn't increase the fleet. All you did was is
replace two buses. So, thank you for your time. I want people to remember when people voted no, they voted no for a reason. We the people, the truth and
nothing but the truth. Thank you very much for your time. >> Thank you. Next. >> Yes, Matt. Matt Revnack, ETA president. Before I get into budget, I do want to bring up about the calendar. Um, because I gotten
some calls today. I know Dr. Ali and I got a few emails. I believe um I have a recommendation for you before you vote on the calendar. Right now you have June 1st as a uh snow emergency give back day. I would recommend that you make
that on April 22nd which is Passover. Um and this way like hopefully you won't get snow and even if you do you don't have to take that day away. You can still be that could be number three to be taken away. that will satisfy the people that affect it. Um, you know,
everything else works out fine. And I think the 21st, um, Dr. Alderman and I can have a discussion on, you know, that happening with the staff, you know, that are affected, um, if you decide to keep the professional, uh, development day that day. So, that's a recommendation I
have for you and I ask that you seriously do consider that. All right, getting to the budget. First of all, Mr. Toes, your numbers are totally accurate. I always trust in you. I figured out myself. You're right. It's a little over 20, you know, $8 million
and uh it is 11.9%. So, you're you're 100% correct. But I want to put some things in perspective to people. And I have stood up here in the past, the last couple years, um, and said I I think it's foolish going to 0%. Even if you
went to 1%, you know, last year and this year, for example, that would have covered the loss in state aid if nothing else. I question why Woodbridge, which is a district that's not as large as ours. They get $130 million from the state. We get, I believe it's like 87
million, and yet they got a 6% increase and we went down 3%. And the only answer I'm getting is because your district did not go to 2%. Woodbridge does every year. And I said that last year. At some point the state's going to turn and say, "Hey, if you're not going to impose t,
you know, increase the taxes on your people, I guess I'm giving you too much money." But I want to put in perspective, if you went to 2% every year, >> people right now would be paying the same dollar amount. In fact, actually,
you're paying a little less because it's not cumulative over the last six years, basically. So you'd be paying the same amount, but it is a hard swallow when all of a sudden like our gas, it went up like a dollar a gallon in three weeks.
But we also lost the taxpayer hasn't had to pay the taxes over those five years, the tax increases. And same thing with the district. I said this last year, if we went to 1% cumulatively, we've lost $30 million over the last five years. And I know Mr.
Tote does it on 2%. That's $60 million over the past 5 years. So, we wouldn't necessarily be in a situation we're in now. It becomes more hurtful, especially with what's going on right now with the, you know, price of everything going up to
all of a sudden now it's 11.9%. But realistically, again, I want the taxpayer to understand you'd be paying the same. I also was part of this years ago, which none of you were at that time, although Miss White worked for the district at the time, back in the Christie era when
we had 374 people on a chopping block and Paris were priv threatened to be privatized, etc. And I stated that I don't want to get back to that. And this is some of the things right now we're talking about. I'm not saying this the same numbers and I know Dr. Alderelli
and I and Mr. Campion and his administrative team has met. I know he doesn't want to cut staff. You know, some things to attrition. Listen, you have to fe do a feasibility study. And yeah, like anybody else, things sometimes need to be tightened a
little bit, but we don't want to affect the students. And when you increase class sizes, it affects students. You can't give the same personal attention to every kid anymore because now you have five more
kids in a class and it takes that much more away from what you could devote to your students. Obviously, we don't want to see programs cut or anything like that, which also happened back then. Our music program was hit somewhat. Our elective programs
were hit. You know, paytoplay was actually talked about for sports. You know, we don't want to go there. We want to keep the quality school system we have. And unfortunately, it's come to where we're at. So, a decision that the
parents of the students of this district and the taxpayer have to look at. I've said it for years. I don't want to turn in, hey, Newark's getting 1.3 billion. I don't want to be Newark. I sure as hell don't want to turn into that. And I stated this years ago when
they were called the Abbott districts. We are the largest district in New Jersey at the time and we still are. That's a non-abbott district. I don't want to become an Abbott district and part of that is we need to have the funding to keep the great school
district we have. And it is well known for the taxpayer out there that don't have students in a school. At one time, if you did, your kids benefited from it. But your property values are totally dependent upon the quality of the school system. That is a known fact.
And the final thing I just want to state, I don't need to be told what my job is as union president. I communicate with my members. There's a reason why there are people sitting back there and I will continue to do so.
Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, I don't see none. Motion to close public comments. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I excuse me. >> Yep. Board member comments. Resolution.
>> I just have a question for Dr. Is for next year on this agenda? >> It is. >> It is. Okay. >> Any other comments from board member? >> President Patel. Uh board comments on >> anything specific or >> any anything resolution only.
>> Resolution only. Okay. I I >> I do um >> Yeah, please. >> Comment question. Um more like a question. So I'm looking at the uh finance and facilities section D
procurement and I find this this wording kind of interesting. Um if we go for the authorization for competitive contracting under public content where it says now therefore be
it resolved um you know that in accordance with NJ um essay that section this section B here the Edison Township Board of Education authorizes procurement method for an
extraordinary unspecifiable service beginning June 1st. First um how uh if the service is unspecifiable that means it's
it's not it's not defined. Um how could it be how could we have a procurement method for an extraordinary so a remarkable undefined service? How do we have a what is that method and what what does that mean? because it
seems very contradictory. >> All right, let me try and answer that for you, Mr. Lugo. So, what you would when a board would like to procure someone like uh a health broker or a risk manager, they're not deemed a professional service under New Jersey statute where like uh an attorney would
be qualifi, you know, they would be applicable to 1818 A5 or an architect. an extraordinary unspecifi unspecifi unspecifiable service I can't even say it is actually it's delineated in in in the law and it within that law if you
look that up it speaks to insurance that it that and the method to going about trying to procure someone is competitive contracting and what competitive contracting is it's a more stringent form of an RFP I can't just put out uh a
competitive contract where whereas for um you know, an attorney, an architect, someone of that nature. Um we can just issue an RFP directly. You don't have to advertise with something someone or or uh a firm such as someone that does insurance, whether it's health, whether
it's prescription or or PNC, property and casualty, as the law dictates that it's an um an extraordinary unspecifiable service. The method of procurement is a competitive contract which means I get authorization from the board or if you're a municipality you get authorization from the DCA to use
the procurement method. It has to be advertised for 20 days versus an RF a regular RFP doesn't have uh a set time frame. Um and then you know you you go through a process uh of evaluating you know all the respondents and then determine which one is the most
advantageous to the board uh in order to award the contract. So I mean that's if you if you look up the those um statutes it states you know you how you know insurance is classified in the law. I
mean it does it to me it sounds you a little convoluted as well but >> I'm not an attorney. >> No I understand that's why I'm asking because I I understand what you're saying is listed in a law but if you just definitionally look at those two words and put them together it doesn't
make any sense at all. I'm with you. We take a ride to Trenton together. Me and you all drive. I agree. >> If you're in agreement, then how do we vote on this? Like I'm I'm not trying to make a mountain out of a mohill, but how do you vote on something that's contrary, >> right? Um yeah, I mean, listen, it's
challenging and I I try to explain it to the best of my uh ability, right? Because of uh you know, what the statute says. Um, you know, whether you vote yes or no, I mean, that's, you know, that that's up to each individual board member. What I'm trying to only thing I
can do is try and explain it to the best of my knowledge as a QPA, right? That insurance brokers under the law under the statute are are classified as this EU extraordinary unspecifiable service. They're not so much, you know, where
they're uh a regular professional service like a licensed attorney by the DCA, you know, who's recognized under the DCA and but yet they're not qualified like a a contractor where they'd be deemed lowest bid. They're in this in between category. And the method that you utilize to procure some, you
know, a firm for these types of service is the competitive contract format. That's the best I could explain it to you in terms of you to, you know, um, you know, make it a, you know, a judgment whether it's a yes, a no, or an abstain. That That's the best. >> No, no, no. I understand. I I just don't
see, you know, because of that word. I don't see how I could even vote on this. >> I get it. I understand. >> Okay. >> I mean, maybe unless do you have something as a council? I mean, to add in regards to procurement and competitive contracting. I mean, I think
I summed it up pretty pretty well. Yes. And typically with these statutes, there's a definition section as well where that would be further outlined. >> Okay. Thank you. Any other board member comments for resolution only?
>> Okay. Do I have a motion to approve personal report? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Roll call. Mr. D. >> Uh, yeah. >> Mr. Azerello. Yes, >> Mr. Ero. >> Yes,
>> Mr. Lugo. >> Yes, >> Miss Patel. >> Yes, >> Miss White. >> Yes, >> Mr. Sheay. >> Yes, >> Miss Pang. >> Yes, >> President Patel. >> Yes. >> Motion carries.
>> Okay. Do I have a motion to approve administration, curriculum, instruction, and pupil service, pupil special services? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Roll call. Mr. >> Mr. Azerella. >> Yes. >> Mr. Erico. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Lugo. >> Yes. >> Miss Patel. >> Yes. >> Miss White. >> Yes. >> Mr. She. >> Yes. >> Miss Ping. >> Yes. >> President Patel. >> Yes. >> Motion carries.
>> Okay. Do I have a motion to approve finance? >> Motion. Second call. >> Can I make a comment or we have to wait? >> I mean, we have a motion on the table though now. I think you have to vote on it. You have a motion in a second.
>> Oh, okay. Sorry, >> Mr. Azerella. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ero, >> yes. >> Mr. Lugo. >> Yes. With the exception of D procurement. That's a no. >> Okay. No on D
procurement. Noted. Uh, Miss Patel, >> yes. >> Miss White, >> yes. With the exception of D. >> Okay. No. On D under procurement. >> Yes. Okay.
>> All right. Mr. She, >> yes. >> Miss Pang, >> yes. >> President Patel, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Cool. >> Can I make a um to Dr. Alderelli and uh
would we be able to uh table the calendar to take another look at it um based on the comments that we had from the public? >> Yeah, I would have to make a motion, right? >> I mean calendar can be updated any time through mid year, right? So we can
always make a change in the middle of the year. >> Yeah, we can always make >> Yeah, I believe the calendar was approved but but much like u and I actually had a side conversation with with Mr. Patel in relationship to that. It's definitely it can definitely be modified as we've done in the past with board of education.
>> Yeah, we have found it that modified I think one year we modified three times. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So ne next ones are committee reports. So I'm going to go with the finance committee report. Uh the finance committee met in March in March 24,
2026. Uh in attendance were Vishal Patel, Shannon Pang, Ronak Patel, Ralph Faro and then the member of the school district administration. Uh committee basically discussed uh preliminary budget for the coming year and good portion of the conversation was center
around the projected projected deduction in estate aid and what that might mean for the district program taxpayer impact and the goals we care for the most. The committee appreciated the open discussion and remain committed to finding a thoughtful thoughtful solution
that continue to put students first. Thank you. That was the end of the meeting. >> Do we have somebody who can uh give the community support for special education? >> That would be me. >> We have Yeah. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> Dr. Tui asked me to present. All right.
Uh the chairman, Mr. Ronic Patel, members were Mr. Lugo, Miss White, and Mr. Azerelloo. And attendees were Dr. Tui and Miss Hines. Uh, the special education committee met on Thursday, March 5th, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. in the caucus room. The meeting was led by
committee chair Mr. Ronic. Committee members in attendance were Mr. Lugo, Mrs. Virginia White, and Mr. Russell Azerella. District staff included Dr. Tui and Allison Hines. Dr. Tui and Miss Hines provided an update on the district's CEIS funding. CEIS stands for
coordinated early intervening services. allows students allows school districts to use a portion of the IDA funding to provide early academics to support who may be at risk for learning challenges but who are not currently receiving special education services. The district
is using CEIS funds to support the Orton Gillingham certification program for teachers. At this time, all 20 school buildings have at least one staff member trained in the Orton reading approach. These staff members provide targeted reading instruction and work with
students who need additional support. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Erico. Uh, next is public comments for open discussion. Any other any topic? >> Yes. Yeah. missed that
Beth Taly. Um I just want to give a shout out to some of the staff from um James Madison Primary. two weeks ago at the time of dismissal. Unfortunately, there was a fire at a residence right across from our complex
and one of our teachers uh Normma Jean ran over to knock on the door and to bring some of the residents out. Our principal did a fabulous job, Mr. Syler. shout out to him getting in touch with um 911, keeping the kids calm and um
navigating everything that was going on as fire trucks and so forth, emergency vehicles were coming at the same exact time we were loading buses and dismissing kids. I want to give a shout out to them because they did a fabulous job.
>> Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, Miss Conway, >> Elizabeth Conway, 20 Netherwood Circle. Um, I had two fun things this month I wanted to share. Uh I als I got to enjoy doing read read across America at Melo
Park School and it's just so exciting to sit with the children and the I was in a fifth grade class uh two fifth grade classes this year and the conversation that took place uh after the books were
read was amazing and I went home with the biggest smile on my face. So, I thank Menlo Park Elementary School for remembering to keep it uh inviting me to be part of it. Uh the second thing was
uh I got to enjoy Chicago at Edison High School with Miss White and we ooed and aed the entire time. They are such a professional group. They may not be paid in money, but in the accolades that they
get for such a fabulous performance is amazing. Uh I'm sorry I missed Guys and Dolls, but uh I made sure I got to see uh Chicago. And the third thing is I'm looking at the calendar, and I know you're questioning days for this and
days for that, but I looked down at your um calendar to see what the stars represented. And if you look down, it says there's board of education meetings. So you I see one, two, three, four board of education meetings in the
entire school year next year. So I I thought that was interesting. I know you're um getting very uh lax uh having a caucus meeting and an action meeting lately combining the two which
really puts uh me at a disadvantage and I'm sure the public in general not being able to really look at what's going on and being able to uh question uh more um
>> specifically as to different items that we don't get to see. Um I was able to uh spend the time looking at the policies to see you know what was being uh changed or revised or um eliminated. So
uh I thank you for that. But I would question that in the next school year that you do have more than four board of education meetings in the tie in the entire school year and go back to the practice of having uh a caucus meeting
and an action meeting because I felt when I was on the board that I did not get to really quench what was going on that month when it was a combined meeting. So, not only does the public get to lack information, I think the
board members um should be lacking also and you get yes, you get to read and you get the information, but the conversation that goes back and the question and answering I think is more limited when you just have the one meeting. So, more than four meetings and
kudos to Menllo Park School and Edison High. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, >> Anthony Maro from Edison. I'm here to speak about uh a document I emailed to you back in early February called the
Parental Bill of Rights. Before I do, I want to just say how utterly amazed I was tonight listening to the programs and the students. I was amazed. I that was ooze and o's as far as I was
concerned. So hats off to you and to all who who uh who presented tonight. All right, back to the parental bill of rights. Um it's an excellent piece of work. It's the gold standard. It is
it it really needs to be adopted. Um, I want to speak about a US Supreme Court decision that came down in March 2nd of this year, Mirabelli vers.
It's a US Supreme Court decision based on a California case that is about a policy very similar to the one you guys abolished. Well done. back in May of last year. Policy 5756
deals with parental rights and transgender agenda. The case because this is important because it's our US Supreme Court and so we need to be mindful of what they say
because it's it's it's binding on us. The case involved that particular type of matter were transgender agenda and parental rights. And regarding parental rights, the Supreme Court said this, and this is a quote. I'm reading it right from the
decision I have in my hand. The state argues that its policies advance a compelling interest in student safety and and privacy. But those policies cut out the primary protectors of children's best interest,
their parents. Parents are the primary protector of children's best interests. Further on in this case it says for these reasons parents who object to California policies like the 5756 they don't call it that there but it's
the same stuff who object to California policies on free exercise grounds religious reasons are likely to succeed on the parents but you don't have to have religious principles in order to be protected here because it goes on to say the same is
true for the subclass of parents who object to those policies on due process ground due process grounds. In other words, anyone and everyone needs is entitled to be protected as a parent. The right to be protected by these
presidents includes the right not to be shut out of participation in decisions regarding their children's mental health. Gender dysphoria is a condition that is that has an important bearing on a child's mental health. But when a child
exhibits symptoms of ch gender dysphoria at school, California policies conceal that information from parents and facilitate a degree of gender transitioning during school hours. These policies likely violate parents' rights
in directing the upbringing and education of their children. In plain terms, parents are the primary educator and protector of children. We need to adopt that in Edison. If you're saying to yourself, we're already doing that, Mr.
Mara. If it's already being done, then why was it such a fight to to abolish 5756? That didn't go away easily. Put it in writing. Tell the parents and students of Edison,
especially the parents, we are behind you. We are supporting you. There is no better way of doing so than adopt this policy. This policy, let me just read some of the things from this this policy I emailed to you.
Parents have the right to consent or to decline any physical or mental health services offered through school. Except in emergencies where immediate intervention is required for students safety, the school must obtain written parental written parental consent.
Before a student receives counseling, therapy or psychological services from school personnel or country or contracted providers that are in ex in excess of services identified in policy and those required
by law. I mean this is common sense stuff. Please consider adopting it seriously. We have days in our calendar. Mother's Day and Father's Day. Does anyone have any problem honoring mom and dad on
those days? We need to honor them not just on those days all 365 days of the year. We have a we God gave us a rule called the golden rule. Do unto others as you have them do unto you. Isn't that that's
a rule of common sense. I don't know how many on the board are parents. Don't you want to be honored? Of course you do. Do so for the the parents. uh in our district.
And lastly, I've mentioned it many times, it's it bears repeating. God himself gives us a command. Honor your father and your mother. It's in the Ten Commandments. Please consider adopting this policy. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else?
>> Okay. Matt Matt Revnack, ETA president. Last month I mentioned I'd follow up with the um fundraising for volleyball. So I just want to let you know we did raise $12,600 uh $4,200 to each of the three
charities. So I thank everyone who contributed and participated in that great event that ETA sponsors. Uh the other thing I want to comment, somebody made a comment before about ReadAcross America. Um, one of the highlights of my year is being able to, you know, being in the high school all the years I was
to go around to all the elementaryaries and read to the kids is just a wonderful thing. Um, it was great to see many of the board members out there reading, um, administrators, you know, retirees came back, members from the, you know, the city, etc. So,
again, great event. Um I do want to mention again ETA is sponsoring the ReadAcross America awards ceremony where we se select two winners from each grade level. Um that is on April 30th. So Dr. Verelli and you'll get the invitation
from us. Um hopefully you can join as you usually do. Um and it's a great night again ETA sponsored. Um the final thing as I do usually every month there are four major days in the month of April. April 1st is National Power
Professionals Day. So again, thank you to all the power professionals in the district um who work with our most needy students. It's a very demanding um job for very little pay. Um so thank you to all of our par professionals. April 4th
is school librarian day. Um I know you just put in a policy for library and books and all. So it's great to see that. And I'm sure they're happy to celebrate their day on April 4th. April 22nd is school secretaries day. You know, it's funny because we always talk
about teachers and all that, but our support staff is what makes our buildings run. One of the things I was told in college, if you get to know three sets of people, you'll have a great career. Know your custodians, know your secretaries, and know your security guards. If you don't know your principles, probably not a bad thing,
but if you know those three, you'll have a great career. secretaries, they know everything. You can get anything you need if you see and have a good relationship with your secretaries. So again, thank you to our school secretaries on April 22nd. And finally, which is the day of the next uh open
public meeting is April 28th, our school bus drivers day, even though I don't represent them. As Mr. Romano has brought up, I did drive a bus in the summer for summer camps for years. Um thank you for transporting our children safely to and from school. And even
though I'm not your president, I still appreciate the job that you guys doing in the safety of our students. Every the only other thing I do want to mention is coming up. Happy Passover to those that are celebrating and also happy Easter to those that celebrate
Easter. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? please. Uh, Sergulinsuri, uh, Edison, New Jersey. Uh, this Friday, um, the school calendar, uh, maintained our a holiday,
eidal fither, um, which was the celebration of the end of Ramadan. fundamentally what what that meant for our community was a a day for community, a day for family, and a day for food, as you can imagine, for 30 days of fasting.
Um on Friday we had specifically four large uh congregations uh in two locations close to around 6,000 people that showed up friends
fathers mothers and of course with your guys' help students as well we already had discussed and Mr. Dr. Credelli, I appreciate the uh I apologize for disruption, but I appreciate being heard out um about us
being able to organize our the members of our community to at least engage with the board of education here today. Um you know, we we got organized under our our banner of Mecca, Muslims of Edison Civil Alliance, um and essentially were able to kind of reorganize our community
to uh to talk to you guys. I wanted to come here and personally thank Mrs. White to having our conversation with us. Miss Patel who was able to, you know, who helped us with this, Mr. Azerelloo, Mr. Shei, um, Mr. Patel, uh, sorry, Miss Pang, Mr. Erico,
and Mr. Urugo. I understand that today's conversations have been rather difficult. U, but I wanted to at least make sure you highlight the fact that each of each and every one of you have been able to help us um, as a community grow. In the future, there's probably going to
be tougher conversations to be had, but at least we wanted to highlight and appreciate the things that you guys have done for us today. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else, please?
>> Uh, Tahashik, Edison, New Jersey. I wasn't actually going to speak. I was just actually just got a text message because I was in the frame of the camera from the two presidents from the Muslim student associations at the high school, JP Stevenson and Edison High School. And I thought I'd put them on the limelight
for a quick second. I think just last week right before uh we had that break for Eid, Edison High School hosted aar party where they hosted around 140 people and they had tickets priced at $5 per person. Uh, with that being said, I
just wanted to highlight the MSA at Edison High School being an alumni alumni and president. It's great to see them host an IFAR and they also asked that in the future they'd love to have you guys there. They wanted to invite you and on that action item actually specifically JP Stevens their
counterpart is hosting an Eid party. So, it's going to be an Eid celebration and they will send obviously a formal email to you guys. Food is obviously free. Uh, the event is obviously free. Um, but we would love to have you guys there as, you know, board of education from the top down. And just to highlight, these
students, they're not getting paid for these positions. They actually fund raise within the community. Uh, just to highlight real quick, catering cost them around $6,000 uh for all the food, for all the logistics, for all the events and organization. They fund raise these from grassroots fundraising, from community members, from members who just
wanted to see an FTAR party happen. So, to get that all the way down to $5 and break even, it's amazing uh feature of our students. So to highlight them, uh I wanted to highlight the presidents and the overall board and the general body of JP Stevens and Edison High School MSA
board. And actually where you guys are sitting is where they pray at Edison High School. So that's a cool fact. Uh thank you again and we hope to see you at the FRA or the Eid party at JP Stevens. I think they will email all of you guys. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else?
Okay, I need I see none. Motion to close public comments. >> Motion to close. >> Second. >> All in favor? Hi. >> Hi. >> Board member comments >> for anything. >> Here I'll I'll say something. This is you know this has been a really
>> tough meeting and thank you so much for you know for coming here and saying what you said. It was really really nice to hear. Um I also just wanted to mention uh JP and Edison High School. I did go
to the place with Mr. Rosarelloo, Judy Cox, and Elizabeth Conway. And I'll tell you, the talent is incredible. You know, do try and support them when they do these things. I mean, it's well worth it. You know, just go and you I'm sure
you'll enjoy the experience. And lastly, um the budget. when we have our budget meetings that are going to be coming up, please come out and and listen and see what you can do, you know, off see what you can offer.
Everybody always wants ideas, you know, so uh try and support this, you know, we need the budget. We, you know, we have to move forward. You know, nobody wants our taxes to rise. You know, I for one
do not. But, you know, we do need to protect our district and we need to support our schools and our children. And we also need to support our superintendent
and our business administrator who are working really, really hard to make good things happen. But we can't do that all by ourselves. We need a lot of support, you know, so please help. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else?
>> Yes, Mr. President. Y >> um I did attend uh a few ReadAcross Americas. Uh I'd like to thank the staffs at Martin Luther King School, Washington, Lincoln, and Ben Franklin. Um it was enjoyable to uh go and read
the classes. Um, close to my heart was Ben Franklin, which is where my boys went. And, uh, actually read to the kindergarten class from Mrs. Jones, who was my oldest son's kindergarten teacher. So, that was, uh, she didn't couldn't believe he was going to be 36
years old. So, um, that was 31 years ago that she taught him. So, uh, it was a pleasure being there. Um, also, uh, thank you to the gentleman, uh, that celebrated Eid. Look forward to that invitation. and uh I'll respond when I
get it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Board President. >> Yeah, please. >> Um by the way, thank you for the invitation as well. Appreciate it. And uh and I I also want to say about uh
would like to thank all the uh teachers and faculty and principles that uh hosted uh ReadAcross America. I was uh very happy and very surprised how how much I would enjoy reading to the kids to the students. I haven't read it to
the students in a long time. My sons have been out of school for quite a while, but it's uh like Miss M. Conway said, it's not only re it's very rewarding to the readers, but also to the students as well. Uh I have several
from Washington School. I read I read at six schools. I wish I could have did more, but thank you so much for being our guest reader for this year. I enjoyed having a little chat about who and what you are. And of course, I also enjoyed the book you read, which I think
was an interesting moral of never giving up and be strong, like helping others, which is uh what's going on today. That's pretty pretty potent. If you had never been our guest reader, I would not know what being a strong person is and
not know about who you are. I appreciate it sincerely and from Miss Spear's class. So it very rewarding to all the readers and uh if you ever consider for next year if you someone approaches you and should ask you to uh participate
it's an honor and a privilege. So so that's one thing. The other thing I like to uh copy from Miss colleague Miss White and uh Miss Conway. The plays at JP Stevens were terrific and Edison High
both plays they were star-studded performances compl compliments to all that were involved. The students were very talented. Uh the music, the play, it was very uh surprising. I really I would have went back another night but I
didn't have the time. But they were very very uh very enjoyable. And next year I would encourage anybody out there to to find out when the high school plays are and and make sure you attend. Uh and last last but not least, it's befitting
that tonight is a a count a board meeting. Uh today we lost a a a board employee, a Edison Township Board of Education employee. His name is James R. Higgins. Uh he was a great guy. Uh
loving husband, father, son, uh fa fa uh family member and he had many friends and fellow employees, you know, co-workers. Uh I would just ask that regardless of your faith tonight when
you go to bed, you say a prayer, you keep James R. Higgins in your prayers and his family and his friends for strength and comfort during this very difficult time. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Mr. President. >> Yeah, please.
>> Um yeah, I I first I want to thank everybody who presented tonight for you know all the programs that uh ESL program, the STEM academy, the biomed academy. Um they're just fantastic. Uh I think our students benefit a lot from
these programs and uh just a side note these pro all these programs are launched uh in the past couple of years without a tax increase to taxpayers. Um and also want to address since Mr.
Depascal mentioned my name so I want to address that um uh he said that our tax has always been increasing for the last few years. I'm not sure where he get that because if you check our budget every year for the last five years
our tax levy has always been maintained the same $235 million. Um of course our budget has been increasing but um I'm not sure he knows the difference between the budget and the tax levy which is tax
collected from our taxpayer to for for school which is not has not changed for the last five years. the numbers don't lie. Um may the yeah the property tax bill might increase but the property tax also include township tax and the school
tax where school tax part has not increase for the last five years. I mean you can check any our previous budget uh numbers. Also there are some members u here tonight said we we should have increased tax
um for the last five years. uh some of them actually voted for zero tax increase when they're on the board when they were on this board. Uh but now they're saying we should have increased the tax. Uh but mind you that if we have increased tax even 2% for the last five
years accumulated that will be over 12.6% 6% today for the six years and uh the tonight's budget presentation we're not increasing that much right that's more than we we have
and you know those are the money that taxpayers have to pay over the last five years. If you ask any taxpayer if would they rather pay the few thousand dollars for the last five years and still get to
continue pay more or do they want to keep that money in their budget in in their pocket for the last five years? I think the answer is obvious. So that's all I have to say. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? M she please. >> Yeah. I just want to uh you know say I
was so happy to uh see Charlie Ross over here. He he left. Um, welcome back. Uh, really happy to see him, you know, back at work. Uh, the other thing I want to mention is, uh, last month we started
the student ambassador program which we picked, you know, two or three kids from each grade from 8th to to 12th grade. Um, these are the students who will be uh the ambassadors. Uh, they will be
talking with their peers. uh in a school uh to get their input as to what are the thing that's uh going on uh what are the improvements uh they're they're looking um you know for the board to help them. So we're going to have a first reporting
uh this Thursday um they will be you know uh awarded with pizza and and some all the goodies stuff and they're going to come here and present to uh the uh the committee as to what their findings are. So we're looking forward uh to
that. Um read across America. I uh you know went to JMI and had really had fun. Um the uh the plays guy guys and and dolls. Um Miss Laro, Jeannie White and Judy we sat together and really really
enjoyed it. Uh unfortunately I couldn't come to uh you know Edison High School because I was in Germany. So uh you know I I heard it was a it was a great uh performance uh as well. Um just that you know just to add what Mrs.
Japan has said uh some of the people who came over here um you know they were board members they voted 0% tax increase for the past years they were on a board and they ran on a 0% tax increase in the
past couple years and now they're coming out and say hey you know you guys made a decision you were part of it as well so you know everyone on this board except Ross Everyone voted at least once to have a
0% tax increase budget. At least once. So this is a fact. Um you know um I I I don't know want to say anymore. And I just want to end the uh my comment
by saying that uh you know uh the staff and and the students enjoy the uh the spring break and hope the weather gets a little bit warmer and um you know take a break. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Cool. Well, I I'm going to say thank you Mr. and sorry
for waiting few hours to appreciate and recognize our effort for Eid and and as you say it was a it was a great meeting with the combination of some great conversations and difficult conversations and I want all of you to know that I have always made decisions and always will make decisions based on
my principles and values and I will never compromise that for anybody any situation or any you know any people. I I believe in respectful and transparent communication. Uh and I will always do that even though some people choose not to do that with me because it represents
them, not it represent me, right? And I I welcome everybody to ask as many questions as as they have. Send an email to all of us if you choose to. But I kindly ask them to be respectful when they ask questions. Thank you. >> Motion to close the meeting.
>> Second. >> All in favor? Hi >> thank Thank you.