All right, we're going to call the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. If you can please rise for the flag right here. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> The rule of egress. In event of an emergency, all people may exit to the right or left from this room and proceed to an exit door. All doors will be open from the inside.
The Open Public Meetings Act, open the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of attend meetings of public bodies at which business affecting their interest is discussed and acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, the Hilden Board of Education has caused
notice of this meeting to be published in the North Jersey North Jersey record Herald News, the board's official newspaper on January 9th, 2026. Notices of this meeting indicating date, time, and place were posted publicly under the door of the main office to the school and filed with the clerk of the
municipality of roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerna, here. >> Mr. Here. Mrs. Fisher >> set up. >> Miss Garcia >> here. >> Miss Gatlin >> here. >> Mr. Guzman.
>> Mrs. Johnson >> here. >> Mr. Williams >> here. >> And Mr. Ketta >> present. >> All right. We're going to open with uh the presentation on the training for the chief school administrator evaluation uh
provided by Mrs. Kelly Mitchell from the New Jersey school board. >> I'm sure I have the email I can send. >> It's on the It's on the agenda as well. >> Yeah, it's on the agenda, too. But No, I just sent it to you. Okay,
it will show up right here. Is there like so it's a little bigger? >> Bill's got you covered. >> Oh, you did. Okay. Okay. So, will I be able to um So, I won't be able to like click it. the next. >> Okay. Okay.
>> So, we're going to talk about the CSA evaluation and the process of doing that today. Um, so this year is going to be a little bit different, right? Because uh we're going to uh switch our super accepted yet, but um so we're going to
go ahead and go through the process. Um but it'll look a little bit different in the conference of course. Uh you could switch over. So, we're going to talk about um the legal requirements of the evaluation itself um and then how the tool supports
you throughout that process. Go to that. So essentially the evaluation itself is supposed to bring you together as a board with the superintendent so that you could talk about the direction of where the district is going. There's two
components to it. There's a goals component to it as well as I'm sorry um as well as uh the standards the leadership standards that you'll talk about and you're supposed to have a conference ahead of time to talk about the timeline. So we'll talk about that
in a little bit. Then you you're going to do the process. Once that process is completed, then you sit with your superintendent and go over the direction of where the board's going, where the district is going, and how you can work better together.
So, we're going to talk about the calendar, the trainings that the U board should do in that process, the goal setting piece to it, and then the evidence that you're going to see in in the process itself. So you're legally required to have that
done by July 1st. So that means that everything everybody is done with their um their process filling it out having those conferences. It all needs to be done before July 1st. And then on that July 1 date, you have the superintendent
and the board president. If the board president is not conflicted, sign that document um saying that this is a compulation and it's reflective of the majority opinion of the board that needs to be put in the personnel file of the superintendent. And then that when
you're going through the QAC process, which I don't know what are you in a QA year this year? >> Thank goodness no. Oh, >> that is good. That is good. But you will need that evidence there. So, um make sure that you have that done by July 1. I don't know if you can see this. It's a
little small, but um this is the actual calendar that you should be following. So, right now, all the superintendent did receive the actual uh platform to their email. Uh if you didn't receive that, you just let me know and I can send you the link. Uh but then they
start compiling uh their data um on what they're doing. So they upload their evidence on the links of uh the goals and then also uh they answer the questions to the standards and give evidence on that. Right now as a board
you should be um making a appointment with each other to sit down and a conference on what the expectation is on filling out the evaluation itself. what that timeline looks like when the superintendent feels that um he can
complete that uh process and then the start um and then also schedule that final conference as well. You should be doing that timeline and getting that all in order so that you all know collectively what your expectations are
and when they're completed. So, like I said, that gets done um oops, I'm sorry. Can we just go back to that calendar? As you can see there, that gets done uh right around now that March um you're going to be doing that pre-conference by
April. By the end of April, we ask that the superintendent go ahead and finish um their portion and then we ask that the board finishes theirs like miday, end of May. Um if you can do that, that'll get you to that timeline. That
means that in June you'll be having that conference with the uh superintendent and then you'll be able to get that done by that July 1st. If you stay within this timeline, it should be an easy lift for you. So part of the process, there's a
two-part process. The first part is the goals. So it'll be the district goals and they'll all be put down on the um the evaluation itself. So when you'll see that the goal is up there and then you'll see that there's an evidence
piece uh to how you completed those goals. So how uh the superintendent feels that they achieved the goals um or progress was made however they score themselves. And this is essentially what it looks like. Uh so you'll see there that it
would be the description of the goal, the superintendent's comments and support marks and rating and then um how they grade themselves, whether it's achieved, whether it's uh you know some progress made, little progress made and
then uh you'll see there that it'll give all those standards to um to that goal itself. So, in order to make this an easier process for you throughout the year, you should really schedule as a board for the superintendent to give you
updates on the goals as you go along in that school year because then once you get to this this part of your job, you'll be able to easily go through that evidence. you'll remember, oh yeah, I remember that presentation mid year on,
you know, this goal and I I remember what that looked like. So, you should be able to, as a board member, if I asked you, how are you doing on goal one, uh, district goal one, you really should understand where you are. So, if you do that, if you schedule that along the
way, this process becomes much, much easier. Go on to this one. So then this just gives you an example of what um the the board actually can fill out. So then once they see how the
uh superintendent scored then the board is going to be asked to say whether it was achieved, some progress made or little to no progress made. And then you do have to write a comment in as a board member your comments on that goal. Um because if you don't it won't allow you
to get to the next page. So, just make sure that you do fill that in because I get a lot of calls sometimes where they say there's something wrong with the system and it's not. It's just that you have to fill that. You have to make some kind of comment. And then the next portion is the
standards portion. So, like I said, we have those two different portions. And on the next slide, we go down to that next slide. This will give you the standards um portion of what that looks like. So it's mission, vision and goal. Um then it would be uh the governance
piece and professional norms, the operation, curriculum and instruction and then community care and professional capacity. So those are the um standards that are set not only by uh New Jersey school boards but in conjunction with
the NJSA. So we do this tool together as a collective partnership to make it easier and to um agree on what those leading uh leadership standards should be. So we'll go to the next slide
and this is an example of what standard one would look like that mission vision. uh the the uh superintendent will fill that out, give that link to supporting evidence so that you can easily click on it and see the evidence of saying that
yes um I'm exemplary or I'm proficient in in that component. Uh so then can you slide down a little bit with that slide? So then it goes down to that bottom portion where you can see where the
board member does have to put in comments. So make sure that you do that again because you will not be able to get to the next page without that. Um and you can see there that uh the the board member felt that it was proficient. And then this is the calculation report.
So once everybody is completed, I'll get a little email reminder that says that you've all done um your task and then I will send this to the board president. Unless a board president is conflicted, then the board president would give it over to a designate. You'll get two
compulation reports, one on the goals and one on the standards. That's when you take those, you have you print that all out. It'll give you all the comments that all the uh members uh made and then you'll give a copy in executive to
everyone and then you'll sit and you'll have that conference and talk about what the majority feels the superintendent has accomplished. Where do you want to see the district go from there? And then that compile the worksheet that gives a
little bit of a summary. That's when you invite the superintendent into that conference and you talk about what um what is reflective of the majority opinion. But that also allows the minority opinion voice to be heard as well. So that conference is really
important because it should get you together as a team and it should give you some um thought process on where you want the district to go. So you shouldn't be looking at this as just evaluatory. You should also be looking at this as like a little mini retreat
how you can get to the next level as a group. Next, so again, this is what um the compulation would look like for the one of the uh goals and you can see there that so the majority opinion would be
that the superintendent achieved that goal. And then this is what it would look like for the standard. So if you scroll down on that one, you could see there that the reflective majority opinion is proficient of the uh
superintendent. So that's what will go on that worksheet. Like I said, that tool is here to just uh talk about the strengths of the superintendent, where you would like to uh see improvement and where you collectively feel that the district is.
So, it's a really great tool not only for the evaluatory piece and for the legal piece of it, but also again to get the district to where you want to be. So then that talks about the legal requirements because you don't have to
use the New Jersey school board's tool if you didn't want to. So if you wanted to just write a narrative of a couple of different bullet points as long as it talked about performance and achieving goals and the standards, you could do that. Um I personally feel that it's
much easier to use this tool because I help facilitate it for you so that you're not trying to compile everything on your own. But certainly if you felt that you didn't want to do uh this you know type of evaluation you could just do a narrative on your own as well.
This is the worksheet that you'll have at the end that will give the reflective um opinion of the majority of the board and you can see there where the board president needs to sign and then the superintendent signs and then that goes into the personnel file of the
superintendent. So like we say the summitative report should talk about the goals, the standards and then reflective of that majority opinion of the board and that's it. You have to make sure that in that conference that all voices
are heard and that um everything is in compulation with the standards and with the uh the goals as well. Any questions on that? >> You said that we wouldn't we don't need to use this version. We can do a narrative, but it would have to be
collectively, right? >> It would be. So, you still have to do the conference, you still have to somehow have the the majority opinion reflected in that um that form. So, >> so what I mean is like say they do like
that and I do a narrative, it can't be. So you'd have to decide either you do one or the other. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And this does does seem like a heavy lift, but like I said, if you have reporting out every year, like a couple times a year about the the goals and
everything, you should be be able to breeze right through it. It's just when the board doesn't really understand the goals of the district, they and they don't understand where they are with those goals, then it becomes a heavy lift because you're looking through all that evidence and you're really not
understanding it to the full extent. So, my recommendation would be that next year when you uh build out your schedule, your meeting schedule, make sure that you put in um you should be going over the board goals and the district goals collectively at least two
to three times a year updates on those. >> I do this for the u the Verona district and for the Northland Regional Educational Service Commission like twice annually and I I think it's a platform that's user friendly and it's it's easy to manipulate and engage within. Yeah, I think so too. Um, so but
some boards really just do not like the tool. They feel that it's just a heavy lift. They feel like that it's quite long. Um, but I just think that this is time well spent, right, to bring the board. >> I think within half an hour you can get in and out. Yeah. If you want to. >> And just keep in mind that um I answer
my cell phone seven days a week. So if you get stuck, if you're doing it on a Saturday or Sunday, please call my cell phone. I'm happy to walk you through it. I don't want you to get frustrated. So, uh just know that if you're going through it and it's usually on the weekend or in the evening when you are
doing it. I was a board member for very many years and I would always get stuck on the weekend and then I'd have nobody to call. So, please know that I answer my phone seven days a week for that. >> I can vouch for that. Even from Hawaii, she answer >> from your vacation.
>> I was very happy. So it was like anything goes >> enjoy your vacation Kelly. >> And we did discuss in light of some of the stuff that's on the agenda the option of doing the narrative only version. However, since we have so many newer board members, we felt that it's in the best interest that everybody could sit down and go through the whole
process and I think that that'll help us going forward with the the stuff that's on the agenda um you know coming out. So that was the decision we made to go with doing the >> idea. So it'll be a little bit different. It'll have a little bit different feel this year, but it'll get
you used to doing the process, and I I think that's important. >> Did you have any questions on anything else that you want to talk about while we're here? >> Oh, I think we're good. >> Thank you, Kelly. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, M. Mitchell.
All right. With that, we're going to move. Can I have a motion, please, for 3.1 to open the floor to the hearing of citizens on agenda items only? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Motion, Mr. Johnson second. >> All in favor? >> I
>> We're going to start with anyone in the room that wishes to speak. Remember, please give your name and address and uh comments keep to uh three minutes and this is on agenda items only. Do we have anyone that wishes to address? Miss Isa, please come up. Thank you.
>> Good evening. Lisa Issa 22 Pumpson Road in Hen on behalf of my family especially my two children who are products of a Halen public school education I want to thank Mr. Waka for 10 years of loyal and
dedicated service to HPS the students staff families and the Hilden community Mr. Waka has led our school community through tragedies, a pandemic, minor disasters like B mold remediation and
burst pipes, a large B building addition, and much more. All while running operations efficiently and within budget, keeping our school fully staffed to the best of his ability, creating a safe and positive environment
in which students could learn, grow, and thrive. leading and nurturing staff to ensure they were meeting high expectations and had opportunities to develop as educators and building a caring community for those who cared to be a part of it. His
professionalism, expertise, and empathy will be missed, and he has set the bar high for his replacement. The HBS community expects Mr. Waka's successor to be as devoted to ensuring our schools continued employment and improve I'm
sorry improvement and success as he has been. Our children deserve that. My family wishes Mr. Waka the very best in his new in this new position. Thank you. >> Very best. Thank you. That was very kind. >> Thank you. >> Stick around for my report because I
want to talk. Thank you. >> Does anybody else wish to come up? >> Yes. Uh Jamie Spear. Wow, I can't say my last name. >> You can't even say either. >> Jamie Spiridali, 83 Albina. Um I just want to come here and personally thank you for your dedication, your leadership, and your unwavering support
for our children. Um it's you're just amazing. But I've had a unique perspective. I got to view you through three different lenses. As a staff member, as a parent, and as a board member. And I think one of the most commendable things about you is your ability to leave with not only
intelligence but heart and leaving ego completely out of it. And that's not easy to do. And I want to thank you for that. And I wish you the best. It's a big loss for Helden, but I know Lincoln Hart's going to really benefit from you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jamie. Thank you.
>> You should take too Miss Martinez online. Good afternoon. Uh, Rafael Martinez, 53 Barber Street, Helden, New Jersey. Uh, Mr. Waka, congratulations
on your new endeavor uh, for the last 10 years uh, that I've known you. um you've done nothing but wonderful things with our students, with your staff, with the board members, and you will be truly missed. I I urge uh I I urge our new our
new board members to uh start looking for a replacement ASAP because uh when we hired Mr. Waka, it took us a few months and very very long hours to to make a decision. And I urge you guys to start looking now because the school
year is almost over even though it's only March. Um, God bless you, Mr. Waka. God bless your family. God bless your future endeavors and you will be missed truly. Thank you for everything you've done for us and Helden. >> Thank you, Rafie. That was very kind,
>> Mr. Webb. >> Hello, Nathan Webb. 42 Tilk Street. Good evening, everyone. I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate Superintendent Waka on his new endeavor. Um during my time on the board, I truly had an honor of working alongside Mr. Waka. Uh we
navigated some of the most challenging times during COVID and through it all, his steady leadership never wavered. He brought clarity when things were uncertain and always kept the students at the center of every decision. Uh Chris is the kind of leader that every
district hopes for. someone who communicates openly, leads with transparency, and isn't afraid to be present. Whether it was in the board meetings or walking the halls with students, his hands-on approach made a real difference. And of course, his leadership helped bring major progress
to our district, including the addition of a $4 million expansion to our building, something that will impact the students for years and years to come. And while we're all sad to see you go, we're incredibly grateful for everything you've done. Lincoln Park is gaining an outstanding leader. Congratulations and
we wish you nothing but continued success. >> Thank you. Uh Dr. Webb, I will say that I think you possess the inherent qualities to to become even better at this job than I am. I really do. So thank you Dr. Web.
>> Is there anybody else who wishes to address the board? No more hands. >> Can I have a motion to close the hearing? Motion, Miss Kado, second Mrs. Cerna. All in favor.
Can we have a motion for correspondence, please? >> Motion, Mr. Williams. >> Second, Mrs. Cerna. >> Roll call, please. Mrs. Cerna, >> yes. >> Miss Gado, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fer, >> yes. >> Miss Garcia, >> yes.
>> Miss Gatlin, >> yes. >> Mrs. Johnson, >> yes. >> Mr. Williams. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ka. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Do we have a motion for the prior minutes, please? >> Motion. Mrs. Sern. >> Second.
>> Second. Mrs. Johnson. >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerna. >> Yes. >> Miss Gado. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fischer. >> Yes. >> Ms. Garcia. >> Yes. >> Miss Gatlin? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Johnson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Williams?
>> Yes. >> And Mr. Ka? >> Yes. Thank you. >> All right, we'll move on to committee reports. Starting with president's report, obviously this is going to be an a different type of meeting. A little bit
of excitement, some change coming. Um, I want to start off by thanking Mr. Waka for his time that he spent here with uh Halen Public School and different roles that he's played. Uh, congratulations on your new position. I wasn't going to say where it was, but somebody else already did. Um, you know, I'm sure they're
going to be very happy with you and I'm sure you're going to be happy there. Um, you know, it was I I think we had a good uh working relationship. So, it was nice that we could have a disagreement on things and then still have good common conversation and get along well. So, I'm
very happy for you and your family. Um, you know, in November, uh, the town voted for some change and now we have new board members, we have new board leadership, and now we're going to be starting the process for filling the chief school administrator role. Uh, I want to assure everybody that this board
is committed to finding the best person for that position going forward and that every every option is going to be on the table, including looking to hire our own superintendent, looking to hire interimm superintendent, as well as looking at the shared service option. All of the
options will be explored and we're going to pick the one that the board feels is in the best interest of the children and the town as a whole. Um, we are going to be working with the New Jersey School Board's uh, association and our field service rep, Miss Mrs. Mitchell, who was here earlier today. Uh, she'll be
helping assist in guiding us through the process. Again, we as a board have a legal, ethical, and fiduciary obligation to do what's right for not only the students and the town as a whole. So, I want to make sure that everyone's aware that that's what we're going to be doing and putting all of our effort into finding a
suitable replacement. Um, with that, we're going to start moving forward with that as soon as possible. Um, additionally, we received our state aid numbers, so Mrs. uh August will be able to go over some of that stuff as well as we go look to not only start this
process but go through the budgeting process. Um Miss Mitchell was here. We went over the fact that we could have opted not to do a full uh evaluation and just do the narrative version, but as I said earlier, we thought it was in the best interest of everybody that go through it, go through the full process,
make sure that everybody understands what it is, what they're looking for by evaluating what we have currently. Then it'll give them an option to, I think, look at what we're going to do going forward. You know, what works, what doesn't work, and things of that nature. And that is my report. Moving on to Mr. Waka's uh
superintendent. Thank you, board president. And I want to I know Mike's probably too humble to say this, but Mike's daughter, former Hailen student, number top eight in the entire state in the state wrestling championships in Atlantic City this past weekend. That's a uh that's something I think I know
every father will be super proud of. So, congrats on that. >> Thank you. >> Um I remember high school wrestling. I had ring ringworm and I was like, but I I I stayed through it and I'm curious, so don't worry. Uh we'll make it. Um, so
I want to also thank uh Miss Mitchell for her presentation. It's nice she came out, especially on like a holiday. So, we appreciate that she came out to us tonight. Uh, we have some uh everyone if you come to a board meeting, you're an important person because not everybody comes to board meetings and these are
important things. Um, I want to start by thanking Miss Lisa EA. You're you're a very important person in my life now and in the past and hopefully in the future. uh PTA presa member PTA president board member board president and uh a whole
lot of good stuff that's going to be resonating for a number of years happened under your watch. I also want to thank your husband Mr. Lisel EA uh for being an awesome councilman and being just someone that I think is is you're both role models in the community. Um, and you have two
beautiful, lovely kids. So, I'm I'm sure you're as proud yourself as uh I am proud to see that. I also I'm going to pronounce your name correctly, Miss Jamie Brigula. >> Sounds almost better than >> almost almost. Um, but you know, it's
it's when there's an open board seat, there's only a couple months to do it. Like a lot of people might say, I don't want to do it. It's only a couple months. Uh but it takes bravery to be a board member because you know we don't get emails as board members saying how great we are. We get emails about this needs to be fixed or that needs to be
fixed. So um you know I know you're a Helden lifelong Helden resident. Um and to come back and serve your community is great. And then to hear Rafy uh Rafy's my man. Rafy knows that he's he's he's probably the sweetest soul that that I
might have ever met. And Dr. Webb I meant what he said. I I think you know you have all the tools to be great. Like don't don't think you're not great because you are great. And then for everyone else you know that that's here. I appreciate you spending time tonight to come out here. So one item on the
agenda that I've said I've submitted my letter of education to the board. Uh I'm very excited to become the superintendent of Lincoln Park, but HPS is always going to be my favorite school. That's for sure. Um, I want to thank this HPS staff and community for
all the great things that we've accomplished together over the past decade or so. And we did that for the betterment of the students and the betterment of the district. Um, it's been a fantastic ride and I'm going to miss this place big time. And I genuinely wish the the board um the best
of luck with the CSA search process. Um, my next item is I want to thank the PTA for all they have done. I know they have their big tricky trade coming up tomorrow back at the Brownstone which I love. Um, but the other place is great too, but the Brownstone's like I'm a big Brownstone fan. Um, so I want to wish
good luck to everyone's numbers tomorrow and hopefully they get everything they want. Uh, item four is going to be an interesting one. So due to the snow we had um as well as the pipe bursting issues that have kind of plagued a lot of North Jersey towns like it's not just H like a lot of towns have burst pipe
left, right? Um, we're going to technically we're supposed to owe two days back. If you look at our contract, one of these days we're looking to put as Good Friday, which is before our spring break. This will be half day. The second day be on June 18th, and this will be a half day as well. That was
June the June Junth day. Um, but like this board made a contract with the with the teachers association that says um 181 days. We're only legally mandated to do 180 days in order to meet the the
state minimum. So, um you know, this board has some options as far as what they're looking to do. Uh but if if this board's looking to have two full two what would count as full school days come back, my recommendation would be the Good Friday before spring break and
make that a half day and uh the Junth make that a half day as well because we're going to be totally off that day. Now, my uh fifth agenda item is that uh we held committee meetings uh to the people that came on Friday. I've never had a committee meeting on a Friday night at 9:00 and I loved it. So, that
was that was a lot of fun, Miss Garcia, that you joined me on that. And then we had a lot of committee meetings on uh Monday, probably from like 5:00 all the way through um you know 7:30, 8 o'clock committee meetings. I thought they were productive and I'm sure that the committee chairs can report the details
the set meetings and also I want to thank uh you know our HA presidents missowski and Miss Sullivan for hanging out with us tonight uh as well as Miss Pozano our uh one of our vice principles but thank and Roberto Mendes our director of social services I'm sorry
thank you and Bill you're the man that's my report >> all right moving on to the business administrator report. Mrs. Austinon. >> Okay. Thank you, President Ketta. So, tonight we're um going to um taken forth
the consideration of the board res finance resolutions 132.1 to 13.18. The finance committee meeting um we met yesterday to go over the um finance items and they are as follows.
Resolution 13.1 is a re rescending of a Delta aid um for one of our um needs of the district and that the um district decided to go in the direction of hiring an in-house. So we're rescending that um
appointment. We also have 13.2 two, our sources of strengths club fundraiser and this fundraiser is to be held on a half day on March 30th and also at dismissal of March 31st. In addition, we have two
um resolutions related to child study team. One is transportation which is 13.3 and also 13.4 which is the um transportation contracts resolutions 13.5 to 13.6 six are
specifically related to the food savers um operations and we have the invoices for January and February and these are the Masio statements and it was reflects the ongoing partnership for providing um food services to our students. In
addition to that we have our resolution 13.7 which is our parent square contract. This is a replacement of talking points and this is specifically for the communications with our parents and our um stakeholders at large.
Moving on to the facilities and infrastructure resolutions 13.8 through 13 um 13.18. These resolutions are specifically for our fire alarm project that's currently in place. our HVAC upgrade projects are
currently in place. We also have a resolution for um city peg construction is to give our and this is to give a facelift to our preschool bathrooms. This project will be funded um completely through our preschool budget
and we also have a resolution 13.18. This is for the new upgrade project. Once the board um passes the um budget tonight, we can move forward with that. We just needed a resolution in order to submit to the New Jersey Department of
Education. And since this is um a a project, a facility project of this size. Um other items on the agenda, we have our preschool um budget plan. This is an annual um resolution that needs to be
done right around the budget time. Um this is a workbook of all the expenses for preschool for the upcoming school year, 2627. And after the approval, this will be also attached to my budget submission submission to the county. We have our
bills list and we also have um our regular finance reports, transfers, treasures report, and also the board secretaries report. Okay. Any questions on any of the agenda items of finance that um before I move on to the um
budget? Okay. So, in addition to the resolutions and finance, we have resolution 7.1. This is the budget that um we are proposing for the 2627 school year. The
New Jersey Department of Education recently released our official state aid figures. Um while our total funding is slightly above last year, this is largely due to the significant increase of 19.55%
in in preschool aid. So just so we're clear, the state aid for the preschool aid is just for preschool. So even though there was an in overall increase of aid is that the portion of the aid for preschool is just for preschool. So
even though the subtotal of the aid in our general fund has seen a decrease approximately over the years for the last couple years this year we had a de decrease of 185,481 that is 1.35%
specifically in these particular categories we had a decrease of 8.62% decrease in transportation aid we had a decrease of 1.84% 84% decrease in um the equalization aid and we also had a 1.91
decrease in security aid. So with that being said, our overall um decrease in our state aid is trending in a direction of negatives over the last two couple years. To address these shortfalls this year and the rising cost of operations,
the administration and I have worked hard to balance this budget. In this budget, we are asking for your consideration the budget increase and tax levy of 2% which is the maximum allowable under the state cap without
going out for a waiver or any referendum. In addition, all administrative departments, like I said, work hard to identify cuts where deemed necessary and allowable. We have achieved a balanced budget through significant reductions
across all categories while ensuring allocation and pro program specific areas remain favorable to protect student instruction. We are strategically using our reserves to fund essential projects in our budget including the 3.1
um capital reserves specifically for our boiler room and HVAC upgrade which is in the consideration for the budget. Also our maintenance reserves of 40 u $400,000 43223 for our maintenance reserve for all
required maintenance. So these reserves have been you know we have this balance in our b um finances to use to balance our budget. So and these categories are specifically for those items maintenance and capital.
Overall the tentative budget is summarized as follows. Our general fund is 25,821,989 and this includes our tax levy 2% increase of 6 million 98832 our special revenue fund which is our
preschool fund and title fund which is 2,332,332,48. This brings our total budget for your consideration of 28,154,037. Our next step with this evening is to pass our budget and forwarded to the executive county um superintendent. The
community is invited to a formal public hearing on the budget which will be held April 28th at 700 p.m. at the Helden public school. At that time, we will pre present a more granular look at the budget reductions and the specific
measures taken to ensure the district remain fiscally sound while we're providing a high quality of education. That's my report. If anyone has any questions before we move on, does any board member have any questions for Miss Austin? >> I just I can tell you firsthand. Um,
normally I call Lama and she'll pick up and she'll be in a good mood. Um, the last I would say five or six days I call a ma still in an okay mood. Uh, but there's a there's a presence in her voice and I know how hard you work on
this budget and um it's never a fun job trimming, right? >> Um, but I I I I see the heart that you put into it. I'm just really proud that we have someone that that put in the effort that you put in to to be as
creative as you you possibly could. But I just think it's a really great service for our our students and our staff and the district as a whole. So, thank you. >> Any questions? >> Seeing no questions, we're going to move on to the personnel and management committee. Mrs. Cerna,
>> um we are officially accepting the resignation of the superintendent. We will be approving a long proof substitute to ensure coverage. There are 10 leave of absence on the agenda. To clarify the these are all appearing at
once due to a delay in communication. Uh we have a new position and aid to maintain legal comp compliance following the enrollment of an an additional student. We also have a custodial hire to h to make sure we meet a basic
requirement. That's it. Any questions for Mrs. Cerna? Moving on to curriculum and technology chair, Mrs. Garcia. >> We had a fun Friday night meeting. >> It was our little Friday night hangout.
I like that. >> We did we did discuss the items on the agenda, which was >> Kelly, you're there, too. I'm sorry. >> The approval of the prek summer program. Um the school calendar for 2026 and 27 is out.
um also talked about the days that need to be made up which was suggested by the superintendent for Good Friday and the Junth um workshops, professional development workshop for some of the teachers as
well as some field trips fourth grade and fifth grade. And we also discussed about case number 0126 which was an HIV case in the school. Any questions for Miss Garcia?
Seeing no questions, we're going to move on to policy and public relations. Mr. Williams, >> even okay, so we uh a couple weeks ago and discussed multiple policies. Um first one was 01
or 42.1 which is our nepotism um commission mandated for all employees but uh pass that to the board attorney for further questions. Uh we discuss policy
1120 uh review of employment policy. Uh we discussed policy 1552 and uh policy 2530 the freedom to read act needed uh further guidance on policy
2535 for the board attorney as well policy 2535 regarding the policy a certified complaint and So
we discussed abolishing policy 3 3342-52 and that's necessary to align with the new procedures. Policy 9130. Um going to pass that to the board attorney as well for clarification. That completes my report.
>> Thank you Mr. Williams. Again there was a delay in communication with the attorney's office. Um it's looking to be rectified. Uh there were questions that were submitted regarding some of the policies. Uh during the committee meeting, we did have some questions where uh in particular the the one
that's still on here sees the nepotism policy where we had a nepotism policy. Um it was working. Um we didn't see what the change was that was uh necessary where we had it. though that there was uh no we weren't able to
do nepotism hires or any of that type. So that was one of the questions. A few other things were removed since we didn't have answers. Um no other questions. Um we'll move on to the next committee report which would be
uh safety. >> Nothing to report. >> Thank you Mr. Johnson. um community engagement and extracurricular. Miss Guadrad, >> um the community engagement committee met for the first time to discuss
opportunities um for community engagement within the district. Um specifically, a suggestion brought forward by board vice president Cerna regarding the possibility of hosting a community movie night to raise funds for items such as a t-shirts or a holiday
float, um which will no longer be covered within our budget. As part of the discussion, I took time to review our board of education bylaws and policies to better understand whether hosting events like this would fall within um the role and responsibilities of the board. Um based on that review,
it was determined that the board's role is primarily governance, policym, and oversight of the district and does not include organizing or managing fundraising activities. Um, we also discussed the logistical and financial considerations involved in hosting an
event, um, including the use of school facilities, staffing, and potential security, and that the cost could potentially outweigh the financial benefit. Additionally, it was noted that events like these typically organized by um are typically typically organized by
independent groups such as PTAs or educational foundations rather than the board of um of education itself. Um the committee also clarified that the community engagement committee is an optional committee that primarily serves
as a space to share and highlight community activities rather than organize events directly. Overall the um committee determined that hosting fundraising events does not align with the role and responsibilities um of the board. Um but I would like to
definitely thank Vice President Cerna for bringing this idea forward. While the intention was set a great opportunity for engagement, community engagement, it's important that we remain aligned um within the role and responsibilities, uh it did spark a thoughtful and productive discussion and
help ensure that um we focus on our roles. With that being said, to close, I just want to highlight several community engagement efforts that have taken place um within the district this month. The PTA hosted uh late February the fatherdaughter dance which was uh a
great success. Um there was strong participation in reading across America week which uh promoted literacy and school spirit across the school. Unfortunately I was um traveling for work and could not attend but I do want to sincerely thank HPS for the
invitation. Um, HPS also hosted a Scholastic School Fair, book fair. Um, and then the school spirit sore, which supports the eighth grade school spirit scholarship, will run through March 22nd. Uh, and looking ahead, we are
looking uh at some events uh such as the tricky trade tomorrow from the PTA. Um, on Friday, the NJSBA is hosting the third annual women's conference and Manchester Regional High School will be having a community tour on April 22nd.
Um, and that's it. >> Thank you, Mado. Any questions? >> I think you misunderstood. I didn't say for us to host it, like for us to manage it or organize it. It's for them to do, you know, because she I think last year we had like a a pizza and like a dinner.
Um, and Miss Pozano was there and she did the whole thing. >> Oh, I must have missed your camera then. >> Who would be them? >> Well, it was it was Miss Po and I don't know who else. Can I talk? Am I allow >> I don't know.
>> That was the the spring show, Chris. The one where they had >> it was a school. It's a school. It's a school event. >> If we if we're part of it, it's going to be a school event. >> Thank you. um physical plant and finance Minnesota.
>> Oh um we spent about two hours before the numbers came out and another hour and a half after the numbers came out going line by line through the budget we saw a 20% increase in our our preschool education and in in general ed education
we lost about 1.35%. taking a $445,000 um my gosh $444,000 hit. Um Miss Augustine worked her magic and shifted and shredded down where she
could to balance the budget after attending a NJSBA workshop. The biggest takeaway was regionalizing and shared services with the with districts in our area. We already share about 12 with Manchester, but we haven't expanded those shared services to include Project
Park and North Carolina. We we can continue to explore new options for shared services as Senator Senator Goldpole is also strongly suggesting we open up the floodgates of shared services to better benefit the district. >> That's it.
>> Any questions from board? >> No. >> Seeing no questions, move on to state and county. Miss Pado, >> thank you. Um, I did ask Lois to send you guys an
outline. Um, it is longer as us than usual because of everything that's gone on this month. Um, so just to go over my outline, um, districts across the state are reviewing governor's proposed fiscal year 2027 state budget and preliminary
state aid figures. Um, Governor Cheryl introduced a proposed budget uh, which we reviewed um, with the the secretary's report and the BA's report. Um, the proposal focuses on stabilizing school funding while expanding
investments in preschool programs, student mental health services, and academic supports. Um, which are particularly relevant for preK through eight districts like Helden. Um the budget also prioritizes student wellness
and academic re uh recovery. Um approximately 33 million has been proposed for the spark initiative which stands for school-based partnerships for access program um and shifts um focus towards providing more direct
school-based mental health services particularly for students with higher or more complex needs. Um the goal is to strengthen partnerships between schools and mental health u providers so that students can have access more quickly in a setting um that is familiar and
accessible. Um so this would be eventually replacing the NJ4S um youth mental health program. Additional proposals include support for a new office of um youth online mental health safety awareness and social media
research. Following the governor's um budget, the legislator uh legislature has scheduled several public budget hearings which I also listed on the outline. If you guys were interested um you can just go to the NJ uh legislator legislative
website. Um, another important update involves a new state law regarding internet enabled devices in schools. Uh, districts will be required to adopt a local policy addressing internet enabled devices before the start of um 2026 2027
school year. I also had the opportunity to attend the NJSBA legislative committee meeting this weekend um which featured Chris Williams the chief of staff for the new uh Jersey DOE uh as a guest speaker and during the meeting u members discussed the
governor's proposed budget upcoming legislative hearings and several policies affecting school districts across the state. Um some of the topics were administration the administration's uh continued focus on modernizing and stabilizing the school funding reform
act. Um as well as rising district costs related to healthcare benefits, special education and contracted services and transportation. Um committee members also discussed potential legislation to school facilities funding through the New Jersey Schools Development
Authority. And then there are also conversations regarding charter school oversight and accountability. Um lawmakers are continuing to review proposals related to the consolidation studies. Uh and
that's about it. We'll continue to monitor. >> Thank you. Anybody have any questions? >> Uh board attorney. >> I'd not speak to you out of turn for Mr. Brown, but I do know that he's looking into the policy changes that you had
sent his way, Mr. Williams. So, the proposed policy changes are being reviewed. So, >> thank you. >> Would it be best if we don't have uh the answers to table those to the next? I just want to moving on to preliminary budget 7.1.
>> You can report with just >> All right. Seeing that this was already discussed, uh, do we have a motion to vote on the preliminary budget? >> Sorry, Mrs. Johnson. Second, Miss Garcia. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Johnson's first or Mrs.
>> M. Johnson. >> Mrs. Cerna. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fischer. >> Yes. >> Miss Garcia? >> Yes. >> Miss Gallen? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Johnson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Williams? >> Yes.
>> And Mr. Kleta? >> Yes. Okay. Yeah. Before we uh go to the next one, does anyone have any questions on any of the agenda items under personnel management? Seeing no questions, do we have a motion
to move the agenda items under personnel management? >> Second. >> Motion by Mrs. Cerna, second to Miss Johnson. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerna. >> Um 8.3. No. Everything else? Yes.
>> Miss Gado? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fisher? >> Um, yes. And um Chris, I'd like to say that uh with regret you've been I've liked working with you beginning here in Manchester and best wishes to your new
position. >> I I same thing for you. Thank you. >> And you said yes. Correct. Okay. Thank you, Miss Garcia. >> Yes. >> Miss Gatlin? >> Yes. >> Miss Johnson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Williams? Yes,
>> Mr. Kleta, >> I did have one question. I wish I would have asked it beforehand. Um, on 8.3 um for this um wouldn't I just want to make sure before I Well, >> aren't the teachers solid employees? So, wouldn't they be paid regardless of if
it's a half day or late opening for the entire >> It's it's it comes down to the um the language in the contract about what a teacher is entitled to. There's no specific language says what their their lunch is entitled to or their their duties entitled to for a delayed
opening. Like it was never just neither side of it put that into the contract. Uh so because these uh individuals on here um are going to lose 20 minutes of the lunch they're promised to get 40 minutes of and instead are going to spend that time with children. Um my strong recommendation you vote yes for
this because I think contractually you lose if you don't. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Do we have any questions on curriculum, technology, any of the agenda items from any of the board members before we move on? >> Seeing no questions, can I have a
motion, please, for the curriculum and technology? >> Second. >> Motion, Miss Garcia. Second, Mr. Johnson. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Sarna, >> uh 9.5, no. Everything else? Yes.
Missado? >> Yeah. >> Can I ask a question? >> Go ahead. >> I don't have >> Yeah. No, but we already started voting. >> Um >> Okay. >> I do have a quick question regarding what you said earlier, the schedule
change. Um >> 9.5 >> 9.5. Yeah. Since they are only required to have the children have the 180 days and this will bring them to 181, is there any detriment to not having the extra day
other than the teach? >> So there's two things. The detriment would be, you know, it's it's instructional time lost, right? >> Um the other detriment if you if you view it this way would be that, you know, you made a contract that has the teachers come at 181. >> Uh in this case, it'd be 180. Now, I
think you could make the argument that, you know, the the pipes bursting is is something that's it's very unlikely thing to happen. It's kind of unforeseen. Um, you you know, I think you can make an argument to say let's forgive this one day, this one time because of these reasons. Um, but if if
you wish to hold the the teachers to that 181, then we just got to find a different day. >> Because I hope they didn't answer. Could you help us out with that? Is that I correct? >> Yeah, you're correct. So you would be giving you wouldn't be exceeding the allotment that's negotiated. It would
just be a conferred benefit that's there like a give back in that situation. So >> thank you >> Mrs. Fisher. >> Yes, Miss Garcia. >> Are there any other days that could be
um >> So it's a good question. Like there's there's any day during the spring break, right? Um but like if if you're going to hit the spring break, you probably want to hit it on one end or the other, right? Um there's some contractual
language that prohibits uh Memorial Day being used unless like I'm pretty sure that's what the contract says. I I have to look into it for sure. Um there's extending the school year. Um, but once you get to that point of the year where you have the graduation, the kids have already done the kindergarten promotion
and the prek, it's a little weird to keep them back for that extra day. Um, so I I think this, you know, if the board tells me to, um, the board votes yes, it's one thing. If the board says we want to vote yes, but want to forgive that one day, that's another thing we could live with. But if we don't, if the
board votes no, essentially we're going to have to find another day somewhere. >> But we have to make up that day. uh you have to make up one of them. You don't have to make up two, but one of them has to get made up. So, if the board if this board says, you know, we we we want to come to Junth but not do the Good
Friday, >> we can get by on that. >> Unless a snowstorm comes next week, uh or a pipe burst next week. Um and then it's a different conversation, but um it it's it's it's going to be the will of this board because um the staffer have
agreed to be here 181 and and now situations are, you know, this is a calendar that would get you that 181 and if you wish to go 180, we're still compliant in the state level, but it's up to you. You have to say yes to agree to that. >> I would definitely um uh
take out the Good Friday only because of religious reasons. um Junth I guess would be okay if anybody else has a problem with it. >> Yeah, personally I wouldn't have a problem with forgiving the one day for you know and maybe that's not the right
word but like the conceding the one day that they're contractually entitled to anyway rather than having the families and everybody that thought they were off have to come in and I would have no problem with that if once it gets to my vote. Well, is that is that the will of this
board in general? Because if we could always revise this, put this on next month's agenda, next meeting's agenda, and just have the the Junth half day. But I don't want to do that unless I'm I'm guaranteed you get the pass.
>> Well, we started voting, so I don't know what >> we can we can resend the vote at this point, so we'll stop count on the other ones that were there just because we're looking to change it. So if you're looking to withdraw 9.6 from >> well we need a separate motion and everything to withdraw >> as a revise a revision to the agenda.
Yes. So >> what's this called? >> Yeah. >> Well st is is everybody stroke pole okay with that? uh rescending the one half day and conceding the one half day that they're
contractually entitled to and not forcing the families and the kids to come in on Good Friday that they were already scheduled to be off for or >> pending a comic store. >> Yeah, pending another pipe burst or anything else as of today.
>> Does the half day count as of >> need 1 hour in the AM, 1 hour in the PM, and a total of four hours. Okay. >> Seeing that, do we have a revised motion uh for those terms for for sending or or is it for pulling off?
>> You could do either. So, if you want to pull it off or if you want to revise that part of it to not have the April 3rd and just be a June 19th on there. So, if you would like to do it at this meeting or if you want to push it to the next meeting. Uh if we could have a revised motion
removing the April 3rd uh date if >> motion Miss Cerna second >> second Mrs. Johnson roll call please >> give Miss Augustine a second I think so it's a right >> it's a motion to revise the agenda >> I have revised
>> complicated >> revises resolution 9.6 six, right? >> And then we would redo the who votes for the I think two people had already voting. >> Yeah, we would have to re Yeah, it's 9.5 >> 9.5 >> 9 school calendar 2025 26 calendar on
Zoom. You can go back on YouTube. >> It's not in here. It's not on my Okay. Anyway, um Okay. So, this is a motion to revise 9.5. Mrs. Cerna, >> yes. >> Miss Gado, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fischer.
>> Yes. >> Miss Garcia. >> Yes. >> Miss Gatlin. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Johnson. >> Yes. >> Mr. Williams. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Ketta. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> I have another question. Go >> ahead. >> Just curious like what are the penalties
um for not making up today? Like are there any financial penalties? If if it was the board's decision not to make it up, then the teachers were willing to come, then you know, you'd have to still pay them, right? Um but if it's um something where like you know, we didn't
have the number of days the state requires then that would become at bare minimum a QAC issue. Uh but I'm sure our attorney might >> Yes, state aid is something that's part of it too. So if you don't reach the minimum requirements, not just the days of other issues, you're jeopardizing state aid a lotments.
>> Good question. So you make a motion for the regular items. >> Oh, that was just for the one that was for >> Do we have a motion for the remainder of the items under? So that would be 9.1 through 9.4 and 9.6 through 9.7.
>> Motion, Miss Johnson. Second, Miss Gado. >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerna, >> yes. >> Miss Gado, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fischer. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Miss Miss Garcia? >> Yes. >> Miss Gatlin? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Johnson?
>> Yes. >> Mr. Williams? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Kleta? >> Yes. >> I have one question. Do we need to resend the other um when they started voting previously the first time? >> Yeah, those ones. Yeah, those are >> we didn't actually resend that. You know, >> we don't need a motion for it. Yeah.
Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Uh policy committee. Do we have a motion to table those items until we get the review from the >> attorney? Motion, Mrs. Cerna.
>> Second, M. Johnson. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Cerna, >> yes. >> Miss Kadoo, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fischer, >> yes. >> Miss Garcia, >> yes. >> Miss Gatlin, >> yes. >> Miss Johnson, >> yes. Mr. Williams, >> yes. >> And Mr. Kleta,
>> yes. Thank you. Moving on to physical plant, finance and physical plant. Do we have any questions before we go on? Let's try to get them before we start voting this time. My error, I apologize. Any questions?
Seeing no questions, do we have a motion to move the agenda items under section 13? Mrs. Cerna, a second. Second second, >> Miss Thank you. Roll call, please.
>> This is Turner. Um, recusees from uh 1316 PO 6845. Yes, sir. Everything else miss >> recuse from 13.12 line item 7180
and 1316 uh PO600030 and PO600688. Yes. For everything else. Okay. >> Mrs. Fisher. >> Yes. >> Miss Garcia.
>> Yes. with the exception of recuse 136 PO 6000967. Miss Gatlin, >> yes. >> Mrs. Johnson. Um, recruits from 1316
PL 600 957. Yes. To everything else. >> Mr. Williams. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Ka? >> Yes. >> Thank you. I have a question for the attorney under new and old business. Um, as a board we have discussed previously reaching out
to uh regarding CSA search to Manchester uh to explore if shared services is going to be an option or not as do we need to vote to move forward with that or can we just do that since it was ready? >> You can have a voice vote if you wanted to have it. It doesn't have to be an official resolution.
>> Okay. Do anyone opposed to reaching out to Manchester to discuss the to see if that's a possibility. It may or may not be a possibility. No decisions have been made by this board, but again, we do have to do our due diligence and explore every option as was discussed. Do we have anyone opposed
to reaching out to them? >> Seeing no hands, we'll go forward with that. >> It's a voice without a voice. >> You could do a voice uh I we could do I for it. So, >> okay. All in favor? >> All in favor? >> I >> thank you.
Thank you for the clarification. All opposed. >> Thank you. >> Does anyone have anything else under new or old business they wish to bring up? >> I do. I just wanted to touch base on um
I'm a new board member and I just want to touch base on um I often look over code of ethics. um I put a copy on everybody's desk >> and I just believe that we should um not saying that we're we're not but um maybe
just review it once in a while because we do have the obligation to the public the children and like Mike said that judiciary mandate that we we all have. So
that said, I'm just going to read the code of ethics if you don't mind. Mr. President said, I will I will uphold and enforce all laws, rules, and regulations of the state board of education and court orders pertaining to schools. Desire changes shall be brought about
point to legal and ethical procedures. I will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sect or social
standard. I will confine my board actions policym planning and appraisal and I will help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them. I will carry out my responsibility
not to administer the schools but together with my fellow board members to see that they are all wellrun. I will recognize that authority rests with the board of education and will will make no personal promises nor take any private
action that may compromise the board. I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interests or partisan political groups or to use the schools for personal gain or for gain of friends. I will hold confidential all
matters pertaining to the schools which if disclosed would needlessly injure individuals or the schools and all other matters I will provide accurate information and in concert with my fellow board members interpret to the
staff the aspirations of the community for schools. I will vote to appoint the best qualified personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative officer. I will support and protect school personnel and
proper performance of their duties. I will refer all complaints to chief administrative officer and will act on the complaints at public meetings only after failure of administrative solution. Thank you for your >> Williams.
We have anybody else anything new business? Seeing nothing moving on to hearing of citizens on operations of schools. Again, this hearing of citizens operation of schools. Please announce yourself before you adjust the board and keep comments to the three minute
standard. Uh can I have a motion to open the floor, please? >> Motion, Miss Prado, second, Miss Cerna. All in favor? >> I. >> All right, the floor is open. Do we have anyone in the audience? We'll start. >> I'm sorry. >> Sorry. >> Start with them four first.
>> Do we have anyone in the audience who wishes to come up? >> Seeing no hands, can we go with whoever was first? I believe it's Mr. Fischer. >> Mr. Fisher, he's muted.
>> Can you unmute him? Oh, he's on muted. >> Hey, Jeff. >> Good evening. Jeff Fischer, Three Avenue C, Halen, New Jersey. Um, at the last meeting, I observed the um report, the $30,000 personnel report.
And uh at the I had to go back because there was a number that stuck out and it went past real quick. Uh, and I went back and looked at your videotape at 49 minutes into your meeting and the consultant said that you had roughly $10
million in payroll and a health benefit cost of $340,000. And I'm rounding that off. And then he continued to go on that that's 20 under $2,500 cost of health benefits per employee that's covered.
that just kind of like caught in my crawl that that there was no way that that was accurate. And on a $30,000 report, I would hope that that kind of a number would have been checked several times. I looked at your user friendly budget online, and I'm sure your uh finance chair can confirm this, but your
health benefit costs are roughly 30 30 plus% of your payroll or over $3 million. Um, the only reason I raise that is it brings to question the validity of the
rest of that report. Um, so I I would ask that you go back and look at that. There was a PowerPoint. It wasn't available uh on your uh on your website, but u that's a major mistake. Uh you
know from 300,000 to $3 million. Uh, and I think uh, like I said, it makes you go back and want to look at everything else that's in that report to see how accurate it is. I just want to bring that to your attention and thank you and have a good evening. And Chris, thank you for everything you've done for Hail
and Manchester. >> Thank you, Jeff. >> Mr. Martinez. >> Uh, good evening everyone. Raphael Martinez, 53 Barber Street, Helden, New Jersey, 07508. Um, again, uh, Mr. Waka, thank you again
for everything you've done, uh, for the school, for Helden, for the teachers, for the board. Um, again, I know the process to getting a new chief administrator is a is a is a long one, is a rough one. I just urge you guys to
start ASAP and hope you guys have one by the end of June. Um so that way that person can get prepared for the new school year uh ahead of time. Um it's going to be long hours like I said earlier. Um and it's and it's a decision that has to be uh unanimous. So please
take your time, understand, interview, ask all the right questions and make sure that the person that's going to come is going to bring to the table lots of things like Mr. Waka did and also can um uh be a cohesive unit with the board
because that's the only way the board is going to be successful if they're cohesive uh with the chief administrator and also allow them to allow that person to do his or her job. Thank you guys. Have a great night. >> Do we have any other hands?
>> Uh see no other hands. Seeing no one here. Do we have a motion to close the public? >> Motion. >> Motion, Mrs. >> Second. >> Turner. Second, Mrs. Guado. Miss Guado, apologize. Uh, all in favor? >> I >> my part of the executive pre
>> Okay. All right. Uh, we do have an executive session. Um, what do you think? 15 minutes or less. >> Well, my my part's going to be rather quick, but your part with the CSA search, I don't know how I have no idea how long. Um let's say
>> we'll say 45 minutes just to be uh covered. Hopefully it's not that long, but we will uh go into that. All right. Do we have a motion to >> action? No action. >> No, I don't believe >> there's no action on my end. >> We have a motion to go to executive
session. So motion is second Mr. Williams. All in favor? >> Thank you. >> Do we have a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> Motion, Mrs. Johnson. Second, Mr.
Williams. All in favor? >> All right, everyone. Have a great night. >> Yeah, you too.