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yeah see hug all right good evening everyone the public has been duly informed of this meeting in accordance with chapter 231 of the public laws 1975 by posting at least 48 hours in advance a notice on the bulletin boards in
Stevenson and Church Hill schools a notice to the Township Clerk and a notice to The Herald news and the progress now please join us for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one
nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all we're going to begin this evening with the president's report we just have a couple things first and foremost I'd like to say congratulation to the FF they planned and orchestrated a
wonderful event last night uh their Gala fundraiser was a huge success it was sold out it was beautifully thought out it was elegant we know they raised a a great amount of money and and I had a conversation with um one of the members
today and I and I just wanted to let them know how proud the board is to have them and to see how much they've done in such a short period of time and we really look forward to working with them in the future we know they're doing great things for the schools and the teachers and we appreciate them and and
everything that they've contributed to the students of Fairfield so thank you and congratulations again it was a huge success we're proud of all of them um I'd like to address the pavement behind Church Hill School uh it was brought to our attention after uh the weekend that
there was uh some disruption in the ashal that was existing so not the ashal project that we recently did uh at the end of last year it was the walkway that was in existent that we paved up to um
we believe and when I say we Wally myself John Ryan that um the walkway just really wasn't built to maintain the car traffic so it kind of broke up water got in between it during the winter months and as it froze it kind of
cracked the ashalt and we quickly um figured out a plan a very inexpensive plan and I give a lot of the credit to Wall-E for that and we had uh structural Stone deliver a couple of loads of QP
Stone a quir processed Stone and we reached out for our and our business administrator who was kind enough to lend us a uh a plate tamping machine and we were able to to fix the problem uh temporarily for just about under
$375 uh so kudos to wall and his quick thinking and uh you know a big thank you to um our town employees for letting us use their Machinery uh we did go out to bid uh for that particular project but unfortunately both quotes came just over
the threshold so now we're discussing exactly what needs to be done in order to address the problem with a long-term solution but I think we are okay for the next week or two with the solution that we have so again thank you to Wally and John for uh and Ryan who was actually shoveling stone and rock very surprising
to see but we greatly appreciate it and uh this can go under old business or the president report but I know we've talked to you in the past about generating income behind Stevenson school and I'm happy to report that uh after working with the Fairfield Recreation Department
we were able to secure um one which will be approved tonight and two or three other local organizations that are going to be renting one in particular J was that your foot we'll take that call twice
yeah um we're happy to report that we uh we have a soccer field going back there uh which is it's going to be lined for the first time by uh Recreation they're going to help us with that and we have and what I believe we're approving it tonight sticks and kicks which is a Fairfield organization which is going to
be renting it two days a week and we are working with uh two or three other uh local softball and baseball organizations which will be renting the fields as well which is going to generate some income uh for us which is it's nice and we've talked about it for a long time and we're happy to see it
come to fruition so again thank you know Wally and I have been working with uh the organizations in regards to what the charge them and these insurance and paperwork necessary so uh in regards to that the the ball's rolling you know spring is here and we're we're very hopeful that we can continue to build on
this and and generate a yearly source of income you know in a space that was already there it was already existing without you know costing the district any money uh I have nothing else under my president's report I would love to turn it over to Mr Gupta thank thanks
Anthony um again thank you to the the FF I didn't make it to the gall last night but um the amount of money that they provide our district is is is awesome it provides our students and our staff with resources that we wouldn't otherwise be able to provide our students so um thank you to them I know you've heard me
mention this before that we're already deep into the planning process for next school year that includes budgeting that includes scheduling that means it's also the time of the school year when decisions have to be made regarding Staffing you'll see there's two of those recommendations on tonight's board agenda it's my
it's obviously my responsibility to ensure the district is run efficiently it's also my job to make sure that we place staff in positions um that will best serve our students some staffing changes can be Absolut disheartening um stressful for everyone involved um
everybody's nervous about change and things like that but yeah I have to always keep in mind that these decisions that are very very difficult are always made in the best interest of our students our staff and the district as a whole sometimes it's indirect sometimes you don't even see
the connection but these are decisions that we spend lots and lots of time and discussions on before we get to a final decision um because we can't discuss things publicly that often makes it more difficult to parents and students to
understand so the toughest part is that you have to trust me you have to trust me that I've looked at everything I possibly could and I've decided that this is what's uh best for our students I can tell you that this board
does not take any of my recommendations lightly we've had meetings we've had phone calls they ask every single question that you can possibly think of over these decisions because they know how important it is they want to make sure that I've thought through everything that I've thought through
shortterm long-term scenarios that this is definitely what's best for the students and I appreciate that because you guys keep me on my toes and I have to know and they they should if they're going to say yes and approve something they need to know that their superintendent went through the process
this won't be the last time on an agenda you see something that has to do with staff um and again it makes it difficult because any questions that come my way I can say I have to say we cannot discuss Personnel but I do want to let you know that you can be you can trust and be
confident in me that all the things have been thought through that if any decisions are made it was absolutely always the core of the decision is is it in the best interest of our students our staff and our district as a whole um and that can be very difficult I understand
that and I empathize with that that being said and on that somber note my report's done I take it over to the business Miner do you have anything for us something quick just Sor don't have a better opening act just to expand on my on my report at the last meeting I mentioned that we were waiting for the
release of the state aid figures and that the maximum reduction would not exceed 3% of the prior year's award uh the Figures were released and unfortunately we did receive a reduction in state aid um equivalent to that 3% reduction uh the maximum and that percentage equals uh equates to
$3,945 reduction in the state aid um nonetheless we were able to make the adjustments in the budget and prepare a tenative budget that's on the agenda tonight for submission to the county office for review so um that's where we are with the budget thank you Wally thank you Ryan I
greatly appreciate it uh before I move on to uh a committee report that Melinda will deliver uh Lauren just walked in Lauren before you walked in I I started off with my president's report and uh thanking the FF and uh now that you're here uh they I'm just going to say it
again you know thank you very much for all that you've done uh your committee was wonderful you were graceful and elegant in your your speech last night it was very moving I feel like you spoke from the heart I'm Glad You Came a couple minutes late cuz I defin wanted to take a second and uh give you the
Kudos you deserve um it was a beautiful event I know you guys you know raised a boatload of money we're happy to support you and I was even happier to hear all the wonderful things that you have going on and in particular I was very happy to see that you you know at one point you
you addressed everyone and I you know we could feel what you were saying was from the heart and you did a phenomenal job I actually uh I ran into your husband today at dunin donuts and I told him that told him what a great job you did and and he kind of smirked cuz I think he felt the same way so thank you it was appropriate that you walked in when you
did we started off with a big thank you and congratulations to you and your entire organization for a wonderful job thank you uh at this point we have one a committee report and that's going to be Melinda with the HSA yes another
wonderful organization we have uh on May 15th they're going to be hosting their biggest and annual fundraiser it's going to be a Tricky Tray casino night they said tickets will be available in one or two days and they'll be sharing information soon just in case just to as a reminder the HSA helps to support us
and gives us things such as field trips for our kids end of year activities teacher supplies and assemblies that the kids get to see and many many more things so if you're available on May 15th hold the date and more information will be following in the next couple of days I know we we've talked about this
in the past but you know just for a general rule of thumb and Melinda you could speak probably a little bit more educated on this than I Ken kou were on it for uh for several years but the HSA contributed you know somewhere around $100,000 a year to the the students and
that's fantastic and the fundraiser we attended last year that the HSA put on was again it was another beautiful event that the uh that the HSA ran and it's really important that you really get that out there and push so it can be as successful as the other uh events that
are going on in town and and it really starts with the teachers and the parents and uh the residents that really you know buy into the district and and all these wonderful programs that the HSA has and has to offer so uh we're looking forward to go there I know there'll be
board support there as well and uh thank you very much Melinda for taking your time and going to these meetings I know sometimes it's difficult with uh with the kids in life so we appreciate it uh with that being said uh there's no other committee reports this evening but I would like to open up the floor to
agenda items only so if anyone has anything in regards to an item on the agenda please feel free to come up without seeing anyone oh we do okay you're normally you're later on so you're took me by surprise on agenda
items is it on on yes Aliso 7 Southampton Drive so I have two questions that are kind of follow up to I guess Anthony your report and then um Mr gupta's report so my one question is and it's probably not dissimilar from things that I've mentioned in other
board meetings I think we're aware that the space behind Church Hill um has Pro some area that's a little bit dormant we know we put in kind of a short-term or more temporary solution with being able to deal with the kind of impacts from the lack of busing um I think we're all
committed now to that busing is like unlikely to come back and so we're going to have to continue to think about how we continue to make that process as efficient as possible um and so kind of in that regard and I appreciate we're not on the buildings and grounds committee but I think the community would be really appreciative if we could hear about maybe some more detail around
your short-term and long-term plan so I heard tonight about the plans to bring in some Revenue producing which I think is amazing and I think that's a great use of the space I think with that in mind some kind of observations as a community member who's back there every day um I think we all find parking at
Churchill to be a significant challenge particularly now that we moved third grade up there's more staff there there's not really enough available spaces many of us utilize Municipal Building or just Road or other Creative Solutions when we need to um if we're going to be bringing in more sport-based activities I think that will even
further challenge the parking situation anytime that we have evening events so I don't know if there's an opportunity to consider that as part of maybe a more midterm long-term plan um and then equally the QP solution which I commend I think that was amazing how fast you got that rectified because those of us
that kind of drove it over um we knew that was going to be a quick problem but knowing that we're hitting upon our rainy season in Fairfield is like a sponge um I know you're going to out to bid it's going to be a little more complicated it sounds like with having to kind of deal with that but thoughts
around how fast you might get another solution in place sure so um and all great questions and obviously we enjoy having you up here and opening up this dialogue um just for clarification purposes the field rentals are going to be at Stevenson School not Churchill oh
I yeah so um so that shouldn't impact the parking so long-term solution is basically mirror what we've done on the opposite side so when we uh performed this project last year because the police department told us we really couldn't have those cars on Hollywood
Avenue we created the I believe it's 320 ft of a straight line and then it's 225 ft of a curved Circle and while you'll have to jump in at this point but in order for us to go out and and do a project it has to be below a certain
threshold before it has to go to a public bid so we were very fortunate that both the projects we've done at Stevenson and Church Hill fell underneath that threshold now our long-term solution because you know to touch on a little bit of what Ryan said I in the same regards to buildings and grounds believe me we are out there
often I'm I'm at Churchill more than I want to be trying to figure things out and trying to figure out a way to to do it in the cheapest way possible right um it's a pretty simple solution uh it's just just recreate the roadway that's there
but create it in a way that's meant for vehicle traffic so the pathway coming in was dug down approximately 7 in there was 4 Ines of uh 3/4 QP Stone put down which was compacted and then 3 Ines of I5 ashalt which is basically a
commercial grade roadway ashal meant for cars and trucks and so on and so forth so we did think about doing the tire in its uh project in its entirety but we realized we would be over the bid threshold so we basically did what we needed to do in a two or 3 week time
span to get the cars off of Hollywood and kind of um fix the problem at hand because you know drop off is still you know very well and I think pickups well as well it might not be to the best uh that everyone thinks it could be but you know we we've solved the problem in
getting the cars off the street we solv the problem of the backup on Hollywood approaching the the kers and and Birch Tree Drive um so basically the walkway that's there now has probably been there for close to 25 years and it's a walkway the black top too is well that that's
when I when I say the walkway is the black top because it really wasn't meant for a roadway it was meant for a walkway for the kids to come out the back of the school and then walk you know left or right so we are basically going to do the same thing we did there we are going to recreate that walkway as a roadway it
we will uh excavate down 7 in we'll do the same exact thing that we did before four with 4 in of stone 3 in of ashphalt and then in addition um we're thinking about putting a couple walkways connecting the back walkway to the front next to the trailers and they're
recreating the walkway that's there now that's kind of falling apart unfortunately the bids came in literally several hundred dollar over that threshold so unfortunately what would have been
approved tonight and been addressed in the the next 10 or 15 days now might take three or four weeks three or four weeks so uh I happen to drop off on a Monday I saw Mr gup I said hey we have a problem back there he's like hey another parent told me that we reconvene two
hours later we looked at the problem we said let's monitor it two days later it just broke apart and it was that third day that it was the rain it was the rain Welly rain we it's the rain when it freezes so when it rains and then freezes at night you know the ice kind of just takes the asalt and rips it
apart uh it it escalated pretty quickly and that's when Wally and I met there maybe Tuesday or Wednesday and we're like okay let's just get stoned let's call the town uh you know the town was doing a Hot Patch program but unfortunately it was too big of an area
for them to address with hot patch and I think for those of you that see the Hot Patch work around town you'll see that sometimes when it's not tamped it kind of it's loose and it it kind of flies all over the place so the last thing we want our students walking back there kicking it it's all over their clothes
their their their shoes their backpacks so that the stone was a quick inex uh inexpensive way to address the issue and it's it's still doing pretty well cuz no the Q is doing great yeah I dropped off today uh so we were expecting to have
this addressed by March 31st knowing that the stone would hold up now we just have to make sure that if the stone needs to be R and then ramped we do that just to keep an even surface and if uh if we do that I think we we should have this rectified within the next 30 days
unfortunately I like to report that there's going to be a different system for the Church Hill pick up and drop off uh and we do have some ideas about creating two Road uh a roadway in front of the school and we're going to be working with the police department to um
look into a safe Street Grant that's out there to kind of collaborate with between the Grant and and some of our cap reserve it was going to be addressed with the referendum and unfortunately that didn't pass away we have to move past that and there is a way to create a
little less traffic by creating two lanes in front of the school we would have to remove some trees but the truth of the matter is it's just it's not in the cap Reserve right now so if we could work with the police department and they said they would assist in helping us write that Grant because they can justify getting the cars off the street
away from the fire department away from the emergency that we can get something so I don't know what a project like that would cost but if we can get half of it subsidized obviously then it would be advantageous to say hey let's make this a priority so you know that's something a little bit more long-term but for the remainder of
this year I foresee the the situation with a pickup and drop off being pretty much what it is right now and in again in the morning uh it you know I drop off every morning and there's never a backup usually in and out in two or three minutes I understand pickups a little
longer um but you know we're definitely working and looking on a daily basis on what we can do at both Stevenson and Churchill to make it a more pleasurable experience yeah so I think that was extremely helpful if I heard it correctly it's not a complicated bid
specification so it's not like you know we're putting in air conditioning units so it should be a pretty quick thing to to turn around the only problem is that a majority of the ashfold plants aren't open yet so that's another DeLay So if we if we have to go to one that's not open and it's fur where the cost is astronomical so we're trying to maintain
what we have right now and then try to get everything going as soon as uh soon as they open up I think what I'm hearing is current and immediate solution is the QP which is working and I agree and acknowledge it's working if there's minimal disruption you might rake and do things to kind of continue to Temporary
patch hopefully the bid in the next month three or four weeks depending on how that process sorts out keeps kind of the current situation and then the longer term situation would be if we get grants if we could find kind of a bigger better solution we could patch that area now it wouldn't be fiscally responsible
because if you take a look at that I think that straight stretch is just approximately 324t right if you look at if we patch the 30 foot area if you walk 10 more feet that the corners are well that's actually and again trust me this is not my personal Forte but we did
recently pave our driveway so some of these terms resonate um at least I'm following the process but that was my bigger concern is that as we hit rainy season more of that's going to start to erode I know you've moved the cones occasionally to kind of keep us off the corners but it's going to all start the good news is the the spider cracking
that you see now just past where the the more um the more damaged area sits can be repaired as well with QP so we are trying to put a little bit into this knowing that within three or four weeks we're going to spend you know anywhere
between you know4 and $50,000 on this yeah so it's uh we could patch it and probably get it done for1 or $12,000 but you're literally it only to be ripped up in a month anyway so we feel like this is a very inexpensive way there you know we're making sure we're being very
conscious uh of the cars that drive back there a lot of the the parents in this town have cars that sit a little lower so we're mindful of you know if we have to rake so that there's not a lot of dips or or um potholes that we are so we we're really looking at every Avenue but
it's all based on finance and what's you know fiscally responsible for the district and like I said you know to repair that patch in the condition that it was for under $400 I feel you know Administration did a pretty good job so you know kudos to them no I fully agree
and this one's going to probably slightly Push Me Maybe off of the official agenda topics but in that same context as we approach rainy season I think the town has done really well um the school the staff everyone has done really well with adapting to the new
pickup and drop off procedures but in those really heavy rain days I think there's a lot of concern about the current dismissal process at Stevenson so I know there was potential revision to that as we kind of approach that if weather requires it so I just would request if that's still being considered
and then if and when it's appropriate to maybe share that because there is a lot of sentiment in the community where there's concerns around how that looks on those really heavy rainy days so I mean that's more of an administrative thing but I've said it uh numerous occasions up here you know at the Das
the first of everything is going to be difficult we really haven't had a pickup with extreme downpours we' been lucky very fortunate right knock on wood but it's going to happen it's going to happen and I want to be as forthcoming as possible by saying get your umbrellas because that's what's going to
be needed the landscape of Churchill School is the landscape of Churchill School no so Churchill this is my personal opinion I think Churchill that bigger kids can kind of cope its concerns with Stephenson and the little guys yeah so I think Wall-E is going to uh
and and I and I can jump in on this one but there really isn't a way of getting question no um whipping out the umbrellas the look we had a plan in place to keep kids in the gym to keep kids in the back have parents come in
that's a security issue we cannot have any you know families members coming in to pick up their kids so and what you've seen in other districts that have this situation where there is no busing parents have to get out of the cars with their umbrella come grab their child and
go the expenses to put awnings and covered walkways is is unbelievable like I thought oh we'll just put make a covered walkway and that way you guys can come up and we'll keep the kids out in front and then you start talking about six figures like this and that's
the cheap way to do it so there really isn't a way of getting around on those days just having the parents come all the way up to retrieve their kids I I live in West cwell I've seen them do it at Wilson where they Park their car and they walk we just have a lot of restrictions in place at Stevenson yeah
you know other school districts have an entrance coming in and a different exit going out so there's some leeway and you can wait and you can pick up your your child or you can park on the street and just leave it there and be fine and then walk we don't have any of those possibilities at Stevenson so when we did this when we thought through these
processes in the summer of all the different scenarios that was going to be the biggest issue what happens when it's torrential downpour we've had a couple bad ones where the umbrellas are flying away and you I'm glad you here because you guys are out there with me because that does happen but the bottom line is
on those days with the limitations we have and not allowing you know parents to come into the building to retrieve their kids while their kids are nice and dry is the parents are going to have to come out of the cars and just walk close to the building and then we'll release the students and it's it's going to take longer we have to know that in those
types of conditions it's not going to be a smooth process yeah so personally I'm prepared that it's never going to be smooth right on a weather day that's kind of an uncontrollable um speaking for myself as a parent I'm fully supportive parents get their cars parents get wet parents need umbrellas I
think the adults can cope and I love my teachers the teachers will cope the ones that we have the concern for are the students and unfortunately also with the current spacing of time between when Churchill dismisses and when Stevenson dismisses and many of us know there are
some very eager parents who show up more than an hour ahead of dismissal time to be early in wave one at Stevenson um the time it takes from kind of wave one to the final waves those students could be standing in heavy rain for a period of 20 minutes or more and that's the concern that the parents have so I
appreciate the safety concerns and I definitely was one of those that vocalized those when we first heard that plan earlier in the year but I would like to ask if there's anything else that could be considered I appreciate you've looked at it I trust that you've looked at it but let's see what we can do now ahead of it because I know it's going to be a problem come spring
keeping the students in the hallway again if parents are all coming out of the cars then it's easy because the teachers know as soon as the parent gets out of the car they're turning around and calling the child's name so that would take more time though because now the kid is not just standing in front they're not walking to meet meet their parent but we could keep the kids in
that hallway it'll be cluttered there second grade will be in the hallway in the back but until the teacher sees the child the parents will still have to come close to the beginning and then we can release the child but that will add a lot of time because we do have a lot of students they see their parent they
meet them halfway um even in in the back there's a lot of parents for second grade that don't get out of the car and we wait till everybody body stops and then the kids walk to the cars and away we go so the time would go we can keep the kids drer but the time will definitely increase and I know there's a contractual concern around the length of
time too but I think that's and we're I think we're we're good with that personally something I think is worth considering i' I and I can only speak for myself I would trade a longer dismissal time if it meant keeping the kids out of the rain yeah they're obviously our number one priority and and you know keep in mind a lot of the
uh ideas that we have we also like the gymnasium we have to bounce with our local police department and they're the ones that raised the biggest concern about you know having anyone walk into the school you know that's a that's a problem and and we totally agree with
with their evaluation of the uh situation and you know for the powers that be you know right over here to say you know they wouldn't s they wouldn't sign off on that then that means that it's a no-o for us so um the gym would have been ideal it's just
we have to put the safety of the of the students as our number I fully agree and I don't think anyone would advocate for putting security risk into the building but I think if there's a way to consider keeping the children at least somewhat sheltered for a period of time even if it means it extends the length of the pickup on those days that
warrant it right I'm not saying as an everyday thing but on a really bad inclimate weather day I think you would get sentiment and support for that yeah and the staff being out there is is no longer an issue we're we're we're in a different contract the staff is always there they stay till the last kid is picked up so I don't think even if we
extended and took longer to pick up that Staffing would be an issue at all Wally I have a question I you know I know we spoke in the past and we let the general public know that we applied for a recreation Grant can that recre can any money of that Grant be used uh I see them often down the shore they're
basically structures that are used for you know kids use in playgrounds for shade is that something that maybe we can incorporate into a design where on heavy rain days the kids can kind of gather underneath them and it could be used to Shield you know certain of the of the the property we could probably
see it look at that option okay so it's something maybe we can incorporate into that Grant you know depending on uh if and when we get anything that we can incorporate that to kind of ease you know some of the concerns and and and you know maybe have a dual purpose especially in the rear of the building
it might work perfect okay that's something to think about much sorry I was up here for a while but I appr words thank you anyone else agenda items only okay with that being said like to move on Finance
okay the following Finance motions are made at the recommendation of the superintendent of schools anything placed on this agenda items 1 through 11 will be voted upon in one motion I like the motion items 1 through 11 do I have a second second
rooll yes yes yes yes yes the following contract motion is made at the recommendation of the superintendent of schools anything placed on this agenda item one will be voted on in one motion I so move I have a second second
roll call yes yes yes yes yes okay the following buildings and ground motions is made at the recommendation of superintendent
schools anything placed on this agenda one item will be voted upon and one motion I'd like to motion the item like to have a second second roll call yes yes yes yes yes okay the
following Personnel motions are made at the recommendation of the superintendent of schools anything placed on this agenda items 1 through six will be voted upon in one motion I so move I have a second second roll call yes yes yes yes
yes okay on to curriculum the following curriculum program motions are made at the recommendation of the superintendent of schools anything placed on this agenda items 1 through three will be voted upon in one motion I so move may I have a second second may I have a roll
call yes yes yes yes yes policy the following policy motion is made of the recommendation of the superintendent of schools anything placed on this agenda item one will be voted upon in one motion I so move may
have a second second roll call yes yes yes yes yes I'd like to open the floor to public comments for non-agenda items seeing no one I'd like to close it
our next meeting be resolved that the next meeting will be held in person on April 10th 2025 Public Work session beginning at 6m followed by executive session with public session resuming at approximately 7:30 p.m. at the Fairfield Municipal
Building motion for inurement motion m a second second roll call hi hi thank you all for coming out we hope you have a great night