Calling this evening's board meeting to order. Can I get a roll call >> here? >> Dr. Dr. Genevy >> here. >> Mr. Kapadia >> here. >> He's here. >> Dr. Lillston
>> here. >> Mr. Peters >> here. >> Dr. Resnik >> here. >> Mr. Slottman >> here. >> Dr. Stellaniano >> here. >> Miss Williams Galliano >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Great. The New Jersey open public
meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of the act, the Hope Valley
Regional Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof communicated to the Hope Valley News and the Times on January 7th, 2026 and March 20th, 2026. This meeting
notice was also sent to Comcast Cable and Verizon FiOS. The board reserves the right to enter into executive session during all meetings of the board of education. The meeting is being recorded for the purposes of board review, future reference, preparation of the minutes
and viewing on YouTube bulldog and the school district website www.hvrsd.org. Members of the public who intend to participate in public comment, we ask that you sign in prior to speaking. This
will assist us with our recordkeeping. With that, please join me in the flag salute. under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> Can I have a first and second to approve the board meeting minutes from February
4th? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Any abstaining or nays? Seeing none, minutes are passed.
We'd love to invite our student representative to give us a report this evening. So, as we enter spring with warmer temperatures, many students have begun spring sports. These sports are all in full swing with the start of seasons for baseball, softball, boys and girls
lacrosse, boys tennis, unified spring track, boys and girls track, boys volleyball, and golf. The allnight volleyball event as a fundraiser for the class of 2027 was also a success with both the encouragement of competition and teamwork. Academically, many students in the HVCHS model UN
delegation were recognized and awarded for their fantastic performances as delegates at the Phil Mun conference. Furthermore, students enrolled in AP and honors US history classes had the opportunity to attend the annual Washington DC trip. In the same week,
Hopewell's FBA chapter attended the state leadership conference where we had eight groups make top 10 finalists and four of which qualified for nationals. Congrats to all of those individuals. NJGPA testing was then administered seamlessly for all students in the class of 2027 last week thanks to the students
hard work and teachers flexibility. We're grateful for the HV Municipal Alliance as well for hosting an educational wellness fair for all to de-stress in between testing. Looking ahead, student council has been preparing for the annual spring pep rally this week. We look forward to seeing committed uh continued enthusiasm
and involvement from our student body. Thank you. >> Thank you, Eileen. Any questions from the board? Okay, seeing none, we'll move on. Um again we just invite you all to stay
whenever you have a chance. So please do. I am going to forego um any comments from my side but we I will turn to the superintendent. I'm going to hold my report until after. We have some very special guests here
today. So if I can invite Miss Rhett up to the um podium to introduce our special guests. Good evening. My name is Cororeen Rut and I am the supervisor of counseling. I'm pleased to represent our digital
wellness committee this evening. The committee is a collaboration among parents and community members, Dr. Trice, other school district staff, and the Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance. Our work reflects our shared commitment to fostering a community of health aligned with our strategic goal of
increasing awareness and wellness through digital literacy, social media health, and strong offline communication skills. We recently organized a digital wellness essay contest open to students at Hopewell Valley Central High School and Timberlane Middle School.
The initiative was designed to promote student awareness, reflection, and engagement around the concept of digital wellness, encouraging healthy, intentional, and safe use of technology. We're grateful for the support of our PTOs and the building and district
administrators whose partnership made this opportunity possible. We received many thoughtful and impressive submissions, making it a challenge to select just a few students to recognize. This evening, we're proud to celebrate the impressive work of the following
students. Students, as I call your name, please come up to the podium to receive a certificate and your gift card. From Timberlane Middle School, Arini Trapathy. Congratulations.
Arini is being recognized for the most impactful at TMS. Parker Buru authored the best researched essay. Is Parker here? >> And last from TMS, Nitia Tawari is
honorable mention. All right. And from the high school, we recognize MJ Delmarco for the most impactful essay. >> Congratulations. >> Sarah Jiao for the best researched essay.
And last but not least, Amarus Lineia Andrew Sugan for honorable mention. experienced of this, I would have had you stay. But all the students, if you could please come up for a group picture, we'd appreciate it. Thank you.
And congratulations. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Where would you like us to be in here? >> Yeah, right here. >> I think we might need a class. Glorious. Thank you for um recognizing these uh
brilliant students and parents. Congratulations on having such bright and and beautiful students. Um also any other members of the um digital wellness committee if you're here would you please raise your hand? give us a wave. I see a couple. So,
so a little history on the digital wellness committee. It is an outgrowth of our municipal alliance which is very large over 60 plus members strong. And the focus of the municipal alliance is really around keeping students away from atrisisk behaviors. started out under
Heidi Kami um before uh we um she just went off into retirement, but her initial goal was to to work with the township before we absorb the position and helping students understand the risk of of drugs and alcohol. In that time, we've added um digital wellness to to
the initiative because it just came kept coming up that students were having a lot of mental health problems as a result of devices. Uh so we've looked into that and we've also unfortunately had to add recently um gambling students online gambling has become something that's increasing and we're noticing uh
challenges with so as we evol as we continue to evolve. We appreciate our community partners who work with us. So thank you and thank you Miss Rut for working through reading all those essays. I missed out on that. I was so excited. I know I'm such a former English teacher. I wanted to read it. Um but I I threatened to take out my pen so
they told me I couldn't come. So, last uh um items about um transportation and also there are students that have uh special needs that need to stay in the in the space that they're in. So, we're working through all of that right now. In addition to that, for any of you who have fifth graders, and this is their
last year, their last year in the school will be next year, like rising fifth graders. They're currently in fourth grade. We're trying to work through the numbers so that you can your students can stay there as long as you're willing to drive. transportation can't be zipping all over the district, but if you're willing to drop off and pick up,
we're trying to accommodate all the rising fifth graders so that they can finish in the school that they started in. So that those are the things that we're finalizing. We'll reach out to those parents that are and caregivers whose families are affected first and then the rest of the community will will also be made aware. So that will come
out right after spring break when we get back. Um, also a reminder that Monday because of the uh weather that we've had and the two emergency closings we've had, um, students will return the day after Easter Sunday at the end of the week. If
you have made your travel plans, parents, you don't cancel your travel plans. You're going to go, we understand people make their arrangements early and our teachers understand that. Folks leave early and come back later than spring break is scheduled because you're trying to get the best flight rates. We understand this. So know that your child
will be caught up and we don't want you to have angst or change your travel plans because we had to um add a date back to the school calendar. So happy uh Easter and happy Passover to those of you who are recognizing those holidays, observing those holidays. And then I have a final comment uh uh to our
military families. Um, as the war in Iran continues, uh, we pause to acknowledge the profound loss of American servicemen and women, um, and all who are affected by this conflict. Our thoughts are with the brave men and women serving in harm's way and their
loved ones at home that worry about them. Um, within our own community, we have staff members. Um, we have families with relatives currently deployed and serving. We recognize the quiet strength, the uncertainty and in the sacrifice carried by each military
family. And we thank all of you for your service to our nation. We also hold in our hearts the gold star families who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. Their sacrifice is immeasurable and their courage humbles all of us. Um so may we keep those who serve and in
our thoughts um and those who love them also in our thoughts during this very difficult time. I know um our board president is one of those families and so am I. So I want to thank you for your your your service as well and your sacrifice.
So thank you. So um I just want to take an opportunity to underscore Dr. Trac's um points of acknowledgement and also recognize that we know that there are many people who
have international families that are also affected. So um her point was made but I just want to acknowledge that it's not just our uh military what else all is going on in the world.
Thank you for that Anita because this is an inter this war is hurts people all across the world right and we need to observe that even if you don't have family members serving here you very well may have them serving abroad so when I say everyone affected by that I
mean that so thank you yeah okay um any other comments I just want to take a moment from anybody else on the board okay seeing no other comments we'll go ahead and move on to a public hearing um and special opportunity for public
comment on the 2025 uh violence, vandalism, and sub substance abuse report. All right. Good evening. Uh so this is the presentation on the findings from the first period of this school year, the 2526 school year. You may remember
Corey and I presented in November on last year's total data. Um so these are the reporting forms that um the state requ due to a combination of factors and
those include the increase in drug and alcohol violations including repeat offenders on their second violation situations that involve multiple offenses or multiple students which were given something like a 10-day out of
school suspension per the code of conduct. So for example, there could be um an argument or a fight between two students and multiple things could be included in that. Profanity, threats, uh endangering the safety of others, open defiance, things like that. So that
would be multiple offenses in one situation. Um this year we actually had an inclusion of smart pass to they are easily more easily able to identify who is going where at what times. So this is
giving our administration better information to act on. So as a result, the rise in reported incidents reflects more consistent enforcement of the code of conduct and really effectively using the resources that they have at their disposal, not necessarily an increase in
the behaviors. In addition, the increased access to THC and cannabis through online dispensaries has contributed to the problem as well. These are the categories that each incident is sorted into. Depending on
the situation, you'll see violence, vandalism, the substance abuse, and weapons offense, and the different types of incidents that would fall under each category. Other incidents of removal include inappropriate conduct or behavior, profanity, smoking or vaping,
or open defiance, things like that. This is a breakdown of the SSDs incident type by building. Please note that the last two columns are not included in the incident totals. However, they are reported to the state based on Miss
Lilliston's feedback over the weekend. We have renamed the last column from HIB alleged to HI unfounded to clarify in case there was any confusion. As I've said in the past, we take incidents of violence very seriously. Um, but what we count here at Hopewell
would be things that are barely reported, if at all, in other districts. So, the incidents listed here were uh altercations between students. The weapon was a small switchblade. We try to keep our weapons to zero, but there was a small switchblade involved,
similar to a Swiss Army knife for that instance. In reviewing the data, we are seeing a number of second offenses as I mentioned previously, particularly involving substance abuse at the high school. This pattern indicates that perhaps initial
disciplinary measures may not sufficiently deter some students from repeating these types of behaviors. In addition, due to the discreet nature of vape pens, we have found that students feel more confident in their ability to hide their use, leading to more confiscations. Efforts to address this include
increasing the requ the required sessions with the student assistance counselor with more comprehensive substance abuse awareness programming that would be completed during their suspension. In addition, they are connecting with local prevention and addiction organizations to provide educational
opportunities for our students. They are partner partnering with our elementary schools for prevention education through our Panda program and they are reviewing our health curriculum to ensure that the most up-to-date information is provided to our students. Miss Rut will share
more about our programming when she uh speaks in just a moment. And this slide is not included in state reporting but the board has asked for these um tallies as we go through. These are the behavioral municipal alliance.
We also partner with our local police department and others including Detective Marlon Webb who provides restorative circle training to students and staff. We also have a partnership with Rucker's University behavioral health through which our in-house
clinician provides helpful and timely information about ways we can support good mental health among children and our students. data actively on this program, including the fidelity of our implementation as well as student outcomes. And we will use this data near
the end of the school year to determine this program's use moving forward. In grades K through 12, counselors deliver lessons on problem solving, conflict resolution, among others. And hope Squad is an evidence-based tier 2
suicide prevention approach that we currently employ in grades 6 through 12. Students have access to mental health support in a number of ways. We have a number of school counselors, school psychologists, and social workers in our buildings whose students have regular
access to. We have air therapy dogs regularly on site in our buildings and they provide comfort and um smiles and a lot of excitement to many of our students. Our BAT team is a partnership with comprehensive mental health
services here in the community through which with students with specific needs can get therapy in school. Additionally, I'll mention again our Ruckers Univers University behavioral health clinician onsite full-time who also provides therapeutic services to certain students
in need. And lastly on this slide, in terms of prevention and intervention, we engage in several practices too. For several years through our partnership with the Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance, youth mental health first aid training has been brought to interested staff,
parents, and community members. This is a pretty unique program, so I wanted to just highlight it for us this evening. Since the 2023 2024 school year, approximately 145 people have registered
for this training. The training is for any adult who interacts with youth ages 12 to 18. It teaches them how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and or substance use.
uh with among our children and adolesccents. During this school year alone, 12 staff members and 29 parents and community members have been trained in this program. There's another training coming up in April. Additionally, special education staff
staff is trained in an approach um called safety care. It's an evidence-based program designed to prevent, manage, and deescalate behavioral crisis. And lastly, I should mention that our student assistance counselors at TMS and and the high school care provide prevention,
intervention, and support students support services to students struggling with substance use and high-risisk behaviors. Additionally, their role includes providing substance abuse education to students during wellness classes as well as providing counseling
to those who have been caught using a substance. They assess student needs, develop action plans, deliver counseling intended to prevent continued substance use, and refer families to external treatment resources as needed. On to the
next slide. Additionally, here you can see some some more of the measures. We not that obvious from its name. Uh it's run by Dr. Eldererman, our SAC at the high school, and it consists of high school students who conduct prevention lessons at the middle school related to drug and
alcohol use and who serve as mentors for some of our elementary school students. In conclusion, I'd like to add that we're taking action in response to the recent uptick in substance related incidents. We've recently begun
considering placing a permanent locked freestanding vape takeback box in an inconspicuous inconspicuous location at the high school as yet another approach to encouraging students to give up their vape pens. Soon we plan to engage with
Pure Blossom for the second time in recent years to place stickers on merchandise bags to discourage the purchase of cannabis for underage children. And we're looking into the SmartTalk curriculum, a five lesson evidence-based
curriculum created by the Stanford Reach Lab to enhance coping skills and prevent or reduce cannabis use among our youth. That concludes our presentation. Thank you for your time. Any questions?
>> Thank you both. U this was very good. Um, Tana, I had a clarification, I guess. Did I understand you correctly or not when you said that
you attributed the increase in out of school suspensions at least in part to the fact that we're detecting vaping better >> in in the high school for substance abuse? Yes. So, does that mean that vaping in school
is an automatic out of school? >> No. >> No. Okay. >> No. So, >> can you just expand on that a little bit? >> Sure. Vaping itself is not necessarily drugs and alcohol. That's nicotine. Um, and that does not have the same weight or consequence that a drug and alcohol.
So if there's reason because of that vape in the situation and they search, they might have to send that out and then that becomes something or that might lead to the fact that on their person or in their bag there is THC or cannabis.
>> I got it. of what you're saying is when we're finding kids who vape, we usually or we I shouldn't say usually, we find other things sufficiently often that it >> correct. Not all the time, not 100% of
the time, but often. Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I just wanted to thank you for your hard work. It's it's a lot to bring students these skills and talents especially on top of their academics and their sports schedules and everything else. So to have students who have the power to help
each other is a really meaningful thing. >> Thank you everybody. >> I had a I had a a couple questions. So first of all I just want to thank you so much for this presentation and for being so transparent and sharing this data frequently with the board. I think it's
really helpful for us to just understand where we are in terms of disciplinary actions and in terms of talking through all of the interventions that we're doing and we're doing so much in the prevention space and I think we've spent a lot of time as a board looking at our
code of conduct and really spending time revising that code of conduct thoughtfully and in alignment with the evidence to choose fewer uh exclusionary discipline practices and to really emphas empasized restorative justice and other practices
that we know work. So given all that, I was just so surprised to see these numbers. It really wasn't what I expected. And so I guess my question for you all, and if there's not an answer, that's fine, is what's missing? Like what do we need to be doing differently? Um, and then maybe for the board, maybe
we ought to think about taking this into committee and just thinking about this data or taking a deeper dive and seeing if there's anything else we should be doing from either a policy perspective or from a resource allocation perspective. So happy to hear your thoughts. You know, I think a deeper
dive probably isn't a bad idea, but I will say, you know, based on those average will be more consistent with previous years. um it might have just been the situation and you know students getting caught up in different things but a deeper dive is probably worthwhile.
I I think that the to expand on that a little bit. I think that some of the discussion is that in the end of last year there even compared to now there seems to be a shift to the more
positive. Um, and so I maybe that deeper dive will will definitely help, but I think coming back again to the board once we see that change just to update everybody is important. Um, if we think that kids in transition are settling in
and you know finding their uh sea legs in a new district, if that's any part of it, of course we'll see a natural drop as well. So, I just I I definitely think back to committee, but also probably a
an update somewhere mid mid year will where we ended the year maybe would be helpful. >> So, you know, Corey and I will be giving the the year end next in November. So, then we'll be sharing, you know, the the results of this entirety of the year.
So, we can certainly discuss that. >> Yeah. Um I think also another piece of data that's important um because you talked about how some of these are repeat offenders, some of them are multiple same incident. So like we've
got an increase but do we have an increase in number of students as opposed to number of incidences? So it might not be an escalation in problem. It might just you know what I'm saying? So, it'd be really good to have like the
data teased out a little >> to know whether or not we're seeing an increase in students doing this or that we've got some students with some great needs, >> which are two different problems. >> And Jackie, that's a great point. That's
not something that we can talk about in this setting, but definitely in a committee where we can, you know, kind of go to the granular level on the cases. Anything else? Okay, seeing none. Thank you.
Okay, we are going to have our first public comment specifically on the um report just presented. So members of the public are invited to address the board um on the report uh for three minutes during this portion of the meeting. You're asked to state
your name, address, and municipality in response to your um sorry in response to your comments. The board of ed may respond or direct the superintendent to do so. The board may also opt to take the matter up at a future meeting so
that the matter is researched by the district administration. I'll look for um any specific directions on timekeeping. >> Yes. So, as Miss Williams said, >> sorry. So, as Miss Williams Galliano
said, you'll have three minutes. At two and a half minutes, I'm going to lift up the yellow sign, and at three minutes, I will turn it red to let you know that your time has ended. Seeing with that we will open public comment.
Okay. Seeing none we will close public comment and move on u to any old business items. Seeing none, we will move to the presentation on the board budget.
All right. Thank you to our guests that came today to hear about our tenative budget adoption. Um during this time we'll talk through our process um what we've what our final proposal is to the board and we will open the floor for questions and of course this is an opportunity for the public to comment as
well on this presentation. If you want to go ahead Mr. Galvita I have the mission statement here. This is the foundation for all that we do here in the district. I I we always start with this um when we're doing our pled budget planning and anything that
we decide for our students starts with this. Uh I remind you that this is a mission statement that we all crafted together coming out of COVID as a community. And so I just like to start with that reminder. Here is a layout of our budget um calendar for the year. We've been
presenting this since September um when we began with presentations from each one of our department heads um that lead uh the areas where most of our spending takes place outside of our our our p you know our primary um spins in the district which we'll talk about as we go
through this report. Uh so we started with a presentation from um Dr. Blitzes with CNI. Um, Miss Donardo, our director of pupil services, presented uh, we talked through extensively some of our budget and building needs through our budget with our budget manager um, and general discussions that we've that led
us to this point where we are now um, talking about hopefully adopting a tenative bud budget this evening. The board has also participated in two um retreats that we advertised and and we held um to discuss through the options
and our proposal as administrators and we've worked through that along the way. What is not on this calendar is many meetings that I've had with my uh leadership team. This this is how we participate uh with our budget talks every year. Um so we'll talk a little
bit about that as we move for forward. Uh so tonight hopefully we will strike a tenative budget that we can send to the executive superintendent and then we do need to strike an official budget um later uh in April. So that's the calendar and we'll keep reminding folks
of that as we move forward. >> Mr. Kita, you want to talk about this briefly? >> Um I I'd like to share this slide just because it shows um a little trend, the upward trend that we're seeing right now uh in enrollment due to the the pilot housing that's that's coming on board.
So we are seeing an uptick and we should see continue to see that uptick uh for the next several years. >> Thank you. So when we're doing our budget planning, these are the things that we that we focus on in their best practices are not my best practices. Um most
superintendents that are doing things well follow these guidelines. We always start with our students first. Our priority as superintendent that you've charged us with this position is to make sure that we're maintaining the quality programs that have that align with our
mission and that are also aligned to the outcomes that we have for our students. Many of the programs that are put in place, these high-quality programs have been ones that the district has has committed to financially and with resources for years. And these are things that usually the community asked
for or require of us. So, our job is to best we can make sure that we're maintaining those for our community and our students. Um, those those high-quality programs are what make us highly ranked districts and they're the reasons why people want to move to Hopewell. So, it's my job and my team's
job to make sure that we do this as best we can in the most fiscally responsible way that we can do that. Um, and and as we do that, we also need to make sure that we're maintaining integrity of programs, right? So when you chip away and take away from a program at the
bottom or at the top then the integrity of that program is also affected. So we're very careful of that. So as we discuss cuts we're very careful to discuss with each other and then ultimately with the board what will be the impact of us taking making this cut. Sometimes you don't have an option right
you just have to cut. That's the way it is. We are going to have to cut this year. Um, but how can we pick those programs that are going to be least damaging to our families and our students and and what we've come to expect for our students moving forward? Balancing that with the stewardship of the of the of the monies that the
taxpayer is entrusting us with. And then finally, we need to prepare for the unknown um which is uh the rising costs of many factors, energy, health care, and transportation costs with gas specifically right now. um but also with just purchasing a piece of transportation and maintaining it. Um so
we'll talk about that as we move forward um in our presentation. So again, I just quickly these are our budget priorities. I just quickly went through those. The things that I did not cover is also making sure that we meet the needs of of the the student learning standards as put forth by the state. So
we are required to provide certain things like world language from elementary all the way up through grade 12. there needs to be opportunities for that and those are part of our graduation requirements. We have to teach math, social studies, and language arts and we have to align to those standards. Uh so there are certain things that we do not have the luxury of
of sort of eliminating or doing away with or doing in a different way because those things are regulated by the New Jersey Department of Ed. Um and as they roll out new standards, we're required to um review and write new curricula, which is also an investment that the district needs to make. We need to make
the meet the contractual needs of our staff and the benefit obligations thereof. And then we have to do program evaluations and make sure that we are meeting the needs of our students as they come in that reflect the student enrollment, meaning those that are moving into the new housing. If they
need special programming that we're legally required to give them, those are not options for the district. We have to provide the that proper education for that student. And then also we need to again reinforce that we are preparing for a future that's kind of uncertain in some areas. And unfortunately the areas
that are uncertain are some of the areas where the district really spends a lot. It's it's some of our top uh ticket items and our regular operating budget. Okay. Just some of the things as we've talked through the last uh six months um things that are driving our expenditure
budget. We've talked about it a lot. inflation, supplies, services, and energy all seeing increases in in in regular costs. Our health benefits, we Dr. Trice mentioned that um rising at unprecedented rates uh during my 24
years in the district. Um still we still must maintain our curriculum instruction, textbooks, supplies, revisions of curriculum, transportation continues to grow with the new housing, but also as Dr. just said the uh cost of
buying buses now is has gone up probably 30 to 40% over the last several years. Property and casualty insurance we must provide as well. That has not uh risen as much as we thought it would. That's kind of stabled out. We've been very lucky in the consortium we're in. Um
hopefully our facility and maintenance costs will start to drop once we start building uh and fixing the things that were in the in the referendum from November. But before we can start, we're not going to be uh doing much um until next summer. We do have some roof projects we'll talk about later today
that will alleviate some of that those problems, but the vast majority of the HVAC work and roofing will be done next summer. Special education, uh the tuitions that were charged by outside organizations continue to rise. Staffing, um again, staffing, we are uh
struggling to fill positions. Uh and when we do fill positions, sometimes they are at a higher step than than we thought they might be. Um in the past, technology is in everything that we do. Um pretty much there's a techn technological aspect to it. Um our
infrastructure needs some work and that's that's also in our budget. And again, anticipated growth. We know it's coming. It's coming. It's it's continuing to come. Um and we'll need to address that. So how do we pay for it? Is the revenues. Um, we do have a 2% cap. Uh,
this budget does include two waivers, a health benefit waiver of almost $2.1 million, representative of the increase expected and an enrollment waiver. Again, it's reflective of the increase that we're seeing. Um, our enrollment has increased, generating a $1.3 million
uh, enrollment waiver. Um, it was uh, in the paper published, we did get a 5.75 increase to our um, state aid this year. Unfortunately, that only leads three uh yields $391,000. It's the 5.75% seems um when you say it
that way seems more significant than the actual dollars that we got. Um compared to a district like Hamilton that got over $5 million in additional state aid. Federal aid uh is still up in the air. We were uh told this year to budget no more than 75% of the monies we got this
year. Uh and again trying to generate local revenue where we can. We do charge seats for tuition uh for certain programs. Um we charge our buildings we rent our buildings out to local organizations to
use. Uh we have implemented the athletic and co-curricular fees from last year. I'm happy to say that it did raise revenue and we didn't um see a significant drop off. In fact, we saw an increase in participation um this year. Uh and again, no student uh was was um
not able to participate because of financial reasons. Um transportation fees, we do um take uh jobs from other school districts. We we bus uh we we take kids from other districts on our buses to go to the same school where we
ship our students on other districts buses to go to specific schools. Saves money there. Also brings in revenue and we also charge uh for courtesy busing there as well. Something else we need to consider uh during this year's budget was the use of surplus and we'll talk more about that as we get further into
the presentation. So the uh some of the cuts that we discussed with the board is again looking at our class size. Uh when I first came to this district and for years we've enjoyed class sizes of 15 16 17 that is no longer sustainable. Um,
how we cap class size is is varied per classroom based on whether or not there are students with 504s, IEPs. Plans in there, those classrooms are going to be a certain size. When you get to the high school, when you have classes that are leveled and students are selected in into them, they may be set at a certain
size. So, this is not something we can blanketly do all across the district. And part of our efforts to redistrict in a small way is to make sure we equalize that across schools to maintain those class sizes as best we can. But those days of 15, 16, 17, and 20 in a class is really something we were going to have
to move away from as a district. It's not sustainable and something we can afford. So we discussed that. We talked about some of the wraparound services that we offer students here and our families. And those included some of the things that Miss uh Rut talked about this evening. Um, a lot of what we do in
mental health, training parents and staff members, partnering with comprehensive mental health, having a Ruckers clinician here on staff that is trained specifically at the clinical level to provide support for students and carry a case load is something that
is is a nice to have for a district. It's I don't feel like it's a nice to have, nor does a board, but it is something that really does not need to be the responsibility of the district. We have counselors here and we do have child study teams and we offer that level of support, but we offer a much deeper level than that. Um, we talked
about athletic programming, trips, supplies, clubs, the teaming at the middle school by while very age appropriate and I would fight tooth and nail for it, it's expensive and a lot of school districts have done away with it and gone back to the traditional junior high school model. AP offerings we
talked about, uh, which are very difficult to cut. you have to cut, you know, because a teacher doesn't necessarily teach AP all day. You may get away from a section or two if you eliminate a program, but that staff member is still there. So, we talked about curriculum writing and uh development, which we did not did very
little of last year and we'll do very little of this year um probably as well. Program offerings in uh each discipline. We examined who what was under subscribed uh and and not as as fully um enrolled with by the students. We looked
at um staff reductions including admin and then we also looked at the performing arts programs and ways to save money there. So the board's priority as we had those discussions were that they wanted to provide and continue those wraparound services that we had for students specifically in mental health that that
athletic uh maintaining athletics and having something for kids to do after school was a priority for us. Um that we um we would not continue to run these under subscribed programs. So they need to be if kids aren't involved in it and we only have a handful of kids, we can't
carry on with those things if if they're costing the district a lot of money. Teaming at the middle school was something that we wanted to maintain. Um maintaining the culture of the schools as much as possible, which teaming is one of those things and also trying to maintain the integrity of programming as
much as possible. How can we uh prevent taking large chunks of programming away from students? Um and and the things that make Hopewell hope well. So they agreed upon reductions and it's to the tune of about $900,000 that we're
going to be making cuts is to elim eliminating or phasing out programs that are undersubscribed. So that means if there's students involved in something that they need and they're working towards graduation, that is not something we want to eliminate. or if they've already started down a track that they're they're going to finish that track and we want to make sure that
we provide them that opportunity and we'll phase it out along the way. Um eliminating um further reducing field trips. We have reduced greatly the number of trips that the district is paying for and we're going to continue to do that next year. Uh controlling uh
cost through class sizes. I already discussed that earlier. making sure um that we're trying uh to not add staff um every time that we see you know us get to that 22 like we did in the past. We can no longer do that. Um so we're going to be doing some of that through class
sizing um reduction in workforce mostly through attrition through retirements um through folks that are going to be non-renewed or people that are resigning. Um so hopefully that we can hold on to that talent we have hired. Uh we have many uh staff members that are younger now. We have a lot of people
that are that are um you know my age or a little older that are retiring and it's their time to retire. And then we have a lot of younger staff that we've come in that we've nurtured and we've invested in. And uh Mr. Kavita talked about the lack of teacher pipeline that we have. We don't want to riff and lay
off people that that are young. Um knowing that maybe in two years as we continue to grow, we need those teachers back and they're going to be hard to get. Um and then finally, let's that breakage. What that means is when you have a teacher that's at the end or the top of the salary guide and he or she
retires and you hire that younger person right out of college, there should be a substantial savings there because they're coming in at the lower end of the guide. Unfortunately, they're not. We're getting people that are at the top of the guide. Um, but we we just went to a job fair this week, this past week. We
had a lot of great candidates right out of college. We're going to grab them up. Um, so that's helpful when you can get those ones that are just coming right out of college. Some further reductions that we're going to take this year uh in that 900 plus uh thousand cuts that we're recommending is
reducing uh the uh Dr. Fitz's bud budget and CNI, reducing school level budgets, um reducing departmental budgets, reduction of guest speakers and assembly offerings, and reduction of supplies and subscriptions that the district invests in. These are all things that we can
stay away from touching your children. That is my priority as much as possible. Okay. So, as we get into the the nuts and bolts of the budget, um just some things that are in um as we prepared a budget, we tried to prepare um for as many unknowns as we could. Um these four
areas uh in particular were very hard to gauge um and are subject to a lot of volatility um from now until we actually implement the budget uh in July and and throughout the year. health benefit spending. Um, you've been seeing it.
I've been talking about it now for um, many months. We had a consultant come out a few months ago to talk to us about the marketplace. Um, it continues to um, be quite vexing to me why it's continuing to to go that high, but we are we have a decent amount budgeted in
our budget. Um, I I you know, I'm hoping it's going to be okay. I'm going to have there's another slide on health benefits in a in a few minutes. We'll get to that. Special education. Um this budget does not not include any funding or provisions for additional students
entering. Um Miss Donardo has um we have gone over her budget. There are a few um students that we know are coming into the pipeline. They've been budgeted for but anybody moving in um has not been accounted for. Um energy again we are seeing extreme
volatility here um especially with the crisis that's going on right now. we are protected somewhat in that we are in a consortium with 360 other school districts where we bid out our gas and electric. So we there is some level of
um protection from extreme uh increases for the next year or so. Um but that's the commodity. The delivery portion is something that we don't have much control over. Um so we're keeping an eye on that. Staffing, again, we've talked about staffing several times now. It's
the same same thing happens. Um, another note on breakage. Um, we what we don't like to do is is budget breakage in positions where we know we may have a difficult time getting a staff member. When we can assume breakage, we do. Um, but there are just certain positions out there that we know when a teacher is
leaving in a certain um discipline, we can't get it's very difficult to get someone that right out of college. So, back to state aid. I touched upon it a little bit. Uh, last year we got 6% state aid. Um that was an increase about 395,000. This year the trends is going
downward which is um a little eye openening for me. I I thought because we were growing um the way we were that we would get the max the max state aid increase this year was 6%. We only got 5.75. So I'm concerned for the future. Are we are we trending downward um or is
it an off year? So we'll we'll see. But again, the amount of additional state aid we're getting um is is modest. The additional uh delta is is modest. So, how do we fund uh everything? 2%
cap. Our 2% cap is about 1.8 million. Our state aid increase uh 391,000. That's about $2.1 million. Just rolling over our salaries from this
year to next year is $1.6 million. You can see the difficulty we would have that the majority of our cap is taken just rolling over our staffing from one year to the next. Given to that a health benefit increase estimated somewhere in
the area of 20 to 25% and the rising cost of energy, just to name two volatile areas, you can see easily how our $2.2 million increase um in cap and state aid was eaten up very quickly.
Okay, back to healthcare costs. This year we uh budgeted $17.3 million for health benefits. uh we used a waiver of about $1.8 million. We are currently running $1.5 million over that budget due to the the health benefit
marketplace that we're involved in. Now, to kind of put a positive spin on this, if we were to shift to the state health benefits program, our premium rates would go up 50%. 50%. Okay? So, while we are running over
budget right now, um we do have a reserve fund. If I if we can't close that by June, um we are doing much better than if we were in the state marketplace. Next year, we're looking at a $20.4 million spend um healthcare waiver
increase this year by two uh to 2.1 million. Um the thing that I've gotten a lot in the public, people have mentioned, why don't we just do different health benefits? We can't. Um chapter 44, which was implemented uh a
few years back um by Governor uh Murphy, uh sun sets in at the end of 2027, so another year and a half or so before we can um negotiate with our our bargaining units on um helping us handle health
benefits. Um just a a note prior to chapter 44 and before that chapter 78, the district actually had its own cost sharing um with the unions that lasted for 30 plus years and we actually were doing better um and had more ability to
control cost than we do now. Um this was a this these laws were not positive for Hopeo Valley. We were doing better on our own. Um, and when we argued back in chapter 78 that we were doing better on our own, um, they said everybody had to go and it was just the way it was. So, we'll have to wait for the end of 27
before we can start to to try to do something on our own again to control costs >> and and so this is not something that just Hopewell Valley is struggling with. This is something that all districts all over the state of New Jersey are struggling with. The state is aware of that and that's why they provide
waivers. But for districts like Hopewell, right, the waiver means that that allows us to go to you, the taxpayer, to make up the difference. They're aware that we have a shortfall and we don't have enough funds to to to fund these things. And that's the mechanism they've given us, the only
mechanism they've given us to accommodate something we know we have to do, which is provide our folks with benefits who are full-time. Um, and we were one and a half million over budget when we wrote this slide deck. I'm sure it's it's we're way over that by now because I signed a bunch of them today.
So, it's just people are using their healthcare they need to. But, you know, I'm sure that I'm preaching to the saved out there who are watching or here present with us that health care costs in this country are out of control and it's particularly bad with the with the way our hands are tied with our
inability to negotiate. Okay, just um a a bird's eye view of uh our appropriations um through regular instruction, special education. Um you could see the the increases. What's driving our budget this year is uh benefits and
transportation are are two of the huge drivers there. Um the cuts we've made, you can see that the c the the uh spending towards regular instruction has gone uh to nearly flat. That's that's where the majority of this the cuts have
come from um to balance this budget. You will see at the bottom uh the debt service the increase uh of 60% due to the new referendum. Um we will show you on the next uh slide why it's not impacting you at this time. It's not
going to fully impact the taxpayer in this coming year. This is just the graphical view of that uh slide before. Um you can see from the blue at 12:00 and and going moving clockwise around to the gold. Um majority of the money that
we use here in the district goes to salaries and benefits of our staff members for the most part. Okay. Revenues um tax levy increase right now is looking at at 5.2%.
Um that does and people say why I thought we had a 2% cap. the box at the bottom, we do have enrollment waivers and health benefit waivers um that help us uh go over cap and and manage our spending. Uh state aid, um we have a 4.2%
uh increase total increase. That's largely due to um we did get a a 5.75, but combined with the other state aids we have in debt service that nets out to 4.2% total. Um this miscellaneous line,
this is where um this is how the the uh debt service is going to be offset by miscellaneous income, which is essentially uh the interest earned on our bonds. Um we bonded back in January the entire $84 million. Um we are we've
invested that in um again just for the public. It's invested in all safe uh guaranteed investments. Um, but we will earn a significant amount of interest because we are not doing a lot of the spending of that referendum until next
summer. So that money will sit um for nearly a year earning interest. We will earn enough interest to pay the entire debt service balance of the new debt um for next year. So that is a a way to push off the impact of the new
referendum for at least a year. Um, we will probably receive a break next year as well because we will be getting double debt service next year. We didn't we aren't getting debt service from the state on the new money. We'll get double debt service next year on that money in
addition to additional interest that will be earned on the on the uh invested bond money as it spends down. So, we'll have a break in the full impact of the referendum next year as well. And again, you could see um federal aid, federal aid is not a huge portion of our budget.
Um we do the majority of that is goes to fund our idea program which covers special education tuition. So while federal money is not a huge part of our budget, it is much needed um to help us balance.
>> Bob, just I didn't want want to interrupt, but it's important in the slide. It should say 2627. >> Yes, it should. Good catch on that. I missed something. >> So the middle column for those of you are watching is 26 27 proposed.
>> Tana should have caught that earlier. >> Anyway, good catch. Um, how do our budgets um strike down? We are we are a school district that is heavily res uh re um reliable on local funding. We rely on our property taxes 85% of the total
budget. Uh miscellaneous revenues such as tuitions and facility use fees 4% of our budget and use of surplus. Um this year at 3% of our budget again usually it's a little lower than that about 2% of our budget for surplus but again we're throwing in a lot of uh interest
revenue from our debt money into the budget this year. increasing that state and federal funding um stays uh stagnant this year at 7% and 1%. And this is what um our levy looks like. So we have a general fund tax levy
increase of 5.8% and it is offset by a decrease in the debt service um the debt service rate of minus 11% for a total uh tax levy increase of 5.2%. 2%
which yields the following tax rates. You'll hope Burough will see a 6 cent increase in the tax rate. Hope Township will see an 11 cent increase. And Pennington Burough will see an 8 cent increase on the tax rate. Each of those
tax increases, 270 for the burrow, 531 for the township, and 370 for the Pennington burrow, is based on the average home of the uh about $500,000 a home. If your home is assessed at less, your be your impact will be less. If
it's more, obviously, it'll be more than that. I think that brings us to the end. Open up to questions from the board and then the public. Any additional questions from the board? >> Can you just um at this proposal
initially when we had had conversations we talked about right kind of that 6.6% I think is what gives us a balanced budget and so how much with this proposal are we taking out of the budget in terms of dollars? uh about 950,000
somewhere in that area. >> Mhm. >> And just for the public, um we had on the 16th we had a uh retreat discussing this deeply. So just because you don't see questions
coming out, we we've had um pretty in-depth conversations. But anything new for anyone? >> Okay. And if I can just add for the public, Bob, if you can go back to that pie chart real quick. So when we discuss cuts, and I showed you the cuts that
were up there, and I I think it's important for us to keep looking at those cuts that we really don't want to make because they they do devastate a school district. And we see school districts around us that have devastated. They've lost all their sports. They've lost clubs. They've lost programming. They've um let a go of a
lot of staff. Most of that piraphph is our staff and the benefits. So those are our faculty. That's your class size. Those are your programs that make hope well hope well at a high performing highly ranked school district that make us a desirable magnet for other folks to come to. Districts around us are
collapsing because the board over the years have not gone over that 2% which you see the numbers that's not sustainable at all and then you have to get into cutting major programming to make the difference because the smaller cuts that I mentioned don't do it
because we're talking about millions of dollars of cuts. So when we had the discussion in with our in those retreats, we started very low. We looked at 3%. Because and it was like almost $500 million in cuts. That's getting all into your programs and the things that
we offer your students. Sports was on the table. Teaming was on the table. Cutting out whole programs at the middle and high school were on the table. Getting rid of those wraparound services that we provide in in mental health care were on the table. And we still weren't balancing. So then we looked at four and
five and we got to the point where we settled on on 5.8, but 6.6 would have had us making very minimal cuts, but we all felt strongly that the district needed to show that we that we're making those cuts and we're doing that. But
making deep massive cuts like that now when you probably will have to look at this again next year and again the year after that what is how you get to become a Robinsville. And if you're looking in the news, they have lost everything. And the the superintendent went to a
question that just asked for the $8 million to keep clubs and sports in place. And there was a no. So they will literally have no sports and they've already been paying uh for sports, paying, you know, fee for that. And now they're going to lose all of that. I
don't I don't want us to become that because I imagine that these houses over here are going to fill up pretty quickly with folks leaving that school district. Yeah, thank you, Dr. Trice. Um, I'll just maybe say one or two things. My apologies. I'm not feeling 100%. So, I'm a little congested, but I think for my
fellow board members, as we're looking at the budget, as we talked about last week, um, I personally see this as being as flat as it can get, just given the things that are outside of our control. I think Dr. Resnik has done a good job
explaining that and I would encourage him to maybe share his analogy on that in public once more. uh at some point tonight. Um I think for all of us just as we're talking about this and for the public listening and for those in the room, there's really three major things
at this point that we can do to impact a budget going up year-over-year, right? In my opinion, there's three choices. The first choice that we make is we have to just systemically tear apart what Hopeal Valley Regional
School District is, which means go after programming. And I don't think there's any board member or anybody in the public that wants us to do that. But that's how that would be one option that we have. The second option to address this issue would be us having some sort of impact with going after the state
laws that are forcing us to be in this position because as Bob alluded to and as Rosetta has talked to, if you look at that pie chart, a lot of these costs that are driving up year-over-year at these extreme rates are happening because of things outside of our control that the state has given the ability to
to be done to hap have happen, right? And we have to then deal with the consequences. And then I think the third part of this is us thinking about this idea of what's to come and and trying to start thinking more long term about it. And I think this was the first year of
us starting to think about that really really I think front and center around the large developments coming in right and this isn't just a Hopewell Township issue. This is a Pennington burough issue. This is a Hopewell burough issue now. Right? Everybody's got these pilot programs and the impact that those
additional students are going to have. And in that third option, the really the only thing that we can do is hopefully work with our fellow elected officials in all of these towns to see what sort of financial contributions they can make above and beyond what some of them have already made. Absent of those three
things, this is kind of what our outlook is for the foreseeable future for budgeting, right? As bleak as that sounds. And by the way, I hope at some point I can talk about something happy because I feel like for the past nine months I've just sounded like doomsday. Uh, so my apologies on that, but I think
that I'm really proud of us and I'm not just saying that so we all pat each other on the back because we did a lot of work in this and the the the idea of trying to do this work in the public was something that the board members wanted done and the administration was happy to do. So I'm appreciative of the work
we've done, but for the public, I encourage you guys to get active, right? We're doing the best we can to hold things together without having to fundamentally change the way we're delivering education, but a lot of this stuff is outside of our control and we need your help to get active.
>> Thanks, Mark. >> Thanks, Mark. So, I'm not sure which one of my analogies you are referring to. So, >> I'll budget the flat budget. >> How do you think about the 5.8? >> Well, I I I think that's a deeper question, but u I'll say this. This is
my fourth budget I think that I'm involved in. I think we spent so because I'm on the finance and facilities committee with Mark and and and with Dr.
Lillston, I think we spent I feel like I spent more on the budget this year, more time and more effort. Um, and I know the administration has than I probably spent for the previous three
years combined. And that's because the um stuff hit the fan um with the way um school budgeting is structurally set up
in the state of New Jersey. Um, I'm not going to say that this budget makes me happy because um, the reason we all spend so much time on this budget um, in committee then in the workshops
at these board meetings is because I don't think there were options on the table that would really make people happy. I do think that as any good compromise to me should do, this is an acceptable budget. Um, and then the only
other thing that I will add to what um, Mark has said, if you are concerned about your property taxes, if you're concerned about direction of of the of
that the state of education is going in in the state of New Jersey. Contact your state legislature. Let them know the unfunded mandates
that the the the the enormous amount of unfunded mandates. Well-intentioned as they are, they're unfunded and I and unthought through in terms of what the consequences of unfunded mandates are. the restrictions as Bob mentioned on the districts to
control costs because for example we can't negotiate health care plans right all of those things um are at a point now where they are destroying the public education that the state of
New Jersey you used to be rightly proud of. So, if you're pissed about that and and if you're pissed about your property tax bills, find out who your local legislator is, find out who your state senator is, and let them know.
Okay. Anything from anyone else? Right. Moving um on then we will have a um public comment section just on the budget. So members of the public are
invited to address the board um for approximately three minutes during the port this portion of the meeting. You're asked to state your name, address, and municipality. In response to your comments, the board of ed may respond or direct the superintendent to do so. The
board may also opt to take the matter up at a future meeting so that the matter is repres uh researched by the district administration. You have your yellow and red um panel over there for time. Public comment is
now open. >> Yes. Uh good afternoon or good evening. My name is Jim Bird. I'm from Hopewell Township. Uh six generations of birds have been here. Uh, we have one that's over in Timberlane. And when I was a
freshman here at Hopewell Valley, that's when Timberlain w opened. But that's when your office was my father's high school and my junior school. When you look at the issue that we talk about
with property tax, you'll also see that 57% of your property tax is going to the school board. And I think that's an important factor that you have to keep in mind. I think the other thing that you have to keep in mind is what
Governor Chris Christie put together when he was in office and that was that there would be a 2% increase annually maximum. You're now talking 5.7 5.8%
increase. Well, you know what? It looks like it has to be re-evaluated a little bit more because when you keep hitting it and hitting it and hitting it, everything that I saw over here did not
see 2% anywhere. I saw 4% I saw 5%. I saw 5.8%. Now, I understand that you're doing this because I used to be mayor here and I understand where you're coming from, but
at the same time, there has to be something more significant to re-evaluate this to bring it down lower because I'm a retired individual.
I have kids. One out of five kids are going here. So, we're paying for four other students going to private schools. If they decided to come here, all of a sudden, you're going to get hit harder
again. And I don't know what will happen with that. But what I'm saying is look at this more closely because yes it's significant what you're talking about but at the same time look at us as the
taxpayers the people who are putting the money out for the students that are getting an education. So once again, I agree that everybody here and your members of the of the uh school board, I
suggest everybody else in Hopewell Township and all the other municipalities run for office. Learn a little bit about the difference between government and politics and you'll learn a lot more. So once again, I hope to see
you lower the price or lower the percentage. Thank you. Um, Alex and Mark, thank you for addressing the issue that's the uh unknown in the room, including transportation, health care, and those
others, and that's pilots. It has been and it will continue to be. The Hope Valley Regional School District represents a partnership built on shared responsibility among the township and the two burrows. Traditionally, the three municipalities shared regional
school cost proportionally based on each municipality's assessed valuation of properties within their communities. The Hopewell Township Committee elected officials violated that fairness principle when they entered into tax abatement
agreements called pilots. All this pilot money is unrestricted revenue the Hopewell Township Committee can spend however it chooses. Not $1 of our schools are required from
the 1,756 new housing units that are under construction in these pilot developments. Not $1 of that is required to come to the school for 1,756 units. The Herpa, the current Hopewell
Township Committee has made these pilot decisions unilaterally without concern on how they will impact the tax burden on the regional partners and the fiscal integrity of our school district. This is a grave threat to our
community and its collaborative foundations. Public concern over pilots is not about a opposing affordable housing. It's about intentional cost shifting and
a loss of revenue to our schools. And there is bipartisan concern about how pilots are funds are distributed. What can we do? The current laws, as you said, and the system allows municipalities to enrich themselves with
unrestricted pilot revenue while shifting the cost to neighbors. This is not fair and it should not continue. We need legislative reform. But until that happens, we can pressure the township committee to face their
moral responsibility and voluntarily negotiate a different way to aortion school costs across our regional partners. I encourage the board to do what you did to get the referendum
passed. you sought uh some public relations campaign to let the public know that this is a legislative issue and we need you to do this. We need people in the in the community to take this up. Yard signs, everything you did
for the referendum, please do that for this Any other comments? >> I would love Seth Saditzki, Hopewell Township. Um, could if we could go back and possibly explain again the 5.7 to
5.2% and where all that money is coming from. I think that's all kind of new information that we went through pretty quick. >> Okay, >> that was all. >> Can you just recreate your question for them in the mic? >> Yes. I don't think they heard you. I know Mr. Kvita did, but just for the go
to the order. >> Mr. Kita that needed to hear. Oh, look at that. I'm on the mic. Um I just think it was a little we went through it pretty fast. The difference between um the 5.7% to 5.2% which I believe is going to be the actual tax proposed increase would be 5.2%. But
understanding the difference of where that is which I think is all in our pilot money that is in the bank and earning interest but obviously I'm may not be correct on that. So just understanding what the difference is. >> So what he's asking um Mr. Galvita is
Mr. B >> usually wait till the end right? >> Yes. Yes. All >> if you have them all. Easy one. >> Okay. Any other pop comment? If not, we will go back and acknowledge some of the
questions and Okay, Mr. Bird, um, were you just coming up to write your name or did you have something else you wanted to add? >> No, I just wanted to put my name down here. >> Thank you. >> All right, Mr. Bird, um, Mr. Kvita, could you go back over the the
percentage points that we talked about? We started with um talking about uh Governor Christie placing a 2% cap on school districts and saying that you know you can't kind of go over this 2% cap >> statewide >> statewide but it was specifically for public schools in budgeting saying that
you can't go over this 2% cap. I would like to argue that uh the cost of living increase has been 3% for quite some time. So that was already a problem and that's the reason why these waiverss exist and so do Mr. Colliva will talk about that in a moment. Do you mind do you mind if I jump in before? Is that
okay? Do this to keep it down. But so I was going to say first off, Mr. Bird, I really appreciate you coming and and speaking. And I think right all of us can agree, right, none of these decisions are fun. None of us are happy when we have to increase taxes. And so I
think we want to really encourage a lot of these open um conversations in community and to have these hard conversations. And so I I want to acknowledge and and thank you for that. Um I do think right part of when we look at the the big picture as a board the
the 2% and and I think this echoes a little bit what you're saying right is is great on two conditions right one that the cost of living also goes up 2%. Um and two that the size of your student population stays the same. And I think
what we're seeing and what we're struggling with here as a board is is neither of those have been true for us. That we have a huge cost of uh not cost of living but huge increases in expenses driven primarily as we've talked about from health insurance costs along with
some other costs. Um and two that we do have this growing student population which now puts us as a board in a position where we either have to increase above that 2% or we have to start making pretty drastic cuts to the quality of
education. Right? And and none of us in the community want to be in that position, right? This is not a fun position for us to be in. Um as a board and and we can, you know, share more about this, right? One of the things we were very conscious of is is the impact that this has on our community. Um
that's that's very important. Um and one of the things the board kind of came to the table I think pretty early on is said okay we have uh state permission to go up to this what was it 6 point what did we have permission to go up to? >> I mean we we could go as high as 6.6.
>> 6.6. Okay. Um, and as a board, one of the things we said is, you know, we don't want to be approaching this budget and just saying, okay, let's take our budget, let's do 6.6, and let's put that on to the community, right? We we want to have a level of scrutiny of where is
anywhere that we can cut from this budget before we we pass that on to the community. And so, one of the things that we did um and I'm sure this was not fun for the administrators, right? But the administrators cut just under a million dollars out of the budget. that that was really important that we were
not going to just take all of that and put it on the community. However, then we're in a place where now we don't have anything else to cut unless you cut uh major programming areas. Um when you look at the numbers, right, there's kind
of what we're increasing as a percentage and again I know we'll talk a little bit more about that to make that a little clearer. Um but then there's also what does that impact have on each of the communities and we can see right that there's a very different dollar amount tied in each of those communities. Um
and I think that's part of kind of the comments you made of right as a community now at Hopeel Township. We really need to start thinking about how do we want to use that pilot money. Right? We have this pilot money. We have these students in our school. Right? Do
we want as a community to start using some of that pilot money to support the ongoing costs of educating those students or is the plan as a community to use that money towards other things in which case then the taxpayers will have to pay the the components for the
education? And so I want to encourage us to keep having these very hard conversations as a community and to start to start thinking about where we want as a community those those dollars to go and where we want to invest them. Thank you.
>> Can I piggy back on a couple of things that Amanda said? >> U just to add a few things, right? I think Amanda, one thing you mentioned is when you have an increased enrollment
of kids in schools, you would expect your budget to go up. Um, in a how should I say it? In a normal world, um that would not necessarily translate
into a tax levy increase because in a normal world when your enrollment in a district like this increases that means that your tax base has also increased thanks to the state of New Jersey.
And I will put this on the state uh because when laws create opportunities for people to take advantage of them, right, the fault is with the people who didn't think really hard about what they were writing
and the people that need to fix the law. So in the environment that the state of New Jersey has created, we're now in a situation where our enrollment is increasing, but the tax base is not. And that's one of the challenges that
we're facing. A second challenge, Bob, can you put up a slide where you showed what the increase in the healthc care cost benefits is? Okay. If you look at that uh well, it says
healthc care waiver, but if you look at the difference at our in our actual budget, that's right around $3 million, right? Our budget is right around $und00 million.
That's 3% right there. That's 3% right there. >> And we were talking about a 2% >> cap, right? And in a normal world, we would turn to the teachers union and go, "Look, we're in trouble here. We
need to look at this and negotiate this." And it's one of the levers that we had. In its infinite wisdom, the state of New Jersey said, "No, no, no. You can't do anything about it. We'll give you a
waiver, which is not money. It's just the ability to tax above that. If you look at the history of our tax increases, they haven't been at 2% for a while. And I bet if you look across the state of New Jersey, that's also going
to be true. That 2% was a great political publicity stunt that was pulled a while back and it kind of held the appearance of being reasonable while inflation was really
low. But the state's actions are consistently proving that the 2% legal cap, right, is a fiction. I mean, it's a legal cap. we wouldn't be able to go up to percent if it was not a
fiction. But instead of just calling on it, they keep giving districts all all these waiverss, right? So they could so they keep putting band-aids on a problem that is a
fundamental structural problem with the way things are funded while keeping our hands tied and not allowing us to do anything locally either. Now, as far as the burden of tax increases on
the taxpayers, I am very very cognizant of it. On the flip side of things, I'm also very cognizant of the fact that there is a significant number of residents of Hope
Valley who invested in living here in the school district because of what the schools are and how the schools are. So if we were to go in and make cuts that fundamentally change what the school district is and how we educate
our children, then we are betraying the trust that those people made when they invested in the district in the last 10 20 years. So where is that unpleasant compromise between the two? I and I bet everybody's answer is
going to be different, right? But we're or at least I can't speak for my fellow board members. I'm not insensitive to the pain of the tax increases, especially for people who are on fixed
income. But at the same time, um, you know, I do want to maintain this district kind of the way that it's been, the kind of district that it's
been for the last 20, 20, 30 years. Um, I don't want to gut it to a point where all it does is provide the minimum education that it is legally required to provide. And even that probably wouldn't get us to 2% this year, right? Because
we're starting out at three just with healthc care benefits. So it it it's a it's a and that's why I said there was nothing about the process this year that made me happy. I we wound up at a place where it's acceptable to
me, but that's all that we have. >> Yes. and know that my leadership team and I and many superintendents across this state have been having these battles and conversations with the legislature for years. We've seen this coming. Some of them, some of the
districts around us are looking at 7 8% increases and they've already cut to the bare bones. And so you imagine that kind of a tax increase and you have none of the the things that a premium district offers that you're paying high taxes for. So it's not just they'll be disappointed. folks will leave the
community and go to a district that does have those things if we keep cutting to the bone. Now, at some point, I'm not going to be able to do anything but cut. And we're still probably going to be looking at high percentages. And I'm going to take all those things that on the slides that the board said, please hold on to those things for at least
another year. And let's and let's hope because know that we are fighting as as leadership with the with our elected officials about this and these mandates that come down on high that the waiverss are not a relief. They just cause us to have to go back to the taxpayer which is
not fair. We have talked about these pilots which I know legislation is coming unfortunately too late for the Hopewell Township uh pilot and some of these other two that are online but know that we are in constant communications and we have not given up our conversations with them and I believe
that there is an opening with Hopewell Township to have more conversation beyond what they've promised for Bear Tavern. We are continue to have those conversations. However, the conversations and and u what Miss Coast has shared here, I implore you all to share with the folks that that where in
the municipalities where you live and you also have th those conversations with them and they I know they're all open to that um to to talk to them directly as the people that live in those municipalities and are paying taxes in those m municipalities because we can certainly and we will continue to
to fight for you. But it also is powerful if you yourselves go to those meetings and make yourself heard. It's very important. It's very important. But we are still in negotiations with them. >> Um Mr. >> Sure.
>> Um so first uh on the 2% cap it while it is true there is a two and this goes back to when Governor Christie um implemented it was 2% on the tax levy and available waivers. So the available waivers have always been there. Um and
the available waiverss are in um uh health care and enrollment. For years we did not get an enrollment waiver. We were declining in enrollment and the health benefit waiver was contingent upon the increase to the state plan. So there were years um when the state
actually gave a a premium reduction and we had a health benefit increase there was no waiver. The waivers have been available to us for probably the last two years. We didn't get a waiver before that. Um, and we haven't had a we haven't had an enrollment waiver since
last year. So, the Governor Christiey's law um did provide for these waivers. And as Alex said, it's it's not really a waiver because they're giving you extra state aid. They're allowing you to tax to to to keep whole. Um,
the other part was the 5 >> 2% increase. >> Can you just clarify the difference between the 5.7 and the 5.2? >> Yeah, I'm trying to find the sheet. Okay. So, the general fund increase,
which is on our B on our operating budget, is a 5.8% increase. That's where the 2% cap comes in plus the two waiverss increases the levy to 5.8%. Our debt service, which was the previous
two referenda, um the money that is in the debt service column there, the $2.7 million is the debt service related to the 2016 referendum. We are not uh doing any debt service
this year towards the 2020 four five 25 referendum because we will be earning enough interest on the money that was borrowed. The $84 million has been invested. It will earn enough interest to cover the entire amount of the new
debt. Okay? Plus a little bit extra which we'll appropriate next year. That's really how it's going from 5.8 to 5.2 2 because there's an 11% decrease in how much we are levying for debt
service. When you net the two numbers out, it comes out to 5.2%. >> Can I Can I ask a Sorry. >> Got to bring your tenant. Can you bring your I'm afraid to touch mine. Go ahead, Drew.
>> Awesome. Um, some of it's been been cutting in and out, but I've been trying my best to to keep up and and listen to some of the folks who are taking the time out of their evening to to talk to us and to make their voices heard. Uh, I I think Bob, you touched on this, but I just wanted to reiterate it that the
healthcare and enrollment waiverss have existed since the Christy administration. And if I'm not incorrect on this, the tiers and thresholds for those waiverss have actually gone unchanged in the Murphy administration as well as the current Cheryl administration. And I think on that
note, we've seen trans not outside of just healthcare, which if based on what was on the screen earlier, I think it was what 17% increase in the last from last academic year to this year. But we're also seeing and I touched on this in our workshop, you know, last week about how transportation costs are also
going up at a rate far greater than 2% or 3% or 5.7% given that now we have new development that we have to pay for additional buses to to pick up additional students in. Um, and so I I very much agree with a lot of the sentiment from folks that have come to
speak, but also some of our our fellow board members who are talking about how this is a state issue. Um, it is not unique to New Jersey. There are other states across the country that are facing the same exact issue with district with districts having operating budgets and expenses that are far
exceeding a state given uh uh tax cap. And I think, you know, we have to look at our legislators. I very much agree. Uh, Miss Kos has talked about how there needs to be more effort and engaging with with some local and state politicians. There is a bill right now
that we have talked about on this board uh S1807 introduced by Senator Singleton in South Jersey which would allocate uh which would specifically earmark dollars in pilots for school districts so that municipalities have a legal obligation
to put dollars to school districts. the very issue that Miss Coast has talked about. So I I also want to be clear that you know there is legislation out there. There are ideas and bills but there are also very coordinated lobbying efforts against those bills. So you know we off
we obviously have to take a a step up and and speak to our legislators. I think that's something that the government relations committee has talked about and is planning to engage in. I know we've talked about this with Mr. Peters um about reaching out to our legislators, engaging with them. uh for us in the 15th, Assemblywoman Reynolds
Jackson is the chair of the education committee. So any bill related to education funding has to go through the committee that she chairs. Um we have this unique position of having her as a legislator but also being one of the most influential districts not only in the county but also in the state. And so
I just want to uh I just want to say first I appreciate the folks who came to to comment but I also wanted to just provide some of that additional context from bills that are actively moving through the legislature right now. Um, and you know, unless the state red does its re, you know, completely redo it
funding formula, which is currently being sucked up by a lot of smaller districts on the shore that have not consolidated and need to consolidate. You know, we're a regional district and we're a model for a lot of other municipalities in terms of how schools should be running. you know, there's there's external pressures we're facing
and as frustrating as it is for us to come to you as the public and taxpayers with this much of a tax increase, you know, I I am I am cognizant of that given that my parents immigrated to this country and came to Hopewell in 2003 and have seen their property tax bills go up year after year after year. But if we
are going to maintain the educational services that we do provide to all of our students, um I I think that this it's we are in a tough position and I I applaud the budget uh the finance and facilities folks. I applaud uh uh Mr. Kolivita for being very transparent and
and explaining this to all of us. Um but we are confined by state mandates and a state that has been unwilling to act on many of these issues and I don't really know what's going to happen in the coming years if none of these are addressed. So, it's going to take all of us as a community to come together to
advocate for the bills we want to see, to advocate to our local government, to get pilot dollars into our district, and to continue working together on this front. >> Thank you. >> I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> Yeah, sorry. Uh I I will not be as
eloquent as any of my colleagues on any of these topics, but did want to thank Mr. bird for coming out and our other speakers of course because I'm totally empathetic to to the conversation and appreciate you know like my colleagues mentioned you know certainly not an easy
discussion to arrive at those numbers but at the end of the day I think you know I think Alex referenced this right we're people moved here we moved here a lot of people did for the educational experience and I think that's you know our job here is to make sure that that continues moving forward I guess my
question and Mr. Colita might know this off the top of my head, but if we did stick to that 2% cap, as we know, that is not realistic. We're looking at a my quick back of the envelope something like $5 million less or something like that to to spend even
more than that, right? So, I guess my point would be I I appreciate all the perspective. However, you know, that's it's just not reasonable to try to hold to that and also continue providing the experience that I know that our parents are looking for here in
this school district. But I just wanted to say thanks for for the comments. >> Yeah. Well, if I can just say, there are districts that have held to that and they're in the news. The Tom's Rivers and these folks that have have basically, you know, not been able to pay their bills and they've and they've
not been able to strike a budget because they they have not just realized the obvious and the and the board said, "No, we're going to stay flat." And they've gotten to where they can't pay their bills. And the and the state's answer to that is you had mechanisms to deal with that and you didn't, right? And so what
they do is you go to 2% and you can't pay your bills and they come in and impose it on you anyway. That's what happens. So it's that that is the only mechanism. It's it's horrible. Um and it just causes instability in the district and it takes away from our students
which is why folks are moving here and why you know it's such a beautiful community that it is. Um so we just have to be as responsible as we can knowing that this cannot continue right. So we have to all figure out together and that's talking um what um Mr. Kapati was
sharing is that the board members have a government relations committee where we are doing just that. We are reaching out to our representatives but the more voices that they hear right the better it is. My union is also doing that my or my association I should say is doing that the superintendent all the
associations are doing that. So we're all pushing to try to get this change to come about because it's not just the pilots. There's lots of ways that things that they can do to consolidate costs in education that are just need to happen and we've been talking about them for years and these are things that need to
need to happen sooner than later because we can't continue with this. We just can't. >> Yeah. And I I would like to just add one thing. Um, I I think myself and Miss Williams Scaliana are in a unique situation in that all of our children
have already been through the district and I sit on this board speaking on behalf of other people's children. And I also sit on this board speaking on behalf of almost a senior citizen who's
looking towards retirement and would like to stay in Hopewell. Um, and so I see both sides of this and all of the different sides. Um, and I also know that if I let our school district fail
when I do go to retire and my children hopefully will inherit my estate, um, it won't be worth anything if I've let our school district fail because no one will want to live in our beautiful Hopewell
anymore. And so it is I think our duty not only to be protecting our current students but the future students to hope well. Um and so looking not only to today but as Dr. Trice has
stated, you know, what does next year look like in the year after? And how do we ensure that we're not cut cut until there isn't a district anymore and we are not serving our students? >> Yeah, thank thank you everyone for your
comments and um again from the public participation. I I think that the last thing we'll say before we wrap up public comment is that the the conversations that we're having
um today are in the context of two and three years out. It's not, you know, we've had the rip the band-aid off conversations, um, which could look like no sports, no
theater, um, fewer clubs and things that are really significant to how our our children move through their day. Um and so
trying to signal to the community that change is coming over the next two or three years is certainly the message. But while change um to maybe programming or other things might come, they might
look a little different, right? we're used to. Um, and I'm not hitting on the sports because that's the obvious thing, but I'm hitting on the sports because it's something that a lot of districts have um chosen to make changes in. You
know, we can look at different ways of running our programs that don't require transportation as much transportation and things like that. Those are the types of adjustments we want to be making as opposed to taking something
completely out. And so it has been um a very active conversation and asking of the administration to keep looking and keep looking. So no one is quote unquote happy or comfortable, but we will continue to be
a collective advocate for both our retire retirees in their community as well as parents and families and our most importantly our um kids. Um, so we
will communicate with you as we're having conversations with the burrows and the townships. Um we're actively um working on setting up ongoing meetings with um each of our colleagues in the committees um to to continue to update
on how growth is happening in the in the district and what are we noticing um you know as it happens. What are the things we are unexpectedly experiencing like the strange tight parking lot situation that calls for
another bus run? Right? So, as we're planning new um locations with more houses, how could we think more broadly about buses moving through the space and etc. So, the dialogue is going to continue. Most importantly, we want you
all to advocate alongside us with our elected officials at the state house. Um and and we we are committed to um not taking the easy route. Um and just um saying, you know, let's increase the
budget or um stay flat. So um with that, I'm going to move us on. Again, just appreciate immensely the the discussion. >> So, have our our mics are flaring. Um, so
with that, I would need a first and second to move the budget. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Dr. Genevacy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Kapadia.
>> Yes. >> Dr. Lilison. >> Yes. >> Mr. Peters. Yes, >> Dr. Resnik. >> Yes, >> Mr. Slottman. >> I >> Dr. Stilliano.
>> Yes, >> Miss Carter. >> Yes. >> And Miss William Scalliano? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you, Dr. Trice and um the administration in total for your work.
Um, I know that was a lot we asked of you and we'll continue to do that. Okay. Um, moving on. I need a first and second to uh approve the consent agenda items.
>> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed or abstaining? Seeing none, all consent agenda items are passed. We're going to move into
committee uh updates and reports. Um anything anything new to add from finance facilities? >> Yeah, I think we spent a considerable amount of time over the past two public meetings talking about everything we're talking about the finance level. I do we'll just turn everybody's attention to
I think three contract awards um bid awards and contract awards on the agenda for tonight. Um, one is regarding a upgrade of our phone systems. Is that correct? I believe. Yes. Our phone systems. Um, and then the other two bid
awards uh have to do with part of our referendum discussions. Um, I don't know if any of my fellow board members had any questions on any of those items. >> I I just like to point out that we did um award the first two bids. um one for
a partial roof replacement at Timberly Middle School and the other one for partial roof replacements at here at the high school and at Stonybrook. And um those bids all came in uh with good contractors and under budget right now.
So we will be maintaining a tally of of um budget uh bids and which ones are over, which ones are under. Um, and as we said, anything that isn't spent does go back to the taxpayer as tax relief. Um, but in a referendum of this size,
you're you're going to probably get some that are over and some that are under and hopefully they net out. Um, but right now positive, um, going out early is key. >> Great. Um, and we're in a good spot right now as we start this process. And we'll be keeping everybody through the
finance facility committee and then through um our website updates on everything we're doing, construction progress, all that kind of stuff as we move into this summer. Um, the other award just to point out, our phone system is um ending uh support. There
will be no more support on the current phone system. Um our director of technology has recommended a cloud-based solution um that will save money uh in the long term. We'll also going forward we'll be renegotiating our uh provider
for um regular phone calls uh and that should further uh because of this be able to further reduce um costs with that. So this is a positive. Um we will be discussing at the next finance facility meeting um what Mr. Dresnick
referred to as disaster control. Um because we are major because our phone service is internet based. If we were to lose internet, we would lose um >> yeah communication. So we'll talk about that. >> Let me just quickly explain to folks when you go to a cloud-based system like
that, your internet connection becomes a single point of failure because if the internet connection goes, your your your phone system goes um etc. The the advantage of um systems like this is
they are because they're in the cloud. When a failure like that happens, you can configure them to reroute uh calls at least certain calls to people's um mobile phones to alternate phone numbers,
etc. What you need to do to do that is put together a disaster recovery plan and then go and execute this essentially translate. So the plan would say hey if the internet goes these calls will go to this person these calls will go to that
person then you and then you execute that as policies into the system. Um so um I ask that we start a discussion on that. I don't know if district has one or or doesn't have one, but we will need to either update it or put one
together um as we go forward with this. >> Very well. Okay, seeing those three items um called out separately, we need a first and a second and a roll call vote. >> Motion.
>> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Mr. Kapadia. >> Yes. >> Dr. Lilliston. >> Yes. >> Mr. Peters. >> Yep. >> Dr. Resnik. >> Yes. >> Mr. Slottman. >> I. >> Dr. Stelliano.
>> Yes. >> Miss Carter. >> Yes. >> Dr. Genevacy. >> Yes. >> Miss Williams Galliano. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Very well. Moving on to personnel. >> Thank you. We have um kind of the
details here in our agenda. Um, but we're certainly that time of year where we start to hear from many of our excellent longtime staff of some upcoming retirement plans. And so I do have a few I want to u mention here. You'll see we have uh Regina Finn from
Tolgate who's been with us since 2000. We have John Zallet who's at our high school who's also been with us since 2000. We have Alicia Smith from Tollgate uh who is with us from 2001. uh Deborah Nut who's over at Stonybrook who's been with the district since 2002.
Michelle Dunan from Timberlane who's been with the district since 2004. Uh Carolyn Baker who's over at Stonybrook also has been with us since 2004. And then we have Lorie Kavanaaugh over at Central High School um who's uh been with the district since 2005. So I
wanted to give them a a special thank you for their time and service. Um you'll also see we have some additional appointments and adjustments. Um we have a fair amount of teachers out not just teachers, staff as well um out
on leave of absence. Um many um for pregnancy leaves and so that's both wonderful and means we need to have coverage for them. Um so you'll see we have some appointments here both for a few long-term substitute teachers so that we have some consistency in that coverage. Um, and you'll also see we
have uh what's called an adjustment to salary for leave of absence coverage. And that's when we have uh a current uh staff or teacher that takes on one additional class to provide that coverage during a leave of absence. So you'll see those listed. Um, in
addition, we have uh some approvals for new substitute teachers at the district. Um, and so if there are any questions, we can answer them. And otherwise, I believe we need a roll call. >> Need a motion. We need motions to move to
>> motion. >> A second. >> Okay. >> Dr. Lil. >> Yeah. Roll call. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Mr. Peters. >> Yes. >> Dr. Resnik.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Slottman. >> Yes. >> Dr. Stellionic. >> Yes. Miss Carter, >> yes. >> Dr. Genevacy, >> yes. >> Mr. Kapadia, >> yes. >> Miss Williams Galliano, >> yes.
>> Motion carries. >> Wonderful. Moving on to Edcom. >> Okay. Okay. So, we met on March 16th and we had um Katie Bogner come from Montlair University to discuss a middle school uh our middle school
participating in a survey that relates to substance abuse, bullying, mental health, and social media. Um this survey is administered once every three years beginning in 1999 and it's supported by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services which is endorsed by the NJ DOE. Out of um there was a lot of
conversation in the committee um so we left it that Dr. Trice was going to reach out to um other neighboring districts because after if we do participate, we would receive a report to see um where the trends were with our district in comparison to districts
without the state. Um so Dr. Trice did reach out to the other superintendents in Mercer County um and nobody else is participating. Um given that and also the um we had a conversation about how this survey seems to be very similar to the survey that we send out every three years for the with the in collaboration
with the Hope Valley Municipal Alliance. We decided not to participate in the survey. Um then as noted last month in regard to the NJ.com ranking report, it was identified that there would be a focus on TMS's NJSLA in regard to ELA
growth, math growth, and math proficiency as well as Tollgate's ELA growth. Um Matt Aron, the supervisor of STEM, presented at the February ed program about this. Um so continuing this conversation, we had Dr. Mary Pankos, our supervisor of secondary ELA
and social studies, review the NJSLA scores for uh spring 2024 and 2025. Um she identified trends by grade level. Um so for example, the current eighth graders had a 25% um meeting expectations in grade six,
but then in grade seven they rose to 38%. Um she by grade level she also reviewed the areas of foundation grow strength growth writing priority and integration skills. Um Dr. Panko shared the results of our common lip benchmarks
from the fall and winter um test administration. She noted that some areas of growth included analysis of of non-fiction. Her hope is to support none teachers with interdisciplinary reading strategies and moreover she wants to continue to work on writing skills. um
the writing strategy think SRSD will which we um implementing in grade six currently is going to roll up to grade seven next year um and there she will be providing um additional um support through through a quill that we recently purchased as well as professional
development um in addition Mr. Wilfing and Miss Lori discussed the NJSLA at Tollgate Mr. Wilfing reviewed the evidence statements in terms of standards and explained SGPS by grade level. And then Miss Lori discussed what Tollgate was doing to
help support teachers and students. So some of the things she highlighted was that teachers uh review the NJSLA scores, the universal screening data, curriculum and assessments and develop targetive instructing to support individual students both in terms of their what I win or their what I need
groups and resources. Um she also discussed how reading informational text and writing expression has been identified as area of growth and she's working with teachers on providing consistent feedback using rub rubrics to pull small groups and encouraging PD by the teacher leaders. Um I know that was
a lot in a short time. Um, but I'm going to at our next board meeting um kind of take all of the data that or all of the supports that were discussed in the February ed program and the sports that were dis discussed in the March ed program and just put it into one presentation that I will pre present at
the board. Any questions? >> Thank you, Dr. >> I had a I had a quick question. So, um, at the beginning of this year, we integrated the SEAL committee into the
ED program committee. And so, I'm no longer on ed program. So, I was wondering if you could share or maybe Miss Donardo could share or Alex, I think you're the chair, about how you're integrating those conversations, particularly as they relate to data and
some of the things we saw early in today's meeting into the ED program committee. Um so anyone can feel free to jump in but I have to say that as we're talking through a lot of these um Dr. Genevi is very cognizant of that and she contin continuously brings up like how is this going to affect the students
both social and emotionally. Um I know right now it's been really heavy in the um educ academic component. Um but throughout the year we will be having um like next seme next month uh Corey Rut will be presenting about like the tier 2 character strong. So it's it's kind of
being as infused as the the months go on. So some might be more academic, some might be social emotional, some might be a mixture. >> Also, I had I was not able to attend the meeting, the educational meeting, so I wasn't there last week, but I'll be at
future ones. No, that that's great to hear. I just wanted to make sure we didn't lose sight of them as we as we integrated those committees together. So >> yeah, I I I don't think we lost sight. I think we had given the administration,
Vicki in particular, but the administration more broadly, the task of digging into those numbers and I think we've we've spent the last couple of meeting cycles kind of getting readouts on those and I think we're done with that part now or at least I
feel like I have a good understanding of what the causes of those numbers are and it's probably worthwhile to kind of get we want to do it. Well, I say we I wasn't there, but I wish the videos, but I agree with the decision to not bring it
to this meeting just because we're dealing with the budget and a few other things. Uh, but there's a plan to do a readout of what the causes of some of that stuff that appeared on NJ.com in the next meeting and and then we'll be able to kind of move on to other things.
>> Thank you. Great question though. Just one shout out. I know I got my what is this linkin parent portal account last week and signed in. Um and so for those of you who aren't familiar at the elementary school now um there's an account available for parents so that
they can go in and see all of the assessments that their children is completing and how they're doing. Um and so that level of being transparent and sharing data um with families is just wonderful and wanted to to thank you and acknowledge that.
>> Awesome. >> Yeah. Okay. We are going to go ahead and move on to government and community relations. So Mr. Kapatia and Mr. Slapman >> I I believe I believe Mr. Kabati is going to start us off and we'll go from
there if you can hear us. >> I could I couldn't hear I couldn't hear Mr. Slotman there. I I is he are you giving the community relations side or should >> I am just I am deferring to you my friend. So >> he has deferred to you.
>> Okay. Okay. Great. Um well the the government relations committee uh met a few weeks ago. I have a couple quick updates to share regarding our outreach at the local, county, and state level. Uh firstly, I think this was discussed in last month's meeting, but I'll just
share the update again. Um for county level outreach, we had been working with Mercer County Executive Dan Benson, uh as well as some neighboring school districts in Mercer County to host a uh joint, um event for for programming for
our elementary school students. Uh we were looking to do it at the end of this year, but due to scheduling conflicts and venue uh a lack of venue availability, uh we're pushing it to next academic year. So wanted to share and confirm that update. Um for
municipal and local outreach, we have continued moving forward on uh administering the survey for our high school students to investigate uh not only their uh civic engagement, but also just their general interest in the initiative of potentially lowering the
voting age for schoolboard elections to 16. Uh we developed and finalized the survey. I had shared it after last board meeting. I had shared it with all board members. I'd gotten a good amount of feedback. It's been finalized. It's been sent to Dr. Trice and Principal Riley who are hoping, I believe, to administer
it after spring break. Um, and lastly, for our state, uh, level advocacy, uh, we have been, uh, we're nearing the the finalization of our state budget proposal uh, for fiscal year 2027. Uh we
are currently asking the state for $75,000 for additional funding for mental health support specifically to continue uh Hopewell's engagement and partnership with the Attitudes and Reverse uh uh mental health nonprofit to
continue funding our the AirDogs program that has been uh very successful and has really proven to be a statewide model in uh in mental health services for our students and our staff as well. Um, so we're we're looking to put that request in uh this week. Um, the only thing I
need is just one, you know, from whoever in the administration. It would be best to send this over just a an invoice or, you know, receive style itemized breakdown of the projected spending. Once I have that, we can we can move forward with with submitting all those materials to the to the 15th legislative
district uh delegation and and see where it goes from there. My only uh I caution as I did last year um the expectations for receiving this money as uh Governor Cheryl a few weeks ago in her uh first
budget address talked about you know clamping down on some some legislative add-ons. I think there will inevitably be some uh semblance of legislative add-ons this year. Um I just don't know how uh how far you know our our proposal will go. Happy to answer any questions
on on any of those fronts. Doc Dr. Thrice will provide you the um cost information you're looking for. >> Anything else? >> Yeah. No, I would just I mean we talked about a couple other items that we had a hasty meeting. I feel like right after
the not the not last week's session, but the previous month's session. So, we were still meeting back in February and we talked over a couple different other items. I just wanted to say on a a personal note that we are very fortunate as a community to have Mr. Kapadia as a
leader on these issues. The work that he has put into not just last year but this year these projects has been unbelievable and you know just in in general. We're very lucky to have him and and very thankful for all his work on on on those issues.
>> Yeah. I just wanted to jump in and um say ditto um because I think when we did this last year and hopefully Mr. Kabadia can hear me um one of the things I said to him is like please think about how you can create templates and processes so that if you ever leave us and we hope
you don't um we have all those things that we need in place to be able to put these state budgets asks in which may not seem like a lot of money but they they do go a little bit of way in alleviating some of the the budget pressures that we're facing. So, um, he did that. He circulated it and it looks
amazing. So, huge huge thanks, Mr. Kabadia. Really appreciate it. I think you've created something that's sustainable for us and is going to be helpful into the future. >> Awesome. >> I'm I'm hearing bits and pieces of very kind things. So, thank you so much. I I do appreciate it. Um, I've I've been
very grateful to have Bob and and Dr. Theres as well as President Williams Galliano to to be so supportive behind all these initiatives. And I I hope the templates that can live on past uh uh my time on the board will be will be helpful. And um it's it's been I I
appreciate all the support and as I uh as we continue to work through this and refine it more and more year after year. Uh I think this can hopefully be something that, you know, provides the district some additional funding and some additional services. And I think it's especially pertinent when we have these conversations that we've had
tonight. you know, $125,000 last year. That's a that's a significant portion given that we're moving into, you know, for the for the ADA accessible playground that we receive. That's when we're looking at our budget shortfall this year and and looking at cuts. Like these are these are important dollars that can flow in and can hopefully help
our district and, you know, other districts benefit from it because they've got advocates and because they've got their own, you know, connections to legislators or or or the state. And uh you know I think it's it's high time that our district you know uses those same connections and uses those same uh processes. Um and you know
I also want to give my thanks to the 15th legislative district delegation for being so supportive and actually going through with with supporting Hopewell's asks uh last year and and hopefully uh this year as well. >> Awesome.
Okay, moving on. Um Dr. Jennery, do you have any climate change climate action? >> Gotcha. Okay. Um, moving on. Dr. LEM policy. Okay. So, the policy committee met on
March 6th and we discussed three policies and three regulations that are up for first reading tonight as well as one policy and one regulation that are up for first reading abolishment. Um, so can I have a motion and a second to bring policy and regulation 2535,
library material, policy and regulation 9130, public complaints, policy and regulation 2530 resource materials for first reading and policy and regulation 3432 sick leave
for first reading abolishment. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay, great. Um, so hopefully everyone had a chance to look at the policies and regulations that are up for first reading today. All of them concern our
district's implementation of the Freedom to Read Act. So, the Freedom to Read Act is a state law that became effective in December 2025, and it requires districts to adopt a policy as well as procedures related to the curation of library
material, to establish criteria for the removal of existing school library material, and to provide protections against attempts to censor school library material. So in August 2025, the New Jersey Department of Education
actually published guidance which assists districts like ours in implementing the provisions of this act. So there's just a few things that I want to note about this act. So per the law, requests to remove material from school district libraries can only come from
people who they call individuals with vested interest. So these are defined as either students, parents and caregivers or district teaching staff. So what that means is that a community member or somebody from outside of the community who has no um specific or direct
connection to the school can't make such a request. Um requests to limit or remove library material must be made through a formal process that includes filling out a form and then filing it with the school principal.
The request then has to be evaluated by a multidisciplinary committee that includes different school staff, a parent of a current student, a board member, and when appropriate, a student. That committee is then charged with reviewing the complaint and making a
recommendation to the board of education as to whether we should keep the material as is, remove it, or limit access to it. The board of education is then going to make a final decision and post it publicly on the board's web page.
So policy and regulation 2535 library material that's a new policy and regulation. Um these have been developed directly in response to the provisions of the freedom to read act and the corresponding DOE guidance. So this
includes that process that I described for reviewing and removing current library material as well as some other general provisions of the act and the guidance as well. So the next four policies and regulations that you see here are ones that we are recommending
revisions to. So they're existing policies and regulations, but we're recommending revisions in order to more smoothly integrate this new law into our district policy. So public complaints 9130 addresses the process by which the district and the board hears and settles
complaints from the public broadly. This policy was last revised in March 2020 and the regulation was revised in October 2013. So what we've done here is that we've revised to remove any reference to library material as defined in the
Freedom to Read Act because those specific materials are now covered under 2535. Um we've also revised it a little bit to just better align with 2535 where appropriate. Um, so there's a section E you might have seen which specifically
addresses complaints regarding textbooks about instructional supplies and resource materials and we edited some of the language there for alignment. And then we also have policy and regulation 2530 which provide guidance for the selection and maintenance of
resource materials. So these include things like reference materials, books, map and audio content. Um, so prior to the passage of this act, this also included library materials, but basically we've taken that out of that policy and regulation so that it now
sits in the new one. And this policy and regulation were last revised in 2009. So I'm going to stop there and see if um my policy committee colleagues uh Mr. Kapati if he's still there or Miss
Carter have anything to add. Okay. Anybody have any questions or comments? Miss J, Dr. Java. Yeah. >> Um, yeah. So, a couple of different things. Um, on the regulation 9130
public complaints, there are parts of it that have um time limits on it. Um, so I I like that. Um, but at the top level, there isn't
one for the teachers to respond. So, I'd like to see us put in one for that. >> Okay. Um and then on the fourth level um for one it says that if um
the complaints not resolved they have within three working days of the receipt >> to request. I don't think that's enough for a working parent. >> Okay. >> So I I'd like to see that increased. Um, if it was me, I could miss that email
and miss the window. Um, so that was sort of minor housekeeping for that one. >> Okay. >> Um, on the resource materials one, I noticed at the end we have words around
um, like when materials get old or um, you know, other sort of appropriate things. Um, and I think for us this is a great So it's under I guess C there's like a list of things quality
durability. I'd like to see within this that we are changing out all of the PDFs that are pictures that a lot of our teachers are
using that are inaccessible to our children who need readers. So when you have a picture of a PDF and not an actual PDF, your computer cannot read it to you. It's not accessible and it is
very frustrating for students to then have to go beg the teacher for additional copies or find it on their own. And I think this is a great policy that we might be able to address that that our additional resources are
accessible to everyone. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else have any comments or questions about these policies or regulations? >> I had a question. It's not about the policies. It would it be possible in like two
minutes or less to explain what this law is that's driving the >> Yeah. >> Do you want to go or do you want me to? >> So, quickly, this was passed to keep folks from sort of, you know, challenging books and taking taking them out of libraries without a process. So, it's not just something that public
schools are adopting, but I sit on the boards of the Pennington and the Hope uh Burough Libraries. They also are adopting it. State libraries are adopting it. It's just to make sure that if someone challenges a book or decides that they they want us to consider taking it out of our curriculum or out of our book stacks, um there's a process
to go through that >> timeline >> and a timeline. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Any other questions or comments about that one? >> Okay. >> I was just gonna I was just going to add a little bit of context for for for Alex for Dr. Resnik um as to what this bill
specifically addresses. I I actually worked for Senator Zwicker and this was his bill. So I I I kind of weird to be on the other end of it now implementing it at a schoolboard level. So it's cool experience. But really the big driver behind it was not only in New Jersey but
in a lot of states across the country. There were bookb requests that were coming into districts that were targeting librarians and they were coming from out of state or out of district. So there were groups from let's say Pennsylvania or Texas that were coming to New Jersey districts and saying we don't want your district
teaching X Y and Z. And what a lot of school boards and a lot of school districts did not have in place was infrastructure and a process on how to actually adjudicate that bookb request. Um and so what the bill does is it really creates a very lengthy and and uh
detailed process with a lot of folks involved to make sure that the the process is transparent as well as you know responding to the community needs. And the other portion that it adds that is a a major component of the law and as well as our policy and regulation is that the folks that are requesting uh
curriculum to be removed uh or challenging a specific uh learning resource uh they have to come from the community uh which is which was really a big provision to to include. So just wanted to give that additional background. >> Okay. Thanks DO that was actually very
helpful. Thank you. >> Great. Okay. Um and then up for first reading abolishment, we have policy and regulation 3432 sick leave. So this is really just a housekeeping abolishment. So um in 2023 there was a new law that
addressed requirements for sick leave for school district employees. Um and we actually integrated um those into our policy. Um but that at that time um we did not abolish 3432 sick leave. So um asking you to to do so at this time.
Okay. Um, so all in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> Any opposed or abstaining. Okay. >> Thank you, Dr. Lston. >> Yep.
Okay. Um, just a few things. Let's go ahead and do first and second for the um calendars for March and April. bouncing in. We forgot to do that. >> Oh, >> first and second for calendars.
>> First and second. >> Second. >> Put him down for first. >> We we do have a long long gap between the uh this meeting and our next meeting, which is the 27th of April. So, we have a a a way a wide openen calendar
for um committees. So, we've got personnel. We'll do that one. It's always easy. April 27th, 6 o'clock p.m. Um finance, I was thinking around, you
guys tell me, but I was thinking maybe around the 13th. You guys have you check your schedules. >> That's for me. >> 8 o'clock. >> Yep. >> 13.
>> My only question is if >> Yeah, that's super early. >> Probably just be getting in at that time. >> What time would you want? >> I mean, do you want to check your calendar? We can get circle back.
>> And then if he needs to move it, we'll move it to a later time. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Any of those days. any of those days at this point?
>> Again, the only thing is I've had bad luck with the last >> Well, I should say Monday, Monday. Wednesday. >> Can I actually recircle back because I just looked and I have a doctor's appointment on the 13th.
>> Can we go to the next week? I >> does anytime later that week the 15th, 16th, 20. Well, you already took the 20th, 21st, 22nd. >> Thursday, >> 15th. Perfect.
>> Yep. >> 15th. >> Good. >> Vicki is the 20th. 8:00 >> policy >> policy. >> Well, that's Yeah, that's the week after
we get back. Yeah, that works. >> Yeah, that works. >> Time was >> eight. >> Droo, can you hear us? >> Policy. April 10th. >> April. April 10th at
>> 8. >> Yep, that works. >> And then Drew, while you're there, government and community relations, John, >> I I'll let John take lead on that and I'll I can just say yes or no. >> I need a I need a microphone for this
probably. Yes. Dr. Trice, >> how's it how's it an 8 a.m. for you? 9:00 a.m. Something like that. >> What day are you? I mean, >> I don't have any travel currently scheduled, so I could be pretty flexible, I think. >> So, you want to do at 8 a.m., do you
want to do it? Um, well, if we're sticking to that, we could do it the 8th. >> Wednesday the 8th. Does that work for you, Drew? >> The 8th. Drew, >> what was the date? >> Wednesday the 8th. >> Eth at 8 a.m. >> Yeah. >> Uh, yeah, that works.
>> Okay. I think that's it. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed or abstaining? I'm going to request a first and the second to accept the earlier
um special >> um sorry the >> violence >> violence and vandalism report >> accepted it >> what >> the violence report that we did earlier the tan >> we didn't accept we never accepted it >> do we need a first and second
to the order I second. >> I said I second. >> Somebody help her out. >> All in favor? >> Anyone of saving abstaining or
Okay. >> That we've lost them. It's still they're getting >> um a few new business items to go over. Um we just for this is mostly for for uh
the board at large. Uh we will be having in May's meeting a um presentation from Maryanne Freeman who's our field rep from NJSBA. She's going to do an update on our self
eval. Um Pam and I have already reviewed it and had some discussions about um what our hopes are um in terms of moving the board forward, but we'll have that >> at our next meeting. Um our proposal
coming out of that is um to have an ad hoc committee um to implement some of the recommendations in. Um but overall largely positive and um Pam and I were noting you know we've had a season of change
with um folks leaving and coming on the board. So it is you in a perfect time to um think newly about some of the things that we um do and set actual goals um which we haven't done in quite a season.
So that will come after our May meeting. Um, and then, um, I think that's it. I'll ask, um, Dr. Lston, anything you want to add? >> Not as relates to that. >> Okay. All righty. Any other new business items?
>> I have one more new business item. Um, so, Miss Carter and Dr. Styliano and I had the opportunity to attend the Hopeal Township Youth Advisory Board meeting in February. Um and it was fantastic to meet with that advisory board full of
really talented students, one of whom is here with us tonight. So, thank you Emil for coming. Um and they shared with us results from a survey that they had done looking at um mental health and wellness within the high school. Um they sent a
survey out to students. They asked them questions about their mental wellness. Um they asked some questions about sort of sources of stressors and they also asked questions specifically related to homework and the amount of homework that students are doing. Um so coming out of
this survey um they wanted to propose an intervention within the high school and potent potentially within the district which would be implementing more hopeal nights out. So, for those who are unfamiliar with these, um they are nights without homework where students
can engage in wellness activities or maybe community service activities or um something else that allows them to sort of relax and de-stress. Um and so we saw this presentation. Uh Miss Riley was in the room with us which was fantastic because that's not really within the
jurisdiction of the board specifically because really we're um our jurisdiction is passing policy and and budget. Um, the next steps there were for them to coordinate with Miss Riley to bring this in front of other principles and administrators and to discuss sort of
the logistics of of what this would look like. Um, once that's resolved and they have some clear next steps there, we've invited them to to come to the board of education meeting and to give us an update. So, very excited for um you all to see that. I don't know um Hope or
Amanda if you have anything to add. It's always exciting when we get to visit our kiddos and in action. All right, moving on. We're going to move into our last public
comment this evening. And just a reminder, members of the public are invited to address the board of education on any matter for a maximum of three minutes. During this portion of the meeting, you're asked to state your name, address, and municipality.
In a in response to your commit comments, excuse me, the board that may respond or direct the superintendent to do so, the board may also opt to take the matter up at a future meeting so that the matter is researched by the district administration.
With that, public comments are now open. Sylvia Kosis Pennington Burrow. Um I just have one question on the Freedom to Read Act if you could clarify because I think I heard two different things. Um one person said that only a parent or a
caregiver, a student or a teacher could bring a complaint, but Mr. Kapatia has said it could come from the community. So I I think I need a little clarification on that. I understand you don't want people
coming from Pennsylvania or Texas, but a taxpayer living in the Hopewell school district who may not have children here currently, maybe they've graduated or they're not in school yet. Um it seems restrictive
to not allow them to to bring that. Um, my second uh is what we were talking about with pilots. Um, it's an empty room. Obviously, we're not making very much headway in getting people to understand this issue or
they're just thinking they're not going to be heard. And to be honest, tonight was probably the first time I think I heard board members speak honestly about pilots. And I thank you for that. So, I have a
suggestion. Um, yes, it's a legislative issue. Can the board encourage the Hopewell Township Committee members to come to a public meeting where we will not be constrained by the threeinut rule
and the inability to have any feedback. I have talked in front of the public comment time at the Hopewell Township. Um, there's no rebuttal. It's three minutes and you have two opportunities the same as here. It doesn't it doesn't
work. Can you have Verina Reynolds and all our other representatives come for some type of a community open roundt? We need to get this out in the open. Um Seth, you're here. Mercer me can help.
PTO's can help. Everybody can help. We all have to make this a community initiative and I just am asking you to please do that. Thank you. >> So, uh, thank you for Oh, we're still >> um I just had one quick thing to say.
Uh, first of all, thank you to uh the three members of the board. provide your name and municipality. >> Uh a meal back is hope. Uh so I just wanted to thank the people who uh or the three board members who did show up to our meeting uh in in late February. I think that that was a great first step
for us in learning what we need to do next and having uh you guys as well as Miss Riley there to kind of hear what we've been doing throughout the years uh was really solid. I had one uh question uh just for clarification about the library materials as well. Um, so I totally agree with uh with with trying
to limit uh people from outside of the community um making suggestions and complaints to to to how we handle our library materials. My question related to that was there was a similar similar there was an there was an issue earlier in this school year um involving what I
believe is the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Valley Central High School. Um, and I from what I'm aware that complaint was made by somebody outside of the community. And so what's the difference between a complaint like that and a complaint like library materials?
Uh, thank you. Any other public comment? Okay, seeing none. >> So, I can respond to the question for Miss Kosis. Thank you for bringing that up about the um individuals of vested
interest. So, that's actually defined in state law. Um it is not community numbers. I think that was a little bit of I think that was a little bit of a misspeak there. Um but it's defined as teaching staff who are employed by the school district. any parent or guardian
of a student enrolled in the school district currently. Um, and then any student enrolled in the district and it's written into state law. So that's where that definition comes from. >> I'll respond to the other one. Um, so in in terms of the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes, I received a lawsuit, a threat of a lawsuit from uh the Freedom for Religious Religion organization who has deep lawyer pockets and they were challenging uh the way we were instituting the the club here which says
that we cannot have outside people run a religious club of any sort. They can exist within a school, a public school. However, they need to be run by the students and the adult staff member who was there is just there to ensure that everyone's safe and they leave and they get home to their parents. Um, I'm not
sure who complained, but it probably was somebody internally who did that. Somebody who does go to school here or is part of our community. But the bottom line is I got the lawsuit. I went to our the board's attorney actually who said, "No, you are not following regulations. You cannot have someone from the outside
come and supervise a club." So what's happening now is we're we're working through the lawyers of everyone to try to come up with something that works for all of the all of us, the organization, making sure with within the rules of of the way religious clubs have to run in
public schools. Um but also making sure that we don't get ourselves involved in the lawsuit that we will lose because we're not supposed to be doing that. So we're still working through that and hopefully we can come to a resolution, but that's not something that Hopewell came up with. It's it's really something that we were doing that wasn't wasn't
lawful. >> So, thanks for asking. That's a good question. >> Can I just quickly comment on one thing? Is that okay? >> Oh, sure. >> I would Yeah. I just I was going to just comment on um Miss Kos's suggestion
about a public forum. That would be lovely. we we always invite um but I also hear extending that invitation beyond our region regional um community. So um we we can probably take that to
committee um the government relations committee and talk about that. Yeah, I'll just go one step further and I'll just say as an elected official here that I would encourage getting every other mayor from all the towns and all the public officials into an open forum and having a discussion about it
even if it is at a local level and I would hope that Seth you put that in the in Mercer me if you'd like to that I'm publicly encouraging us to do it because I think it's necessary and needed but I'll get off my soap box now >> at your house. Okay, with that we're going to close
public comment number two and move on. I need a first and second to move us into executive session. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Um there will be no action taken but we
will be discussing um >> HIB and also superintendent >> contract >> contracts. Yeah. All right.