that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and I will bear true faith and Allegiance same to the governments established in the United States and this state under theity of the
people God I sh do Solly swear that I possess prescribed by law to the office of a member of board of education then I'm not disqualified as a v pursuing to RS 1941 or disqualify du to a conviction of
a crime or offense listed in New Jersey statute 18 a 121 and that I will Faithfully partially and justly perform all the duties that all congratulations
[Applause] congratulations um the next item is move into our executive session uh for the purposes of discussing personnel and legal that make a motion of executive 63 second all favor all right we our
regular meeting 7.m any come out ex second second all in favor I uh good evening everyone uh thank you for coming uh the First on our attend this evening is the introduction
of our 2425 cenor teachers here Bo recipients um as we normally do I know we have our principles here this evening give a quick fire I'll go ahead and announc the FL recipients we have Mr Jessica ly she's a grade two teacher Mar
J um Manda yelli grade four teacher at Main Road school um Heather NE Nelson uh a reading specialist and special education teacher at our Carolina Mur school and Jody Ray speech language a specialist mayor of school so
congratulations before you I'm not sure which princip wants to go first but make your way up Mr thank you Mr BR so it's my honor to introduce to the board Miss Jessica Lloyd the mar up jamier Elementary School educator of the Year miss Lloyd if you'd please come on up
let's give her a nice round of applause [Applause] thank you so congratulations go add to you for being named educator of the Year miss Lloyd has 11 years of total experience in the field of education and is currently in her n9th year of
full-time teaching at marf janir elementary where she's assigned as a second grade teacher prior to her current assignment Miss Lloyd was a long-term substitute and a part-time basic skills teacher at Main Road school she is a delce Regional High School
school graduate at gler County College and Rowan University graduate and additionally Miss Lloyd is a past student at marf jamier Elementary School Miss Lloyd earned a bachelor's degree in elementary Ed and bachelor's degree in geography from Roman University uh she's
actively involved in the marf jamier elementary school Community as a second grade team leader member of the school safety climate character education pbsis committee the school spirit and the school spirit committee Miss Lloyd believes that quote children are our future and that every
child has the potential to bring something unique and special to the world it is my job as a teacher to encourage and motivate my students to recognize that they are capable of great things and have the strength to overcome hardships and challenges in their life I
want my students to know that they have someone who genuinely cares about their emotional well-being and academic success end quote in the words of some of Miss Lloyd's colleagues Jessica Lloyd quote Jessica Lloyd passionately Works to
proactively collaborate with colleagues to create instruction that will posibly move janir students forward to increased success in academics behavior and social emotional well-being also quote Jessica Lloyd goes
above and beyond so frequently that it is her normal she is always working hard to help not only her students but also all the students in our grade school school and District she can often be seen throughout the community at different events where she always
represents the school and its teachers in a positive manner as the principal of Mary of janir elementary school I found that Miss Lloyd is a teacher who demonstrates her genuine passion for teaching daily through her consistent development and implementation of
creative engaging lessons that build student understanding and a supportive learning environment at the core of Miss success is her dedication towards comprehensive planning for each lesson that includes the development of differentiated activities that address
student learning styles as well as the children's individual social emotional and behavioral needs outside of school Jessica enjoyed spending time with her family and friends watching her son play sports watching movies swimming in her
pool and relaxing at the beach welld deserved Miss Jessica Lloyd congratulations at this time would you like to sit down or do you want her to stand over Mr BS how do you want to work sit down and we'll take a Bo picture when we're all done fantastic thank you you're
congratulations thank you next up is is going to introduce this Amanda yakabi yeah all right so Miss Amanda yakabi you as [Applause]
well melli has been an educator in inroad school for8 years she received her Bachelor's in elementary education and writing Arts from ran University Miss yak's unwavering commitment to fostering an environment where students feel valued challenged and supported is
truly inspiring her passion for teaching not only empowers students to achieve their bests but also instills a lifelong love for learning whether in the classroom or Beyond her ability to connect with students and create an inclusive Dynamic learning environment
has had an immeasurable impact on our school Community Miss yak's Innovative teaching methods tireless work ethic and genuine care for each student's growth are qualities that continually show her dedication she consistently goes above
and beyond to help every student succeed and is a positive influence in the school community some not worthy accomplishments of Miss yakabi is that she has had perfect attendance for the 1819 1920 2021 and 2022 23 uh school
years exemplifying her dedication to teaching our students so that's a speak Mrs yakabi has also been an adviser for the Kickball Club since the 2019 school year she's also LED PD sessions in math um during previous
inservice days specifically with hot questions um discussions with mathematics in recent years she exemplifies what it means to be a true educator and her hard work does not go unnoticed students recognize that she intends sporting events of theirs and is always in attendance at mainroad school
conference main road is fortunate to have missak cabelli as a role model and a mentor and her dedication is deeply valued and appreciated Miss yelli congratulations on becoming educator of the year for the for25 School congratulations
M since already up I gu I'm just going to stay up and do [Music] perfect okay on behalf of the entire in school Community I'm honored to
recognize Mrs jod Mars Raymond as our educator service professional of the year for the township of Franklin schools Mrs Maris Raymond has been neighor in school for8 years she attained her bachelor's degrees in journalism and radio TV and film from Rowan University she completed her
master of science in speech language pathology from Western kooki University in her master's program she was awarded the outstanding student clinical award in 2017 Mrs Mars Raymond holds certification in American speech language hearing Association and as well
as a certificate of clinical confidence in her time at NE school she's been a clinical instructor for free stockt and graduate students and is seen as the um as LP are speech learning theologists um Team lead within the school district her
dedication passion and commitment to the success of students has set a standard of Excellence that inspires all who work with her she has demonstrated extraord skill in fostering an environment where students feel supported challenged and encouraged to reach their full potential
Mrs Mars Raymond ability to connect with students understand their unique needs and create engaging learning experience experiences is a testament to her exceptional professional ability her contributions go beyond the therap she actively runs clubs to enhance social
skills collaborates with colleagues gives con confidence to students and offers her time and expertise to improve the overall educational experience for our entire School Community clubs that Mrs Mars has dra previously include our American Sign Language Club four games
crochet embroidery Sunshine among many others she has also Incorporated the communication card into our monthly routine this is something where staff looks forward to each month where students in our MD and lld classroom they practice conversational skills
greetings closing and give snap rest recommendations to our staff so they run around it's not hard it's really nice thank you for your hard work inspiration and for being a role model for both students and Coles Mrs Mars ran congratulations on being an educator service professional of the year for C
Frank schools we are proud to celebrate your accomplishments and look forward to all the great work you have to [Music] come Mr Peters you're next up um with the introduction of M Heather Nelson we
would like to congratulate Mrs Heather Nelson the Ritter school teacher of the year so Mrs Heather Nelson is the Ritter school teacher of the year uh Mrs Nelson is a special education teacher and reading specialist at Ritter school and
she has been at our school for five of her past seven years here within our school district Heather holds a bachelor's degree in early early childhood and Elementary education and special education along with a master's
degree in literacy studies from Arcadia University her passion for fostering literacy and empowering students with diverse learning needs has made her a standout educator within our School Mrs Nelson's commitment to her
students extends far beyond academic instruction she is known for her innovating teaching methods ability to individualize instruction and unwavering dedication to Student Success she Fosters a nurturing and
inclusive classroom environment ensuring that all students feel valued and supported in nominating Mrs Nelson for this distinguished honor colleagues praised her as a compassionate knowledgeable and INSP inspirational
educat one of Mrs Nelson's colleagues exclaimed Mrs Nelson's enthusiasm for reading and her dedication to helping every single student achieve their full potential is unmatched she is a Cornerstone of our
school Community another one shared Heather's impact on her students is immeasurable her thoughtful approach to teaching ensures that every child feels seen and is celebrated beyond the classroom Heather
is an active contributor to the school's initiatives serving on committees and collaborating with colleagues to enhance the educational experience for all of our students she is a leader both within the school and in the district as well
now within the school she holds the roles of of a team leader for the school's fifth grade liberal arts department and also serves on our school leadership committee at the district level she also extends her leadership abilities by both serving
on our district leadership committee and also the ELA curriculum committee Mrs Nelson further provides service to the Franklin Township community in her role as the delce Middle School field hockey coach simply Heather embodies the very
best qualities of an educator her ability to connect with students her leadership among peers and her tireless dedication to her craft make her a deserving recipient of this honor we are so fortunate to have you as part of our
River School family congratulations again congratulations to all the uh recipients um look forward to SP afternoon with you I'm able to ATT the uh teacher of the year M so great that um with that we'll take quick recess so we can get
photographs get photos or any more members to any board members want to join usan you want me to think Pi thank you [Applause]
the next item on our the presentation of our 3 24 audit good evening yeah right good evening thank you for having me here this evening to go over the results of the 2024 audit I
did put the together a two-page summary um so I don't take up too much of your time it's 175 page document the audit so I'll just go over the financial highlights uh on pages 17 through 20 of the audit is the independent Auditors report this is a report given by our
accounting firm on the financial statements I'm happy to report that an unmodified opinion has been rendered on the financial statements uh they are fairly presented in all material respects as of June 30th 2024 the the audit was conducted in accordance with auditing standards
generally accepted in the United States of America government auditing standards and requirements set forth by the New Jersey Department of Education so a really good job there the unmodified opinion is the best opinion that can be rendered on the district's financial
statement on pages 161 to 162 there is a report on internal control over financial reporting and on compliance um our accounting firm reviewed and evaluated the internal control controls and tested the compliance requirements with with New Jersey laws and regulations and I'm
happy to report back that there were no internal control weaknesses or compliance issues noted uh very good job there on that and then there was another level of auditing called a single audit the district had major programs in state
and federal uh the federal programs was the education stabilization fund that was the ARP monies that were left over and then the state program was the state a public uh again an unmodified opinion the district complied in all material
respects with the types of compliance requirements that could have a direct and material effect on the federal and state programs so again a really good job there with that um the governmental funds are on pages 41 and
42 uh the general fund is your main operating fund the total revenues for the year were $23.7 million of that the tax levy was 12.1 million that represents about 51% of the revenue your tuition was 2.4 million which represents
about 10% of the revenue and the state aid was $8,800 th000 which represents about 37% of your budget comes from the state sources that are there um total expenditures were just uh below that at
23.6 million and that gave a fund balance decrease for the general F of $935,000 your ending number is 3,892 th000 on the Gap basis your special Revenue fund balance increased
by 5,500 it's made up of Student Activity funds of $226,500 your capital projects fund increased $166,000 to $27,000 uh and then your debt service fund had no changes a zero balance your
proprietary funds are made up of the Food Service fund the total revenues were $ 64,000 for the for the period expenses were 733,000 there was a decrease of around $130,000 down to 312,000 at the end of the year on the second page of that
document that I put together is a financial statement summary of the general fund where it Compares 2024 to 2023 and you can see there the fund balance summary general fund budgeted versus actual the excess Revenue over
budget was $400,000 for the 202 for year the unexpended Appropriations were 2.7 million that gave a total fund balance that was generated of 3, 178,000 the district utilized
4,132 th000 there was a net fund balance decrease of 954 th000 on the budgetary basis when you look at the comparison of the budget versus actual expenditures the total budget Appropriations were
27,42 a,0 total actual expenditures were 24,6 15,000 percentage of the budget was right around 90% now keep in mind that number is a little skewed because we had a large capital reserve item that was
budgeted for 1.9 million it was not all expended if we took that out of the equation the district really spent about 95.8% of its operating budget for the year the fund balance at the end of the year is in several different categories your reserve for incumbrances is 4
37,000 at the end of the year your capital reserve monies are 1, 255,000 your maintenance Reserve monies are 550,000 your unemployment Reserve is 397,000 what was used in the current year budget which is
22425 was 1, 332,000 and the unreserved undesignated Surplus is 73200 at the end of June 30th 2024 that's a bail that's available for
the 2025 26 budget that you guys are getting into now for that year that represents a little bit over the 2% that's allowed 2% of operating expenditures are 493 th000 there were some addb backs that were allowed from extraordinary a and a couple other
different state revenues and that number bringing it up to the 732 th000 represents 2.9% of the total budget that is there in your in your Surplus um other than that it was a really good audit um there is no corrective action
plan that's needed no comments and recommendations for the district uh just a really good job I want to thank the finance office uh Trish your help uh was really greatly uh greatly appreciated for myself and the staff when we were here performing the audit steps so a
really good job keep up the great work want to thank U my buiness office St they also get a good shout out my do it in that off so thank you to your team you guys excellent if you need anything throughout the year you have our numbers
reach out don't worry yeah okay all right guys keep up the great work this evening two questions for you open up M questions um the gra item um you by any chance know what that's attributed to or is that something I find around
4 $400,000 $47 the the I'm sorry the excess oh the excess Revenue uh I I don't have that off the top of my head exactly what that is but it's really miscellaneous
income I think for the most part that came in that was over and above what you guys budgeting yeah um the second question is I know you touched on the um the capital um Improvement expenditure that we didn't have accounted for about you know 5% of the um the uh unexp
unexpended um budgeted items the remain 5% is there anything specific that that was attributed to that probably across multiple categories yeah that so so the other 5% that wasn't expended um that's pretty normal to where you guys are the
year before you were 93 and half% and we've seen some of the distri actually spending a little bit more budgets are getting tighter right and some of where the money is being spent so if I wanted to see where where those uh un expenditures were um that'll be in your
report that is in the report and it's on yes and it's uh it is on the C1 exhibit uh in the in the financial statement that you'll say yes any question I just had a question about the
um the reason do we what the reasoning for our service going down so much there yeah so if you remember um during the during the pandemic there was a lot of money that was coming in from the
federal government that money has really curtailed and it's not that much that's probably the biggest reason yeah yep we do um try to use France for equipment um we did have a a higher cash flow in
previous years down obviously you're welcome thank you you're welcome okay any questions thank you thank you you have a good evening okay keep up the great work okay um moving on we have our first
public comment section this evening uh for agenda items only go ahead make a motion to the public second second all favor is there anyone from the public which like to comment on any items list this evening on the
agenda uh seeing no one to make a motion we close the public by second all in favor all right um School Board president report um I have a couple things to report to you guys uh the first one is I just wanted
to um acknowledge our staff um for the great job that they did with the evacuation that we have recently May the school um if you recall there was a fire in the area and uh precaution um they requested that the
the area be evacuated so um from what I understand from you know comments people in the public had made and spoke to the police chief and everyone was um very well prepared and the evacuation went went very well so I want to thank our
staff um especially our transportation staff for um for coming first for us to get back to um you know transport the kids RIT also we wanted to thank Mr Peters and I saw some Communications uh going out regarding that um so a great
job also Mr nersa I know was all hands that and um definitely got some positive feedback Also I spoke to the police chief that he wanted to on behalf of thank the board for offering use of
our transportation services to help their evacuations I don't know if put on that today able toze auth OB right um so I just want to acknowledge everybody for work with that um the next item I have is an update for
you um I know we talked about it at our last meeting um the school board president of Pitman um I forget her name on the top of my head I put together a uh basically a round table discussion uh for members of the boster County uh
School Community regarding uh the school funding formula and some of the uh challenges that you know um we based here in cler County relative to that formula and uh Mr Smith I attended that meeting and I can tell you it's very
school funding formula I learned a lot from the meeting it's it's a very very complicated and convoluted uh formula that they use um there was some some very interesting facts um one of which that I never knew was they actually
calculate in the uh not only do they calculate your the value of your your overized overall equalized value of your properties within your community there's also separate cation um based on the income of residents of your community so
they they basically put in many many attrition which TR at any point here if I'm saying correctly um there's many many different calculations um on the property side the income side that they also um which was revealing to me about
the student population I was kind of knew stent population played a role in it but I thought it it would be looked at on a year-to-year basis it's actually there's a six look back onto the the student population um so they look at your six prior year uh enrollment and
and use that as one of the figures for the calculation there's also different uh coefficients used for different uh students you know um English language Learners non- English language Learners um and then they have a
geographical um uh analysis they do and some sort of percentage I'm cor you remember that some sort of geographical adjustment they they take for each County um and I guess at the end of the day they put all this information into some fancy machine spits out when our
state number is um but nobody seems to understand exactly how that that works um I would assume that's a correct statement right yes there are some arbitrary um pieces of information that get there as opposed to a simp right so
the purpose of the meeting was um you there all all these politicians are always looking at you know changing the funding formula and making it more consistent and uh I think that was like time of takeway that I took that that people you know obviously aren't H happy if they lose funding and U they want to
be uh funded the the the full extent they're entitled to but one of the the hardest things to deal with is the inconsistency and the unpredictability of the swings to funding um luckily we haven't experience to to that year but I believe there's some
districts that um have have experienced it much worse um and and lost great amount of funding compar you know what we lost here in our district our cumulative lost over whatever my spreadsheet is um roughly
about $1.2 million to lose least we did not that right so I don't know if anybody have any questions uh on that but um we have I have a bunch of paperwork provided to
share members try um the other item I had um real quick I know I told you I keep you guys up datting municial stuff um there is a piece of property uh there's only a small portion of it that fronts on
neighbor it's across from our our school on Main Road and when I first started there was a developer looking property when my first ini initial thought was this isn't another marijuana application um and half report it wasn't um they
developer came in they're looking at do possibly cold storage or Warehouse use property however the what they're proposing looks like all the access will be on the the r um side of the prop I don't think it will really have an
impact on um on our school on the I just wanted to mention that and then the the last thing I have is um you'll see attached in my report there's a resolution and uh that resolution is for doesn't again it doesn't directly affect
us here in Frank Township if it's our board however that's a resolution for the approval of a development in he countship which will have pretty significant on forward to read through it
essentially they're building a parment complex uh 276 residential units which obviously you know defitely I I missed what you said how many uh DR Horton has received approvals um this P this past
month for I believe the addition of 96 some uh units in Al Township uh 685 of them are restricted restricted to 55 over however there is a a portion that's 276 residential apartment Garden style
apartment units that are not restricted um so they'll be available from for folks of any age um which obviously those those units will probably uh account for peace and increasing the enrollment of students but for you know he CS Elementary School and moving
forward so um just something mention um with that I don't have anything else is there any questions if not um Mr B everybody just wanted to uh
congratulate our educators of the year one more time uh we have many fine Educators across this District I mean it's really impressive this that when I started just seeing the level of instruction and care that goes into U making prank what it is so
congratulations to um our Educators the year kudos to all some sitting over there tonight also wanted to thank uh Trish Birmingham next to me you may not used to um clean AUD reps they don't
always happen my district sometimes challenge you get U electrical audit findings to have a clean audit is really presentation speaks to her level of professionalism her and her staff they do a great job I know uh very seriously
with the stewards of the of the taxpayers money uh to get a clean audit is really uh special so thankk uh just want to talk uh we have one snow dat make up right now uh snow coming uh possibly Tuesday night into
Wednesday from what I'm saying 4 to 6 in right now um no decision has been made on when will be making up that day it's always my uh philos to wait till everything happens so I'm really shooting for a large date to talk about
when we'll make a uh at least one no day get more uh you never know until through so that's in the works we are working on the 25 26 Calendar um working with the Association members to and administration to get
this uh finalize I plan that something in front of the board in March with a solid recommendation I did send you a draft copy of uh where we're headed uh that's not a final recommendation but I want you know that we are trying to align with delce as best we
can uh the staff is also working on a cell phone policy updating that that policy to reflect what's happening with our uh our our students and if dely is going in One Direction where they're looking to use those pouches to uh
restrict self out access um we're not leaning that way yet but important for principles to come up with something that makes sense for our kids there's a great book by Dr Jonathan hate called the anxious generation came out last
year um it'll scare the T out of any parent that wants to read about what social media and cell phone use are doing to our kids it's uh it's pretty ey but it's a it's a great book um some of that thinking will go into our policy we
will make a recommendation to the policy committee and then have it uh ready for board approval we're trying to get that done Ted by what we say April so we can go to your Cod of contact is that our goal correct ultimately we would like to be able to to speak with the policy
committee hopefully in March um if not April at the latest so this way we could have two months for it to go into our we had discussion I had a discussion with board members about making sure that our code of conduct aligns directly with our policy moving forward so that's
something we want to keep as a goal um the other committee that we're working on is an AI committee it's something that we all use on a daily basis you may not know it but cell phones um GPS a lot of AI is built into that grammarly and everything else that
that is available um and if we're using it as adults you know our kids are using it we want to come up with a policy that meets um the needs of our staff and the needs of our kids it makes a lot of sense we had one meeting we're meeting
again in a couple weeks um we're really looking at that academic Integrity piece our kids using AI to cut Corners to take shortcuts um answer math problems write an essay whatever it may be um and how
much is allowable and how much should we pull back on um again trying to use common sense uh and best for our students and staff because we have to model that kind of behavior so those are the two hot topics that we will be
recommendations on in the coming months uh just good news in this District um even though I'm not an Eagles fan congratulations there all Eagle fans out there uh my mother was and my older sister is uh Eagle fans um
but uh last week on Friday uh it was a lot of fun a lot of kids wearing their their jerseys and their hats and their sweatshirts just having a lot of fun and I was talking to a bunch of teachers you know we're here of course to teach reading math everything else but those
are the days the kids going remember you know going to a pep rally at Ritter just walking the Halls seeing that their teachers are actually humans too and like to watch football and do those kinds of things it was just a great spirit around all three buildings so I
do want to thank our administrators and our staff for making that happen it's really a a Hallmark of this District um just a great celebration like I said those are the days kids will remember and join us to see those memories being made um almost on a daily
basis thank you all thank you don't you brought it up in your report um I can bring it up later you had said you were there's no snow day there's no date yet to make up there I know there's something listed on the
calendar that's appr calendar why would we why would we from that that last year um because the one thing I heard to started here was was staff retention staff retention um and speaking to our leaders
um our our teacher leaders and and our our support staff um some things have been done in the past that treated them less than professional accoring to that um and we
can get into it uh after but because of that um there was a flexibility was taken away in creating the new calendar and in working with the staff for a short amount of time and I
think showing them respect and understanding of where they are as as parents and as employees we've been able to build some flexibility next year's schedule so much so that we're better to align with with
Del um I don't think being people up for lack of better term is the way to go you get more um flies with h do with v that's not always been the the thinking uh before I took over a superintendent
so that's why because I take offense to that I'm telling you I'm noty to the that you have had but I've been this in this District a lot longer than you have and I innovated at all times when things come up with parents teachers support
staff giv us the good and giv us the bad and I've never ever ever heard anybody have a complaint that you just describe so I would like more information that's all secondly we board approve that calendar that's not for anyone to to change except this
board microphone sorry apologize we we board approved the calendar working yours working you hear me anything nothing we
board approved the calendar this board board approved the calendar last year the dates are printed on there for parents and the teachers and the support staff to go by I don't think anything should be changed before it's brought to this board board appr the calendar last
year it is aligned with Del the one major thing we hear all the time is why are our days different we had this conversation when we didn't have the delay that dely had so to arbitrarily decide to change that to
bring to the board and alls appropriate nothing's been changed yet no recognation has come to and when it does a full explanation of why parents have this on here as a parent every year I had a child in this
District I knew if I was going to schedule something that day went back on I have this printed and in my in my kitchen cabinet in my note Center I would go and put that date right back on because I knew that day was going back
home calendar I always thought it was silly that we I don't remember which it is one of our contracts doesn't align that you can't add the you can't add the day back on to president's weekend but we be going back to school Friday and not
having a day off and making up that day so I don't know why would even be a recommendation that this has changed when this board approved it last year again no recommendation has come I don't know why and a lot of things that have to have to work out that's one day
we may have two days three days and the second day is on here and the third day and the fourth day so I don't know why no recation I'm not sure why you have you know we have to approve the change of the calendar we already approved the
calendar just for clarity the calendar has been approved to still the calendar as of today um any changes to that calendar would have to be approved by the board corre that I I understand that right your position is I don't know why need
to make a change you don't even want anyone to recommend it I don't know why there me I can explain that to you this information came to me it's very discussion goes into the retention of Staff members and I think is very important yeah for change
BEP change right we're not Reinventing a wheel here but there might be good reasons to make other considerations that you didn't know about origin interested keep mind but I didn't expect an inter superintendent to change
our calendar not really about the possibility well just just for Clear we we need to change calendar calar without recommendation there's no need to change the calendar been our policy for how many years yeah no I'm saying our calendar it's our calendar
change people in our district don't feel heard or feel mistreated I've never heard that word ever used in a conversation about any right um any other or questions on that uh
next item is our NJ SBA representative report Mrs Brown you have anything from NJ I'm I but um on March 21st uh a second Ann woman leadership conference at VIR
County Conference Center um at the County College from 9:30 so anyone interested again on March 21st it's a women's leadership it is second any board leison
report we have our minutes listed from our regular board meeting of the 15 there any changes on minutes if not make a motion to approve am is listed all second second all in favor any uh Human Resources
Mr ask to approve each through 11 asist um we have our second reading of the policy that we reviewed last meeting any questions on any of those any other comments if not make a motion to approve human resource items each one3 each
recommended by the superintendent by second there any other comments call J yes C yes yeso yes Brown yes Wilson yes Smith yes
yes yes motion all right education items any rision there iard to approve I make Aion to approve education items i1 through I5 recomend by the second
second any comments by board member for question not loyal yeso yes yes Brown yes Wilson yes Smith yes star yes Chini yes Cunningham yes
yes all right uh chair Administration matter no changes yeah no changes I do have um full ssds report here to look at it um but all in all um very low U
vandalism hi issues happen in this District again it's a great place to to work come to school every day um and the uh courts support that uh without make to approve General Administration items G1 through G7
recommended by the superintendent to have a second second uh any questions Wilson yes Smith yes star yes yes Cam yes
yes foro yes yes motion cares we have operation yep uh K1 is claims one bill list and be the month of January ad
234 reflected for mon December 2024 budg transfers C report and Bo secetary report item number five is still none are still working but real time and I think we are getting closer to having the uh culations and categories correct
for the NJ students um so hopefully next six is none seven is none eight we have one out of District home service number n there also one commiss
for 10 11 is none 12 is none 13 use facilities the M Ro PTO family night and the CLR PTO C 14 is none and 15 is the annual audit as presented
previously operations uh there any more questions on the I did 4 I don't know if that's 47 I'm not sure did they charge us for the use of their
facility yes we are yes I just saw that on here I didn't know I must have missed it on the other on I was wondering if they charged them I think state was able to give user how much want to say
4200 yeah give or yes uh any question I question you're not prep that's fine address later but every once in a
while I'll just go P something out the agenda about um so this particular time I the okay I notic a lot of people receive two P yes why is that um some people do
extra um coverage be overtime forication PS um PRS anything else did you what oh
I that you separate that from reg right have questions if you just to go back to that kind of break down the codes where it say check description and amount is coverage so that person
cover substitute teacher yeah a lot of lot of stuff all right hear any other questions I'll make a motion to approve operations committee K1 for K by second
second comments Smith yes yes CH St all coming you yes Jo yeso yes yes sorry my voice kind Wilson yes
BR yes motion car thank you um old business uh work goals anyone yearly planning calendar there for your review we have stuff coming up as far as the budget
season and whatnot um visibility stud regionalization validation is there anyone have any comments on that I sure I've already made a note I think oh okay okay so um it may sound
like a broken record but I'm just going to make a statement um as many of you know at our last meeting five uh of the E4 members voted against bringing the bid question to the community to vote
um you know just as s disappointed is an understatement um I do believe it is up to the community to decide uh what they want and not to eat people sitting at the table with that being said um the question that keeps coming up
over and over and over again that I hear from the board members at this table as well as some members in the community are the numbers what what's it going to cost to match the salaries what's it going to cost what's it going to cost I feel like I hear that all the time um and kind of said it's a very difficult
number to pain lot of moving pieces um I did not realize but apparently dely administration had come up with some approximate numbers that was presented to the yearing Committees of the three districts um but was not brought to this board I don't know why it was not
brought to this board um but Trish attached it for me for this meeting so for those who like look at what it could approximately cost there it is one clarification in your statement
no numbers were ever presented to this hearing committee that's not that's not really accurate that is completely ACC Jason these numbers provided us conf that wait a minute wait minute wait minute Mr was
not there Mr was no no no I'm talking about I don't want to I don't want to argue about it can I so you go say what you want to say and then I'll say go ah you go ahead no repetitively in both in public portions
public settings and private settings in the steering committee I repetitively asked if these numbers were available to review and I said it meetings here I said in steering committee meetings I said in the public for and I'm not the only person to ask about these
calculations never ever were these calculations provided at any time during the course of any of those meetings perod and if there's proof otherwise I'd like to see it right now that it was
provided can you provide that I was not only can you provide electronic proof how did I get these within days they these are lots of numbers I would I would I would seriously like to know that where did you get these and how did you get them when steering committee wasn't able to get them the public
wasn't I think it's my turn so I think it's my turn who is your your secret source source I just ask questions and I a and I want to get the information so I go out there and I get the information understand this this is the proof I I I want to thank you for
providing the proof that we made the right decision that these numbers were never provided okay we have a study that uses the word cost savings and now you provided a number of $1.7 million it's going to cost our community not
including support stat not including Transportation not including um health benefits none of those calculations were in these numbers that the mysteriously have appeared now mysteriously appeared okay
so this is these numbers were never provided now Mrs shank lini now she all of a sudden she knows about the numbers why about the numers let me me can I can I talk sure you guys are
ready sitting at that meeting approximately 8 months ago the S the um it was before that I apologize 8 months before we stopped having the meetings which was October which then I was not permitted to discuss and or we
had no meetings afterward um because we were laying duck for one person see who is now sitting here just sit now interestingly Jason it may have been before you started attending
comms Joe Collins specifically gave us a number that included taking just Franklin's teachers placing them on the scale not exactly step to step because you cannot do
that but so that they would reach top the scale CER he gave us a ballpark of just Franklin teachers Jason you're right not including benefits not including uh administrators it was just that bottom
number you see on that t approximately 400 Grand and if I I recall from the very beginning I remember anybody saying that regionalization was going to save everybody all this money but it but
that was it never was said but we're missing the point the voters need to decide wait I didn't I'm not finished does the 1 million that would include putting everybody up on
salary but the 400 is improving teachers only Franklin not El so I keep saying I know I heard this number somewhere in October Joe and F both said yeah we did say that number so far ago you're
thinking Jason about when we were at dely and nobody would give us that number we were that a month on when we were at that big meeting nobody would provide that number since Brian's been on that number hasn't been brought out again but that number was in the back of
my head for since maybe January I wish I had my notes cuz I'd go back and tell you that that number is a dropping than I compared to those things so I'm just saying whether these numers mbers came out of wherever however it's almost a
Mot point isn't it there five members sitting around this board don't want to do it so why are we even talking about Alicia because nobody the majority don't want to do it and even if they did I'm not convinced that Mr Brant would lead us there because he doesn't want to do it so why are we even talking about it
anymore let's not talk about it anymore that's my opinion let's just drop it and I'm sorry because you know how I feel about it I'll stand by what I said those numbers were never provided to I committ if they were given the numbers then they chose not to share them with
everybody I'm going to interview wait a minute I wasn't a part of any of it but I wed at the people and I have members point fingers at each other who because they didn't point fingers back we're not going Al Alicia made a statement that these numbers were provided to the
committee she never said that they were withheld by anyone specific did you why they weren't provided I I don't know why they were not brought to our board I would like to know the same thing but I know why because nobody was driving the
bus and when you get in a situation like we were in and everybody's waiting for somebody else to take the lead and drive the bus I don't know if it was Trish's not coming to us I don't know if it was Troy not coming to us or Jeff but guess what Jeff was never involved so was it
my place was it Michelle's was ajacent I don't know I don't know why it didn't happen but as of October 18th it was never going to happen and that's when they confirm that number because that was floating around in the back it's it's a move Point drop it I'm
sorry that's just my opinion because five people don't want to do it they don't want the public to decide they want to decide so that's my that's it I'm not going to argue that no I'm done moving we have a new business I'm just going to say I didn't are you weren't
there some the first meeting let me ask you a question just say I'm not saying we're not no no you listen I'm not done you listen you were not there for some of the meetings there were discussions
about salaries salaries could not be correlated as Barb already said numbers were thrown out we were never given a friend we were never shown data like this but discussions were me about the fact that you could not pinpoint how much it would
be you could give maybe if we gave them this much it would be the 1.7 if we only did the teachers it would be about four those discussions occur so you concur that these numbers were never provided in writing to the steering committee I don't know who they were provided to
they were probably provided to somebody not to the steing okay thank you that's all I wanted to confirm is that we did not get these number maybe you should push higher I I mean I asked 20 times for that impossible how much should iush I
was these AR from these are from Del dely went and did the work because we were on them about so asking more now they don't have if dely had the information why didn't they give it to us I don't know you should ask the
why Administration didn't talk to the other Administration would you like to tell us where you got your number from so we can ask you don't Administration you were told these numbers existed and then all of a sudden I went out and I asked I asked
Trish to reach out the Dy Administration and get the numbers and they were there that's not what your email said that's what I did Trish I I need no question I asked your email specifically said someone from dely told you that his number 6 Administration told me they
existed I didn't see that it's not my place to ask for the number so I asked Trish can you please reach out who would the Del Administration advise you these numbers were available who advised me yeah who in the Del Administration told you these numbers were available what does that matter I think I think it's
relevant I don't think I don't think is it a secret Now secrets name the numbers well none of us could get them and all of a sudden your secret Source D Administration that no one asked right I asked for them
20 times at least 20 times you have an email where you sent I have a video I can show you where I asked for in a public setting you were there you were there you were there you were there they had of course they had it then they told you they had before I started attending
committee well the people with the numbers were sitting the audience in in sat Sil so okay that that meeting was put on by Rowan Rowan didn't compile the numbers Rowan didn't bring the numbers because Rowan didn't work on the numbers so Rowan giving that meting wouldn't
have had access to that did you reach out to the ad the people that had the numbers sat in that meeting they heard the question asked and no point that they off my question because you interrupted me did you did I wasn't fin did you ever
email Joe or friend I that mle do you ever email them and ask our board my board members are asking me for numbers do they exist I verbally I'll give the sworn after the David that I ver asked for those numbers multiple
times at multiple steering committe meeting okay suddenly nobody was driving the bus that's all I'm going to say so nobody knew who to ask what when and we and half then we had two superintendent leave we had issues with with Newfield
and and and I'll be honest it was it was quite a word of there so we did the best we could as a steering committee all of us and it's just a move point we got to stop talking about
yes the those are the expenses um the governor's address is still scheduled for Tuesday the 25th of February therefore we should still get the numbers stting figures on Thursday February 27th have not heard that those
days will be pushed back so that expected um we did meet with the health insurance burer in this current year our health insurance increased about 5.34% um estimate about 7% at this point
and that's r well so stay for that again 22 teaching staff members that benefits and we have two support staff members that will be eligible also so 24 total staff members eligible for benefits the difference that I before is about
$25,000 from single to family um Bas that $600,000 how many members 24 total sta members 22 um go 600,000 is that or
without that is without yes about a little bit over 50% of the budget health benefits are now coming up to the estimated at about 20% um again those just will be finalized reviewed child study team costs are up about $1.2
million that was not taken into account any Ida funds or Grant funds yet that used are used to offset those um in the school budgets we have Clayton model jier and Le Road at
$21,000 each Transportation includes one new wheelchair bus at 136,000 and one new white he vanand at 100,000 obviously cheaper rout um I have I don't have those um we don't have any contingencies
added in yet for a special ed Transportation obviously I need to look at the child study team budget to mat students into the transportation budget um repairs and maintenance budgets it's typically funded with
maintenance Reserve um we did use $371,000 in the current budget um with the numbers that m presented um with the available funds to take us down the 2% there was a $215,000 in deposit into the maintenance
Reserve so we have about 178,000 available for use in the 2025 budget 2526 budget uh curriculum instruction and dis slate increase for PD as that was usually covered previously covered by S
funds um also tutoring is included in that um again previously covered has a fund gr um technology budget have a slight increase for added security for email filtering software as well as funds for
three work parts for potential repairs as they are now 5 or 6 years old um just a reminder the 2% tax levy increase equals about $253,000 um again the a has come out but
it's to be pretty I'm sure what I keep hearing um don't have any c not do the new field tuition yet that's still be again that covers around 2 million yes but they have they paid
us so we'll take that um that's pretty much the that I any any questions for hearing none I'll move on to our agenda we have our public second public comment section um please remember the
board's limit ability to respond to the public on the following matters Personnel anticipated impendent litigation negotiations attorney privilege unwanted invasion of priv individual privacy tactics and techniques and protecting safety and property of the public with that make
motion we the public second all in favor I is there anyone from the public like to address board good evening I know you guys were here at 6 o' CL so thank you for for your patience and apologize for confusion Call if you could just please
state your name so we have record absolutely U my name is Renee Klein I'm rich Klein so we're here today um to speak to the board because our seveny old son was a victim of physical abuse by his
teacher back in December in this District since then as you stated we have little to no information on the Personnel outcome of the teacher in the district most importantly we're here to ensure that there have been formal steps have been taken place in the entire
School District ensuring that all staff know their legal obligation as a mandatory reporter of any and all potential abuse of of children most importantly to be assured that formal training has been done or
can be arranged to this district for the proper handling of children and especially those with IEPs and with disabilities whether this incident has been deemed as a oneoff incident or Rogue event my son's safety integrity
and self-esteem was put into Jeopardy and our family in turmoil we feel that where else is there better to put resources but to ensure that the teachers especially those directly involved in the care of children with
disabilities are completely supported and our children are kept safe and I leave that open to the board for your consideration for any resources I'm an educator myself um and I know that a lot of resources go into that but
I do feel that um it rather than just pointing a finger we provide the support and resources to our teachers that they're able to properly handle a situation that occurred with my son thank you very i' tell you know
board on your situation obviously we can't discuss it you know detail specifically but um you know all all action you know taking we take your comments into consideration there
thank you for your comments thank you for your time and again I apologize for confusion not here for an hour We're 2 minutes down the road thank you anyone else in the public wish to comment all I make a motion to close a
second public comment second all in favor our next scheduled meeting is February 19th that be a work session which will be the administration bu com the um after our he discussion about
numbers and consolidation and just and moving on for it um I make motion to the start superintendent SE superintend clear down they can't hear you I'm sorry I
forgot I said after our heated discussion with the consolidation and we've all kind of realized that it's kind of a move point shini I would like to make a motion to start a superintendent search second option okay
there's a motion by Mrs star uh to proceed uh with the superintendent search uh to fill the superintendent position uh permanently second by Mrs um any for member comments or questions regard
that my only comment on I made the motion but my comment will be the same comment that I had when Mr Walton was still here we're the only board that has something that we have to complete we're the board that has work to do everybody else has their leadership in place we
knew we knew with Mr Walton leaving with this being a possibility that we were going to be views in inter didn't have that problem because they were going to hire somebody because if we Consolidated that person was going to be our superintendent so we have been trading water as a board for more than a year
now waiting for this outcome to delay it makes no sense we need a leader if everybody here wants to move on this is the direction we move on proceeding this vote will I guess dep out we we can have discussions either
this evening or 19th that's the have proceed in whatever Direction obviously my only comment is um that we have quite a few different things we've been looking at as board um
and I think you and I discussed this and you know they live simultaneous right and I you know told you that make this comment um that you know regarding the budget season uh we now maybe looking uh at doing a superintendent search um we've been
talking about uh preschool expansion um so we have a lot of things going on um I don't know that I'm not saying that we can't necessarily do them all simultaneously uh however you know um we
may want to consider focusing on one item or the other uh moving forward to give our full attention to that's why I'm conf my Obion or anything want put that out there I think we can
that I think it's our job to do yes we have strong Administration work with them we can do this I think it's a great idea that at the work session we really tease out a plan I think that's a great idea because we have to have yeah because I'm
assuming that you're with that your your goal would be for like a July to see right we have to see but the problem is it's not a two Monon process it takes many months it's going to take many months even if we had started it when we knew Mr Walton was going to
leave but we waited on our work to be done and hiring a leader for this District because other districts were I don't mean to be derory but you know they their plan and their process sure did no we're that so now here we
are the work needs to be done to delay it any longer is just no no no I'm not suggesting I'm agreeing with Mr sh your point that if we move forward with this we need to move forward viously because we want soon rather later
right we can agree yeah I know you guys that yeah um but again I just you know I do have reservations that you know our Focus
we don't do training as a board so we we can fill that case we don't have to worry about superintendent evaluation okay there you go all right so any other questions there's a motion by start and second
by yes yes Doyle yes foso yes Brown yes Wilson yes Smith yes star yes BR yes um that being said you want to quickly discuss next steps
what to do with it um Mar was that Facebook I don't know if I can absorb all this to come out the list of things that we want in a superintendent right well I think we first have to decide how we're going to go about doing that's why I think we need to wait
till the work session when and decide all that then that's just my opinion what why don't we reach out to our new school board uh representative since it's not carrying more and get okay
and when they get back to you if it's at the pleasure of the board that Miss Birmingham can reply that we are interested in we will be conducting a superintendent search can you give us an idea of what your services would provide they'll come in they'll come in we went
to you the one me at school board's meeting were you there too there were like three or four of us there the superintendent search they do a beautiful job but you know that's Gwen Gwen does this phenomenal job for right so but if we have it to present to all
the new members there versus what does it look like if we undertake the task on our own or with another agent right exactly like agent I've just been informed that actually Mr did this once
so he can assist us as well in terms of process of procedure typically what you would want to do is decide how you're conducting the search you doing yourselves or are you bring in a third party if you bring a third party
uh you you'll probably have you have go so um my point doesn't have to be school boards doing interview those folks decide go that be at that point we start
posting so we have an idea of what school boards can provide and who else is what else is buil what else is out there that's our first step we used other agencies have come in at Point
meetings their services is this something we form a committee for orally do anything sorry I'm interrupt no um you would typically former superintendent search committee and then you guys can depending on how you want to end right so you can either
have a committee and committee resum they're doing separately um commit do the first round of interviews have this the second however however you want to do the process but you discuss it the full board and then get the commit
Direction on the agenda something want to throw out to the board to consider between now our next meeting um I had the opportunity to participate um when Del hired their current
superintendent they to put a little commity together and um had different stakeholders I think it's something we should seriously consider uh doing in this case as well however that is uh from you know the the teachers um sport
staff and Community Representatives but that's what the group does ex individual right and um and have you know some stakers involved in the process not
hiring a super but establishing you know what the criteria of what we're looking for in a super right which is cor yeah I'm saying it involves parties from outside of the board allers exactly um and we could put that
together and see we want to maybe we need to have somebody from the municipal government um almost similar to like a smaller scale we did strategic plan um so that'll be question
just uh hearing second than