2026-2027 budget and regular meeting for Kinnelon High School Board of Education, sorry, for the Kinnelon Board of Education, April 28th, 2026. 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 provision of the act, the Kinnelon Board of Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published in the Suburban Trends on December 28th, 2025, posted in
the Kinnelon Public Library, filed with the Borough Clerk, and posted on the district website. Kayla, would you call the board, please? All right, Mr. Eisenmeier? Here. Mrs. Geiser? Here. Mrs. Leonard? Here. Mr. Pepe? Here. Mrs. Perella? Here. Mrs. Donaldson?
Here. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Okay, the first part of this meeting is the hearing on the 2026-2027 school district budget. Presentation of the budget. I'm ready to Okay, thank you, Mrs. President. Welcome, everybody.
All right, thank you. All right, welcome, everybody. Um tonight we have our 2026-2027 budget presentation and uh up here to my right is Ms. Lawler, our business administrator. You can come on up, Ms. Lawler. And before we go through it, I
just real quick, brief, I want to thank everybody for the work. This has been another challenging year uh financially uh first and foremost to the board because their lives are the ones that are disrupted day and night and on weekends uh by me and uh they certainly put in
the work and the time to make sure that the product is as best as it could be. Uh also to our admin team, many of them are here tonight. We drove them a little bit crazy with multiple meetings and then calling meetings and yes, Mrs. Utell, I know you're smiling at me, but I know what you're really thinking. You know, when I'm pulling you out of
Stony Brook at 1:00 in the afternoon, I know. Um but uh but overall, it was just a lot of hard work and uh to get us where we are. I feel pretty positive, this being the fourth budget, uh especially considering the state of the state, you don't have to look too far and you make comparables
to our school district and especially the size of our school district when you look at what we offer and what we have um and the upgrades and the plan that we have going forward. So, at this time, I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Lawler. I'll jump back in uh in a little bit. Thank you and
welcome. Thank you, Mr. Mango. All right, we're going to discuss our revenue sources and our the district's current financial position. So, the budget process begins early on in the school year. We approved the budget calendar in September and then in December and January, central office met
with met with building administration. In January-February, the budgets were reviewed after submitted to the business office by each school. January through March, the BOE finance, facilities, and security meetings met multiple times and then in March, the New Jersey Department of Education
released the state aid figures. That's always a variable. You try to budget it as flat and then hopefully you have a surplus. We'll get into that later. The preliminary budget presentation was in March and then the county approved the budget in April. All right, so what's included in the
2026-2027 budget? So, I'm not going to bore you all with everything here, but this is our revenue streams. The first line is a tax levy increase of 2%. As you can see, that's only $849,724, which is a large amount, but we'll get
into some other costs in the next slide. We withdrew money from capital reserve to improve our buildings. Capital reserve funds are restricted to construction projects. Budget and fund balance, so as of June 30th, the audit always funds out the budget 2 years
later. This is important. You want to keep it at a healthy number and then there's other forms of revenue, estimated pre-K tuition, grants, our debt service, which is our bond payments for the referendums the district had previously. All right, the district financial position and impact. So, this is a
summary of some highlighted items. Again, the tax levy is mentioned in the top left corner, but if you look at the bottom right corner, health benefits, they were projected to go up 16 and 1/2%. We budgeted 19% to have a contingency because our staff will have lifestyle changes and you always have to
budget a little extra. As you can see, this is 1.4 million dollars. So, how do we make up that difference? Um planning the budget, it's obviously matching your revenues with your anticipated expen- expenses and then how do you come to that number?
So, we mentioned capital reserve, audited fund balance. The the board chose not to use a health care adjustment at this time because that would increase the gap between our expenses and our revenue. So, we're going to keep that in our bank cap for possible future expenses later on.
The CBAs and contracts, um tonight you'll see two resolutions, one for the KAA and one for the class three SROs. We appreciate our negotiating partners that we came to some resolution and you'll see the other contracts as well. All right, our state aid, we were reduced by 21,000,
which is a minimal increase compared to a lot of people in the state, but again, it's still 21,000 we had to make up in the budget. So, it was relatively flat, but there was a difference and we don't know what the figure will be next year. And then our debt service, so we get state aid for debt service as
well as last year, the board, the previous BA and Mr. Mango helped refinance the current bond, which reduced the impact on the taxpayer. All right, the per pupil cost, this is a calculation from the state. It breaks down into multiple categories, including
salaries, supplies, other budgetary lines. As you can see, from 2024-2025, so that's an actual figure since it was audited. 2025-2026 is a snapshot for one day during this fiscal year. Then 2026-2027 is what we're projecting. It's
relatively flat flat between 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. So, that again, that's to the credit of the board, trying to be fiscally responsible. And here's a pie chart of a breakdown of our expenses. You can review, the presentation will be online. If you have any questions, you
can always reach out. Okay, thank you, Ms. Lawler. Job well done. And if I could, I'm just going to back up to a few slides here. Um Nope, too many. Right here. So, um
how my mind operates, especially when it comes to finances, you have to look ahead and I've said it here multiple times, you know, the old saying, how uh how did I go bankrupt? And most people, that saying goes, slowly then suddenly. Right? Doesn't matter if it's your
personal life, doesn't matter if it's a school, whatever the business is, you have to be fiscally responsible. So, um you have a very unique situation occurring in the 28-29 school year. You'll have my contract sunsetting. You'll have the class three contract
sunsetting. And you'll also have the KEA's contract sunsetting. So, by having um come to an agreement, obviously it needs the vote in the majority later tonight, with the KAA, um that actually puts us in a position that 3 years down
the line, that's what I will be recommending to the board to budget for all staff. So, when we're trying to balance out the budget and understand the dollar for dollar for 29-30, that's what I would recommend. So, I'm already 3 years ahead. I know
most people aren't. Uh it's just how my mind works. So, again, I want to thank the KAA for actually taking the chance and uh moving things forward with a 5-year agreement. Um not for that purpose, but in the end it actually works to the benefit of the district as well as well as yourselves not knowing
what's happening, a lot of moving parts. So, uh we'll see more at that time. 3 years from now, we know 3 years is a long time, but once you turn north of 50, each year goes very quick. So, uh I wanted to point that out. I also wanted to thank Chief Napolitano and Mayor Freda for meeting with Mrs. Donaldson and I and
striking a deal with the class three officers. So, then a little bit more right here. Um Ms. Lawler touched on it originally in a uh countywide meeting in December, we were told uh Ms. Lawler and I and every other superintendent and BA in the
county to brace for a 30% reduction in state aid and then also maybe budget for upward near 30% increase in health care. Both egregious. But, you have seen you you only have to do is pull up nj.com, a lot of school districts have lost 30% of
their state aid. So, we're not in that that case. I want every penny I possibly can. You know, the running joke is that I still hold my communion money, which I do. Um so, $21,000 losing it, I'm not happy about it, but it's not the end of the world. It could have been a lot worse.
Um and we did we had a 16 and 1/2% increase in our benefits. We have to budget 19% because we all know life changes and that's out of our control with our own uh employees. If somebody needs to adjust their health care, we can't tell them no. So, that's why we uh
did did that uh effectively, I believe, at 19%. So, we ended on this slide and again, all of this information will be out tomorrow, will be on the website, uh you know, for yourself and then if there's any questions, you know, you could always email us, call us, what have you.
Um but, this really is a good breakdown of the pie chart and essentially any school district, what you're paying out annually as a minimum of 80% of the total budget goes to your uh your personnel. And that includes whether it be tuition,
whether it be health services, it doesn't matter what it is, health benefits, that's where it lies. And then, of course, you have your operations. We're a district with transportation, that's an impact. Some districts don't have transportation, they're not paying that. Um but, this is a good framework for
you. So, capital projects and as Ms. Lawler shared, capital projects are not a line item for staff or programs. This is shared at the board level. This is a separate line item and it goes for improvement. So, part of what we shared or most of what we shared during the
preliminary budget, you'll see here tonight, what most of this is all at KHS out of capital reserve. So, you have the renovations of the boys and girls bathroom near the cafeteria. Um that's basically I could tell our for our middle school parents coming up in the current high
school parents and students and staff, this is going to be a 3-year process where we're going to take floor by floor and improve all the bathrooms because the bathrooms, many of them are original, starting with these two, and need to be improved. So, they were
they were set to the side far too long. So, that piece, phase two in this auditorium with the upgrades to electric and lighting last summer was phase one. Obviously, we don't have the last um auditorium high school auditorium that I renovated as a superintendent in 2018
cost $1.8 million. We all know that product, construction, and everything else has almost doubled. So, we we don't have the funds to make that uh to do that, unfortunately, without going to a referendum, but we're not looking to do that. We're going to do it piece by piece. So, phase two is
part of that. The outdoor ca- cafeteria and instructional area that that will be outside in the back of the high school. So, you have a 100-seated area. I believe that Mrs. Sampio and the student council, I don't know, Mr. Sood, if were you the principal at the time when they
did that project in the back? Was pro- Okay, so that long ago. Okay, so years ago, it has to be a decade and a half at a minimum, staff and students put that those pavers in. Um but, we wanted to optimize that, so for outdoor learning and also outdoor
space during lunch time frames as we're looking at the future um and cafeteria space for students to use it appropriately. So, we want to have an overhang, we want to add electric, we'd like to add uh lighting and all those things. So, that's part of that.
We're relocating the art room due to the culinary arts program. Uh we have art room storage that we're adding and then also paving the walkways out at our field at Spiro Field from the team room to the field and then up to the practice field. Also going to pave some walkways
at Kiel and PRM. That comes to a $1.1 million withdrawal from capital reserve. And again, capital reserve is not meant for staff or programs. I just want to send a small reminder that last year at this time we drew down
for the culinary arts project and we had the bid award. It came actually well under bid at $1,099. So, all of these projects you see here should commence June 15th. We're in the process of gaining bids, construction, construc-
pre-construction meetings we're having and holding with our architect. Um so, all this should start June 15th. They've been made well aware that our school year calendar starts the last week of August before the Labor Day pro- uh holiday. So, um
we'll be on it. So, now some facility upgrades. When we're talking about fund 11 or fund 12, that's the operational budget. So, yes, those are choices. That's not capital reserve. Um we've agreed to the Spiro Field flagpole at the at the stadium, the gym floor resurfacing here in the
high school, and we'd like to put we'd like to remove the original signage right outside this wall and put new and improved signage for folks to see when they come in to our front area. That's all out of fund 11. There are a few things we have to continue to move forward again out of
fund 11, that's transportation and security. So, in transportation, we're in year two of three of a lease purchase with a bus and obviously we consolidated our routes. So, I know we spoke about that ad nauseam and uh for grades 6 through 11 on the same routes. If seniors need it, uh we can revise the
policy if they don't drive and they would be welcome to be placed on the route that they would have been if they didn't drive. And then, district security, Cisco and Kiel unified PA system and then the expansion of the alarm keypad interface here at the high school. So,
the idea is once that the board came into play with me and we we had these conversations and started to move things forward, you could see year over year what you have to do to maintain it and move things forward. Technology infrastructure, listen, we could debate all day and I know Mrs.
Donaldson's very happy that cursive writing's coming back in grades three to five. I can't say that I disagree. Um sometimes the more ancient is the more advanced. And um but, nonetheless, technology's here. It's not going anywhere. So, we have that Chromebook
cycle in grades six and nine, learning spaces at PRM and KHS for uh projectors projectors for our staff and our students, and then obviously Mr. Gianicelli's uh department in in technology, the Juniper continue to maintenance and access the switches and
wireless accounts and upgrades. Again, out of fund 11. So, programs and advancements. What's new? So, at the core, K5, we're looking at adding mathematics foundations. It's in year two of three. That was Mrs. Tajros,
uh Mrs. Alawali when she was still in Kiel, now Mr. Mongan and Mrs. Utell at Stony Brook. Um moving that forward, literacy screening for the DIBELS. ELA, core five. And um that includes your cursive there,
Mrs. Donaldson. We have it. And social studies in choir ed, and really Mrs. Utell steered that um in the K5. So, thank you, Mrs. Utell. In the secondary programs and elective growth, culinary arts, new program
implementation, the technical arts, we want to continue to develop. We we reintroduced the engineering and robotics program that kind of went away for a couple years. We are currently working with our buildings and grounds supervisor and looking at putting a doorway back in between, I believe Mrs.
Trumpeter, is that's 107-106? 107-108 to maybe extend some some space for robotics and engineering and then make some electrical upgrades and such later on if we need to close that back up for classroom instruction. In art and
media production and our ceramics and broadcast production, you see those numbers at 35,000. And my favorite subject, advanced math, you got the AP stats and Algebra 1 instructional materials. Again, that's all out of the Fund 11 operational budget.
What the board is voting on tonight. And what everybody always asks me, is at the end of all that and when I'm out of breath, whether I'm at Walgreens or Stop & Shop or at the Wawa on a Sunday morning trying to be incognito getting a cup of coffee, what is that going to cost me?
And so on the average home assessed at 580 82,000, you're looking at a $200 increase. Now, I I hope I didn't bore anybody. Um I know that was a lot. It's been a lot of work. It feels like we live and breathe it day and night and before we know it, we'll be on the field for all
the graduations and commencement ceremonies. But while we're up here, does anybody here or in cyber world have a question or does the board or about anything that's presented here? Mr. Shivers, do you have any questions?
Okay. All right. Do you know why I called your name? Because I'm starting to get the feeling nobody has any questions. So before I sit down, I just wanted to publicly say that on tonight's agenda, we have a job description that's revised to include transportation and special projects
with a title change and so everybody in the district knows going forward because we did have a retirement out of transportation, Mr. Shivers, in his role will be total central office. He's uh he will no longer after tonight be part of the KAA group bargaining group um and come over to central office and continue
to expand and grow in his in his position and will be steering transportation. So along with everything else that he does for the district. So I just wanted to recognize and thank you for that. Okay. So Mr. uh Mr. Gentzel, do you have any Mrs. Donaldson? What do you think?
Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Okay. So we were now to a motion to adopt 2026-2027 school district budget. May I have a motion to adopt? Is there any public
comment on that? That's what I Yeah. Then there's public comment. Okay, have a motion to adopt. Motion to adopt. Second. Second. Second. Okay, thank you. Uh discussion on the budget from the board? Anybody?
Nope. I think we've been over this a lot. Yeah, I just I just wanted to thank the the staff in central office and administration from all the buildings because it's never easy to put together a what $51 million budget. And
you know, with a new governor coming and obviously the normal budget cycle, but this is a different budget cycle because it's a new governor. You know, those numbers were changing, you know, at the last meeting, after the last meeting, you know, since the last meeting. Um so, you know, you guys did
you know, I don't know how many hours you put in every day, but more than 24. No, it's not possible, but you know, but just wanted to thank you guys for, you know, doing the hard work and making making things happen. So. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, there was a lot of work that went
into this and there were some hard decisions we had to make. Um we had to come up with 1.3 million. Um there were things we didn't necessarily want to do this year. Um but we had to make those decisions and I do want to thank thank the administration,
all the administrator and the administrators that are here and some that are not here right now cuz uh it was a lot of work on everybody's part. Thanks to the KEA too cuz there was some stuff that we had to agree with with them and um I'm I'm
I know it was hard, but we were able to enhance programs based on the student council input and input from staff and administrators on what is the best for our students and we took that into account and we were able to
enhance some of the programs, fine-tune a lot of stuff and put money where we thought was best for the students and that's at the end of the day what drives all our decisions is how can we provide the best education for all of our students and be fiscally responsible to our taxpayers and that's what we did.
Um and just to be clear, when we have bank cap, that means that in the future we can raise taxes more than 2%, but it's a one-off cost. It's like a savings account if you want to do a project or something. It
doesn't sustain the daily operations. So the increase of 1.3 million was a recurring cost we had to find. So we had to stay within our operating cost and that required trimming money out of the budget. Um
and we were able to do it. It was not, like I said, easy. It was a lot of hard work on everybody's part, but I'm I love the collaboration and the teamwork that enabled us to do this for our students. Yep. I can I can add to that um before we
call the vote and Ms. Lawler touched on it in the and Mrs. Donaldson about the bank cap. Currently, what the the board and I are doing, we're engaged with uh Councilman Lewis and Mayor Freda and we're looking to secure date in committee um next month and I can't
believe it's going to be May on Friday to discuss with our district architect a vision for the multi-purpose a possible multi-purpose turf field that we would split cost. And we're looking to if that were to actually happen, we're looking for the 27-28 calendar year that it would be up
and running. So um when we have more information, we'll share with the public, but I mean so far we've had a lot of good positive back and forth. So our our architect is well aware. Um so now we just have to secure a date to sit down, hear their vision, our vision, our administration here in
high school be involved, of course, and what that really looks like before the architect goes out and gives a hardline number of what they believe it would cost us to manage that. And that's where the bank cap in the future could come into play. Uh but other than that, we're we're
sitting tight. So. Okay. What was that? Nope. You can pull the board, please. Thank you, Mr. Eisenmenger. Yes. Ms. Geiser. Yes. Mrs. Leonard. Yes. Mr. Pepe. Yes. >> Mrs. Perella. Yes. Mrs. Donaldson. Yes.
Thank you. Okay. Uh we'll now open for public comment for the budget. So anybody has any comments on the budget, we're going to then move to the regular meeting. So this is just for the budget. If you have any comments on the budget, is there anything online?
Nope. Okay. Ready? Now we're going to go move towards our regular meeting. So our first item is routine matters, approval of the minutes for the March 18th tentative budget meeting and the March 30th regular meeting. Can I have a motion to approve? Motion.
Second. Any discussion on the minutes? Okay, seeing none. Can you pull the board, please? Yes. Mr. Eisenmenger. Yes. Mrs. Geiser. Yes. Mrs. Leonard. Yes. Mr. Pepe. Yes. >> Mrs. Perella. Yes. Mrs. Donaldson. Yes. Thank you.
Luca. At Kiel School, it's been a meaningful few weeks filled with both learning and community support. Our students and families came together to raise $4,000 for Blood Cancer United, which is an incredible show of generosity. Our kindergarten students also participated in a food drive while
connecting it to their learning, exploring 3D shapes through the donated items. We're grateful to Keisha for organizing the spring boutique and to our families for making the kindness counts food drive such a success with all donations supporting the Kinnelon Food Pantry.
We also took time to recognize the people who keep our school running smoothly, celebrating administrative assistants appreciation day and bus driver appreciation day with heartfelt thanks to those who support our students every day. Finally, our community enjoyed a fantastic performance of Aladdin Kids
and made made possible by Keisha and One Voice Vocal Studio. We're looking forward to field day as preparations continue. Over at Stony Brook, there has been a lot of excitement and and school spirit. Students enjoyed their first Keisha spring boutique and we also celebrated
administrative professionals day by recognizing the important work of our office staff. One of the highlights was take your child to work day where over 40 children of staff members joined us for a day of learning, recess, and community. The combined Kiel and Stony Brook theater club put on an amazing
performance of Aladdin Kids as well, marking the first time students from both schools performed together, something that made the event especially memorable. Sorry. Looking ahead, some of our fourth graders will meet their pen pals at Cedar Crest and we're excited for the
upcoming fifth grade dance and our spring evacuation drill. We're also incredibly proud of Olivia Smith and Macy Messick who will be performing in the All-State Choir this weekend. At Pearl R. Miller Middle School, students have been engaged in a wide range of academic and extracurricular
opportunities. NJ SLA testing begins soon with fifth grade science. That's not right. Um eighth grade science and we wish all students the best. Our musical, Beauty and the Beast Jr., is happening this weekend and there's a lot of excitement surrounding the
performances. PRM HSA is also hosting a STEM night with a Shark Tank theme, offering a fun and interactive experience for families. In the classroom, our sixth grade robotics students had the unique opportunity to connect with astronaut
Colonel William Pales, who took the time to personally respond to their letter. We also had strong participation in Take Your Child to Work Day with both our students and with both our students and visiting children enjoying a full day of activities. These experiences continue to make
learning PR at PRM engaging and memorable. At Kinnelon High School, there have been many accomplishments and opportunities worth celebrating. Our college fair was a great success, helping students explore their future paths, and Take Your Child to Work Day brought a fun and engaging atmosphere to the building.
One of the most special events was the intergenerational prom, where students connected with senior citizens in our community through active activities like dancing, art, and games. Our journalism students had an unforgettable experience visiting NBC Studios and attending a live taping of
the Today Show, even participating in a Q&A with Craig Melvin. As a district, we're proud to once again be named a Best Community for Music Education for the 14th consecutive year. We also want to congratulate Henry Manton and Catherine Fritz for their success at the New Jersey Science
Research Symposium, as well as Madison Gigante and Lauren Mortimer for their athletic milestones on the girls lacrosse team. We hope to see many members of the community at the upcoming choir concert as we continue to celebrate our students' talents. Thanks, Luca.
Okay, committee reports. Finance, facilities, and security? >> [clears throat] >> Good evening. Um we started with some regular business, um discussing some kind of uh facilities upgrades and repair and maintenance-related items.
Uh we reviewed proposals for the Cisco boiler, which we uh needed to replace. Uh we reviewed uh and looked at tick and mosquito control programs, which are a requirement, uh a heating repair in PRM, uh and a a hot water heater tank
replacement uh in PRM, a sprinkler repair in PRM, and then some concrete work um to kind of fix some concrete at both Kiel uh and the high school. So, that's just kind of regular recurring maintenance-type business. Uh we discussed uh the opening of the
KHS bathroom and art room relocation, which we saw in the budget. Um so, as part of relocating those bathrooms, we'll also get a a nice upgrade, and that'll be kind of the first of a 3-year plan as Dave mention as Mr. Mango mentioned. Um we spoke a bit about uh
Maschio's, our food service provider, um and looking for a price increase next year. Um I think it was going to be between 25 and 50 cents, depending at the school, which I think seemed reasonable. Um we accepted >> [clears throat]
>> we accepted a a tower garden donation. Um we have to formally do that as part of committee, so here today. Um we discussed what was happening um with virtual high school for Latin 3 and AP Latin,
uh and we reviewed the quotes for that. Uh we also had detailed discussions uh about the KAA proposal, uh which we ended up seeing in the final budget presentation. Um lastly, uh we finally hammered out the uh 2026 or 2029 SRO
kind of draft contracts and looked at that calculation, uh which also made its way into our final budget, so a lot going on in finance, facilities, and security. Really great work. Thanks, Frank. Yeah, it was we have been very busy in that committee.
Personnel negotiations. Are you going to speak for Carl? Yes. Sorry, I was just checking my notes because Carl uh shot them to me and said, "Can you help?" I said, "Sure." And now I got to look at them, so um
it was a pretty brief meeting. Um As Mr. Mango discussed, um we reviewed the new job description for the supervisor of special projects role. Thank you. Um and um
also reviewed and um obviously recommend the approval of the KAA proposal and the uh Class 3 officers. Um It was pretty quick, straightforward meeting. Yeah.
Education? You want to continue with that? That was a little longer. That one is mine, so Yeah, so we had a full meeting. Um some of the highlights are um expanding the dual enrollment program.
So, currently um students can take APs and have had dual enrollment with uh William Paterson and a couple others, but mostly William Paterson. Um and uh Mrs. Trombetta brought to us a proposal to in increase
that offering to include TCNJ. Um so, it's not to replace the current offerings. It's simply to say that if we can get credit through another university at the same time, that may ac- actually assist some of our students who might go to that school instead. Um
it works the same way as dual enrollment. Um it's an in-state institution. Um also a reminder that the AP test review sessions start Tomorrow. Sorry, I'm just looking at you cuz yeah, tomorrow, right? Um so, please
take advantage of those. If you can't If you have students that need those, um we approved some independent studies, and unfortunately, there was not enough interest to support running the summer math academy, not the whole thing, but the geometry and the precalc, right? Um
so, unfortunately, those won't run, um but if there's students that are interested in that kind of uh summer work, you can we have some recommendations, so please reach out. Um also just looking at some of those electives, looking to the future, you
know, to say like, "Hey, the whole meshing of some of the scheduling um is going to reap some benefits for like the middle schoolers, you know, to be able to look at some of those offerings, and that's um that may come out pretty soon here um in
scheduling for the middle school. Um I'm Yes. Correct. Um expanding the Let Grow program through the the rest of the grade levels, so 6
to 12. Um Yeah, it was a full It was a full meeting. And uh you'll see most of that stuff on the agenda. >> So, the the one the TCNJ, basically you take AP math, you'll be able to get TC credits from TCNJ now. So, it's an
agreement we're we're approving tonight with TCNJ. Yep, all the AP Actually, sorry, it wasn't just math, you're right. It's all the APs. So, you'll actually be able to get credit from TCNJ. So, that's That was I really appreciate that. That was great work.
Um okay. Next up is um policy. Kelly? Yeah, so the policy committee met on Wednesday, April 22nd, and we continued working on our parental bill of rights. The goal is to have that um ready for the June 2026 meeting. Um we discussed
four HIB cases, so thank you to our staff for coming and explaining all of those to us. We have for second reading tonight on the agenda uh policy 3232, tutoring services for our staff. Um we also discussed the
non-resident tuition policy sample that's also on the agenda for tonight for first reading. It was good meeting. Thanks. Okay, uh delegates, New Jersey School Boards Association. Carl's not here. I think he sent something out in an email,
so just check your emails and see. Uh Morris County, anything from Morris County, Frank? Nope. Uh legislative, I know you sent out a um an email for us with the update. Yeah, I just shared some resources that I rely on. So, um the the New Jersey
School Boards Association has a Capital Watch Quarterly Edition, and since this is budget season, it's prime time for um lots of bills to be moving, that's just how it works. Uh as I was scrolling through actually right now, um there
were several interesting ones, including um letting high schoolers get out of physical education if they volunteer at the fire department. Um that just increases, you know, physical activity, I guess. Um
and obviously the budget. Um and one of the things that, although it's not in the budget, that I saw go by in the news in the last week was that the governor um came out and just said plainly, like, "Look, you know, she's aware that school funding is an
issue." And you can just see on any of our social media feeds from any of the neighboring towns, um she's aware that it it is an issue. I mean, this was her district at, you know, up until last year. Um but the current budget doesn't reflect
any changes. She's aware of that as well, and she said that it's going to be a priority, just not in this budget. So, it's a kind of wait and see, but hopefully um there'll be some movement on that, you know, Yeah, I think they said they didn't have time to do to work on the
school funding formula because they were try- just trying to get the budget out since she only took over January 1st, so. Hopefully, we'll see some traction on that in the in the coming year. Okay, uh community relations and KEA liaison. You guys the Kiel Did you guys
meet now? Okay. May. Okay, great. So, next meeting. May. Okay. Okay. So, now we'll take petitions and hearings for citizens for agenda items. If anybody has anything on the about the agenda, they're welcome to come up.
Anything online? Okay. No? Okay. All right. So, what I'd like to do is a roll call for block vote on agenda items A, B, C, and D. Oh, the and the hebs. Okay.
Okay, so we'll D1. So, postpone the vote on that? Okay. Okay, so what I'd like to now amend my motion is can I have a motion to for roll call
with the block vote on A, B, C, D with the exception of D1. Can I have a motion to >> Motion. Second. Okay. Now, uh discussion on those items [snorts] and then we'll do a motion to postpone the vote on D1. So, I'll do
that separate. So, we're going to discuss everything but D1. Anybody have anything to discuss on any of the agenda items? Most all of these things were addressed in committee. Um We are accepting the donation from the McLaughlins for the
uh tower garden, so appreciate that from them. We are also approving a resolution to establish a um a scholarship in memory of Scott Sandsick, which has been um
established by the family, so I do want to recognize uh that amazing scholarship opportunity and the generosity of their family. This will This is also on our acceptance. So, I do want to recognize that.
Um Does anybody have anything else to get Gina, as I just wanted to point out that I guess in C we're approving the uh new start and end times for all the schools, which we had previously discussed. Uh not you know, we discussed it a bunch, but I wanted to make sure in the
block vote everybody's aware of that. Thank you. That's another thing that is in this uh agenda is the new start um times for all the schools, which will allow the Kiel kids to come home earlier instead of 4:30 in the dark. Um
So, we're consolidating routes and consolidating our times to make everybody kind of more a normal time for all of our students, which I think is a great change, especially for Kiel. It also gives the high school a little bit later start time. So, this is kind of working out for everybody.
Does anybody have anything else they want to talk about? Nope. Nope. We're good? Okay, can you pull the board, please? Oh, it also approves the KAA contract. They want to point that out and the SRO contracts.
Mr. Eisenhauer? Yes. Mrs. Geiser? Yes. >> Mrs. Leonard? Yes. Mr. uh Pepe? Yes. >> Mrs. Perella? Yes. >> Mrs. Donaldson? Yes. Okay, now I request a motion to postpone the vote uh
for policy uh section item Sorry, agenda item D number one. Can I have a motion to postpone the vote on that item? >> Motion to postpone. Second. Okay, all in favor? Aye. Aye. >> Aye. Okay. Great. That will be postponed till
further uh committee meeting and hearing. All right. Moving on, we have committee of the whole. We have nothing on that. Nobody has anything for committee of the whole. Unfinished business. Does anybody have any unfinished business? No. New business? Anything new? No.
Okay, correspondence. Do you have any correspondence? Nothing? Okay. Petitions and hearings of citizens for non-agenda items. So, anything you want to say now. We're open. Good evening, members of the board, Mr. Mango, Mrs. Alawale, and members of the
administration, and fellow Kinnelonians. My name is Louise Vetter, and I have a daughter here who is a freshman at KHS. Um and I am an emotional speaker, so I wrote things down so I wouldn't forget anything. I'm here this evening because I am
profoundly concerned about the announced changes to the Allied Health program at KHS. This program is unique, highly valued, and incredibly important to today's youth. Call it what you will, a restructuring,
an adjustment, or a reframing. I've heard all three words today. The result is the same. The unique academy experience of the Allied Health program is ending. The in-hospital experience, which differentiates this program from just
purely being electives or coursework, is ending. The unique international health program, which distinguishes KHS from Pequannock's Allied Health program and Morris County Vocational Technical School's Allied
Allied Health program, is ending. Whether the change was made out of scheduling convenience, budget, though that would be hard to imagine cuz it's a pretty inexpensive program, um or low attendance, the impact is huge.
Related to the idea of it being canceled, restructured, reframed because of low attendance, there are a lot of programs in our small school district that only apply to a handful of students.
High achievers in AP classes, um you know, special ed. There are many programs that I could cite that apply to a handful of students, but that doesn't mean they're not important.
At a time when Kinnelon is bleeding students, literally 20 kids left Kinnelon for their freshman year. That's a huge percent. Eliminating distinguishing programs makes it clear that academic excellence is not always
the priority. Track record supports this. We no longer have an aviation program. We no longer have a Latin program. Our French program has fewer and fewer students and is being deprioritized. These are grave concerns. And then add to it Allied
Health, and I have to ask, what's next to be cut? And if every year we go into the course selection process eliminating the smallest programs, the diversity, the excellence, and the
education that Kinnelon offers is going to be irreparably damaged, and it will affect future generations. It's great that we have new programs like culinary arts. It's great that we're investing in the arts overall, but
we cannot forget the academic priorities of today's youth and society at large. And at a time when AI is on everybody's mind, health
careers continue to take the top slots of careers that are in need and in development. We have to be investing in health care. >> [snorts] >> My daughter, Emily, had the opportunity
to go to Morris County Tech specifically for their Allied Health program. We wrung our hands. She wrung her hands to decide to stay here in Kinnelon because of the excellence of the Allied Health program.
She's not the only one. I hope that there is still time to add back the hospital visits and international program to truly preserve the heart of the Allied Health program, so that the adjustment that we're
hearing isn't the elimination that it feels like. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Vetter. Um I don't want to go far down the rabbit hole with certain things, but I'll Mrs. Trumpet is going to speak to
some of your points. Thank you, Mrs. Vetter. Um so, we are not planning on eliminating the program entirely. Like you said, we are looking to restructure because in its current format, um it's a two-year program rather than a four like it is um in, you
know, the at the county and at Pequannock. So, we're looking to make it a a four-year program, um and we just still have to we're working out the details of how we're going to do that for these students that are like your daughter that's a freshman, um because the way it's structured right now, it it
limits. So, we do have some great experiences that are part of it, but it limits the students' ability to take some of those other high-end courses that um make them competitive going into the medical field. So, some of those higher, you know, they can sneak in AP bio, but AP
chem, taking a physics class, they're limited from doing any of those things the way that it's currently structured. So, we're looking to fix that and keeping those elements like the hospital visits and those things. So, we're you know, we'll have more details for that about that in May, but we're
not looking to eliminate it. We really want to enhance it cuz it's We have a lot of kids who are turning away from it or dropping out mid-program because they can't access some of those other important coursework that they need for going into the medical field. So, we value it. We do not we're not looking to
kill the program completely. We really want to enhance it and make it a four-year program that's accessible to all of our students rather than just the select few that we're finding are applying for it. So, I just want to clarify that and we'll have more information out to families
next month for our tri forum. We have um we'll be putting out information from the EdTech department, the curriculum department, and special services. So, we'll have information in each of those areas and that will be part of it. The unfortunate thing with the aviation program and why that was discontinued
was we couldn't find a teacher for it. Um that was really unfortunate. That was not a decision of the board to terminate that project. I'm a pilot. I loved it. I would I hated to see it go. And it it is a a need in our society. Um but it was a
unique skill set and when the teacher left, we really struggled to fill that again and we just weren't able to. Um the simulator and the uh software program that was used required somebody that was very familiar with it. So, when um he left, it was there was just nothing
we could do. We tried extensively to fill that position. And in fact, that was also the robotics position that we finally filled and the wood shop. Those two positions we struggled for two years to fill um and we did finally fill those and we now have engineering and and
robotics and more STEM stuff. So, we've been trying to fill those because a tradition of excellence and certainly in academics is like I said, one of one of our main jobs. That that is our job. As far as French declining, that's just the interest of the students. We have no
desire to cut that program at all. I took French. My daughter one of my daughters took it. I have no desire to remove it. It's just based on if we don't have kids in the class, we have to try to balance that and try to provide them with opportunity and still have it. The Latin teacher's
retiring and we just also don't have the kids enrolled. I mean, if we have kids that want to do it, then we'll go get the teacher, but it's just there's just been a lack of interest in it, unfortunately. Um I'm sorry. I didn't hear her. I I I heard you, Mrs. Vetter, but I
we're not offering any other languages as of now. But that might be something that if we continue, let's say by winter, by Chris the holidays. Numbers are declining to look at, we'll go back to our students just like we did
for culinary, for wood shop, for theater, for drama, for psych, for soc. They were the ones that drove that. So, we do have a wide spectrum of offerings. Um if the language kind of goes in a different direction, then hey, what what
would you like to see here? And then it's our job to try to fill that between the middle and the high school. I don't want to say because I I don't want to get hit with a laser beam from Mrs. Utell because I promised not to bring it up. But if there was ever a return to the conversation of consolidation,
seventh or 12th, I think that makes the conversation even that much easier. And then how does that relate back in? So, when you have a high school of 475 students, it's very hard and it's challenging. Certainly recognize the challenges. I'm just thinking that a
district that prides itself on academic excellence, but only offers one language is challenging, right? And so, you know, I think I think we have to consider >> No, we do offer the two. >> Yeah, we offer we offer the two. Absolutely. But I I I mean, French is
declining. So, But French isn't going away. Okay. That's not there's no plan to remove that. >> And and that's honestly And if kids would like to take German or Italian or there's an interest in it that we actually surveyed them and that just was not they wanted psychology and culinary.
Like we'll ask we they meet with the kids that the administration meets with the student council all the time to see what their interests are and we're happy to provide it if that's what they especially in PRM, that's where we can catch them, then we'll look at doing that. Absolutely. If we can fill a classroom,
we'll get a teacher. I mean, that's what that's our goal. It's to provide that opportunity. >> that. And honestly, I'm I'm not here to talk about languages. I mean, I'm just I'm just citing what I observe over the years and the things that I'm concerned about. I appreciate Mrs. Trombetta, your commitment to trying to not
completely eliminate, I think is the phrase you used related to the Allied Health program. And certainly, if you're looking for feedback from parents, I know that I am not alone. Well, I'm alone tonight. I'm not alone in uh you know, the community's interest in preserving this program.
There are there are people who will help you. Thank you. >> no, just before you go, that's that's good to know, but I will say this. I'd be remiss if I didn't say it. The numbers don't support the volume of the program when you're talking about
the day. It has been recommended to my office for dismissal three out of four budget cycles. Now, it's not part of this budget cycle as Mrs. Alawali's letter went out earlier and to give that explanation as Mrs. Trombetta shared.
But as of right now, we have two incoming seniors and two incoming juniors who are interested. We have other students that because we're on the inside and we know how things are pitched, especially especially when social media takes hit. Um there are many students that turn away
from it because to Mrs. Trombetta's point and what we've wanted to do was make it a four-year program. Right now, we're just kind of caught in the middle. We know that we have three freshmen and we know that we have a definite one in eighth grade coming into the high school. But again, the numbers just So,
what can we do? We like the program. We agree with everything you're saying. Nobody up here would argue that. But it's how can we expand it and actually have more of our students be involved in it um for their future on and and going forward. So, that's really what we're doing. And that's a conversation I'd be happy to participate in.
>> Excellent. Um Mrs. Trombetta, isn't it part of the issue becomes junior year um you have a certain amount of classes to fill your schedule. AP biology is a requirement for let's say high-level science. Senior year, AP chemistry. And with
these classes and how they're in the schedule and stacked, that that is part of why some of the upperclassmen are not completing it and interested. Right. Right. Is it that's a very different message than the community has heard the last 24
hours. Well, cuz they have parents, right? So, students have parents and it becomes conversation. So. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Board member comments before we go into exact. Does anybody have anything they want to add?
Sure. Um I just wanted to say um thank you so much to the central office staff and to the board for the um budget. I know a lot of work went into that and um it was exactly as as John said, with the new governor, it was minutes minute not knowing how much money we were going to get, what the
funding was going to look like, and everybody just I mean, Miss Lawler had a plan A, a plan B, a plan C, a plan D. Uh really just there was a lot of work that went into it. Um I'm really proud of it. I I hope everybody else is and I'm excited about it. I also wanted to say
that I'm very happy that the um Scott Stancik scholarship is going to be up and running and looking forward to our students in the future being able to partake in that. Have a good night. Yeah, I wanted to echo that about the Stanciks um and just getting to know
Scotty for you know, he was the the reason the bowling team happened in the first place. Let's just put it that way. Um so, he made a big difference in you know, a lot of guys that I know. Um he'll be missed. Also, just so thankful for the tech
upgrades that got mentioned from previous budgets, current budget, future budget um and how much more use we're getting out of this stage. Um so, anybody Friday, Saturday, PRM, you said?
It is PRM. Um last week was Aladdin and um and then we're into all of the concerts and stuff, which can you remind me when our May meeting is? Cuz I know there was a conflict on there, right? There's a our committee meeting one of our committee meetings is the night of the
band concert. So, we might have to play with that. Um I know Wednesday night is in here, the high school concert, spring concert. >> Right. So, Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's that season. Yeah, it's just that time. Yeah. Yeah, it's going to be busy.
Okay. Um thanks everybody for all the work they did and thanks Ms. Better for coming tonight and speaking. I really appreciate when people come in public and come and talk to us about things cuz that really means more than posting on Facebook. So we can iron out
dispel any rumors and iron out the facts and then also hear your point of view. So thank you for coming. Um So uh I'd like to request a motion go in executive session. Can I have a motion? Motion. Okay. Second. We will be discussing a student matter.
Um We reserve the right to discuss other things. I don't think any decisions will be made. No action will be taken. No action will be taken. Action will be Okay. Action Actually, I'm sorry. Action will be taken. So just to let you know. Um and that concludes the public part of
our meeting. Thank you so much for coming. And everybody have a nice Mother's Day. I know it's around the corner. Two weeks from now we won't none of us up here will see each other again before then and everybody else that's out there. So for our moms, have a great Mother's Day. Thank you for coming on this Wednesday night.