One nation under God indivisible with liberty liberty and justice for all. Roll call please. Yes. Mr. She here. Mr. Vichel Patel here. Miss Ping.
Miss White here. Mr. Mr. Romano here. Miss Anja Patel. Mr. Lugo here. Mr. Ronac Patel. I'll be late.
Mr. Ero here. You have a quorum. Opening statement. Yes. In accordance with the open public meetings act public law 19785 or 78 rather c231 sunshine law the 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 board of education administrative offices. Copies of this notice were sent to the Home News Tribune and a Star Ledger. Okay, thank you very much. Today we are in the beautiful TJ the brand new gym.
So uh this is home for the uh the Jaguars. So, let's welcome the principal of the uh the TJ Middle School, Mrs. Emden. Good evening, Dr. Alurelli, members of the Edison Board of Education, students, parents, and community members. I'm Mrs. Emden, the
proud principal of Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and it's a pleasure to welcome you this evening, and welcome to our beautiful new auxiliary gym. We're so excited to be hosting tonight's Edison Board of Education meeting in this incredible space that reflects our school's growth and the strength of our community. We're beginning tonight with
a performance that highlights the talent, dedication, and create creativity of some of our finest student musicians under the ex expert direction of Mr. Lopez, who leads a vibrant band program of over 150 students at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. The jazz band
made up of 18 select members has been working hard to master the unique sound and style of this powerful American art form. Through hours of practice and collaboration, these students have developed not only their musical skills, but their confidence, teamwork, and appreciation for the expressive language
of jazz. Please join me in welcoming Mr. Lopez and the talented Thomas Jefferson Middle School jazz band. for you tonight. First Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. All
right. Congratulations. Like most apparent Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Okay. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Okay. Presentation. Thank you. What an incredible way to begin our evening. Let's give them another round of applause. In addition to celebrating the arts, we're also proud to recognize our students commitment to science, innovation, and sustainability through our second annual green fair held
earlier this month. On April 2nd, we had 40 students showcase original research projects and hands-on exhibits addressing important environment environmental topics such as clean energy, conservation, and recycling to mention a few. Their work was a powerful reminder of the creativity and critical
thinking skills of our students when it comes to solving real world challenges. Tonight, we're thrilled to spotlight our top four winners for this year's Green Fair. Students whose projects stood out for their innovation, impact, and presentation. These four students are excited to share their research with you
this evening. Please help me in welcoming our first student leader, Nurav Batnagar. Please come to the podium. Good evening Dr. Alderelli, members of the board of education, school administrators, teachers, family, and the beloved Edison community. My name is
Ara Butnoger and I'm a proud sixth grader at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my research project which I presented at our school's second annual green fair. The title of my project is the tech industry and it's roing climate change. As someone who
loves computers and innovation, I was really curious to explore this question. How does the tech industry affect places like New York City and Silicon Valley? The tech industry includes everything from electricity and software to hardware and digital devices. Basically,
all the things we use every day like phones, laptops, cloud services, and data centers. These technologies help us stay connected, learn new things, and make our life easier. But behind the scenes, there's a big problem. Pollution, energy overuse, and tons of
digital waste. this that's why I wanted to better understand how this fast growing industry is impacting the planet and what we can do about it. Let me share a little background. Even though technology has started as far back as a steam engine era, it has always come
with environmental challenges. Since 2014, the United States has increased its energy consumption five-fold. And tech is a major part of that increase. huge data centers, basically massive buildings that store and project pro process internet information, use
enormous amounts of energy every single day and use enor enormous amount of energy every single day. These data centers are running 24/7 and generate heat which make climate issues worse in cities like New York City and Silicon Valley. Another growing concern is
e-waste or electronic waste. In 2024, the world produced over 62 million metric tons of it. And that number is expected to reach 82 million metric tons by 2030. Many of these devices contain
precious materials like gold and copper which are wasted when we throw old devices away instead of recycling and reusing them. Big tech companies are also part of the issue. For example, Amazon emitted over 15 million metric tons of carbon emissions in a single
year. These emissions contribute to poor air quality, hotter cities, urban heat islands, and an increase in natural disasters like floods and wildfires. So, what does this all mean? In conclusion, the tech industry's carbon footprint, from cloud computing to device
manufacturing, is making it harder to fight climate change, especially in urban and tech heavy areas. But here's the interesting part. The tech industry is also part of the solution. In conclu, um smart technologies like AI based traffic
management and smart power grids can help cities use energy more efficiently and reduce emissions. So while the tech world has a big responsibility in creating the problem, it also has powerful tools to help fix it. Here's a few action steps that I believe can make a difference. Switch data centers to
renewable energy. Data companies should continue to explore u powering their data centers with solar, wind or other renewable sources to reduce emissions. Reduce parts from e-waste. Instead of throwing away old electronics, we can salvage and reuse parts to build new
devices, which saves resources and energy. Cut down on screen time. Believe it or not, even reducing our daily screen time can help. Using less data lightens the load on servers and saves electricity. In the end, it's about being mindful tech users, people who
love innovation, but also care about the planet. Thank you again for this opportunity to share my research. I hope my project inspires other people to think about how we can build a cleaner, greener future, one click at a time. I would I would also like to thank
some of my classmates for their valuable feedback on my green fair project. Pages and tr Tajis and Sh Goku, can you please stand up? Once again, thank you for thank you for allowing me to share my project to the board of education. It is a very pre it
is a very prestige moment to share my project to such a high class of people. Thank you again. Our second student leader that I'd like to call to the podium is Namisha Mattel. Good evening everyone and my name is Nimisha and I'm a proud sixth
grader at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. Tonight, I'm honored to share my research from our school's green fair, where students like me had the opportunity to investigate real world environmental issues and explore ways to make a difference. The title of my
project is Stitched with Consequence: Cotton's Dark Thread. My research focuses on a topic that affects all of us, what we wear. More specifically, how the fashion industry's use of cotton is negatively impacting our environment and
climate. My research question was how does increased cotton production harm the environment and climate and what can we do to reduce that harm? Let me give you a little background. Over the past 20 years, the world has seen a rapid
increase in textile and clothing production. This is mostly because of fast fashion where trends change quickly and clothes are made cheaply to keep up. While this may sound fun for shoppers, it has made the fashion industry one of the most polluting industries in the
world. Cotton is the most commonly used natural fiber and the United The United States is the third largest producer, accounting for over 30% of global cotton exports. But the truth is cotton comes with a
cost. To grow cotton, farmers use large amounts of water, fertilizers, and pesticides. These pesticides often harm wildlife, contaminate soil and water, and sometimes even end up in our food. Growing just one cotton t-shirt can take
up to 2,700 L of water, and that's enough for one person to drink for 2 and 1/2 years. Cotton farming also releases greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change. On top of that, the cotton used in fast fashion often ends
up in landfills. In the United States alone, we generate over 11 million tons of textile wage each year. And about 10% of microplastics in the ocean come from textiles polluting our marine ecosystems. So what can we do about it?
In my conclusion, I learned that making fashion more sustainable means looking at every stage from growing the cotton to how it's dyed, transported, and eventually thrown away. But the good news is we have the power to make better
choices. Here are some action steps that we can all take. Raise awareness about how cotton production affects the environment. Support brands that use organic cotton or other eco-friendly materials like hemp and Jew. Choose clothes that are made using natural dyes
or no dyes at all. Reuse, recycle, and upcycle old clothes instead of throwing them away. And one of my favorite ideas, organize clothing swaps in schools and communities so that gently used clothes can find a new home. By making small changes, we can
create a big impact, not just in what we wear, but in how we care for our planet. Thank you for listening to my presentation and for supporting students like me as we explore the world through science and sustainability. Our last project was a joint effort with
two eighth graders, Lakshmi Kongjanti and Hang Fan Gi. Please come to the podium. Hi everyone, our names are Lri Gagansi and Hank Vanji and we are proud eighth graders at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to share our research projects, which we recently uh um um
presented at our school's annual green fair, an event that empowers students to investigate real world environmental issues and propose solutions for a more sustainable future. The title of our project is less waste, more impact, addressing social media's harmful effects. As young people growing up in a
digital world, we wanted to explore a topic that is deeply connected to our um everyday life, social media. While social media helps people connect, share ideas, and stay informed, it also has a hidden environmental cost that most users never even think about. Our research began with our one big
question. How's social media impacting the environment? And what can we do about it? Let's start with the basics. Every time you scroll through a post, like a video or send a message, your device connects to data centers. Giant buildings filled with service that store, process, and deliver on content.
These data centers require a massive amount of electricity and unfortunately are many many are still powered by fossil fuels. Even though a single action online like watching a video or sending a message releases only a tiny amount of carbon dioxide, it adds up when billions of people do it every day.
Also, according to the International Energy Agency, data centers emitted 330 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2020. That's the same as 14.4 million roundtrip flights between New York and Miami. And those numbers are still growing, but that's just the
beginning. Social social media also impacts the environment indirectly through trends. Think about all the vile makeup routines, fast fashion hauls, and food challenges you see online. These trends often encourage people to buy more, use more, and waste more. This
behavior is known as consumerism, and it's creating a massive environmental burden. When influencers promote products, companies rush to mass-produce them to keep up with demand. But once the trend dies out, leftover products are often thrown away, ending up in landfills, contributing to pollution and
wasting valuable resources. Packaging, shipping, and production also increase greenhouse gas emissions. So, what can we do to reduce this? Here are some action steps that we believe can make a real difference. One, transition to green data centers. Social media companies can power their data centers
with renewable energy like solar or wind. This would significantly reduce carbon emissions from digital platforms. Number two, promote sustainable consumer awareness. We can spread awareness about how viral trends contribute to overconumption, encourage people to shop mindfully, and support sustainable
brands. Number three, encourage time management features. Social media platform should provide users with tools to limit screen time, less time online means lower energy use, fewer impulsive purchases, and less wasteful behavior overall. In conclusion, social media is
a powerful tool, but with great power comes great responsibility. It's up to all of us from students to tech companies to think critically about how our digital habits affect the planet. We believe that with awareness, action, and innovation, we can use technology in a way that protects the earth for future
generations. Thank you for listening and thank you for supporting student voices environmental change. Thank you, Mrs. Damn for your presenting your students and uh thank you Mr. Lopez for uh for the uh you know the band. Uh I I was fortunate to talk
to these uh young students over there. They're sixth graders. Yeah. Both of the sixth graders. Yeah. So uh you know great job and uh the two eighth grade I didn't get a chance to speak to you guys. Really interesting that topic. Maybe sometime we could we could talk.
All right. So uh you know thank you very much. uh uh and uh we just have a a short uh fivem minute break and we'll we'll get back to our normal program. Thank you very much. Okay, so we're going to resume our meeting. Um every year one of the most
important presentation is is budget. So uh in May we need to submit the budget to the state. And uh now let's uh hear uh from our superintendent and uh and our BA as to what our budget look like uh for the next school year. Dr. Already
take it away. Thank you very much uh board president Xi. Uh good evening ladies and gentlemen, members of the board of education. And I'm going to go a little off script because um you know as when I was sitting up uh at the uh at the dis just before looking at uh not only our students our sixth grade
students presenting and our eighth grade students presenting uh and the unbelievable sound and music coming out of that band. um that that's where I mean if that isn't proof of where our budget, our tax dollars are going into the hands of our students to advance
student achievement in all aspects both academically um socially, musically, and all those pieces. It it really gave me great pride uh to serve this district. So, uh I'm going to begin by welcoming everybody. My name is Dr. Edward Alderelli. I am the proud superintendent
here of Edison Township Public Schools. Uh I want to uh kick off our official budget presentation for uh the 2025 2026 school year with thanking the members of the board of education. Uh these
volunteers who are committed to not only donating their time but supporting initiatives that advance student achievement through program and infrastructure. And that's what tonight's presentation is going to be about. Um, and and I think that you've probably all heard me say that our our
school budget is a financial representation of what we value as a community, right? What we measure, what our mission is. And I know that it's our collective goal.
um that every dollar in this budget is invested in this Northstar statement right here and that's empowering learners to shape the world with purpose, knowledge and passion. Right. Each and every single day where the
rubber meets the road in our classrooms with our classroom teachers and our support staff with an unbelievable leadership team that supports all of our initi initiatives that gets those things to the finish line and a board that represents the community to make sure
that we are moving forward with all of the things that our community values um and deem important. Wrong way. This budget also reflects the, as Mr. Shei would put it, the buckets or the
pillars that we have of our strategic plan on where we are going to be placing funds from our budget, right? And infrastructure touches all of these and finance touches all of those components. wellness, both staff, students, and
community programs and pathways, the curricula and the programs that we roll out to ensure that our students meet what we determine to be the portrait of a graduate here in Edison Township, ones that are both socially and academically
prepared for a um a global u society that is uh ever changing. And in order to do that, we have to tell our story through engagement and get our community members involved to share all of our great successes through um everything
that we've done here in Edison Township. So, I I' I'd like to just begin with some accomplishments from from last year's budget. I'm going to take this opportunity to to talk about all the great things that we did from last year. And and we were committed number one, as you could see, um to expansion right
from our infrastructure pillar. We're sitting in an absolutely beautiful uh gymnasium right now. A a beautiful for foyer area that you walk in that brings in light. Um you know, we often say that when you walk into a school, you immediately know that it's a welcoming
place. Just from uh the entrance way, from the people that greet you, you can certainly say that about our schools here. Woodro Wilson as well, which is a brand new facility also. Um an unbelievable space that we've added on to there. Our Edison Success Academy,
which provided support for our students um with intensive needs, has had tremendous success this year, has proven to be a really great investment for the board from previous boards as well, too. Um that we've actually been able to build that program and have it be
financially self- sustaining. Uh, and as always, we're, you know, we had, uh, one of our, uh, board meetings over at the John Adams Middle School as well, too, that addresses, um, our overcrowding issues. Also, uh, Herbert Hoover also had a, a beautiful gym renovation as
well, and the much anticipated opening of the JP Stevens uh, auditorium uh, which is, uh, I mean, we've seen we've shown a couple glimpses on social media and I know board members have taken a couple tours of it. It is going to be
absolutely fantastic uh when it is uh at full completion. But we're not only me investing our money last year in infrastructure and facilities, we also placed a little bit of funding in making sure that our community is heard and
that is both staff and students. our student our um superintendent advisory council at both high schools right now provides me with an opportunity to really get firsthand what kids want to know. Um it's it's also great because I I very rarely get, you know, have the
opportunity to get in schools uh and talk with students. uh and our pulse community that's led by our communications committee uh that had a great time uh really kind of taking the pulse of what parents and community members value and how we can improve um
everything that we're doing here in Edison Township. Part of our engagement was a full-blown launch of a website redesign as an an AI bot as well as a a convenient app where
our parents, community, staff, students can all get timely and accurate information in a unformed manner. Um, most of you that have known prior to Miss Daniel getting here, uh, our website was probably, um, less to be
desired, especially when it came to actually finding factual or current information on it. I can assure you right now, we have done an unbelievable overhaul. Um, not only with the help of Miss Daniel, but our building level leadership, our principles, our vice principles, uh, our supervisors. um
they've really done a nice job in making sure that um that the information on our websites are easily accessible to our community. We are also pleased out of this budget um Woodro Wilson, you saw the uh gymnasium that was redone. As a
result of that gymnasium, we actually had to move uh our soccer field. So, we had a huge field renovation that we've done um to make it accessible for all of the sports that are played on it. Um, one of our curricular supports from this year too is our access to ondemand
tutoring. Um, we have SAT tutoring, we have live tutoring. Um, and it's really been a great program. Um, and we've, uh, done a great job in in promoting that and we always encourage the use of those components as well. And last but not least, from a
staffing perspective, last year we really put our money in in two buckets. One is interventionists, right? um to deal with our our at risk students, right? To make sure that those students that are on the edge of either um going to INRS or the potential the
classification get intense instructional um teaching during a both inclusive and pullout program. Uh I've just seen prelim preliminary data that both chief academic officers have provided me and we are meeting with success in
relationship to student growth and achievement on our benchmark mark tests. So I thank our teachers in that capacity as well as the leadership um that has made those possible. We also expanded both our guidance counselors as well as our clinicians uh for mental health uh
for students that have been you know listen there's a tremendous amount of stress associated with the demands of being a student especially in middle school and high school. We want to make sure that school is a wonderful learning environment that they can come to each and every single
day. which now transitions us to 2025 2026. And my colleague after this is going to go into the nuts and bolts behind of this. So I'm going to hit some of the highlights in relationship to what this budget is going to be representing. And the first thing is an
expanded curriculum, expanded access to programs, AP programs on the lefth hand side. We have human geography, we have cyber security, we have psychology, we are expanding our dual language program as well. We are expanding our intervention program um amongst our
elementary schools. We want to make sure that our children have opportunities and access uh to the very best programs that are offered and we are constantly iterating and making sure that uh any ideas uh that are good for kids come to
fruition. And I thank the team behind me that supports these pieces. You've noticed that we've launched for 2526 twommies in 2627. There will be many more to come, but our computer science academy as well as our biomed
academy are off and running not only through the vetting process um but also uh in programming and staffing for next year. I can't thank the leadership as well as the staff for their support in these endeavors. I know that I pushed them uh pretty hard to get this up and
running and quickly for the 26 27 school year and with the assistance of our board, our curriculum committee and our chief academic officers, I am confident that these are going to be two premier programs in the state of New Jersey as they relate to
CTE. We also talk about our infrastructure pieces uh on this agenda. We do have our John Marshall expansion project which will be coming out of the 2526 budget as well as Jame Matt James Madison intermediate expansion project
which we are hopeful to get to the finish line um uh for 2526 and looks like that'll be upcoming on an upcoming agenda as well too. but extremely excited. The work behind both of these projects is a combined effort between our board of education, our committee
work, um as well as building level and uh district level leadership. We've also got some really cool strategic initiatives. Also, uh we're going to have fitness courts at both high schools. These are not something that you see each and every single day. You may see them on college
campuses. This is twofold. This is going to assist um our physical education teachers at the high school and it's also going to be something uh that we can open up to the community. Uh we won a grant that is funding uh the majority of these fitness courts uh with the help
of Mr. Ross and uh Dr. Kim. Uh they are beautifully decorated with uh both JP Stevens and Edison High School swag and colors. Uh, also if you look on our lefth hand side, that is a video of a potential R2-D2 that is currently being
created um uh in in one of our labs right now. One of the teachers sent that to me the other day. I I had to highlight it in this budget presentation because it just goes to show how wonderful the initiatives and the innovation in both AI, coding, robotics
that are currently going on here in Edison Township. Um and uh we are we are going to place funding in this area in particular in next year's budget. And and last but not least, wellness. Uh and wellness comes in many forms. The the
reason why I chose this image is that you know, listen, you have a teacher here working with children um dealing with them each and every single day. But the the other reason why and wellness comes in many forms, right? comes in uh mental health, it comes in financial wellness, but it also comes in physical
wellness also. And we know that in any space to be physically well, it usually needs to be climate controlled. So I couldn't find a good picture of an air conditioner, but for things to come in 2526, we are looking to begin phases of
outfitting our schools with air conditioning. Um because we know that kids won't learn in environments uh that are not conducive to learning, right? Climate, lighting, uh engagement, high levels of instruction. Two other initiatives this
year as well, too. Um, and this this isn't part of our budget, but it will eventually be a supporting mechanism for our budget. And that is the Edison Township Education Foundation, whose initial launch and information session, the first of many to come, will be May
1st at 6:30, Miss Daniel, I believe 7:00, um, at John Adams Middle School. Uh, we currently have, uh, close to 80 participants right now. And again, this is just an information session where we are going to be explaining what the
tenants of a foundation are. Um the potential uh offices to be held, opportunities for volunteerism, and ways that this foundation will be supporting the initiatives of the school system. Uh it will be again the first of many to
come. So if you can't make May 1, we're going to have a couple series uh with the eventual launch uh in 2526. And the other piece is this is a budgetary item, right? We are always looking for ways to include um to increase uh the efficiency of our
communications and this year through a application called Parent Square, we're happy to report that we are going to be having a cohesive classroom to communications method uh similar to some of the ones that the teachers are
currently using right now um for uh preK through 12. So we are extremely excited to launch this. Miss Daniel and her team will be facilitating information sessions and professional development with our leadership team. Um but more importantly with the teachers who
provide the information on a day-to-day basis. And last but not least comes our staffing. Um these are some of the areas where we will be um placing our staffing needs. Computer science this year as you see in relationship to themies. Um, as
always, special education programs are determined upon enrollment. Uh, as well as intervention programs. Uh, we have, uh, we are expanding our business program uh, as well as funding to include, uh, applications for co-curriculars in the areas of
innovation and AI. In my closing slide and and before I turn it over to Mr. to I wanted to show you and hopefully I was able to capture how these four pillars engagement wellness portrait of a graduate programs
and pathways as well as all of the committees that each and every one of our board of education members sit on file in to the final piece of finance and facilities which touches all of them. Again, our budget is a financial
expression of what we value here in Edison Township, and I know and I am confident that next year's budget will provide great opportunities for our students here. Without any further hesitation, I will turn it over to my
colleague, Mr. To. Thank you very much, Dr. Alderelli. I think I say this every year. Um, it's really hard to follow Dr. A after he teases it off, so to speak. Uh, he's this that well of a speaker and, uh, I'm more the numbers guy. So, in any event,
uh, I'm going to take you through the revenue and appropriations for the FY26 budget. Okay, this is the, uh, local revenue for the, uh, upcoming budget year for FY26. The local school tax levy is going
to remain flat at $235 million. And this, if you look at it, has been the same for the last five years. Like, think about that for a second. Five years, right? I think I just bought a new dishwasher that doesn't have a warranty that long. Five years. That's
an amazing commitment by this board and previous boards to try to do the best for the kids with the most minimal impact to the taxpayer. So, it's a kudos to them, right? And that's a lot of hard work. These are volunteers. They put a lot of their own time in to work with district administration.
um Dr. Alderelli, myself, uh doc Mr. Cullibus, um and I' I'd like to thank them for all their hard work. So, really quickly, if you if you take a look at this, the local levy is going to be 235 million, which is the same as the previous five years. Our local fair
share should be about 305 million. So, we're well below our local fair share, which we're allowed to be by law, and I'll get into that. and our adequacy budget. That's a DOE formula and I'm not even going to try and explain that. We're going to hit the high level stuff.
That's what is uh that's what we're supposed to spend to provide a thorough and efficient education. All right. So, we have a total budget. Now, you just saw in the previous slide, we're supposed to spend 343. We're actually spending
378. 0% over five years. How are we doing it? How how is it happening? I'm gonna I'm gonna pose that question to anyone that wants a answer and I'll and I'll make a multiple choice in the in in the spirit of education. Is it one or I
should say a fiscally responsible budgeting, b saving through restricted reserves? C a handsome BA or or D all the above. C. Listen, I
heard a lot of C's, but actually it's D. All the above or or printing press long time ago. Everything's electronic now. But no, no, no. I'm going to show you this. So, it's it's it's no coincidence or I shouldn't say coincidence. It's not new news that we received a state aid cut
like many school districts throughout the state of New Jersey, right? And different sizes uh of cuts were across the board and that impacts every district. But thank God, you know, we've been doing things over the previous four years that have allowed us to absorb
this. So you'll see we lost 2.9 million in state aid. However, we've restricted and reserved $22 million in capital that we're able to use for our capital outlay and facilities needs. We've also acquired in the in the year the fiscal
year 2024 a $6.9 million fund balance that we're able to use in this year's budget as a source of revenue to close that gap. So really this is the the essence
of putting together a fiscally responsible budget in the best interest of students and taxpayers. Uh this is the revenue, the tax levy, state aid and other. This is everything alto together in the different categories. I'm not going to read them verbatim one because I'm getting older
and I can't even see them for here. But if you look at this and this will be posted online, you can see what categories increased and decreased. The the first one is the local sources. That's your your tax levy which is 235 and your miscellaneous revenue. And then you could see the other sources by the
percent change which had the most impact. you know, the state aid went down. Um, our grants, you might see that at 45% down, be that as it may, but don't forget, we don't have that CO any money or I should say it's Esser money anymore any longer. And we're only
budgeting our grants at 80% till we get our awards in July. That being said, you could see that the money we've saved year in and year out in terms of capital, we've increased our allocate or our appropriation by 120%. and we've increased our fund balance appropriation
into the operating bunch budget by almost 100%. So the things that we've done when we were receiving the additional state aid in previous years have allowed us to do something still that's great for students but also something that's good
for taxpayers. This is what the budget looks like kind of like how uh President Xi said and Dr. Alderelli by buckets, right? So, if you look at our budget, the first category is our our salaries and our supplemental supplemental wages.
That supplemental wages, anything from a coach's stipen to overtime to security, that's all in there. Benefits, you could see uh about $60 million right there out of 370. There's there's more than half. There's there's threequarters of your budget right there. and then our
transportation fees, our special education, and then at the bottom you have our instructional supplies, educational services, facilities, right? We're doing a lot of construction and renovations. That's right there and our grants. So ultimately, if you look at
the fiscal year 26 as compared to 25, even having a cut in state aid, we've still been able to increase the budget by doing things in a fiscal responsible way over the previous few years. And this is what a lot of you,
right, residents, that's what we care about, right? So this is the estimated tax impact on the average assessed home, right? So at the top in both categories, that's calendar year 24 against calendar year 25. The school levy stayed the same, right? It's been the same for the
last 5 years. The assessed valuations, you can see, have increased from 7.416 billion to 7.486, right? Our tax rate has dropped from 3.17 to
3.14, but the average assessed value on a home has increased by $1,500. Right? So, the value of your home is worth more and your rate is less. So, if you look at the average school tax levy on the
average assessed home, right, there should be about a $6 I know it's not a lot decline, right, over the next calendar year in your school levy taxes. This is a one, this is an amazing feat by the board because with everything
right now going up in price, I don't got to tell everyone here, groceries, so on and so forth. It's nice to have this stay relatively constant. Home values up, tax rates down. This is all been done by collaboration with the board and
administration to do what's best for students and what's best for residents. Thank you very much. You did great. Thank you, Dr. Already. Thank you uh Mr. Toth for the wonderful presentation. Now
uh yes so we going to open up for public hearing uh public comments for the budget only. Any questions from the public on the budget? Yes, Mrs. Cow. Elizabeth Elizabeth Conway, 20
Netherwood Circle. I'm still very concerned about the budget. I'm sorry. Um I know you can perform miracles. Uh but the idea of taking 22 uh million out of one line
item to fix the other item. Can you tell me from the 22 million how many millions were in there that you took the 22 million from and therefore we'll subtract the 22 million from there. How
much is still left in that line item? um looking at the budget and year after year you do a fabulous job and what's happening with the schools. I'm very proud to say that we're going in the
right direction. But I truly question um that line item because what happens next year? Um, so could you, um, answer that for me?
Basically, uh, I did see many things going on as far as expansion and, uh, newmies and everything else, but I fear that is there something going on that
we're losing? Um, and personally I was a special education teacher in this district. And the reason why I retired actually before I could have stayed a couple more years was I didn't really
like the direction of where the special ed department was going because the children need to have it's called an IEP individualized education program.
And I'm just afraid from the things I hear and it's not only in Edison. I think it's going on more places that the special ed students are not getting their correct
individualized educational program. And because of this, I can see that we may and I can't I don't know it for a fact, but I know we're losing out and our children are
losing out. Uh I'm thrilled at the other level that we're moving ahead to make our upper levels even higher levels. But I'm just afraid that the special
learners aren't truly getting what they should be getting. For instance, when I was a special ed teacher and I had a student, the parents had a choice between going into resource or going in
staying in ICR. As teachers, we felt the child should go into resource because of the fact that was what her needs would fulfill for her. Well, she wound up going into
resource and by fifth grade she was a different child. She had more self-worth because she could advance at her speed. And as an adult, I see her
now. And to this day, she thanks me and the other teacher that we had for doing the best for her. Another mother called me just a couple of weeks ago where I had her
daughter and she has now graduated from Rutgers with a BS and she's already gotten a double MS because that child was followed by an individually
educational program. And I'm just afraid that and I don't want to hear you can say it all you want and Dr. Tui if you're still in the room I don't want to hear it the children are being segregated. Well what group is not being segregated? The AP students are being
segregated because they're in a different group. The children going to music are segregated. They're in a different group. Now you're putting them in ICR and the other students that are don't have an
IEP know that they're being monitored and they're getting special attention. Do you know what you're doing? You might be thinking you're doing it correctly, but behind any special ed teacher and
they all agree both in this district and in other districts. So, um, getting back to are we truly spending the money in all the right places? And I'm still waiting for an answer for uh
what's left in that category. Thank you. Thank you. I can answer part of the question that I'll pass on to Dr. Already and Mr. Toast. Are we spending the right place? Absolutely. I don't know where did you get the the idea that that we're
ignoring the special needs students. We're not. Okay. So the the uh uh if you remember when we had the raw grant uh uh the two years ago the first building we did full air condition every
classroom is FDR. Okay. That show the commitment of this board to our special needs students. So I'm going to left the leave the other two questions to you two gentlemen. Take the uh the cap. Yeah sure first.
So when we're budgeting, when we're withdrawing from a capital reserve, right, that's not an an item. I shouldn't say that's not funding that lives as part of the budget in terms of a line item. It that that's what you think of as a light line item. All any
reserve sits on the balance sheet. So it's it's never appropriated at the time that we're going to use it. That's when the funding gets appropriated. And in in this case, that stuff has to align with your long-range facilities plan. And a lot of those types of items are for renovations and construction which are
one-time costs. So if that answers correct the balance of what the uh what's in the books uh what's left right so I don't have that number in front of me at this time but it's yeah you you can ask the question
when it comes. So Dr. you want to answer the any of the IEPs and stuff? Yeah, I think um to to piggyback on what Miss Conway had said, um I'll answer the the first part of that question. The latter part is probably we could be we could
talk about it all evening and and and so on and so forth. Um but this current budget uh rep represents no cut to special education programs. In fact, um it represents staffing in um additional self-contained as well as special education classes um one-to-one power
professionals as well too. Um I do hear you loud and clear though in relationship to the idea of ICR verse uh resource room. Uh I came from two districts, one one in Hal Township and one in Freehold Township that did have both and one who moved away from the
other piece in relationship to that. Uh I do think that at the end of the day um that our teachers and our child study team are acting in the best interest of kids. Do some kids need to be uh to have an alternate placement in certain type in certain settings? You're 100% right
on that. um case by case I would say um but but yes I understand what you're saying and um for the short time I think that uh the programs that we are currently providing are meeting the
needs of the students. With that being said, in the event that um we get a little bit more space in certain cases, you know, and opportunities present themselves, it could be the opportunity to look at alternate placements for students, right? We've done that with our Edison success academy, right? When
you talked about segregation and things along those lines or self-contained classes, too. So, um the first part of your question, I hope that answered it. The second part, we could probably be email pen pals and talk about those pieces over time. Thank you, Dr. Okay,
Brian. Brian, you want to talk? How are your hands raised? Good evening, everybody. First of all, I want to commend, you know, Mr. Toth and Dr. Alder Alderelli. I know it's difficult. You guys hear me now? Yeah, I can hear
us. All right, I got to go way up here. I can't see. I can't talk. I apologize. But uh I do have some major concerns here because the budget basically went up $12 million from last year and you got cut $3 million. We lost the prek funding. So
that program is obviously going to be slashed at some point. It's great that our third graders are going to fourth, but we're not going to have the same amount of spaces available. So that affects the budget. Um also capital. I know we're using a lot of capital. I know it's going to be
drained pretty much to nothing. Um, we know it. I know it. You know, I don't know why no one wants to say it, but that's the truth. So, my concern is my child's going to be in this school district going to these schools for at least the next nine years. So, I want my child to have the proper experiences
they need. I currently work in the school district. We all have we all have friends that work at c at districts. We all know they're cutting left and right. This week I I interviewed a teacher from East Brunswick, a teacher from South Brunswick for a position position in my building because they were rifted. Every
district's cutting, but we're going up. So my concern is eventually the well is going to run dry. I know I've had these conversations with you about the 0%. I know you had them with me. I know it's not popular
for certain people up there on the board, but the reality is we need to plan for the future. And having a 0% is going to directly affect us later. It's going to direct directly affect my own kids because when teachers get let go, like we let 87 employees go in Perth
Amway last year. When they start going here, classes skyrocket. First teachers we lost were the intervention teachers, the mental health specialists, everyone who wasn't attached to a classroom were the first to go. We lost security guards. We lost all of our techs. In
fact, one went to his district. Um, we lost tons of people. It's a reality that the money's running tight. And I know everyone's it's not very popular 0%. But the reality is I think this board really needs to consider about what's going to happen next year and the year after that
because I really care because my daughter's going to be in fourth grade next year, then fifth, then sixth, and seventh, eighth, and ninth. I got you guys are going to have to deal with me for the next nine years. So, I understand you guys are implementing programs. We're following the strategic plan. We're making all
these hires that all costs money. So, I don't get how the budget went up 12 million. How we lost three million in funding. The prek was a disaster. We lost that. That's going to be slashed. No one's talking about it, but that's
the reality. So, we're losing money and we're taking money from somewhere to fund it. When I looked at the other presentations, it was a nice comparable of 23 to 24. I was hoping I'm sorry. Yeah. 23 to 24 for the next year. I was hoping it was going to be the same format so I could go across the lines
and then see where money is actually being um distributed and changed. Presentation looked beautiful, don't get me wrong, great presentation, but it was very hard to follow. You can't see it. Couldn't hear it. Had stand up there and no one has copies of
it to even question things. But my main question is here literally and you we had these conversations. Do we want to consider 0%? I don't I don't think we're looking forward because next year, god forbid admin and teaching staff, it's going to
get tight and I don't know how anybody's not recognizing it. Espec Ronic, you got kids young, it's going to affect you directly as well. When you don't have that intervention teacher, when you don't have that co-curricular activity, when they can't pay for certain buses
and transportations or uniforms or that intervention or mental health teacher, all these stuff that we need in schools, I'm living it. I'm living it now. We changed, you guys know, I spoke to you about this. We changed our health care from private to p uh from private
to public to save 27 million. We still have to cut $3 million. Guess what? We're laying off some more. And if you're not directly attached to a classroom, I hate to say it, that's the first that they look at. So, I do have concern. So, my main
question is too, can this board consider looking at that 0% again? And number three, where is all this money shifting to make up all that money that's going to cost us and that we lost? Should I stand here and get a
question or am I going to sit down and be ignored like the last three meetings? You can sit down. You can sit down. All your questions have been answered. So, you can sit down and we'll have uh Mr. Toes answer your question. All right. I'll I'll prefer to stand.
Yeah. You want to answer this question about the where the money coming from? Yeah, sure. Mr. Rivera. Um, so yeah, we we've talked right in previous years. We've talked obviously this year. Um, if you look at the money that we that we have for capital, right? So, we've withdrawn I think last year was 10
million. We've we've doubled that, right? But we've doubled that uh money because we've been able to save it. I remember when I first got here um and I was used to sit on the desk. But the year prior to it was 20 million. Excuse me. No back and forth. No, no back and forth, please. You had your your
opportunity. Let him do it. Yeah. I think it was this year's 22, previous year was 10. So, um, like I was saying, I remember when I first got here, we would sit I would be sitting on the Dis didn't know much what was going on, but I would hear we're sitting on piles of cash. We're sitting on piles of cash.
Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry about that. Is that better? Okay. Could you hear me now? Verizon. All right. So we've been able to accumulate these savings, right? So in previous years after after in for instance in FY24
um we had a substantial amount of money that we were able to save, right? Through bidding, through fiscal responsibility, through um the times during uh the pandemic that were able to flow from year to year, right? So we were able to restrict some of that to
our capital reserve. Some of that also fell to our unassigned fund balance. Well, what's been like for instance in 24 the excess that comes out of 24 in excess of 2% that automatically has to go for tax relief in a subsequent budget year which
is 26. So that money is under spending that we've been able to generate. So a lot of it you use, you know, for onetime costs. In terms of capital, you're only using it for capital, right? things in your long range facilities plan, renovations, building additions, that's what that 22
million goes for. And we've been doing a lot with the capital, either reserve or outlay, year in and year out. A the great part about that is a lot of those are onetime costs. So, if you don't have the funding, you just don't do it. Um,
could this go on forever? No. It it it honestly can't. I don't think anyone sitting at this is naive enough to believe that. However, we are lucky that all that the the current board and the previous boards since I've been here, boards you've been a part of have done
things in a fiscally responsible manner that allowed us to deliver this budget. So, the two biggest things and if you go back and look at the presentation that and I got to thank her again, uh Miss Daniels is beautiful because if anyone's seen what I've done in PowerPoint, it's
horrible. Um there's a slide and it dictates it will show $2.9 million. That's our state aid. That's what's coming out of the budget. We didn't get it, right? 3% I think that roughs out to 3%. That's what they they took from us. And you can see 22 million in revenue, right? That's what we withdrew out of
our capital reserve. It actually sits in a separate bank account, right? And now it's it comes out goes into our our operating account and we're able to appropriate it as long as the budget's passed tonight, by the way. And the other component of it is the 16.9
million is undersspending generated in fiscal year 24. Will we always be able to generate that under spending? I mean, probably not. But you try to do the best you can year in and year out to do what's best for the taxpayer. And I think that this
budget represents that. Thanks. Thank you. Any other public comments? Yes, Beth. Beth Taly, 15 Midwood Avenue. I have a question for you. I'm not sure if you guys are aware in the background there's like a tweeting noise going on. Just
number one as an aside. Number two, in the past we've always had like budget hearings. I know we had the budget presentation tonight. Are the specifics like it used to be online so that like the public can look
at like line item by line item of what the budget is and where exactly online would it be if it is for people like who you know weren't here tonight or whatever or just to compare you know previous to current stuff like that is
it online on our website somewhere not just the presentation the more specifics of the budget I'm sorry y That was it. My apologies. I was getting so excited. The answer is yes. Okay. Do we have any
other other questions? Cool. It's on It's going to be on the website. And if you need another hard copy, you know, feel free or he'll send you a copy. Okay. So, any other public comments on
budget? See none. Rebuttal. Rebuttal. Okay. Oh, rebuttal. I'm sorry to rebuttal. It's just my answers my questions aren't answered. You know, I I I apologize, John. I don't want to give you a hard time. You know, I love you. Question was, what was left
with capital after here? You know, I'm pretty sure everyone knows it's zero, but I hear it coming out of your mouth. Number two, the other aspect to it is the same thing we did in our district. We're going to say you're not going on that trip. you're we're not we're not cleaning that up now. We're not purchasing this stuff now. So that's
like the fiscal savings. Like I get what you're saying. We're very fiscal. We did what we needed to do this year to do savings, but the reality is you just cut from somewhere else. Don't spend and then and you create that kitty. That's what we did. Like you know, and that's what every other district will do that's
having fiscal issues. So, the point I'm going to try not to make is that you guys didn't do a good job to to to fund the budget. I appreciate what you did. I'm not saying you did a bad job, but my point is where
is the money coming to fund this because there had to be some type of cuts of somewhere to order to fund this. You said, "Oh, we were fiscal, whatever." You know what I mean? We didn't do this, do that, do that. Well, what did you do? That's why I want That's why I want to know how we saved all that money because Good job. I'm not I'm not saying it was
a bad job, but now I want to know is okay, did the building did not get painted? Did floors not not get stripped? Did they not not get waxed? Did these books not get purchased? Did these kids not go on this field trip? You know what? There there had to be some money that was allocated to do
this. And that's where I don't I don't see and that's what the question I'm asking because the other aspect of is is there was cuts and you were frugal in spending to fund next year's budget. But guess what? The following year that
money is gone. You're either cutting or doing frugal spending again. And then at some point this 0% just blew up in everybody's face. So the one question I had again 0% is there any discussion about this? I'm
very worried about this because again my kids will be in the district for the next nine years. Any little thing helps even if it's a percent. I remember last year Jerry you and I and Bureau were talking outside Edison auditorium and you
suggested to Bureau to put it 1.5%. Like I honestly think is there I'm just questioning is there long-term planning because eventually the well's going to dry up and it's going to blow up in their faces. It might not worry about some of yours, but I'm worried because my kids are going to be in the school. My kid needs those resources. My kid
needs these teachers. My kid needs the nurse. And you know what? I don't know what my kid's going to need when he's in 10th grade, but I hope we still have it. So, where's this money coming from? Are we considering this 0%? And my final question to the
superintendent and business administrator, I'm throwing you on the spot here. I know you're going to hate it. What is your recommendations as educators and leaders of this district in regards to 0%. Thank you.
I think uh you know this is not a rebuttal where you basically reiterate what you asked. The question has already been answered and and you know I guess you just don't like the answer but it was already answered. Thank you very much. You want you want to add additional things you can you know yeah
because you already explained everything. So in my opinion excuse me no no back and forth. Okay. So yeah Mrs. Conway Elizabeth Conway 20 Netherwood Circle. I'm still going to rebuttal your
0%. In doing good business, you should understand that every year that you do not give any sort of increase, you're going to definitely need it and you never moved on.
So you stay at 2%, you get 2% more, but then the following year you can get 2% more of that additional 2%. We're staying at zero and utilizing all your
funds. Look at the number of classrooms you're adding. Marshall down the road. JMI down the road. very short road to JP Stevens. You're going to need more
teachers. You're going to need more staff. And right now in 2526, you may not need that. But 2627, you might. And with a 2% cap,
is that going to be enough to cover all those expenses that will be handled? I think it's foolish business to be political with the funds that are for
the children. Do I have children in school? No. But do I still care? Yes. I truly think you're being senseless, meaning dollars and cents, you know, penny wise and dollar foolish.
I think that's what's happening right now. And if all of you can look at me and say you don't know what you're talking about, then you need to look into it. Thank you. Any other public
comments? See none. Can I have a motion to approve the budget? Motion to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Okay. Roll call, please. Yes. Mr. Erico. Yes.
Mr. Ron Patel. Yes. Mr. Lugo. No. Mr. Romano. No. Miss White, I'm going to abstain. Mr. Vishel Patel, yes.
President G. Yes. Total total exception policy total accept. No policy. We'll deal with it. We'll deal with it. We'll deal with it. Not a problem. Yeah, we'll deal with it. All right.
So, we're just going to review this to make sure we have the vote. Yeah. make sure that the you know we follow the rules and we call it as right in line with our policy. Yep. Okay. So, uh let's move on. We have to look at the policy to see
what it is. It's a four to three. That's four to two, I'm sorry. And one abstension. So, so we're going to look at what the policy is and we'll we'll let everyone know the total of seven people. So let's move on. You know we we can
spend time debating it but but we have to you know conduct the business right? So we'll have alternative look into it. So uh uh let's move on. Um president uh comments. So this week, excuse me, this week is a teacher appreciation week and
also a nurse appreciation week. And I saw a lot of uh uh schools of PTO PTO and PTSO they're hosting these events for the staff and uh you know I just want to reiterate excuse me okay I just
want to reiterate that uh we appreciate all the staff members um you know working in our district and thank for their service to our district and our students. Why don't you look at it and then Let let
you look it up. Take your time. Yeah, take your time now. Yeah, you can move on. Yeah, let's let's move on. Yeah, you can look look it up when we are conducting our business. So, superintendent's report. Dr. Already, thank you so much. board president she hold one
second. All right. Good evening. Uh I want to echo uh miss my my comments will be brief tonight. I just want to echo uh board president she's uh sentiments in relationship to teacher appreciation and nurses week. Um I am proud to say that
we have the best teaching staff in the entire land. It's a privilege to serve this community uh and work alongside of this staff each and every single day. What a what an unbelievable group of dedicated professionals. Um I know I I speak on behalf of the board when I wish all of you a happy and healthy teacher
appreciation and nurses week in the upcoming month of May. Um and we enjoy a a really robust relationship with um not only our teachers but our teachers union as well. Um so we do thank you for that. Uh we are we're also going to be
celebrating um uh teacher of the year and support staff uh uh professionals of the year in May and the upcoming board meeting as well too. Um and speaking of upcoming board meetings, as I told the board previously, um we will be moving
the uh board meeting in May to Edison High School. Uh it looks like JP Stevens has a couple slight setbacks with some of the panels that were getting installed there. Um so it looks like that meeting is going to be pushed back to June. Uh we are confident that it
will be done by June 12th uh and ready to rock and roll for the uh board of education meeting uh at the end of June which is a great one that student appreciation also. So what a great way to uh open up the JP Stevens uh brand new auditorium. Uh speaking of
engagement, as we talked about in one of our previous pillars here, Thursday, May 1st, we will um host the first of a series of information sessions uh for the uh Edison uh education foundation. We invite all that are able to attend to come on uh Thursday night uh over at
JAMS. Uh it will not be a long meeting, but will definitely be an informative one as we talked about earlier. uh what are the parameters of a foundation, opportunities for volunteerism, as well as some of the things that they're able to support. Along with engagement too, uh the community as well as our students
and our staff can be on the lookout for uh our annual survey to kind of take the pulse as to, you know, how we are doing as not only a leadership team, but um from a school perspective, uh it's more of a gauge on how I'm doing, right? It's
great feedback for me on areas that I can focus uh not only my efforts uh but also uh take actionable steps to make uh great improvements. So the more people that participate the better. Uh and please be brutally honest. Um I pride
myself on uh engaging in all conversations even the ones that uh I don't enjoy hearing sometimes that might be different than how I feel. But uh please definitely fill those pieces out. And last but not least, uh on the heels of our spring break, we are in the home
stretch as we begin the final two months of school. Uh just a note that we uh the calendar we will be enjoying a 4-day weekend on Memorial Day weekend that Friday and Monday. Uh so you may need to buy some extra charcoal and some extra
hot dogs for that weekend to enjoy that time with family and friends. Um and that concludes my comments, Mr. She. Thank you very much. Now we go back to our students. Derek, go ahead. Hey everyone. Things this past month at EHS
have been pretty exciting as we enter what's probably the busiest time of the year. AP testing is coming up next week. Senior College Decision Day is in two is two days away and we have we have the band, choir, and orchestra concerts coming up. And of course, we have our boys lacrosse senior night in one week
where the Eagles look to take another victory over JP. Last week, the student council ran a successful bring your child to work day and the senior class council is currently preparing for the prom, which is now less than a month away. In a little over a week, Edison
High is holding its annual powderpuff game where senior girls face off against the juniors in a flag football game coached by football players. And just in case anyone was wondering about last year's game, the class of 25 2025 did indeed win with a shut out against the class of 2024 in a game where the
juniors don't usually have the best luck. And the class of 2025 looks to repeat as champs this time against the class of 2026. Looking at sports across EHS right now, our teams have been grinding through some tough schedules and have
seen some solid success. Our red division baseball team has won three of its last five games. And on the year, junior Darren Torado's 396 average is leading the team alongside some dominant pitching performances from guys like Conor Murphy and Rob Bromeo. The boys volleyball team after
starting the season a rough three and seven has won five of its last six games, including a win on senior night against red division rival East Brunswick. The team has been led by seniors Ajit Civicar, Kesh Garagammanu, Ronit Aurora, Kanamin, and Gavin Garcia. A group that's been playing together
mostly on varsity for four years and a group and it's a group that will surely be missed in years to come. The boys lacrosse team, as I mentioned earlier, is coming off a nice win against the Hawks and has seen standout performances all around with lots of goals, assists, and ground balls coming from senior
Tommy Castles, sophomore Jake Garbalino, senior Colin Patty, and a senior who's also a star wrestler for Edison on the side, Justin Dugen. The girls softball team has looked absolutely unstoppable this season, wiping through their schedule with a 10-1 record. Most of the
team's average is above 400. So, it's hard to call out specific names other than to just applaud the the group overall. And that's that's all I have for now. And for everyone taking AP exams, as well as all the seniors making or announcing their decisions in the coming days, good luck. Thank you very
much, Derek. Okay, now we turn to from JP Stevens. Good evening, everyone. My name is San Vi Burigum and I'm tr thrilled to announce some exciting updates from John P. Stevens. So, as we head into April, I'm happy to announce that our recent student council elections were a
tremendous success. And this year, like past years, we have used actual voting machines. And the student council thinks this is a great way to um prepare our students for real elections and build a sense of citizenship within them. And I'm proud to introduce our two new
presidents, which will be our new speakers for next year. They will be Anuja and Arouche and they will serve as our representatives for the next board of ed meetings next year. And in addition to our elections, our Chinese and Italian clubs recently showcased their cultures in a vibrant cultural
showcase. It was a fantastic event that celebrated diversity and allowed students to learn more about these rich traditions. We also hosted a thrilling poetry slam which highlighted the incredible talent of our student poets. The performances were moving and demonstrated the creativity we have in
our school. And last week, as in addition to Edison High's bring your child to work day, we also had a wonderful turnout for this day with over 60 students participating and many teachers set up fun activities such as slime making, ceramics, film trivia, and
more. And in terms of sports, the Hawks have done a great job with the boys volleyball team having 10 wins and being number one in their division. And just a few hours ago, actually, we had our white out game in remembrance of our late head coach, um, Coach White. And JP
Stevens crushed Edison High School with a two- set victory. And we look for many more victories in the future. And our last event that one of our final events that we will be planning right before BOTC, I know you guys are all big fans of Love
Island, but have you heard of Hawk Island? So, the JPS student council will be hosting Hawk Island, which is a brand new event that we are piloting this year. And it'll we were hoping to have it in the auditorium, but due to setbacks, it will be in our gymnasium on
May 30th. And you will want to be there cuz it's going to be too hawk to handle. And before I end my speech, I just wanna by the request of board president Xi um he has requested that the student council get like a consensus from the
students regarding smart pass. So earlier in the year and the years prior JP Stevens has been using mostly paper passes given by the teachers to let students go to the bathroom or go to guidance. But in order to streamline everything and just like keep the
information and security tighter in our school, um we have moved to using smart passage which are online passes that just allow students to go from their room to any other room. And usually there's a 7-minute timer and through several interviews and also our um
executive board and home room representatives have um surveyed our students. The general consensus is that smart pass was wellreceived, but the only issue that students seemed to be having a problem with was the time to
use the bathroom was 7 minutes. And from the data collected by administration, the average time that students take to go to the bathroom and come back is usually only around 5 or 6 minutes. But the issue with the seven minute timer as um said by most students was that like a
lot of the bathrooms in our school are currently like locked or some of them have stalls out of order. So after a few administrative meetings with Dr. Kim and the other vice principles. Um a solution we have come is um currently working on
potentially updating smart pass to show which bathrooms are locked and also every one of our administration meetings is um contains a list of all the bathrooms reported by the students to have issues and the specific issues too. It'll be like second stall in this
bathroom in the girls bathroom does not work or this sink is clogged. um they will be put in and work orders are placed like almost every week for new bathrooms. So, while there are issues, there are there um administration is quickly working to improve them and we
hope that soon we can have an updated version of Smart Pass that includes bathrooms that are currently locked. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for the update. Really appreciate it. You know, the the other I don't know if this is just me talking about it. You know, there's the limit is a problem.
The six seven minutes. So you know when you use a pass you you when you go out you you log out but when you come in you check in right. So you know if if we can consider not
actually having a limit. So but you can monitor how long the student take you know because you go go in check in check out. So if we have a uh someone who uh been taking 20 minutes for many many times they got an issue right. Yeah. So
but there are issues that that you know I heard one of the student who was more than more than seven minutes got got some issues uh with the uh the administration office but uh let's see let's how any uh progress what we made with the uh the enhancements. Thank you
very much. Really appreciate it. Okay. All right. So we are going to Yes. We're actually monitoring how long someone goes to the bathroom. It did I hear that? Maybe I'm wrong. I didn't hear. Maybe I I missed
but maybe I didn't. I'm getting old. But uh we're actually monitoring how long someone goes to the bathroom. Is that what we're doing now? all schools because right now they have seven
minutes and the issue is seven minutes is is too short. So the suggestion is not to limit it and just let the kids go to the bathroom. So the problem is that the kids hanging around in the hallway, they don't come back to the classroom.
They use bathroom as excuse. So if a a kid who takes 20 minutes of bathroom break every time, you know, multiple times in a day, then this kid will have have a conversation with a student. That's what it is. All right. It the one day it's fine, but not not a consistent
uh thing. So I don't know what the issue here. No, I'm just asking. Yes. I'm just to me, you know, like I'm old. Okay. Thank you. Takes me longer to go sometimes. That's right. That's why maybe you need more than seven minutes. Yeah. Really? Yes. Thank you. Yes. Joe,
we could give you 10 minutes. Yeah. Thank you, sir. Okay. So, we're going to go to our regular agenda items. If you guys want to go home and do your homework, uh, you know, you can go ahead and do it, but go to the bathroom. You don't even
So, Savi, is this going to be your last? This is your last meeting or next meeting you're coming to? Um, the June meeting? No, no, for the to represent JP. Oh, I'll be here for the rest of the meetings. Okay, great. Thank you very much. All right, see you next meeting. Thank you, Derek. See you next meeting
as well. Okay, now we're open for public comments on the resolutions only. So, anyone who wants to come here and comment on the resolutions. See none. There's one back there. Oh, Mrs. Conway, come.
Elizabeth Conway, 20 Netherwood Circle. Um, I know this is petty, but if you recall when I was on the board, I um looked at every bill to see if there was any kind of u items
that I kind of questioned. and looking at the section where um professional development items are. There's uh a couple of items where multiple people
are going and the dollar figures didn't match like registration at a hotel uh was not the same. Um, the
registration cost was different, not by much, but I'm wondering is there a way to streamline these funds that they are in line is my
question and then I'll leave. That's it. I think I said enough before. You're more than welcome to stay. So, uh, I'll let Dr. Already answer your question. Yeah, those differences in funds are based on the number of days. So sometimes conferences are two to
three days. Registration um based on the number of days uh goes accordingly. So um and I'm I'll just use rudimentary numbers. If a contra conference is $100 a day and it's for three days, it'll cost uh a teaching professional 300. And if they're only going for the one day,
it will cost them $100. Um and then uh you know overnight stays in the event that they are staying overnight which you know they're not in Euing and things along those lines. Um but that's that's what it would go to. Okay. Thank you. Any other public comments on resolution?
Yeah m same. I was going to wait till later but I'll speak now because it is a resolution and it's about national teachers week as well as nurses school nurses. So I just want to again uh thank Dr. Alderelli for his great words and
just to piggy back it being a teacher at the high school for 36 years teaching mostly 11th and 12th graders obviously I knew the high school domain being now the union president I'm able to get to other schools and whether it's from the our ELC and FDR buildings dealing with
our youngest needy students our elementary teachers middle school teachers it's just incredible the staff that we do have the teachers and the great job that they do. So I do do want to commend them and wish them a great week and you know teacher appreciation
day itself. Um in addition to that it's also for school nurses and sometimes again I am so impressed when I go into the schools and see the nurses the number of students because as we know one of the things we are short on is nurses and part of that is because we
just can't get them. They're not out there to to hire. Um, but to see our nurses in action, sometimes I'm there for five minutes and I've seen a nurse already seeing like 10 or 15 kids. It it's just incredible the job that they do. So, I do want to mention again to
recognize our staff. We do have, you know, how much I hate to bring him up in the past. I always comment Dr. uh Ali when he was here said one thing about the Edison teacher and he said it at a board meeting is our teachers are on warp speed and can do things that no other teachers in this state can do. and
I am very proud to represent them to be their president and I'm very happy that you know they're being recognized as they are. I also believe that the May 1st maybe Mr. Ross knows for sure is principal day if I'm not mistaken
May 1st. So it is principal day. So again to our principles in the district who do such a great job running our buildings etc. I you know wish them a happy May 1st principal day as well. Thank you.
Thank you. I echo uh happy principal's day on May 1. Thank our principles for what they have uh contributed to uh to our schools. Uh there's a leader of uh every building and in the district and uh really appreciate you know what they have done for our district. Okay. Any
other public comments on resolutions? Yes. Uh hello everybody. Again, I just want to echo what everybody said about uh teachers and principles. We do love you. We do appreciate you. Um, I was looking at retirement, so I just wanted to acknowledge Mrs. Busy. She was my
child's uh uh teacher. Phenomenal teacher. That's going to be a huge loss for Washington School. Thank you. Thank you. Any other public comments on resolutions? See none. Motion to close. Couple public comments. Yes.
Second. John's not here, but I I'll I'll record it. We'll give Dr. already a couple seconds. Ralph and the bishop. Bishop. Yeah. All in favor? I. Okay. All
right. You ready? I'm ready. Okay. All right. So, can I have a motion to approve the personnel agenda? Motion. Okay. And uh Miss Mrs. White. time. Roll call for the uh for the
personnel. Yeah. One second, please. Thank you. I know you guys missed me. Yes, we do. Okay. Mr. Erica. Yes. Mr. Ron Patel. Yes. Mr. Lugo.
Yes. Personal. Yes. Mr. Romano. Yes. Miss White. Yes, Mr. Vichel Patel. Yes, President Shei. Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Now, can I have a motion to approve
administration, curriculum, instruction, and pupil special services? Motion. Okay, Mr. Erico. Okay, Mr. Romano. Roll call, please. Mr. Ero, yes.
Mr. Ron Patel. Yes. Mr. Mr. Lugo. Yes. Mr. Romano. Yes. Miss White. Yes. Mr. Vishel Patel. Yes. President Chi.
Yes. Motion carries. Now, can I have a motion to approve finance? Motion. Okay. I second. Okay. Vish Patel. Ron Patel. Roll call, please. Mr. Erico. Yes,
Mr. Rona Patel. Yes, sir. Mr. Lugo. Uh, no. On the entire portion, sir. Noted. Mr. Romano? No. On the entire program?
Mr. White? Yes. Mr. Vich Patel? Yes. President She? Yes. Motion carries. All right. Now we have uh committee
reports. So finance and facility visa. Okay. So we had a meeting on April 22nd for finance and facilities. We reviewed the fiscal year 2026 budget. We also
discussed the JMI public hearing. Committee discussed the process for taking out a loan to fund the expansion of JMI uh for facilities. Marshall's bid was open on April 25th. Uh bids were reviewed and processed as per our
guidelines and the winning bid will be presented to the board in the April action meeting. I assume that's a May action meeting. Nothing. The the bid for Marshalls will be presented to the board. It's it's on the
agenda today. Okay. insurance brokers. We also reviewed the RFP for the insurance broker and and you know as you all know the brokers were approved on last Thursday and that's all for the financial facilities. Thank you. Thank you very
much. All right. So now let's open for public comments. Anyone for public comments? Yes. Anthony Marath 5, KTO Court in Edison. I'm here to speak on policy
5756. On prior occasions, I've come before the board on this policy and spoken on a variety of topics. I want to focus uh first on the suicide aspect which I've not spoken much about. The statistics are undeniable.
Even the LGBTQ community knows that the suicide risk for the LGBT LGBTQ student and generally population is much higher. Even they acknowledge
it. I want you to consider the following. Suppose a student excuse suppose a teacher learned that a student was suicidal. and did not tell mom and dad. And that teacher would probably be brought up on
some kind of disciplinary action, maybe even expulsion. But that same teacher, no, is protected by policy 5756, even told you can't tell mom and dad if the student is is going to change
gender. What you've done is essentially said it's okay for a student to bring a gun to school that's not loaded, but it's wrong to bring a gun that is loaded. Metaphorically speaking, the student who
is suicidal is the student that has the loaded gun. The student that is changing gender is the student that has the gun without bullets in it. I'm speaking metaphorically, but you you've done a
you've created a situation which is hypocrisy. You would never let a student come to school with a gun loaded or ungoed unloaded. That student would be hauled out of school immediately, probably prevented from coming back for a long time. But you've allowed a
student to change gender to enter into a lifestyle that is has such a high risk of suicide and you you you you stop it from h you you won't tell mom and dad that is wrong. That is very wrong.
In the October meeting from last year, yeah, the LGBT community showed up in large numbers and one of the things they focused on was tragically that sadly many of their loved ones,
children in particular, committed suicide, whose heart is not wrenched from that. I mean, to say that it is is heart-wrenching is a gross understatement. But what they've done is they say the blame is because of prejudice. That's that's nonsense. I
don't need a degree in psychology, psychiatry, any kind ofology to know that there's an internal conflict going on inside the the heart and mind of that student. I've spoken about the fifth commandment several times. Honor your father and your mother. The commandment
in the ten commandments comes right after that. Is thou shalt not murder. What would you say about an education policy which supports even protects a lifestyle where it is a known fact that
the individual protected by that policy runs a higher risk of murdering himself because that's really what this is suicide is murdering himself. This policy protects
murdering protects is a policy where it's a known fact that the person who is protected has a higher risk of killing himself. There is tra this is tragically wrong. What this policy needs to be replaced
with is a policy that supports the student in the gender to which he he or she was born. There's nothing illegal about that. I'm confident the board attorney will tell you that New Jersey law against discrimination is not in any way
impaired. It's one thing that's very certain about efforts to change gender. It will not change the XY or XX chromosomes that we have. No surgery, no hormone blocker will change that. were born as a man or
as a woman and that's it. No matter how you dress it up, the student is still a boy or a girl and his his or her XY or XX chromosomes are not going to change. That's a
fact. But no, we think he can dress it up and change it. This policy supports confusion. The student says, "I want to change gender." There should be no policy that says that. Now, am I saying that a student can't do it? The student is free
to do whatever he or she wants to do. I wonder if the student is counseledled about the risks. Higher suicide, you're not going to be able to have children in the usual way. Does that happen? I've yet to hear
anything about that. I've been coming before this board for now over a year. Please abolish this policy. Replace it with a common sense policy where the student is counseledled about the risks. You will be blessing this town. You'll be blessing our students. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Any other public comments? Yes, Mrs. Sc. Elizabeth Conway, 20 Netherwood Circle. You had mentioned uh and I was kind of disappointed because I was at the Thursday night meeting and normally
uh you don't come back, but I guess you did come back and the Yankee game was on and I forgot to turn the TV on or you would have heard from me screaming from the hilt uh Thursday evening. Um, I was very surprised at uh the outcome of one
of the um contractors that you hired or rehired back from uh for I believe it was risk management Alamo. Uh when I was on the board, Alamo was one of the insurance
brokers and we had a real problem with them and there was a lot of um uncertainty. I'll say nicely uncertainty about some of the funds and it it bothers me and I wonder um has there
been a complete change of employees and just the name is still there or is there a continuation of the same employees and I don't understand um why I don't know who was else was
running but when I heard uh Alamo was brought back. I was very concerned that the board would revisit uh a company that um we had such a problem with in the past unless there's al ulterior
motives that I don't understand. So, um I just needed to express my uh uh concern over uh the hiring of that company. That was number one. And number
two, um yes, I today is the uh 29th and it's not May yet. Uh just two things that I didn't bring up before regarding the budget. There used to be an evening just
about the budget hearing so that more questions could be asked because we could see more of the budget. Uh some people thought it was um boring because your presentations are very nice, but I actually liked seeing where we were
making increases and where we needed to cut back. Um that was number one. And that's usually like the first week of May, but I guess tonight was it. And now you're going to have to go back to the chalkboard. And my other thing is uh
teacher appreciation week and the nurses that usually um takes place in May. Um so I felt I needed to wait for May to appreciate the teachers because I know how uh important they are to all of us.
and not only the teachers, every single person that works for the district is um vital to the district. So, uh I'll come back and give you a little bit more in May when it's that time to do it. But so, there was one um thing I was very
upset about, one I was questioning, but I ended with something that was very nice. So, um, I need to truly understand if anybody is willing to respond to my
concern. Thank you. Thank you. Any other public comments? It's not a question answer. It's a is a comment. Yes. Thank you. Any other public comments? All right, this is long, so I'm going to
try to shorten it up, but I do want to come and I did come here actually to disagree with the appointment of Alamo. I'm glad Mrs. Conway brought it up and it wasn't just me, but I have several reasons why I'm not
happy with Alamo. I know I had this conversation with Visual last year. you sat next to me and I shared the emails that I'm going to read today from Dr. Braen. I know I spoke to you about it. I know there's some past uh board members too that were there. So, I'm going to be happy to share, but it's very long. So,
I'm going to tell you I have six concerns mainly about Alamo. The first concern is regarding their political contributions. If anybody looks at their packets and stuff like that, last year when they try to apply, they had over 50 uh political people and donated over
what 45 close to $45,000 to politicians. Um, so I did I didn't like that. Also, the inappropriate uh communication channels. You know, there are emails from Dr. Bragan. You could just uh oper them. and he talks about how uh he
thought it was very unethical that he was talking to board members outside of meetings regarding business issues. The third was the data breach. I don't know if everybody saw it in a in a in a newspaper, but they did have a dirty uh data breach where employees information
was given out. Uh, also I'm not sure if anybody remembers or knows about the $900,000 blunder that they almost cost the district. If I have time, I'm going to read that one. Also, the overb billing concerns. I'm not sure if anyone knows about that either, but I'm
definitely going to read that one. And then also Eddie, the vig. Basically, Dr. Bragan caught them doing a vig against our employees and Dr. Bragan was actually going to sue them, but Dr. break and decided to leave
so we didn't continue with that. So those are six main reasons but let me talk about the overbilling. So if you go back to the first of all I want everybody to know that when you're looking at the health broker these last couple of years uh the numbers varied from 125,000 to 185,000
for the year. So when you look at the resolution when they were first put there in 202122 we were just on the board. Dr. Dr. Bragan raised concerns to the board of education regarding possible overbilling. The original
appointment for Alamo was a cap at $240,000 for medical, prescription, and dental services. However, Dr. Bragan determined that the Alamo insurance group received an additional $284,889 for stop-loss coverage. Now, if you look at what our health insurance
now does, which they always did, they included the the broker fee and the stop-loss. And right now we're paying Doyle for both services 147,000. At that year we spent $527,000 on that
company. I don't know how that got approved or how that that snuck through. Um so Dr. Bren sought to recover over compensation amounts prior to pursuing any legal action. for comparison of current health and risk insurance brokers. Again, I do want to remind this
year we're paying 147,000 versus 527 before. So, with that said, I'm going to read Dr. Bragan's email, which everybody should find pretty interesting. Dear Lewis, we have been aware that Alamu's compensation for being our
health and prescription and dental insurance broker for the 2021 and22 school year exceeded the board of education's approved amounts by over $100,000. See the attachment in the information below. Therefore, the board
of education has asked me to contact you to ask for a refund over those overcompensated amounts before any legal intervention. Please let us know how you would like to proceed. Thank you, Dr. Bragan. So
again, these individuals are suspect, at least me being nice, just being suspect. There's so many reasons not to bring these people back. So I I urge the board now to reconsider what you did
Tuesday. You fired them before Brown and Brown. You did it a couple a month ago. It's easily to replace these guys. They haven't even started to look for a proper broker. But let me continue with some other stuff that I have them since I have a whole minute and 19
seconds. So So Dr. Bragan actually brought up he found out and I doc I I'm pretty sure Dr. Elderelli could back me up on this because you were CCed on the emails as well. They found out
that there was some type of vig. That's the best thing that I could describe it as. So there they were charging our employees 88 cents per prescription. And they ended up doing it for a three-year contract of some sort. I think it's through like Voyer or something. I don't
I don't know what it was. but they made something like to $47,000 a year off it. So times that by three. So Dr. Bragan was actually looking to sue these individuals to get that money back to the employees because they it was never board approved to do that. So these are
some of the conversations that I remember from Dr. Braen, but I do encourage the public or anybody else who wants to uh Oprah these emails so you can read them yourself. But I don't think that these are individuals that we should be in business with. I think
there's other aspects to this for some people. I don't know what it is. I'm pretty sure I do, but please consider that. And if I were you as a board, uh, check it out before you find yourselves jammed up. Thank you. Thank you very much. Any other public
comments? Yeah, Matt Revnack, ETA president. So, first of all, I just want to mention I thought it was great having the two students sit together tonight, seeing the two students from the two high schools. So, I hope in the future you do that rather than have them on separate ends of the table. Um, second thing I do
want to comment in the wonderful job that these that the wonderful job that the students from TJ did, uh, the presenters as well as the performers. It just shows again the quality of our schools and the program that these kids receive. I know
Mr. Ross, you have a strong I guess you are. You have a strong uh future in your music department as well. Um the third thing I do want to mention is again I do thank the board for voting on and selecting the brokers the other night. Um you know it was a concern I had and I
know my people did going without a broker and if there were any issues that came up. Thank god there was nothing major over the last month but we did have a decent working um relationship I guess with Doyle and Keenan. And so I'm glad to see that they are back and it
was, you know, taken care of relatively expeditiously. I think that's it. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Anybody else? Public comments. See none. Motion to close public comments. Do I have a second?
Second. Okay. All in favor? I. I. Okay. Now we open up for board member comments. Any board members? Mr. She Yes. Oh, first of all, the students that were here from TJ, wow, they were
impressive. I see their education system is working well. Uh, let's talk about the children, students, our young adults that will become part of our society with playing
in in the band. Uh they were excellent. See, one of the issues that we have here is my job as a board member is to see that it that it runs
well. Become a board member, you have to go through something called governance training. Now, governance training tells me one thing, actually a bunch of things, but what it says is that the
superintendent and all of the people that work at the board of ed, they do the job. They do it well. We just agree to disagree at
times. Uh, I voted no when I meant it. I'm quite sure I'll hear about it later. But if the superintendent says we need to do this, I just look at those
students. The way that they spoke at the podium. In fact, one of them was eye level to the podium. Those are our students and those students are our future. Our job is to see that Dr. Ed
and Mr. To and some of the people that are sitting in the back here that do their job. And I'm proud to say that they do their job because I could tell by the way the
students are actually they're learning the students at the end of the day is here how they speak. It's a great it it's it's inspirational to know that that our kids
are doing that. They're coming up and they're learning. Yeah. I'm a little upset about the bathroom deal. I'm not sure I appreciate that. But the fact is is that as a board
member, our students are our future. as an old guy. Those young students growing up, going through school that we provide with our taxpayers money, they will take and take care of
us and they will take care of the people coming up behind them. So when you take and you think about a lot of things like I think a lot of things I think about those kids I think
about those students I think about moms and dads and I they really care. So I asked Dr. Ed and Mr. Tote and Mr. Tui and bunch of other guys that are
here. Keep doing a good job. Make my job easier. Thank you for my term. Thank you. Thank you. Any other board members? Mr. She I think I want to talk about two
things. I want to piggyback on uh what M you know J Romano said about our students. I had an opportunity to talk to two group of students uh for their wip projects. I was contacted by one team from TJ um and another team from
WWMS. So I came here to talk to students about their wip projects and they asked me detailed questions about the AC project right they asked me what's the budget to implement AC in all the schools what's the process to prioritize
some schools over other schools. So the amount of research they did really impressed me a lot. Um and the second group of team was from WWMS and and they were trying to interview me or get some information about student voice in
decision making. Um they asked me what you know all of us are doing to listen directly from the students. Of course they knew that we have two high school students sitting here in every board meeting and they wanted to know what else we are doing to get the direct
feedback from the school and from the students and they asked me can middle school student be part of that voice right so I informed them about the sages program and I said you know Dr. Alelli has started a new program where high
schoolers are directly giving feedback to Dr. Dr. Alelli and they say can middle schoolers be part of that as well. So food for thought for Dr. Alderelli uh and see what he can do to include middle schoolers. Um second
thing I want to talk about is Dr. Kim. I think I spoke about her passion and courage to implement the the the past the policy and then iteratively improve it. And today I heard Missan be talking about another improvement that she made
where on top of the passage she's making the process to get the feedback about facility right where some bathrooms are not working and and updating you know leveraging technology to get an update about nonfunctional bathroom issues. So
then she can act on it quickly rather than some facility person or or some janitor identifying it. she's going to find it a lot quicker from the students that something is now working. So again, another kudos to her. Thank you. Thank you. Any other board members? Yeah,
Chris. Thank you, President Xi. Um, just like to echo a couple of things. Uh, you uh uh board member Vish Patel brought up the uh the YAR. Um, I also visited the uh the school uh to answer students questions about YPAR and one thing I have to say Dr. around the reelli is
these students are heavily heavily interested in the sages program. Uh the a lot of questions geared towards that is if they can't wait to actually become part of that program and yes they are actually curious as well about what
are the what are the things that could be done to to to further student voices. Um, also to piggyback what um, board member Romano has said, the uh, the students that were here um, presenting, you know, at the podium and also playing, you know, um, right here in our
jazz band, kudos to them. Keep up the fantastic work. Keep reaching for the stars. You know, they're they're there for your, you know, for your for your getting. Um, also too, right before I came here tonight, it was the annual game for for Mr. boy and it was a good
one. Like the student uh representative had mentioned, uh JP Stevens did take it in two sets, but they were close and they were hard fought. The first set, if I recall correctly, was 2523. JP Stevens in the second set was also JP Stevens 25
to 20. Not only was it hard fought, but sportsmanship that was that was key. It was uh it was on it it was on exhibit there on the court. And kudos, you know, for those young men for battling it out on the court, you know, just a couple of
hours ago. So, um, so to to address what was said at the podium, um, actually about Alamo, I shared every single one of those concerns and quite frankly, I challenged Alamo on those concerns. Um,
quite frankly, lackluster response to be honest with you. And I know you mentioned uh the a figure of about $50,000 for for contributions. Well, last year I actually added them all up if I recall was
$74,600. So you could add another almost $25,000 to that. So um so some people are surprised, you know, to see, you know, that broker replaced. And I actually called it predictable. I
actually held up the um the emails and the ratings from the administration last month um showing that Alamo was last. Alamo was not favored um last year and they weren't the administration's
recommendation again either this year. So um that's what I could say about that. Thank you. Okay. Any other board members? Right. So, um I just want to say a couple words here.
Um if you look at a board policy 0153, uh it was a revised last September 2024 when Brian Rivera was the chair of the um policy committee and it's called annual appointment. There are 11 items
in this policy. Let me read some of them. The board of education may annually appoint the following positions listing nine of them. Number 10, an attorney. Number 11, an insurance broker/ agent. This is in the board
policy to talk about, you know, um 0% tax increase. Uh Mr. Rivera was on the board for three years. He did not do anything. He did not say anything about
the 0%. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. It's not a back and forth. You know better. You know this better. No back and forth. You know this better. Okay. You were on a board three years. You didn't bring that up. And you were
very proud to use the 0% increase in your campaign flyer. So I really find Excuse me. Excuse me. Yes, I will if you continue to do that. Okay. It's finally like a hypocrite that you know when you're not on the board
then you're telling people to hey you know why you doing three you know 0%. But for three years you didn't do it. You did you didn't say a single word and now and you very proud to put put you
very can you please tell him to quiet? Okay. So it's it's it's you know hypocrisy talking about uh you know uh any brokers uh giving contributions. Um Mr. Lugo asked uh
Alamo that question and the you know did you Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. So you know he had the answer but the issue is did you ask the other brokers? We knew the other brokers gave contribution to people in the township. And maybe that's the
reason why you signed a three-year contract with these brokers because we never do it. We never signed a three-year contract. Maybe that's why you sign a three-year contract. To go back to Mrs. Conway's comment about why we need to come back and vote on
Thursday, because we try to have as less gap as possible, right? bec excuse me the the um we need to put the the bid out for 20 days. So we got it back on
Monday. So we you know our ne next meeting is Thursday. We need to sort it out everything and then we we appoint the brokers and uh and that was what happened on Thursday evening. We could approved today but there will be another
4-day delay and uh based on the the uh present the uh interview with the bro with all the brokers they say even they were not appointed and during the time that the uh last month they were still working with our members. So as I said
before if you have a $40 million account everyone's going to work with you. They want the account. um there might be some you know minor disruptions and and but unfortunately that's the way it is according to our our our attorney. So um
that's why we had to do it. As far as the um the risk insurance broker uh we all know that no matter who does it, they got to pay the same thing. Okay? No matter which broker does it, it's
decided by the NJC. So um the animal uh company has been the animal company has been giving back to our school district. They have
given scholarship in at least three years that I that I know of and even last year they were not on on uh the school broker. They were still giving scholarship to both high schools. They contributed to uh I think the uh Edison
um football team when they won the the championship together with other um brokers that uh you know other vendors who gave to the uh Edison uh team and I think they also gave to the baseball or football something uh in the township as
well. So, uh, when you compare brokers, uh, vendors, um, if they're paid the same, I would prefer someone who gives back to the community instead of, uh, uh, someone who pockets everything. Uh,
um, so, you know, and also today we mentioned about education foundation. We're going to looking for a lot of uh, uh, sponsorship uh, for that and it will be a long run for the school district. So I'm looking for vendors who are willing to contribute. So uh that's uh
you know uh one of the reason that they were uh they will get picked and also just to talk about um what we did this exercise we actually saved more money they reduced their
their uh service charge just because it's simple exercise. So I don't know what what is the issue here. If we try to save more money, why it's a bad thing? And I was find very surprisingly that I have a bo board
members who doesn't care if you can save $400,000 who said they don't even care because you have $370 million budget. $400,000 saving is nothing. And meanwhile, we are here to voting on
the on the budget. You vote it down. You want more money. We try to save more money, not impact our program, not impact our staff, and you say, "It's not a big deal." Meanwhile, you vote down the budget. I just can't I don't
know what to say. All right. The budget has been presented the the whole board. We even to the public, we try to do a 0% for the past two months. Nobody said a thing. So, you voted down. Okay. So,
let's see what's going to happen. And uh uh we'll see that that you know, I hope we're going to have a budget next year to to run the schools. And uh today in the finance resolution, there is a award
uh to a contractor to start the um John Marshall Elementary School. The $28 million bid. And you have members who vote down that one too. The entire finance resolution. They don't even want to see Marshall
being built. Meanwhile, you cannot come here telling me that you want to solve overcrowding. You want to do that. Meanwhile, you vote down a a a uh construction bid which is not going to increase our our uh our our uh our
taxpayers. Uh you know, it's not going to increase our tax. is already budgeted. You voted that. So, please do not come over here and tell me you support our teachers. Do not come tell me you support our students. You vote that down for no reason. So, um that's
my comment, Mr. She. Yes. Uh how are we going to be funding uh the expansion of JMI? We have the money. It's uh it's We have the money. Yes. And Mr. To is going to
talk about it. If you want it, we can talk about next time. You want to talk about this time? No. No. Just curious. Okay. How we going to Is there money? Yes. Okay. The money is there. Talk about Is it Is there a referendum? Is there a bond? Nope. We have We have
So for $28 million. I'm speaking We're speaking to JMI or John Marshall. I'm sorry. President Ch. So JMI John Marshall, it's already in the budget. It was already planned last year. We borrow the money. That's it. Correct. Well, I'm just asking. So we're borrowing money. So from for JMI for the JMI, the money's
there. We're ready to we're ready to So the plan, Mr. Romano, the the the financial plan for JMI is to fund part of it with through our reserves, which is um you could find in this budget. The other part of it will be a small loan in order to finance it like many of our other other projects. And that'll be
done over a 5-year period. So, we'll structured finance the one portion and use reserves for the other. Okay. Uh, if you used a referendum. No, we're not using referendum. I We're not We're not I did not I did not respond to
anything that you said. I am just asking a question. Yeah, you can ask your question, but I'm telling you now, if you want to take and interrupt me, that's fine. I'll discuss it somewhere else. Whatever you want to do, but I'm telling you, we're not going to referendum. That's all you can you can ask your questions then with a
referendum. If you go for a referendum, how is the funding formula for that? Does the state contribute money in a referendum? Yes, you Mr. To just wanted to make sure through the chair. Um, yeah. So, with
the referendum, right, there is a state contribution, right? of that would, you know, the process for that is is like long-term financing, right, via bond. Uh, new construction, the state will contribute, you know, 40% of the cost over a 30-year period, upwards of 40.
Uh, you know, renovations could be less, but there is a state contribution that you receive annually over the life of the bond, which is so the taxpayer, you know, brought out the taxpayer in a referendum. The taxpayer
gets it back a little bit. 40% 40% of of upgrades, 40% of $139 of the first $139 for new construction. So the referendum would be the way actually to go instead of
just putting it in the budget, pulling it out, using a bond or whatever. The issue is uh if we're going to use bonds, that's fine. I mean, if we're going to get it done, let's get it done. But the fact is, I want everybody
to understand that if you use a referendum, we could do a bigger project and we can get more bang for the buck and we can get money back. That's the way I was that's way it
was explained to me. Am I am I correct? Not correct. Right. I think you know referendum is one mechanism in way to in the way to do schools facilities project right there there are benefits to each right depending on what the collaborative goals of the board
education are right I mean I'm always available and willing to discuss all options right okay we talking about the board is that you or is that us the board is you I am not on the board I am just merely serving you work for the board I work for you okay for I've
worked for the governing body so you would recommend the superintendent. Yeah, exactly. You would recommend. I don't get to make recommendations. I get to ask my opinion, but I don't make recommendations. A superintendent does that.
Okay. Any other public comments? I still got that 10-minute bathroom thing. Okay. Any other public comments? See none. Have I have a motion to close? Okay. Okay. Do I have a second? I second. Believe there was
somebody who wanted to speak. So, uh, all in favor? I. All right. All right. So, the meeting can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? Motion to adjourn. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Got to announce the vote, right? Vote. He wants to announce he wants to
announce a budget vote. Let me go ahead. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Go ahead. All right. So, regarding the vote of the budget, this Sorry. Sorry. Uh, regarding the vote on the budget, it was 421 in in under our board policies as
well as the statute for dealing with the budget. The abstension doesn't count as a yes, doesn't count as a no. It's recorded, but it doesn't count either way. So 42 is the vote. We're a nine member board.
We need a uh um approval pursuant to 18A 22-32B at any at or after the public hearing of the budget but not later than May 14th. The B the board of school of education of each type two district having no board of school estimate which
we don't which the annual budget is in election is in November shall fix and determine by recorded majority vote of its full membership the amount of bundy to be raised pursuant to for the taxes and we gives two more statutes. So we
have until Mr. So if as we said you said two weeks which is May 5th May 14th which is correct two weeks right to pass um to attempt to pass it again my recommendation to um the board is to put
it back down the budget back down to uh the finance committee uh have them review it and then bring it back to this board at a special meeting on or before the 14th of May. I would agree. U I have
a question on that. We have a meeting next week. Are we able to vote on it next week? Could we have we have we have as long as we can call a special meeting uh advertise the 48 hours we can we have to have it before May 14th. Okay. So if
Mr. To advertises it for when's our next meeting? May 4th. Tuesday. Yeah. Next Tuesday we have May 4th. So if it's advertised we could have it May 4th. 6. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay. Now, can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? Okay. Ralph. All right. All in favor? I. All right. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much.