##VIDEO ID:d5C6oMCAzfI## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e we have a COR all right and we're live okay I'd like to call the Board of Education meeting to order at 7603 can we all please rise for the flag salute Al 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 opening statement according to the agenda Mr halenbeck can you please call A rooll Mr Deano present Dr capella present Mr citr is absent Miss gulan is absent Mr chaffy here miss paa here miss Falcone schuber here can I please have a motion um to go into executive session I'll make it second motion by Mr jaffy second by Miss PA hi sorry I'm you're right Mr Deano uh yes Dr Capello yes Mr citr is absent m gulan is absent Mr chaffy yes Miss Pacha yes and Miss Falcone schuber yes e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e can I please have a motion to reconvene oh it the motion by Miss PA Chan and second by Mr Deano to reconvene Mr Deano yes Dr Capello yes Mr citr yes Miss gulan yes Mr jaffy yes Miss Pacha yes and Miss Falcone schuber yes can I please have a motion to approve the December minutes for executive session and regular session I'll move it second any disc yes no discussion okay so on the motion by uh Dr Capello seconded by Miss Paula chaina Mr DeStefano yes Dr capella yes Mr citr yes M Miss gulan yes Mr chaffie yes Miss Pacha yes and Miss felone schuber yes um so tonight we had the pleasure of interviewing four candidates for our board ofed vacancies um we just like to thank everybody in advance for your time and um if there's only two seats open if we could take all four of you we would but please um consider running in uh July putting in your petition and um for a three-year term so we are looking to appoint two people for one-year terms so do I have can I have a motion to appoint um one of the candidates to the position vacated by Mr Scott Francis I'd like to nominate Kevin bill is nominating Kevin say your last name for me DAV DAV okay I was afraid to pronounce it I apologize do you have to do one by one uh we can uh we can make the motion to do both or we can do them individually however the board PR first okay so on this motion we don't have a second yet I'll second okay so let's a roll Callum separate then okay sounds good so please call the roll so on the motion by Mr Deano second by Dr capella to nominate Kevin davo to fill the seat vacated by Mr Scott Francis for the term uh beginning or expiring on December 31st 202020 excuse me 2025 Mr DeStefano yes Dr Capello yes Mr citr yes Miss gulan yes Mr chaffy yes Miss paicha yes and Miss Falcone schuber yes thank you can I please have a nomination for the second board seat vacated by Mr Joseph Falcone um to be fulfilled through December 31st 2025 I'd like to nominate Miss Veronica Shram thank you a second please call on the motion by Mr chaffy seconded by Miss Paula chaina uh to nominate Veronica Shram to the position vacated by Mr Joseph Falcone term expiring on December 31st 2025 Mr DeStefano yes Dr Capello yes Mr citr yes Miss gulan yes Mr chaffy yes Miss pachena yes and Miss Falcone schuber yes congratulations thank you both thank you all um once you go through the background check and the fingerprints then you can join us up here at this wonderful table so someone from my office will be reaching out to uh Veronica and to Kevin tomorrow um to begin the process of fingerprinting and background check um it will most likely be Britney hueling that will reach out to you so that we can start that process and again I I'll reiterate Nicole's comments thank you to all four candidates um it's one of the great things about our Community to see so many individuals that want to be part of our district our community um and certainly this board of education so for me to each of you thank you very much I appreciate your commitment to the community as well we'll be moving on to the superintendent and hi report absolutely so you know I have to move this agenda around and one of these days I'll get it switched but um my ladies over here at the side our high school Representatives uh Natalya and uh Lily and um I'd like to put you on the spot first with our superintendent's report this evening if you'd like to give us a little bit of information and background on the great things going on at the high school and our community I would greatly appreciate it okay so our bowling teams be lenp Valley and sou hundon in the hws bowling championships our boys basketball team is currently 9 to five and they're working to take the lead in the division with only a few divisional games left in also in boys basetball our senior Anthony norelli broke the 1,000 point mark earlier in the season two weeks ago um our Esports team playing overcooked 2 is now 5 to zero which is very impressive um Jonathan Franco was recognized as our 2024 to 2025 school year um super Football Conference Man of the Year um and he also attended media day at MetLife Stadium which is an event sponsored by the Jets for each team's Man of the Year representative um lastly our School Musical is coming up soon rehearsals have already started we are doing the Lightning Thief which is a Cy Jackson musical it's very fun it's a relatively modern musical and it is May 1st through 4th thank you um so in the music department this past Thursday we had our uh Winter concert it was a great success um the performances from the Middle School band to the concert band The High School concert band and the Jazz Band were all really really great um and then the second Thursday back when we took break in concert band in high school we had Miss laori Kel come in and she provided us with the master class it was really a great experience I'd really like to stress that um the kids that participated in the county honors band back in November got to work with her she was our director there and she was she was really great and she also sponsored three students who auditioned for the region band just on just in the second of January so this year um uh and then Natalie leov audition for the the region band and um AR Jersey region band against hundreds of students and she plays really well so that was really great and then we currently finishing up our second marking period we'll be starting the third marking period next week and we're in the middle of midterms right now and congratulations to Lea Gonzalez who's recognized as the 2425 superintendent's Round Table award recipient and prom is was rapidly approaching with payments being due soon and it'll be on June 4th at Barona Farms thank you thank you ladies greatly appreciate all of your hard work thank you um on my report this evening uh for the board and for the public is uh approv of our budget development calendar um this is that time of the year where we publicly start to talk about finances and and a school budget um although a lot of work has gone on behind the scenes um we will on the very last page of our calendar for the board and this will be on our website as well our internal meeting dates here coming up um we've already started to discuss uh the budget outline and some directions um that we want to go we will um have an opportunity on February 10th for our committee meetings where we'll be able to have a draft discussion about expenditures and revenues um that discussion that initial planning happens in a vacuum uh outside of the guise of the State Department of Education right because the the component that is always the wild card is how much state aid will we get so you start to look at the revenue side of things not completely sure what kind of money you're going to have our our tax levy as it currently stands um but then you factor in federal funds you factor in state aid um over the last couple weeks um the picture has started to get a little more clear and more fuzzy at the same time if that's even possible um I was told on Friday of last week to anticipate reductions in federal funding uh a 25% cut in Title One funds and uh at least 10% in title two title three and title four funds so for us as a school district we get about $200,000 in Title One funds um a cut in title one of 25% would be a $50,000 cut out of that Grant alone we were also told that based upon the the state of New Jersey's current Finance forecast um that we may be looking at as much as a 10 to 15% state aid Cut State of New Jersey is anticipating a budget deficit in the 2B with a B billion dollar range um that is a result of federal Esser funds that have expired um the state has initiated a hiring of freeze across all of its departments in the state any um any new hires that were not already in process have been Frozen um they are not replacing any positions through attrition and through retirements at the current time so we will see what the governor's budget address um will have in store for us that is currently scheduled for February 27th that will help us to kind of clear up a little bit of those uncertainties on the revenue end of things on March 17th um we'll come back and we will present as a board an initial draft budget um that this board of education will approve and then at April 21st committee meetings U we'll have additional conversations some of those will focus on programs and staff um either wish list items that we would like to add or add back to the budget uh it may be staff and programs that we have to remove from the budget depending on where those expenses and those revenues come in um and and we had a question a conversation earlier uh as of January 1 we participate in the uh state of New Jersey health benefits program um New Jersey state health benefits program premiums went up 22% as of January 1st it um healthc care is uh obviously expensive um but the state program is unique because our budget year operates on a July to June cycle but the health plan operates on a January to December program so when rates go up in January we're halfway through our budget year so for us a 22% premium increase uh after employee contribution adjustments was almost a $600,000 hit in our existing budget year we've made that work we've had a a a budget freeze internally since October in District um all spending has been frozen in the district and Frozen is probably a key word many of you may not be aware that over Christmas break we lost eight classrooms at the Middle School uh we had pipes freeze and break uh destroying several Heating units the um pipes that burst were upstairs all of that water came downstairs um the current damage claims to our insurance company are north of $250,000 uh we had then that extremely cold span as we came back from Christmas break um only to have one of the heating coils that we had just replaced under Insurance claim break on Monday night refrozen break then on Tuesday night at 11:30 at at night uh received another phone call that we had a sprinkler alarm a sprinkler alarm go off and a pipe in the ceiling uh broke a 1in copper pipe um then on Wednesday uh a heating unit in the high school ceiling in one of our book rooms uh broke as well froze so when we talk about a spending freeze we talk about a uh a referendum that we've just passed to address roofs and and some boilers and underground oil storage tanks we're fortunate that our liability insurance picks up some of those claims costs but just like you you know you get into a car accident you have a homeowner's claim right as a result of those claims your premiums go up um we would be foolish to think that just those things that happen within hope haong impact our claims rating um wildfires in California hurricanes on the Gulf Coast uh all of those things Impact Insurance claims ratings across the country we anticipate in this year our expenditure category at least a 15% increase in our liability workers compensation claim Insurance um so all of those things go into that picture um we'll see where we we get over the next couple of weeks and the months we will share that with the public um in our public meetings we'll share that again come April when we have our final budget hearing and we adopt our budget um you know we we've gone through five years of state aid Cuts where we lost over $8.4 million in state aid um we've navigated that it has been a struggle it has been a challenge um it is one of the reasons why I have very little hair left um but we are resilient our community is resilient um and whatever this next challenge is I know that we will find a way to fight it and and persevere um so I certainly encourage all of you to be able to continue those conversations and and we'll share that information with you as we go okay uh the last thing this evening I need to provide uh the board with updates on our Hib reports uh statutory requirement so we had three reported Hib incidents in uh December two of those were confirmed Hib incidents one was a code of conduct on second reading um that you will be confirming this evening and then we had one Hib reported incident for the month of January that was a confirmed Hib incident that we'll uh again discuss in our exec session in February on second reading and publicly uh approve on second reading okay so with that I'll close my report uh my thanks to each of you uh for all of your work this month thank you can I please have a motion to approve the super attendent and hip report I'll make it I'll second any discussion hearing none can you please call the RO on the motion by Miss pachan and second by Dr Capello Mr DeStefano yes Dr Capello yes Mr cich uh I'm going to abstain from 8C I wasn't present at that meeting otherwise uh yes thank you sir Miss gulan um that was that was the meeting this mon right um yeah yes you Mr chaffy yes Miss Pacha yes and Miss Falcone schuber yes okay moving on to acknowledgement and correspondence can read all these yes please yes please say my please don't be upset when I say your name's wrong and congratulations to the following students who were chosen as high school scholar athletes for The Fall season boy soccer Kevin Cruz senior girls soccer Maya PESA senior girls tennis Megan hinski senior Esports miles AR a junior cross country Shan Addis senior marching Ben Megan hinski senior and Katie colan Jr and for cheerleading Riley Edwards senior so congratulations to those students congratulations to the high school students who successfully auditioned and were accepted into the following proc presious local band organizations the north Jersey Music Association re region one band Natalie laou the New Jersey area band Dominic Amela Natalia jna Roman Natalie labov Sophia labove and Ashlin Len and the Sussex County band Dominic amila Megan hinski Natalia danan Roman Natalie labov Sophia labov Ashley L Emily o' and Jaylen Ortiz and congratulations to the students who were chosen as hakon middle school students of the month for their outstanding performance in November and December for November grade four Jason Finland grade five Jordan blury grade six Santiago rera grade seven Kennedy Rondo and in December grade four Anthony Pacino grade five Logan daral grade six Alyssa stickle and grade seven John obrien congratulations to those students keep up the great work are there any parent teacher organization Representatives here who would like to speak something yes so right now the the pep band is starting their practices they should be at a game coming up soon definitely attend the basketball game um if you haven't the boys are really on fire they're really fun to watch right now I'm enjoying every single game I'm at and the March and will be heading to a double game in March yeah lots of fun watch the game Watch just play it's a lot of fun I seconded the boys basketball game Friday night but Friday night was awesome especially the cheerleaders there was great um also the hope the ptso is having their annual Tricky Tray on um the 22nd of March and I just wanted to share because the district is on a freeze a lot of clubs and organizations are having to do a lot more fundraising to provide um transportation and things like that so through the ptso we have been able to help the cosmetology students with their transportation for their New York City trip and the cheerleaders for their um Ocean City Maryland trip and all of that money comes from what we make at the Tricky Tray so please come rent a table bring your friends donate a basket um because it really helps offset things for the school district and for the students um we'll be SE we are selling um early admission bundles now you can go on our Facebook page on the school's website there'll be a link to to that and you can um this year is new too you don't have to sit in bleachers you could just rent a chair if you're coming by yourself or with a couple people you don't have to rent a whole table so the 22nd all right public comment I'll get it thank you clear okay anybody in the audience like to speak okay all right can I please have a motion to move um item 12 Finance I'll make the motion a second is there any discussion um item 12 a through G the motion by Mr chaffie seconded by m paa Mr Deano yes Dr capella yes Mr citr yes Miss gulan yes Mr chaffie yes Miss Paula chainer yes Miss Falcone schuber yes can I please have a motion to move um item 13 personel a through H move it second any discussion on Personnel a through h on the motion by Mr Deano seconded by Dr Capello Mr dhano uh yes Dr Capello yes Mr citr yes Miss gulan yes Mr chaffy yes Miss Pacha yes Miss Falcone Schubert yes can I please have a motion to move number 14 travel and professional development Mo it I'll second it any discussion on item 14 hearing none on the motion by Miss paach seconded by Miss gulan Mr Deano uh yes Dr Capell yes Mr citr yes Miss gulan yes Mr chaffy yes Miss Paula yes Miss Falcone schuber yes can I please have a motion to move number 15 policy and regulations a through a a a yeah no yeah I'll make it I'll second any discussion yeah let's talk about um uh 5111 didn't you Jeff didn't you uh want to make some changes to that right there were some options that we had to agree to nothing we need to on first reading um make any changes to but on second reading we'll we'll have a conversation it's a revision to that policy primarily based on code citations at the current time any other discussion okay hearing then on the motion by Miss paach Chan second by Dr Capello uh Mr Deano [Music] um are we moving just 15 just 15 all right so we we're missing one by one for you today yeah I see that but we well it doesn't matter yes uh Dr capella yes M uh Mr citr yes Miss gulan yes Mr chaffy yes Miss paa cha yes and Miss Falcone Schubert yes can I please have a motion to move the remainder of the agenda item 16 17 18 sorry so 16 17 and 18 student services I'll move it resolutions and the coop and a second a second any discussion on those three um agenda items on the motion by Mr DeStefano seconded by Miss Pacha Mr DeStefano yes Dr Capello yes Mr citr yes Miss gulan yes Mr chaffie yes Miss Peno yes Miss Falcone schuber yes at this time is there anyone who' like to make board member comments just want to wish good luck to all our students taking their midterms as somebody who inflicts those on students are um yes go home and study what are you doing here by the way yeah um I also just want to I saw there was a really generous donation to pay off student lunch debt um I just want to thank that Anonymous donor if you're listening that was really a beautiful thing to do and thank you to everyone who came out today and uh interviewed with us uh it was really lovely to hear your stories and how passionate you are about this town about your children and how passionate you are about just um that's why you know myself and everybody else here is up here is because we are passionate about our town and we love our children beyond anything so thank you thanks I think you did a great job I don't have anything else to say good job man can I please have a motion to adjourn oh oh I have one thing I just I just want to thank the the candidates who who who TR uh who tried today and and in some cases win in some cases didn't win just don't be discouraged there's many opportunities in the future to come back on the board I guarantee you uh uh in in July you can put in a um a certificate basically to put you on on the on the ticket for next November please consider doing that okay that's it thank you so much can I please have a motion to adjourn my motion you can have this one thank I'll second all in favor all right meeting 729 thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for