All right. Good evening everyone. The public has been duly informed that this meeting in accordance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 by posting at least 48 hours in advance a notice on the bulletin boards in Stevenson and Churchill school, a notice
to the township clerk, and a notice notice to the Herald and the progress. Now, please join me for the pledge of allegiance. Algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good evening everyone and thank you for coming out tonight. We truly appreciate your time and continued support of our schools and our district. This evening, we're going to do things a little out of order so we can take
advantage of having so many community members here in attendance for the awards that will be handed out later. We are excited to celebrate those achievements together. On February 4th, I was in contact with the marketing director at Raisin Canes to officially welcome them to the
neighborhood. I also apologize for not being able to attend their ribbon cutting. I am happy to share that they are willing to work with us in future events. I think this could be a great opportunity perhaps for even our sixth graders to take advantage of and from what I
understand some of our teachers have already benefited from our connection recently with some chicken fingers and fries. So, we appreciate their support to our schools and our community. I would also like to remind everyone that the Fairfield Education Foundation
is hosting its yearly fundraiser, the Derby Galley, on March 11th from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Nanas in the Park. Space is limited. I believe they only have two or three tables left. So, I feel like they're doing a really good job.
So, if we can get out there and uh and take advantage of that, it's it's going to be a great evening. And it's all for the kids. We're extremely lucky to have both the HSA and the Fairfield Education Foundation. Both organizations work tirelessly to put money directly into
our schools. To date, the Fairfield Education Foundation has raised over $100,000 that has gone directly back into our schools, benefiting our student and staff in meaningful ways. Our HSA also makes extraordinary impact, contributing between 80 to $100,000 each
year that goes directly back towards our children. It's truly remarkable. Both organizations raise a tremendous amount of funds that positively impact our students every single day. And for that, we are incredibly grateful. Their dedication and partnership make a
measurable dis uh difference in our district. In addition, our HSA is hosting another wonderful family event, a skate night on March 27th at Monontlair Ice Arena. It's great to see the HSA bringing back these smaller community focused fundraisers that give
families the opportunity to come together, connect, and bond, not just as adults, but alongside our children as well. As many of you know, I sit on buildings and grounds, finance and curriculum along with each chair of those committees. I'm going to provide a brief
overview this evening and our committee chairs will go into more detail regarding buildings and grounds. I'm pleased to be working directly with Anthony Pompei and the recreation director to move forward to redo several of our school fields. When our children are enjoying gym class or recess, we
want to ensure those fields are done properly and most importantly that our children are safe. The last two snowstorms were substantial and we were very pleased with how our custodial staff managed both events. Throughout the process, there was some damage done to our schools, including a
bench, some curbing, and ash fault behind Stevenson School, but that's to be expected with storms of that magnitude. We will obtain pricing to address those repairs and report back at a later date. With the amount of snow we received and the equipment we currently own, snow
removal can be challenging. So, we are very thankful for the town and all the equipment they sent over to assist us. We appreciate their partnership and their continued support. In regards to finance, budget sees it is in full swing and as always, Wally is on top of
everything and doing a fantastic job keeping Joe and me informed every step of the way. And I have to say, this is truly their Super Bowl season. Spreadsheets everywhere, highlighters flying, and numbers are being discussed in a way that most of us can never fully
appreciate. While some of us see decimals, our two accountants somehow see poetry. They genuinely get the kick out of this time of year and we're very fortunate that we have them. Joe will report in more detail this evening about some of the challenges we may face with
the upcoming budget. In regards to curriculum, we are happy to announce that the district will be implementing several new instructional platforms that will that we believe are greatly benefit our students. These tools are designed to enhance learning, support our teachers, and continue moving the district forward academically. Angela
will fill everyone in with a more detailed report during our curriculum committee report. For special education, Melinda will provide a more detailed update as our committee chair. However, I do know that our preschool lottery has been completed and all families have been notified. Thank you for everyone
for your patience and understanding throughout the process. To close, I want to ensure our community that the board of education and this administration will continue to work hard both on the forefront and behind the scenes to ensure our administrators have the necessary staff to be successful and that our teachers have every thing they
need to provide our children with the highest level of education possible. We will continue to raise and reset the bar for our current students and for students who will follow in years ahead. Thank you all for coming and I'd like to turn it over to our superintendent for his superintendent report. >> All right. Thank you. Good evening
everybody. Um, I know you guys are getting antsy, so let me get through this. Just before we get to the awards, I just want to update the community on two important items. The first involves the company we use for our student photos. You may have heard some rumors and allegations regarding the former CEO of an investment company that bought
Life's Touch parent company of Shutterfly. Although there has been no evidence of student photos or data being shared with a third party, the news has some parents understandably concerned. I have an abundance of caution and with numerous other photography companies to choose from. I have decided to cancel
the remaining photos scheduled this year with Lifetouch. That includes a sixth grade panoramic photo and the optional spring photos. So, I'm currently exploring other options, making sure the company we choose is reputable, prioritize the protection of student information, and obviously can provide the services that we're all accustomed
to and meets the needs of our district. So, as soon as that company is chosen, I'll send out information to both student uh Stevenson and Church Hill families. The other item is an update on our search for our next Church Hill principal. As you all know, Dr. Shabbo will be retiring at the end of this
school year. So, Dr. Shabuko, Miss Kafone, and I reviewed numerous applications for that position and conducted the first round of interviews. Candidates who advanced to round two were interviewed by committee of eight staff members. And our interview questions focused on topics that the administrative team, the staff, and many
of you identified as priorities. Those included academic achievement, student discipline, communication, and of course, school culture and climate. Miss Gapon and I will be conducting the third round and final round of interviews, which will require the top candidates to answer questions from a panel of our
students. My goal is to have the best candidate placed on the March 19th agenda for the board's approval. I want to personally thank the tremendous group, the search committee, who sat with Miss Capone and me from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. last night and Tuesday night
to do second round of interviews. And I see some of you are here again tonight. It's a it's a long week. Um that was Miss Booth, Miss Breznik, Miss Chaffkin, Miss Cologne, Miss Kirk, Miss Mayor, Miss Panakis, and Miss PL. I greatly appreciate you giving up your evenings to assist in this important
decision-making process. And I just want to let the board and the community know we had a a few candidates actually who when they saw the group of teachers there on an evening they were surprised and they felt like their district would not have that involvement. So they were
very happy and they praised Fairfield Public Schools for having a staff that would give up their evenings to take part in this important process. So that was nice to hear. All right, let's get to the awards. Tonight we will be honoring our Bulldogs of the month for September. >> I'm sorry, Mr. But we're going to move on with our committee reports.
>> It's just a tease. >> I apologize. >> You're right. You're right. >> But with that being said, Mr. Gupta, thank you for addressing the Life Touch um situation. It was brought to our attention by several community members and we took that information and passed it along to our superintendent. >> I want to add one more thing
>> and we're we're very pleased that you took the action that you did in such a timely manner. So, thank you very much on behalf of the community and for someone who has a a child in the district as well. Thank you. >> No problem. And one more thing I added because we do get phone calls and emails. I spoke about who's on the the
committee for searching for the uh principal. There were no board members in that committee. Okay. I don't know why it it's out there and you've reached out to me and what's the boards? What are they doing? Who's on the committee? Which board members? Which parents? That was our full search committee. Dr. Shabuko contributed, Miss Capone
contributed, and I contributed. But that was the committee of teachers we reached out. So despite what you might hear out there, board members are not involved in the hiring process. We have a personnel committee where we discuss our recommendations to the board, but they are not in any way sitting through
interviews looking at applications. They have no idea who our candidates are, no idea who applied. Um that comes from a recommendation later and that'll be at a board agenda for approval. So just to clear that up in case anybody was curious about how that process worked. >> Sorry. >> Thank you very much. Now we're going to
move on to our committee reports. We'll start off with special education. >> So, we had a special ed meeting earlier this week uh with Megan and I just wanted to bring to the community's attention something really great happening. We're having a partnership
with New Beginnings. So once our um the students from New Beginnings are approved, they're going to be coming over to our schools and we're going to have them do things like helping teachers with copying, shredding papers, working in the library, maybe doing some light custodial cleaning of like lunch tables. So it's a really great
opportunity for those students to come here and also help our teachers and help our staff do some of those tasks that you know they're just not able to do. So we're really excited about that and uh it should start soon. Do we don't have a date, do we that it's not yet. So, yep. And that's it.
>> Thank you very much, Melinda. We're going to move on to curriculum and personnel. >> Yes. >> Thank you, Angela. >> So, we'll start with curriculum and technology. The departmentalization implemented this year for grades three and four is going very well. Teachers have more time to plan lessons, activities, and projects for their
specific content area and dive deeper into topics. In ELA, grades two through four are progressing very well with the CKLA by Amplify program and the district is working on integrating the same program in grades K to one next year. Miss PL arranged observations of the
program used in Montville so that teachers can see the lessons in action, ask questions, and discuss any issues, concerns, or challenges that the Montville teachers may be having with the program. And grades five and six do not use CKLA. Their curriculum is still novel based, and that model has worked well. Those teachers supplement for
grammar skills and they've created their own writing units. In math, grades three to five are adjusting to the updated version of math expressions. Next year, K to2 teachers will use the updated version. Problem solving and perseverance have been a focus of the year during the professional development
times. And Mr. Veren has been working with the teachers in all grades to bring cohesiveness to the program using common language, common strategies from year to year. In social studies, grades K to one are using magazines and paper readers, while grades two to four are using
Studies Weekly magazines. Grades five to six use My World interactive workbook and text, and we've budgeted for newer and better resources and subscriptions. The subject area wasn't prioritized in previous budgets, and last year at Churchill, social studies and science actually split a period. This year, they
each have their own dedicated class periods. In science, Mr. Mr. Vera and the science teachers are evaluating four different programs for potential implementation in the school year for 2627 pending available funds. Those are Amplify, Foss, McGraw Hill, and
Smithsonian. And they are in contact with West Essex, who's also looking to change its middle school science program. With science being taught five days a week now, they're in need of more lab supplies, and they will be able to purchase those. and teachers now have time for topics, labs, and activities
that they didn't have when they were splitting the time with social studies. The biggest challenge for the science teachers at Churchill right now is they're not having enough time to set up and clean up the labs and activities before the room needs to be used for a different subject for the very next period. But that issue is of course, you know, as we've heard before, due to some
of the lack of space. Moving on to instruction, NJSLA standardized testing is coming up. Test prep has already begun in math and ELA in grades three through six and for science in grade five. The teachers use their PD and faculty meeting time to review release items, create practice
tests, and analyze the scoring of student responses. Teachers have also been adjusting their lessons and teaching strategies to improve student performance based on the analysis of last year's results in in-class performance. Uh Miss PL and Mr. Vera continue to meet with teachers during their weekly common planning time
and observations of instruction focus on raising the bar differentiating both up and down and the effective use of questioning strategies to appropriately challenge the students. Moving on to assessments, the district has decided to move the link for B assessments which would affect Churchill students to
midFebruary to be aligned with the trimester dates. Mr. Gupta is looking to return to traditional grading at Churchill. So the number and letter grades rather than the standardbased grades which currently only only sixth grade does. The letter grades are easier for parents to understand and provide
more valuable feedback to the student and parents regarding how well their child is actually doing compared to some of their classmates. So looking at more accurate and better info such as, you know, earning an A with a 90 versus an A with a 99. He also has a plan for next year to
conduct an audit assess an assessment audit. This will entail gathering, reviewing, and evaluating all of the teacher created tests and just ensuring that they're common across the grade level. Are they rigorous? Do the questions cover all the levels of Bloom's taxonomy? Is the scoring of the assessment consistent? And it's been
done, it's been discussed in common planning time, and teachers are aware of the expectations, but he'd like to dive a little bit deeper. Moving on to professional development, there will be math intervention training evaluating the new science programs, CKLA training for grades K to one, which will begin in
June. Continued vertical articulation including West Essex Middle School, horizontal articulation, common planning, specialized and content specific PD is always provided when possible and as requested by individual staff. On to technology, there have been
additional iPads purchased for special ed. New Prometheian boards were purchased and installed with the FEF grant. New touchscreen and flex screen Chromebooks, which are easier to use, especially for the kids in the younger grades. Uh we have 150 new third and fourth grade Chromebooks, 100 new second
grade Chromebooks, 120 first grade Chromebooks, and 30 new staff Chromebooks. We heard that they were looking a little rough. There have been 11 new Chromebook charging stations and carts because remember not all of the kids bring the
laptops home, some of the younger kids. uh eight new staff laptops, a new desktop computer and printer for the nurse and secretary, new camera visitor check-in kiosks, Stevenson network upgrades, additional headphones for students, software subscriptions, voice
amplification for certain classrooms, and the grand total spent on upgrading technology for students and teachers is $368,196. So, it's nice to see those funds being put to good use. On to the personnel
committee. I'm a little bit limited in what I can share due to confidentiality, but there's just one point that I'd like to emphasize. This district has the budget and is still actively looking to hire instructional aids. Unfortunately, the district hasn't had much luck filling these positions. It would be a
great opportunity to work in a wonderful district, maybe some parents who are thinking about applying. It would, you know, be great to have the same schedule as your children. So, if you're thinking about it or you know anyone who is interested, I would encourage you to apply. That's it.
>> Thank you very much, Angela. >> On February 17th, Ryan and I attended a municipal alliance meeting at the Fairfield Recreation Center, and we're happy to report that the new alliance chair, Lisa Savatorelloo, hit the ground running with uh two new events that are
going to take this take place this year. One is going to be held on Saturday, April 25th from 9 to 11:00 and it's going to be a Fairfield bike rodeo. So, we're going to have all the community members and the kids attend and uh uh a location will be determined in the near
future. We're going to have different stations where kids can have their tires checked, their chains checked. Uh this is going to be working handinhand with the Fairfield Police Department. We're going to have members of the Unity Tour there. We're going to have members of the Essex County uh motorcycle club there. So, it's going to be a great
community event. It's going to be free for everyone. So, please feel free to come. And the second event, which we uh we're going to spearhead, is going to be a beef steak fundraiser. And that's going to be on either Wednesday, June 3rd or Thursday, June 4th. This is in
addition to movie night. This is in addition to our winter wonderland. So, we're going to have all the core events that we normally do. We're just going to incorporate some things that really get the community involved and get the kids out there. So, we're very excited about that. Uh for everyone here for the awards, we apologize not to the parents
but to the kids because you all look so cute out there. But parents, everything that you're hearing tonight from these committee chairs is extremely important and we very rarely have an opportunity to speak to the parents because as you know on average we have six to eight members that attend these meetings
monthly. So whenever we can look at it all these faces we we want to take advantage. Two of them are right there. Uh and and our teachers come as well. So we greatly appreciate that. So, with that being said, if you thought you were bored before, we're going to turn it on to buildings and grounds and finance.
>> Mine's going to be mine's going to be much shorter than everybody else, so I hope we're all nobody's disappointed. It's really not as magical as Ryan Anthony made it sound in the beginning. Um, we'll start with uh well, first of all, finance and buildings and grounds as
Ryan will tell you, we meet almost every day. Not really supposed to do that, but we do. We're meeting a lot. There's a lot to go over. Um, right now it's a tenative budget that Wally's working on. He's doing a great job. Uh, just going to hit some highlights. Obviously, him,
Ryan, Megan, the teachers, uh, Dr. Trabco, they're all going through things to see how we could add funds to the budget to improve the schools, right? So, that's that's part of our plan. not spend every dollar we have, not have to cut anything, and try to add a little bit over time and add a little bit more
to our capital reserve account, which is kind of why revenue and uh I mean budgeting and buildings and grounds goes hand in hand. We're limited to the state to increase 2% right now. That's all we're anticipating. We're not in anticipating any uh state increase of
the funds we get from the state because even if it is an increase, it's it's really not much. So, it's 2% on taxes, which if my math's right, it's about 298,000 compared to last year's budget. Uh, our expenses go up more than that on a dollar's basis, right? So, our 70% of
our budget is uh teacher salaries, that's going to go up 3.75%. Health care costs again compared to last year are going to go up another 23%. You know, that's two years in a row of pretty good of a pretty good increase for healthcare. Utility costs are expected to go up. Um, so those are just
some main highlights. Like after that, it's all the supplies, what we're going to add for the students to learn, uh, anything that the teachers need. You know, we're we're we're doing a good job of keeping costs under control and and anticipating what we're going to need down the road, which is why we've had
two ballot questions. And thankfully to you all in the room and and everybody else who's who's listening or or voted for those to pass, without those, we'd be in bad shape. There are a lot of other districts around here that are in deficit and are cutting and unless somebody's keeping something from me,
we're not one of them. So, I appreciate that. We're doing a great job there. Um, buildings and grounds would be next. You know, a couple years ago when I got up here, we talked about the long range facility plan. It was was $9.8 million and everybody's eyes were like popping
out of their head like that's a lot. So Wally comes along, does this great job, walks the building with uh the architects, and now the number is $38 million. So, you know, uh it's fine. It's we're going to we're going to be just fine. But that's why we try to conserve as much
money as we can and every year put more into capex. Some of this we're going to have to do on our own. Obviously, hopefully you all know at this point soon we're going to have a referendum. We're working on that. And a lot of these items on here are going to be put into the referendum because 40 35 to 40%
of that is going to be covered by the state once you all make it pass, which is what we're anticipating. Um without the referendum, there are some items that we are again going to do this summer. Uh last year we did the
>> Stevenson >> the boiler at Stevenson and the >> church >> playground at Stevenson. Stevenson playground and >> then this year it's going to be >> the boiler at >> Stevenson and Churchill >> playground at Churchill. So and hopefully we'll get some of the same grant grant awards to help fund that. So
this week we'll have to take some money out of cap reserve which we have about five or six million dollars now but we'll get to put some back once we get uh awards from the state. But look overall we're this board's really doing a lot especially these two committees to to really just shape the future of this district. We have a lot more to do, but
uh I appreciate all the work that Ryan and Wally have done. Uh you know, Anthony joins me in all these meetings that sometimes are on Sunday for four hours, but you know, it's it's it's a it's a lot of work, but we're we're really happy to do it because we're especially because we're seeing the progress and we're seeing the community come together uh and really help us help
put the best uh best in front of the kids and put the district in in a good spot in a couple years. So Joe, just one thing if you can touch on. So you were mentioning with the referendum and the long-term facility plan. So could you just lay out for everyone in the audience
how that 35 to 40% takes effect in regards to so we have a capital reserve, right? Correct. And we have a long-term facility plan and and out of that $38 million, it might, you know, some of that might be not necessary where some of it is. If you incorporate some of
those things into the referendum, the 3540% that you're referencing becomes that's money given to us by the state. So it offsets the cost. >> Yeah, it's going to offset the cost. But obviously this will be we'll have to we'll have to borrow money for the referendum 100%. So that'll just be an
offsetting the cost and and that's a that's a big like last referendum that didn't pass the percentage of funds covered by the state was much lower than 35%. So you know it didn't pass and that
could be one of many reasons but this time that won't be the case. So um more to come with that. >> Thank you very much. I appreciate it. With that being said, we're never going to let Joe and Wall-E speak again. Uh,
Mr. Gupta, how about something positive now and some awards? Thank you guys. I appreciate it. Um, as I alluded to earlier, we will be honoring the Bulldogs of the month for September through January. Uh, unfortunately, Dr. Shabuko was not able to be here tonight, so uh, Miss Capone agreed to fill in
along with a lot of our teachers. Thank you again for coming out, especially if it's your third night. So, I will turn it over to Miss Capone. Go ahead. Go ahead. Give him a big round of applause. Don't hold back. Come on, teachers. >> So, for any of you that don't know, the
Bulldog of a Month is awarded to one student at Churchill for each grade level. And these students um characterize the characteristics that we value in our district. So, honesty, um integrity, kindness, hard work, and we see those in all of areas. So without
any further delay, we have our lovely Churchill teachers that are going to announce all of the winners for September through January. >> I guess I'm announcing the month. >> All right. For the month of September, the following students were recognized.
>> For third grade, we have Annabelle Aello. For fourth grade, we have Connor Hickeyi. >> If we can have all of the children remain up here for a photo afterwards. If guys, once you receive your award, if you want to make your way behind the deas, you're more than welcome to join
us up here. >> For fifth grade, we have Emmanuela Deara. >> Come on. >> And for sixth grade, he isn't here. and I'll do my best to say his name properly is Dennis Baronician.
>> For October for third grade, it's Emiline Deli. For fourth grade, we have Charles Zang. For fifth grade, we have Sophia Munoz Hernandez. And for sixth grade, we're very proud of
Josephine Ally. >> For November. >> For third grade, we have Matthew Scowron. >> For fourth grade, we have Francesca Scalia. In fifth grade, we're honoring Madison Zincitz.
And sixth grade, we're honoring Aiden Miaso. Now we're on December. For third grade, we have Jonas Gr. For fourth grade, we have Madison McCabe. In fifth grade, we have Nan Atique, who
is not able to make it today, but congratulations. And sixth grade, we have Katherine Zang. Okay. And last but not least, we have January. For third grade, we have Rosa Scazafabo. For fourth grade, we have Samantha
Drexel. In fifth grade, uh Lola Andrada. And for sixth grade, definitely last but not least, Jeffrey Diddick. >> Teachers, come on up here, please. You can stand up. >> Yes, please come forward.
>> Whoever has the best air come the photo. Come on. How about a big round of applause? We're going to take a two-minute recess and allow you guys the opportunity to leave if you wish to do so. So, thank you very much for coming. We greatly
appreciate it. And one more big round of applause for all of our awardees. All right, Paula, you're holding us up. Yeah. >> Do we have everyone back? >> All right. Not bad. Not bad. Well, thank you for uh thank you for hanging in
there with us. Moving on to public comments on agenda items. Anyone have any public comments on agenda items? Okay, without seeing anyone, we're going to move on.
And we're going to begin with finance. >> Following finance motions are made at the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. Anything placed in this agenda. Items 1 through 5 will be voted upon in one motion. I so move. >> Have a second. >> Second. >> Roll call.
>> Miss Jandi? >> Yes. >> Mr. Feedy? >> Yes. >> Miss Street? >> Yes. >> Miss Alai? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Dasca? >> Yes. The following administrative motions are made at the recommendation of the superintendent schools. At this point, we are only going to vote on 2 A and 3A.
We're going to table 1A. I so move. May >> I have a second? >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Miss Jandi? >> Yes. >> Mr. Fiti? >> Yes. >> Miss Street? >> Yes. >> Miss Alai? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Deascco? >> Yes. The following buildings and grounds
motions is made at the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. Anything placed on this agenda item one will be voted upon in one motion. I so move. >> No. Second. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Miss Jendoli? >> Yes. >> Mr. Fiti? >> Yes. >> Miss Street?
>> Yes. >> Miss Alai? >> Yes. >> And Mrs. >> Yes. >> The following personnel motions are made at the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. Anything placed on this agenda, items 1 through eight, will be voted upon in one motion. I so move.
>> Have a second. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Miss Andoli? >> Yes. >> Mr. Fiti? >> Yes. >> Miss Street? >> Yes. >> Miss Alai? >> Yes. >> Mr. De? >> Yes. >> The following curriculum program motions
remain at the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. Anything placed on this agenda, items one through two, will be voted upon in one motion. I so move. >> Have a second. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Miss Chandoli? >> Yes. >> Mr. Fiti? >> Yes.
>> Miss Street? >> Yes. >> Miss Alar? >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> The following policy motion is made at the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. Anything placed on this agenda items one will be voted upon in one motion. I so move.
>> Have a second. >> Second. Roll call. >> Miss Janolei. >> Yes. >> Mr. Fiti, >> yes. >> Miss Street, >> yes. >> Miss Alai, >> yes. >> Mr. Deasco, >> yes. >> I'll now turn it back over to the board president. >> Thank you very much,
Andrea. At this time, I'd like to open up the floor to public comments on non-aggenda items. Anyone? Anything? >> Seeing no one, we're going to close this portion of the meeting. >> Yes.
Next meeting. Be it resolved that the next meeting will be held in person on March 19, 2026. Public works session beginning at 6 PM followed by executive session with public session resuming at approximately 7:30 at the Fairfield Municipal Building.
I have a motion. >> Motion. >> A second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you very much for coming to our teachers. Thank you for coming and staying. We greatly appreciate it.