Well, we'll start. Welcome everyone to the reorganization meeting of the Lacy Township Board of Education. I'm calling this meeting to order. If we could all rise in for the flag city, please. >> Well, do you want to um Well, we could do that now, but then I would do it again at the meeting. >> Yeah. Sorry for the confusion. Um we
we're having this oath of office ceremony because we only have three returning board members. So, we wouldn't have a quorum to actually commence the meeting. So, um, so we're going to do a swearing in ceremony, right? But >> we'll still we'll do it twice. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> So, just to be clear for the record, like the meeting is not starting until 6, >> correct?
>> But we're going to redo all of this again, I assume. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. All right. Adequate notice uh has been for the reorganization meeting was advertised in the Asbury Park Press and the Beacon on January 9th, 2025, 2026.
Uh we may post 25 by posting the notice in the Fork River and Lenoka Harbor Post offices and by filing a copy of the notice with the Lacy Township Clerk is required by the open public meeting law. And now I'd like to administer the oath
of offices uh individually to all three of our new elected board members. So if we would have Megan Fory come on up. >> Do you want to have anyone stand with you? >> No. >> Simple.
>> [laughter] >> I state your name. >> I doly affirm >> doly affirm >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey
>> and that I will bear true faith >> and that I will bear true fa Allegiance to the same >> and and allegiance to the same >> and to the governments established >> and to the governments established >> in the United States and this state >> in the United States and this state >> under the authority of the people
>> under the authority of the people. >> I state your name. I make >> do solemnly affirm that I possess >> Do solemnly affirm that I possess >> the qualifications prescribed by law >> the qualifications prescribed by law >> for the office of a member of the board of education >> for the office of members of the board
of education >> and that I will faithfully >> and I will faithfully >> and partially >> and partially >> and justly perform >> and justly perform >> all the duties of that office >> all the duties of that office >> congratulations >> [applause] [applause]
[clears throat] >> No. Didn't she sit down? Can't she come sit? >> Yeah, sure. >> Yeah. Megan, you come sit with us. You're in. >> You come sit with us. >> We should have had like a a rehearsal like Well, [laughter] >> that's a good idea.
reading it upside down. >> [snorts] >> I speak >> I speak >> solemnly affirm >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and the Constitution of the State of New
Jersey >> and that I will bear true faith >> and I will bear true faith >> and I allegiance to the allegiance to the same >> and to the government established in the United States >> and to the government established in the United States >> and this state >> in this state >> under the authority of the people >> under the people
>> to help me >> to help me out. >> I state your name. I speak >> do solemnly affirm >> do solemnly affirm >> that I possess the qualifications >> that I possess the qualifications >> describe by law for the office and member of the board of education >> to prescribe my law for the office of
education >> and that I will faithfully >> I will faithfully >> impartially >> impartially >> and justly perform >> and partially and justly perform >> all the duties of that office >> all the duties of that office >> according to the best of my ability >> according to the best of my ability
Could [applause] be a kid. >> That's broken. >> This is a nice background. It'll come out if you want. [snorts] I see. Come to my office every day.
>> You'll see them. two. >> Brandon Megan, you don't want to bring the family down. Get a picture. >> I'll do pictures in between because we have time. >> Yeah, we will. Yeah, we will. I'll do it after. >> [screaming] >> that I will support the Constitution of
the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and that I will bear of true faith >> and that I will bear true faith >> and allegiance to the same >> and allegiance to the same >> and to the governments established in
the United States >> to the governments established in the United States >> and this state >> and this state >> under the authority of the people >> under the authority of the people and state your name. I Brandon >> do solemnly affirm >> do solemnly affirm
>> that I possess the qualifications [clears throat] >> that I possess the qualifications >> prescribed by law for the office >> prescribed by law for the office >> of member of a board of education >> a member of board of education >> and that I will faithfully >> and that I will faithfully >> impartially >> and partially
>> and justly perform >> and justly perform >> all the duties of that office >> all the duties of that office >> according to the best of my ability >> according to the best of my ability >> to help me >> so help me >> [applause] >> New board members, you'll get a copy of this
office. >> It's been a long day. >> Yeah, we took them. >> Yep. Yeah, we'll break till 6. >> Yeah, no break till 6. >> We're on break. >> Y >> Thank you everyone again for coming to
the Lacy Lacy Township Board of Education annual reorganization meeting. Uh we're going to resume the meeting again, but we'd like to start with the flag salute, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay. Again, adequate notice of the reorganization meeting was advertised in the Asbury Park Press and the Beacon on January 9th, 2025 as posted by the
posted in the notice of the Forid River and Lenoka Harbor Post Offices and by filing a copy of the notice with the Lacy Township Clerk as required by the open public meetings law. This time, I'd like to take roll call. >> Mr. Amato, >> here.
>> Mr. Bell, >> here. Mr. Miss Forny, Dr. Forny, thank you. >> Mr. Goen >> here. >> Mr. Hurley >> here. >> And Mrs. Claus >> here. >> Boss, sorry. >> Okay. At this time, I'd like to open the
floor for nominations uh and election of our board president. Can I have a nomination, please? >> Uh, I'll nominate uh Steve Goen. I'll nominate Kim Claus for president. >> I'm sorry. I I couldn't understand. I'll
nominate Kim Klouse for president. >> Are there any other nominations for president? >> At this time, I'd like to close the nominations. I need a motion, please. >> A motion. >> I'll second. >> All right. Now for the vote for
president. >> Mr. Amato. >> Yes. Mr. Bell, >> yes. >> Dr. Forny, >> yes. >> Mr. Goen, >> yes. >> Mr. Hurley,
>> yes. >> And Mrs. Claus, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. >> Okay. >> You don't have to move your seat. >> I know. At this point, I'm going to take over the meeting. Uh we're going to have our nominations um and election for vice president. I'd like to start that
nomination uh with Steve Goen. Are there any other nominations? >> I'll nominate Sal Armano. >> Okay. Any other nominations? >> Okay. I would like to make a motion to close nominations. We're going to start in the or
>> motion. Yep. >> Oh, can I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Can I have a second, please? >> Second. >> Okay. Um any discussion? Okay. We're going to move on to roll call in the order it was given and we're going to start with Steve going. Can I have a roll? Um roll call.
>> Yes, I do. >> I'm sorry. I'm looking for the blocks. >> That's okay. >> Mr. Motto, >> no. >> Mr. Bell, >> yes. >> Dr. Forny, >> no. >> Mr. Goen?
>> Yes. >> Mr. Hurley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Claus? Yes. Congratulations, Steve, if you want it. [laughter] >> Thank you. >> You accepted it. >> Okay. Now, we're gonna u move on to the
our annual school ethics training. >> So, >> you're up or is there a video? >> There's video. Yeah. Tom's going to come in. So, we'll ask the board members, especially the new board members, you'll take seats out here >> and uh it'll be Bruce who just left. He recorded his uh annual FA training. We
all have to get it. So, yep. >> We all have to go and go sit in our seats and we'll watch >> our school attorney give us e >> I'm not watching it. I've given [clears throat] >> Good evening everyone and thank you for allowing me to make this video to
provide a brief overview of the school ethics act and satisfy our statutory requirements to cover that at our reorganization meeting. you will see it on your agenda to adopt the code of conduct for schoolboard members and we're going to do a brief overview of school ethics. I know everyone had
training this past fall on school ethics. So, this training will just be a very brief refresher. There's two sections of law where our school ethics body of law comes from. There's the school ethics act and the code of ethics for schoolboard members. We are going to
focus on the code of ethics for schoolboard members. Um but first who enforces the act and these two statutes they are enforced by the school ethics commission which provides you with advisory opinions and adjudicate school ethics complaints.
The code of ethics for schoolboard members is a bunch of I statements meaning I will do this, I will not do that, etc. You can read through them. I'm not going to read them here. There's a list of A through J. uh and it talks about how you're going to act as an
individual board member. And the key there is individually the board members cannot act. They have no authority. Your only authority to act is when you're sitting together a quorum of the board making a decision as a deliberative body, usually upon the recommendation of
the chief school administrator. When you review the code of ethics for schoolboard members, you will see that they generally require you to act as a whole and refrain from acting individually or making promises. The
chief school administrator of your district, the superintendent is the only one that acts administratively. You, as a body, are the owners of the school district. Think of the school district as a ship and you own that ship. You set the destination for the ship and your chief school administrator is the
captain of that ship and guides you to the destination. He or she is empowered by the department of education to make those decisions and recommendations to drive the ship where you want it to be. Significantly, however, as members of the community and elected officials, it
is your destination that matters, but it's the chief school administrator's job to get and steer you to that destination. You as board members do not have the authority to steer the ship only to set the destination. When we're talking about school ethics,
it really can be summarized as the four C's. And those four C's are confidentiality, chain of command, conflict of interest, and communication. Confidentiality is one of the most key
parts of the four Cs. You as board members obtain a lot of information about students, about personnel matters, about things that the general public is not aware of. The general public knows that you have this information and will often ask you questions about this information. It is imperative that
things remain confidential. What's said in executive session must remain an executive session. If you learn of something uh through a committee meeting or some other meeting that's confidential, it must remain confidential. There's several reasons for that. One, it protects you and the
district from revealing information that may be harmful or somehow hurt a member of the community, a student or a staff member. Thus, confidentiality is important. Releasing confidential information could result in an ethics violation, could result in a lawsuit with monetary damages. Thus,
confidentiality is key. Second is chain of command. People in the community will often come to you and want to see results. Again, as the owner of the ship, you do not have authority to implement results. But the uh members of the community, whether it be a parent or
a student, has to follow the chain of command. The chain of command for a student, for example, starts in the classroom. It goes from the teacher to the principal, maybe an intermediate supervisor before the principal, then from the principal to an assistant superintendent to the directly to the superintendent, and then eventually to
the board of education. Things have to follow the chain of command. And why that's important is you have a lot on your plate as board members, as the administrators of the district. If things if every little matter jumps immediately to the board level or the superintendent level, it detracts your time from attending to the things that
you have to attend to. Things should get resolved at the lowest level possible where the parties are actually involved in the matter. Thus, following the chain of command is important. If anybody comes to you uh in the supermarket or wherever the case might be, refer them to the chain of command. Did you talk
about it with your students principal? Did you talk about it with the teacher? Did you go to uh our superintendent? Things have to start at the lowest level possible. Conflict of interest. We don't expect you to be an expert on conflicts of interest. Just be aware of a
situation that may arise. That's why I'm here here. Sharon is here. Uh Will is here to help you through those conflicts of interest. Whenever you think you have some sort of relationship, whether it be a familial relationship, a business relationship, a contractual
relationship, or even a close friend or neighbor relationship, come to us. We will help guide you through that conflict of interest or determine that it is not a conflict of interest and help you through that. Most importantly also is communication. Everybody must communicate. Communicate things through
your board president, through the superintendent, through me if there's any issues. Open communication tends to nip things in the bud and does not let things fester. So those four C's are how I kind of view the code of ethics for schoolboard members and all those I statements of I will do this, I will not
do that. It really all comes down to these four things. And if you remember the four C's, you'll stay out of trouble. Those are confidentiality, chain of command, conflict of interest, and communication. Any questions, please let me know. Thank you and have a great year.
>> That was nice. as well. >> Sorry. >> What? >> Oh, yes. Yes. >> Yes. Here and here. >> This will give me a chance.
>> No problem. >> All righty. It's always an extrem >> nothing to add from >> No, I mean if there's any questions I'm I'm all ears, but I think Bruce, you know, summarized it and obviously if there's any after the fact, always come to us.
>> Do any members of the board, especially new members, have questions about ethics? I'd like to ask a question about communication. >> Yes. >> Um, as board members, our our communicating with one another is solely via email. Correct.
>> Are we allowed to text each other? >> You I would I would refrain from conducting official business or anything that's on a personal device or a personal email address. I would always use your official uh, you know, email address. That's what I would say. That's
the that's the best practices because >> in a world where you use your personal device or a text message that that's operable that's a you know it's a communication that is public it's a public record at that point so I would refrain from that >> okay very good thank you >> like setting up meetings like are you
showing up tonight would that be text that's I mean it like I said it's not improper per se but you just keep in mind the more you use a personal email address a person you know your your personal device in some way someone could ask for it and it's not out of the realm that certain messages would be
public. But no, it's not you're definitely not out of the realm of you know what's what's acceptable to ask someone if they're coming to the meeting >> even in a group though we can say meeting tonight 6:00 >> I would with no response just statement >> it's safer to just send individual or
you know if you want to send the text out to everyone but not in a group >> because again realistically once everyone's together if someone replies all you run into a potential open public meetings act issue. So, okay. >> I noticed my Google phone allows me to do that. It doesn't have to be a group anymore. >> It does. And I've done that individually
now. >> I've done both. So, >> okay. >> Yep. >> I just noticed it like recently. >> Yeah. And it's definitely that's what I would say. If there is something that has to go out to everyone and the simplest way to do it is by text. I would say just kind of blast it individually that way. >> Okay. >> Sounds good. All right. Now, we're going
to go to new business resolutions 1 to5. Um, code of ethics, combined statement of results for 2025, parliamentary procedures, board bylaws, policy and regulations, and the meeting schedule. Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion.
>> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? [snorts] Roll call, please. >> Mr. Motto? >> Yes. >> Excuse [clears throat] me. Mr. Bell? >> Yes. >> Dr. Forny? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cohen? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hurley?
>> Yes. Is this clause? >> Yes. Okay. All right. Now we are going to go to the appointments um for our committees. Okay. This [clears throat] is effective immediately.
Facility and finance operations committee. It's facilities, finance, food services, personnel, technology, transportation, township liaison, superintendent search, and referendum. The chairperson will be Steve Goen. I'll
be on that committee as well as Brandon Hurley and Carrie Opitz will be the alternate policy committee. Policy is co-curricular safety security LTASA liaison, LTC TSA liaison and the LTC
TA negotiations uh chairperson Brandon Hurley. I will also be on that committee. Carrie Opitz and alternate Megan Forny. Curriculum, that's curriculum, health and wellness, communications, comm community
relations, LTEA liaison, LTEA negotiations, special education, and technology. Chairperson Dan Bell, Sal Armado, Megan Forny, and alternate Carrie Opitz. Um, just to make a note that there'll be no alternates um during
negotiation. It'll just be uh the top three. Okay. Um the delegates delegates and alternates um NJSBA delegate Dan Bell alternate myself and OS OCSBA delegate Megan Forny alternate Sal
Armato. >> Should we make a note that Kerry Opus' will be pending the lifting of this injunction? >> Right. Correct. So for the in the inturs, it would just be the other three named individuals. >> So the alternate will fill in.
>> Okay. Now, we're going to move on to public comment. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now opening the public comment portion of this meeting in accordance to the New Jersey Open Public Meeting Act. This is an opportunity for members of the public to make comments to the board. Please note
that this [clears throat] period is reserved for comment only. The board will not be responding to questions or engaging in dialogue. The board's role is a policymaking body. operational and administrative manner should be addressed through the appropriate chain of command beginning with staff member or administrators most directly
involved. All speakers are expected to present their remarks in a respectful civil manner. Rude or harassment harassing will not be permitted. Please understand that defamatory remarks may create personal liability for the speaker and potential legal exposure for
the board. In addition to protect the privacy rights of students and employees, the board shall not entertain discussion regarding specific student or personnel matters. We thank you for your cooperation to helping us maintain an orderly and peaceful meeting. Any audience member wishing to make a
comment will raise his or her hand when called upon, state their name, address, or affiliation and intention to make a statement. Comments will be addressed to the board president. Comments will be limited to six minutes. No person person shall speak more than once. This portion of the meeting is for public comment
only. There will be no questions answered. The purpose of this board meeting is to perform our business in public. Everyone is entitled to a public comment. If there is a question for the board, there's an established chain of command to follow. Do we have any public comment tonight? Regina
six minutes. I did that. >> Yeah. I'll give you >> [snorts] >> Regina Desenza, Sunset Drive, Sunrise Beach. Um, I do have a question, but you don't have to answer it, but this is something the public needs to know. Um,
do any of the board members have conflicts? I think the answer is no. And if that's so, this is truly a historic occasion because this board has never had six non-conlicted board members at the same time. at least not as long as I've been around. I hope the seventh
person will also be unconlicted because that means everyone can participate in negotiations. Congratulations. And this board won't need the doctrine of necessity for a while. I got to attend 50 extra meetings because I was non-conlicted because negotiations take
a lot of time. Um, Thursday evening, December 11th, at a township committee meeting, Bob Lorray, former nine-year three-term schoolboard member, suggested to move forward and look to the future. So, what I would
like to suggest is a move forward citizens advisory committee that we eliminate some of the tension and dissension that we often experience at meetings. The public is being strangled with taxes and none of our elected officials seem willing to listen or make
meaningful changes to fix these situations. And there are solutions, but the powers that be must be on board with the changes to help stabilize taxes. And of course, these changes may hurt some people. Regionalization must be reviewed
in its entirety. There was state grants to do these studies and Lacy simply refuses. That attitude is unacceptable. As a former board member myself, I recall 10 years ago at one of my first NJSBA training session sessions picking
up a pamphlet. I have only this one left. I had distributed it to all board members and administration at that time working with community advisory committees. There is a web page currently on the NJSBA site titled
community engagement. I strongly urge you all to read it and the links. It's more than time to do this. I really would like to see a move forward citizens advisory committee, not just for the Lacy Board of Education, but another citizens committee for the
township government as well. The time is now. Fix it or it stays broke. And so do the taxpayers. Mr. Bindick sends his good wishes to the three new board members, but was too sick to attend tonight. Thank you. Anyone
else with a public comment? Okay. I don't believe we have anything for exe executive session. No. Okay. So, we're going to start with board member uh comments and we'll start with Dan Bell, please, if you have any. >> Just congratulations to the three new
board members. >> Looking forward to a good year. >> Great. Thank you, Mr. Armato. >> Uh same as Dan. Just uh congratulations to everyone tonight. um hope you understand what what's in front of you. Um stays true to your convictions. Don't
let anyone ever change your mind unless you really agree with it. Be open to all discussion even to the people you don't like and uh you don't want to hear from because sometimes they just have good ideas and you got to get past that. But uh it's going to be a fun year. I'm I'm
anticipating a lot of action happening this year. Some good hopefully. And uh if you need any if you have any questions and and you want a different viewpoint on things, don't hesitate to reach out. I'll be more than happy to help. >> Okay. Thank you. Um Miss Forny,
>> anything? >> I'm excited to get started and congrats to Stephen Brandon as well for our first meeting. Um I look forward to having seven board members present as soon as possible. And that's it. >> Okay. Uh, Brandon, you have anything to
add? >> No, that's that's uh really the biggest thing is uh I think we're excited to get started and and uh I look forward to to doing what we need to get done to to make some changes needed. Um, congratulations to Meg and Steve Exactly. And and uh thank you to all the
voters that uh took a chance on us and and went out to the ballots and voted and and our families that supported us. We look forward to uh to doing some good things. >> Okay. Thank you. and vice president, Mr. Goen. >> Uh, sure. Thanks. Um, thanks everybody. Congratulations to Brandon and Meg as
well. Um, thanks for electing me vice president and putting me on the finance and operations committee. No pressure to start off or anything? >> Not at all. [laughter] >> Yeah. So, I'm uh I'm I'm excited to get started and looking forward to working with everybody this year. >> Okay, great. All right. I do have a
comment tonight. Um, thank you for your vote of confidence. I'm truly honored and excited to serve as your president for the second year in a row. Uh we have a very full and important year ahead of us. Our main focus is to hire a permanent superintendent, a permanent business administrator, continuing to
improve our district ranking and test scores as we successfully did in the past year, maintaining our board certification, preparing a balanced budget while addressing our potential $5 million deficit. These are all significant challenges, but I am confident that working together we can
meet them. I would also like to congratulate our new board members. We are glad to have you and we look forward to your contributions. You [clears throat] all have a unique background and that will help propel our district forward. Thank you again for volunteering. I want to take a few moments to review some
important procedural expectations. This is what we currently do. So just to set a clear path uh moving forward. First and foremost, communication is key. Please maintain open consistent communication with me, Mr. Zalinski and your committee chairs. If you would like
to add an item to a committee agenda, please email the committee chair with the topic you would like discussed and always copy the president, superintendent, and the board secretary. Committee chairs should be prepared to answer questions from other board members. If you're unable to attend a meeting, it is your responsibility to
notify the chair, contact your alternate, and report back to the chair afterwards. Please also inform me if you or any other board member are absent. Again, communication is essential. Please be sure to follow the chain of command. Any question should be directed to the president first. If I do not have
an answer, I'll do my best to get it to you. Board members should always reach out to the president prior contacting the superintendent. There should be no surprises. There is nothing related to the district that the president should not be aware of. In the event of an emergency, please reach out to Mr.
Zalinsky, but all other matters should go through the appropriate committees. Preparation is also critical. All attachments, including bills and committee material, will be emailed with your monthly agenda. Please review everything in advance and ask questions prior to the meeting whenever possible.
You may also schedule a bill review. I suggest you do that. Um it is very informative. You'll learn a lot about the district to see um who we pay. I also ask that you make every effort to attend all monthly meetings and committee meetings. Lastly, confidentiality is extremely important.
We must not share any confidential information. I cannot stress this enough. Thank you again for your commitment and your dedication to the district. I look forward to [clears throat] a successful year and working with all of us together. >> Okay, Mr. Zalinsky, you have anything? >> Just congratulations. You know, the uh
um as a social studies teacher, uh public service and public education are at the core of our democracy and thank you all. >> Okay. Anything else, guys? We're going to adjourn. Motion to adjurnn. That's it. >> Motion. >> We're good. Can I have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I.
>> Great. Congratulations.