Okay, Barbara, are you ready? Sure. Andrew, are we ready? [Music] Okay. The board met tonight in executive session. We're now ready to continue with the public portion of our meeting.
Um, we have since our last meeting on April 1st, we have not received any public correspondence. Um the president's report will be hopefully short because we have the budget coming up. Uh it is continues to be the celebration season in Glenidge with banquetss, induction ceremonies,
honors, etc. It is um a happy time of year, full calendars, full hearts. Um, I want to point out that on April 8th, I went to a presentation at the Richard Advill Elementary School um by one of
the last remaining Holocaust survivors, a gentleman who survived the Holocaust as a four-year-old child, survived it as a four-year-old child at Ashvitz. and um is the gentleman Michael Bournestein who has a grandson at at Raz wrote a book
with his um daughter called the true story of a very young prisoner of Ashvitz, Michael Bournestein. And what I want to tell you is that when it was an hourlong presentation and the auditorium was full of Rididgewood Avenue kids and
during the presentation you could hear a pin drop in the auditorium. They were respectful. They were wrapped. They were attentive. It was just an amazing testament to what our children are at their best.
And I was so impressed. I called Kyle. I I was just it it blew the presentation was moving. It brought me to tears. It blew me away. But the kids, it was the kids. It was their response. Um that was just incredible. So that's our
students. And um and we should remember that. And finally, uh, I want to note the the passing of Anna Arlington, mother of our superintendent, Kyle Arlington. Um, we just as
you give us a full measure of your care and concern, we send our care and concern to you and your family. Thanks, Betsy. And now, a superintendent's report. Yeah, I appreciate that that note and the support of the board and the community at this difficult time for my
family. Uh before we get into budget news, looking forward to sharing a few different updates and highlights that include many celebrations across our schools. Uh several of which are around student achievement, student achievements in the
arts, STEM, and sustainability. Major recognitions for our elementary schools through capturing kids hearts and continued efforts to strengthen homeschool partnerships through our student services workshops. As always, these are just snippets of representative samples of merely some of
the good work happening across our schools. I'll start with uh Glenidge High School. Congratulations to students advancing to the student teen arts program. Uh their work was show uh also the GRHS concert band was also selected and their work was showcased at the
women's club advanced student art show. Congratulations to those artists who had their impressive work displayed at that event. My slide isn't matching. Apologies. Thank you. Uh, National Honor Society induction ceremony uh, for the high school will take place tomorrow evening
at RAZ. Congratulations to all of tomorrow's inductees who work so hard to get there. Finally, congratulations to seventh graders who represented the high school at the Essex Middle School at the Essex County Environmental Cent's Earth Day celebration in the
Gartage contest, which sounds like a lot of fun. Uh congratulations to all sixth graders for their uh STEM fair uh projects. I got to see many of them and it was a great example of future ready learning in action. I saw everything from
umbrellas for dogs uh to information that I never knew about before about lie detector tests. Uh students are participating in our first ever Rubik's cube challenge this week at RAZ which seems pretty cool. Uh Trep's marketplace was a huge success showcasing student
entrepreneurship. Uh March Madness recess tournament winners were celebrated and August Shonberg placed second in the regional geography B. So congratulations to Alex. August sorry. Uh Lynon Avenue School, Forest Avenue School, and Central School all just got
really exciting word uh that all three schools have been recognized as rising star recognition schools from capturing kids hearts. The award is given to those uh schools who are in their first year of implementation and have shown great success and commitments to the tenants of the program. Uh thank you to our
building principles, teachers, and staff for their strong commitment to the program and approach. We've heard lots about it throughout the school year and that that work has been really exciting to see blossom and grow. And of course, thank you to the Glen Ridge Education Foundation for funding this important work. Bringing capturing kids hearts to
Glen Ridge wouldn't have been possible without the support of the foundation. Uh, some quick snippets from the primary schools. The spring book fair at Lynden in partnership with Watchdog Book Sellers was a huge success. So, thanks to the HSA. Earthweek activities
included outdoor ecology crafts, building bug hotels that I got to see in action, uh, which was pretty cool. Uh, garden cleanup and science lessons focus on earth stewardship at Forest Avenue Schools. Uh these past weeks, students enjoyed an outdoor learning experience
through the uh coupe to classroom program with Monontlair Community Farms learning about local food systems and sustainability. Happy to round out this good news with some updates from Central. Uh the Central School Ha hosted
a spring book fair and parrot night featuring student artwork. Uh students enjoyed the Dino Rocks assembly and an interactive visit from author Brian Yanish during Read Across America Week. Uh the garden committee efforts continue to enhance outdoor learning spaces with blooming flower bulbs and future plans
to expand uh usable outdoor areas, which I think is really exciting for the for the central community. And this past week, the student services department hosted its 11th evening parent workshop of the year. Continuing efforts to support strong homeschool partnerships
and provide families with resources for student success. Uh thank you to the comm uh for the continued support of the community as we celebrate student achievements and strengthen uh our work collectively. Uh going to transition to
something a little more informational. Uh the budget. Uh Mrs. Murphy is going to present in detail on the budget. Uh but happy to give a preview of some of the work instead of context for what you're about to see. Uh budget is a complex design challenge, one that requires us to evaluate needs versus
wants, align spending with our district priorities, and make difficult decisions to ensure fiscal responsibility while keeping students at the center. This budget does that work. It keeps students at its center. Tonight's presentation shows how, offering a blueprint rather
than a fixed plan. It lays out where we are, where we need to be, and how we can best allocate our resources to sustain the high-quality education our students deserve. We recognize that New Jersey state funding formula remains problematic, presenting additional
hurdles as we work to fund essential programs and services along with unfunded state mandates. At the same time, we are contending with rising costs across nearly all areas of district expenditures from contractual obligations and health benefits to the increasing cost of facilities
maintenance and instructional programming to rising costs associated with professional services. Despite these financial pressures, we remain committed to sustaining high academic standards. uh ensuring strong academic, social, and emotional support for
students, maintaining robust curriculum and extracurricular activities, addressing critical facilities and infrastructure needs, and identifying efficiencies that preserve the student experience while maximizing our available resources. As outlined here in this slide, these budget goals were
driving forces in our planning work. This budget avoids major disruptions to student learning, if any, maintains our tradition of excellence, and enhances the innovation work we want to engage in moving forward. To get there, we had to scour every available resource, prioritizing initiatives that align with
our district's long-term long-term vision and ensuring any reductions reflect thoughtful efficiencies rather than programmatic sacrifices. Our approach is not just about balancing numbers. It's about designing a budget that supports our commitment to high-quality teaching and learning and
ensures our students, faculty, and staff have access to the resources they need to thrive. I want to extend my sincere gratitude to the leadership team, the finance committee, and especially our business administrator, Barbara Murphy, for their long, hard hours and tireless
efforts in shaping this budget. Their work ensures that we take a measured and strategic approach to our financial planning, allowing us to move forward with both confidence and clarity. With that, I'll turn it over to Miss Murphy, who'll walk us through the details of
the tentative budget. Good evening. Our tradition of excellence. So, I'm proud to share some highlights that reflect the exceptional performance and dedication of our students and staff. First, we're thrilled to report that 100% of the Glenidge High School class of 2024
graduated. A testament to the strength of our academic programs and student support systems. Academic rigor continues to be a cornerstone of our high school experience. 86% of our 11th and 12th grade students are enrolled in one or more advanced
placement courses. Among them, 68 AP scholars. 29 earned this distinction of an AP scholar with honor. 57 were recognized as AP scholars with distinction. 19 students earned the
prestigious AP capstone diploma. And two of our students achieved international diplomas. We also want to recognize the 35 seniors who earned the New Jersey Department of Education seal of biiteracy, demonstrating their prof proficiency in multiple language
languages. In addition, our computer science program was honored with the college board's AP computer science female diversity award recognizing our efforts to expand access and close the gender gap in STEM education.
Finally, we were proud to see the Glenbridgeidge High School ranked number 11 in New Jersey and number 198 nationally by New US News and World Report in their 2024 high school rankings. A reflection of the sustained
excellence that defines our district. Student enrollment data. Since 1920 school year, our district has experienced a steady decline in student enrollment. At that time we had 1862 students enrolled for the 2425 school
year. That number is projected to be is is sorry not projected it is 1748 a decrease of 114 students over five years. To better understand this tren this trend and to
plan for the future we've recently contracted with a firm to conduct a demographic study. The study will analyze population trends, housing developments, birth rates, and other local factors to help us project future enrollment and to make informed
decisions about district resources. Our revenues, the budgeted fund balance we're using to support this budget remains large largely unchanged from last year. We will be utilizing $400,000 from a withdrawal from the
maintenance reserve to fund necessary paving repair projects at Lynen School, Central School, and Ridgwood Avenue School. Also, we're withdrawing 1,329,815 from the capital reserve to support various capital projects, which I will outline in more detail
shortly. Our local tax levy is projected to increase by 3.5%. This increase is necessary to help offset rising costs, particularly in health benefits and salary increases. We are facing a 14% increase in health
benefit costs this year. There are a few allow allowable exceptions to the 2% cap on tax increases that allow districts to exceed the 2% increase without requiring voter approval. One such exception applies to health benefit premium
increases beyond 2%. So, we have been granted this exception which allows us to increase taxes above 2% by $521,000 to help directly offset these additional health benefit premiums. Uh, our tuition revenue
remains largely unchanged and we see a small increase in miscellaneous revenue primarily due to higher interest rates. And additionally, we are very pleased to welcome a 6% increase in state aid in the amount of
142,193. This additional funding will help offset some of the salary increases. Our budget breakdown of the revenue. The pie chart illustrates the composition of our district's revenue sources. The majority
of our budget, 82.7% is funded by the local tax levy. State aid made up makes up just 5.9% of our total revenue. Our budgeted fund balance accounts for 4.8 and the remaining 5% comes from withdrawals from
the capital maintenance capital and maintenance reserves as well as tuition revenue. This breakdown highlights our continued reliance on local tax revenue while also incorporating state aid, reserves, and other funding sources to maintain financial stability and support district
operations appropriations comparison for the general fund. This slide compares the current 2425 budgeted expenditures to the proposed 2526 budget, highlighting key changes and the overall financial outlook.
Salary increases. Almost all account lines include salary increases which contribute to the overall budget adjustments. Regular education instruction is the largest expenditure category with 14,332,000 allocated and remains a
primary focus in the budget. Special education instruction at 2,95,000. This category reflects continued support for special education programs. Instruction other, which is basic skills and bilingual education.
This account shows a 13% increase due to the addition of a part-time multiling lingual teacher in 2425 enhancing our language support services. Co-curriculars and athletics. A modest increase here, primarily due to salary adjustments for staff involved in
co-curricular activities and athletics. Tuition to out of district placements, it sees a slight decrease reflecting our ongoing efforts to maintain tuition costs for specialized placements. Support services. This category includes health services,
related services like speech, OTPT, extraordinary services, guidance, child study team, library media, and teaching staff training. There's a decrease a decrease in expenditures here reflecting fewer
aids administration. This category remains stable with no significant changes expected for the upcoming budget cycle. maintenance and operations, we see a significant incre increase of 19.8%, but this is driven by the $400,000 allocation for paving repairs
at Lynen Central and Ridgwood Avenue schools, which is fully funded by a withdrawal from maintenance reserve. Transportation, there's no significant changes in the transportation budget. It remains steady. Employee benefits. The total
employee benefits increased by 12.5% largely due to a 14% rise in medical benefit premiums. Each year we check our options for health benefit providers to see if there are any potential savings. Unfortunately, this year health benefit costs increased
overall and our lowest cost option remains to be the school employees health benefits plan. Capital outlay. The capital outlay is set to increase reflecting the withdrawal of 1,329,000 from capital reserve to fund
various projects. The total general fund including capital outlay increases by 7.4%. The tax levy increase is $1,24,595 or 3.5%. This budget reflects our strategic
efforts to manage expenditures while maintaining essential services. The budget breakdown by category. The salaries and benefits account for 78% of our budget, which is typical for New Jersey school districts. And those costs are
distributed across all categories except for tuition, capital outlay, and employee benefits. Here's the breakdown of our budget by category. Regular education instruction 34%
special education instruction 7% capital outlay 4% employee benefits 16% transportation 3% maintenance and operations 9% administration 10% support services 11% tuition for out of district
placements 5% co-curriculars and athletics 3% other instruction 1% % capital outlay and projects. Our proposed budget includes the following key capital outlay and
project expenses. Prometheian board $72,000. Copier replacements $53,456. Musical instrument 8,000. Rididgewood Avenue school basement flooring $142,33. High school HVAC upgrades
$217,248. High school partial roof replacement which is over the gyms is $288,200. High school offices flooring and subsequent abatement of the tile uh 61,312 I'm sorry. Yeah.
$61,312. And high school gym bleacher replacement, $244,475. Central school and high school air conditioning replacement and repairs, $518,580. These projects reflect our continued investment in maintaining and improving our school facilities,
enhancing educational technology, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of our infrastructure. Year-over-year budget increases. Overall, the budget for upcoming year reflects several key increases. Salaries and benefit costs
represent the largest increases in our budget. Electric utility rates. We are anticipating a significant increase in electric utility costs due to rising rates. Inflation impact. Overall, we're seeing a general cost general cost increases across various categories as a
result of inflation. New additions, we are adding a onetoone nurse to ensure enhanced student support and care. We will be using a withdrawal from our maintenance reserve to fund muchneeded parking lot repairs and a withdrawal from capital reserve to fund
muchneeded capital outlay projects. Year-over-year budget decreases. The budget for the upcoming year reflects several key decreases. Staff reductions. Due to the rising cost of salaries and benefits, we're implementing staff reductions while still ensuring the continuation of
essential services. Our budget decreases include an elementary school teacher, a part-time technology assistant, and seven par profofessionals. There will also be some reductions in sixth period stipens and curriculum resources. These budget adjustments reflect the ongoing
challenge of balancing rising costs of salaries and benefits with the need to maintain quality education and services for our students. The tax impact of the general fund and debt service levy on an average home assessed at
$674,910 is projected to increase by $41242 for the year or $34.37 per month. This increase reflects the adjustments necessary to fund the proposed budget while maintaining essential services.
Community support. We are extremely grateful for the outstanding support our district receives from the Glenidge community. Our athletic teams and booster clubs have stepped up to provide uniforms, equipment, and supplies that directly benefit our student athletes.
The Glenidge Education Foundation continues to make a significant impact, generously funding initiatives such as Orton Gillingham teacher certification, virtual high school courses, smart executive functioning program, capturing kids hearts training,
and classroom teacher grants. Our home and school associations have provided valuable resources including classroom furniture, coral risers, cafeteria tables, outdoor learning materials, student assemblies, and playground
equipment, all of which enrich our students daily experiences. The Music Parents Association offers dedicated support to our music program and helps fund student scholarships. We're also fortunate to have many other community partners including Grace Gas
Lamp Players and the Glenidge Athletic Association and numerous private donors. We are deeply thankful for this continued generosity. It plays a vital ro role in helping us to provide exceptional opportunities for all our students.
Thank you. And thank you Barbara. Um, now as is our custom, we'll take uh questions from the board first and then we'll have the first question uh public comment period for audience questions. So board members, do you have questions or comments for Barbara?
Okay, thank you. Okay. Uh we will now uh have the first public comment period for questions or comments on agenda items, particularly the budget, but al also other agenda items. Our protocol is the same. For those of you who have been with us
before, uh please step up to the lectern, affirm your Glenidge residents, uh tell us your name. Uh if you represent an organization, let us know about that as well. And then you have two minutes. And I'm hoping that my colleague Kristen will time it.
Yes. Okay. Uh does anyone have uh questions or comments for the board? You're sure about that? Okay. if you think of some as you know we have a public comment period at the end uh for questions or comments on agenda items or other items. So uh with
that um I will also say we have representatives from our donor organizations in the audience. So, uh, many thanks home and school to the foundation. Um, without our donor organizations, we would not be able to flourish in the way that we do. And
thanks to Barbara for the, uh, hard work of assembling the budget. Uh, it is a challenge. We walk the razor's edge in Glenidge every year and, uh, and this year we walk the razor's edge in an atmosphere of uncertainty. So, uh, we're
doubly thankful to Kyle, to Barbara, to our administrators for pulling us through yet again. So, thank you. And now, um, you have we have in our packets, uh, minutes from April 20, uh, I'm sorry,
April 1st, uh, exec session and regular session meeting. Uh, Jocelyn, would you move the minutes? I move item M1. All right. May I have a second? Second. Well, it's a tie. I'll give it to Ray. Um, all right. Uh, I presume, uh, no one
has approached me with, uh, changes to the minutes. Are there any changes to any of the minutes? Okay. Barbara, would you call the role? Miss Akin Wandi. I. Mr. Bonnet. I. Mr. Dinard.
Yes. Mr. Dorenzi? Yes. Miss Gotautle? Yes. Miss Graham? Yes. Miss O'Neal? Yes. Dr. Yarus Ramos I. Miss Ginsburg I. Motion carries. And before we move further, it is not the first meeting of the month, so we don't have committee
and liaison reports, but we do have Maggie, our student rep here. And it is always a pleasure to hear from you, Maggie. Hi, thank you. So AP exams start on Monday and continue until next Friday. Seventh, eighth, and ninth graders had
NJSLA testing this morning, and it continues tomorrow with the rest of the high schoolers arriving at 10:00 a.m. for a delayed opening schedule. As testing is happening, some AP teachers have offered office hours for extra review sessions. All seniors will have
submitted their college decisions by Thursday, and I'm currently working with guidance and administration to plan our annual decision day photo where all of the seniors will wear the shirt of the school that they're committing to. The class of 2025 has decided to go to Six Flags for their senior trip in June. And
the seniors are also currently voting on their class speaker for the graduation commencement ceremony. The art show was last week where students from all of the advanced art courses at the high school were able to showcase their beautiful work from throughout the year. And scholarship opportunities continue to be
posted for seniors in their guidance Google classroom with many deadlines approaching. Thank you. Okay. Thank you board members. Any questions for Maggie? Thanks Maggie. Does anyone else have anything that is extremely timely
from their committees or leaison? Okay. Yeah. I just want to mention that the um the Glenbridge Visual Arts Association um is actively looking for parent volunteers to help organize next year's um fundraising goals. Um their email
address is grva.infoggmail.com for any um any interested parents who would be willing to help out in keeping the scholarships and activities going for those students. And they also reminded me that we have
the um Glenbridge art and ecoair coming up in um midmay on May 17th and the GRVA table will have um the GRVA will have a table there with um an art supply basket raffle. All of that money will go towards their scholarship. And I also
wanted to echo that um Lyndon um Lyndon gave me sent me a bunch of great notes, but I know we're um pressed for time. They mentioned National Reading Month, which I know Kyle touched on. Um they are um running a used sneaker drive um
um for sneakers that can be dropped off that will be recycled. Um and that the HSA is actively recruiting volunteers for roles for the 2025 2026 school year. So any Lynen parents who are interested in getting involved should reach out. Um
and I think that's it. I did also get an update from Gas Lamp that um they completed their spring program that was um a big success. They're going up for their summer camps. They're going to be reaching out soon to request space for the fall for fall programming. They're
already getting parent um inquiries about the ne next about programs for next year. And they also remain grateful for support of um of all the Glenbridge schools especially all the staff that help um make their performances a success. Okay. Thank you. All right,
moving along on our agenda, we have administrative items. Uh Kristen, would you move the administrative item items rather? I'll move A1 and A2. All right, may I have a second? Second. Second. Um, any comments on administrative items
from board members? Okay, Barbara, would you call the role? Miss Akim Wandi? I. Mr. Bonnet, I. Mr. Dinard, yes. Mr. Dorenzi, yes. Miss Gotautle, yes. Miss Graham, yes. Miss O'Neal, yes.
Dr. Yaris Ramos, hi. Miss Ginsburg, yes. Motion carries. Anthony, would you move the personnel items? I would will move P1 through P13 in addition to the agenda items in
for P1, P3, and P14. Okay. Okay. May I have a second? Second from Jocelyn. In keeping with um our policies and the board member code of ethics, uh personnel items are discussed in exec session. Uh that being the case, Barbara, would you call the
role? Miss Akinwandi, I. Mr. Bonnet, yes. Mr. Dinard, yes. Mr. Dorenzi, yes. Miss Gotautle, yes. Miss Graham, yes. Miss O'Neal, yes. Dr. Yarus Ramos, hi. Miss Ginsburg I.
Motion carries. All right. Heather, would you move the curriculum item? Sure. I move C1, including item G on the Okay. May I have a second? Second. I think Trisha got there first. Yes. Thank you. Uh, any questions or comments
from the board on these uh curricular items which look absolutely wonderful? Questions. All right, Barbara, would you call the role? Ms. Akinwandi. Hi. Mr. Bonnet. Yes. Mr. Dinard.
Yes. Mr. Dorenzi. Yes. Miss Gotautle. Yes. Miss Graham. Yes. Miss O'Neal. Yes. Dr. Yarus Ramos. Hi. Miss Ginsburg. I. Motion carries. Before we move on to the business items, I want to draw your attention to the items listed under B5.
Uh, donations from our friends at the Glenidge Education Foundation. um they are donating make a generous donation of additional money for capturing kids hearts program which you heard described earlier tonight uh in the amount of three uh $3,600. So uh Mrs. Wong is here
the chair of the Ed Foundation. Thank you Fran and please extend our thanks to the trustees. Uh also from Maryan Tandy who uh contributes to us u occasionally a gift of books valued at $74.95. Uh thank you to Miss Tandy. And
with that, um, Heather, would you move the business items? Sure. I move B1 through B9 on the regular agenda and then B10 on the Okay. May I have a second? I'll second. I
think I'll give it to Dval since she was there just a little first. Um, all right. Um, any further questions or comments, board members, on the business items before we go ahead? And that includes uh the budget that we just saw presented. All right, Barbara, would you call the role?
Miss Akenwandi. Hi. Mr. Bonnet, hi. Mr. Dinard, yes. Mr. Dorenzi, yes. Miss Gotautle, Miss Graham, yes. Miss O'Neal, yes. Dr. Yaris Ramos, hi. Miss Ginsburg, yes.
Motion carries. All right. Now, we've very quickly reached the second public comment period for questions or comments on agenda items or other items pertaining to the running of the schools. Does anyone have a question or comment? The same rules and protocols apply. All right. Uh, that being the
case, board members, may I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion moved by Anthony. May I have a second? I'll second. Second from Jubal.