All right. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. 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. Adequate notice of this meeting was advertised in the Asbury Park Press in the Beacon January 9th, 2025. and by posting the notice in the Fork River and Lenoka Harbor Post Office and by filing a copy of the notice in the Lacy Township Clerk as requested by the Open
Public Meeting Act. Please recognize there's only six members for roll call tonight as Mr. Peters has stepped down. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato here. Mr. Bell here. Mrs. Armato here. Mrs. Walker, Miss Absent, Mr. Cony
here. And Mrs. Claus here. As is our usual procedure, a motion to go into close session will be in order now um to discuss uh student matters pending litigation attorney client communication.
Any other issues? No. No. Uh close session will be approximately one hour and the board will address and take action on its regular agenda after the meeting. Motion motion. Second. All in favor? Hi. Hi.
Okay, we're gonna resume the meeting. Good evening, everyone. On behalf of the board of education, I'd like to extend a warm welcome to all our incoming students, staff, families, and community members. We wish every one of you a successful, fulfilling school year.
There's so much to look forward to our school plays, athletic events, and educational accomplishments. We are excited to be a part of your success. Tonight, I would like to introduce and welcome our student body leaders, Cooper Mick and Tatiana Perez to the DES.
[Applause] We know you will both lead your peers and this district in an upward positive direction. We are counting on your leadership to inspire other students. I would also like to take a moment and recognize some incredible achievements
this past year. Recently, we learned our school ranking rose by 29 points. We understand we still have a way to go, but we'd like to thank our staff for all their hard work to motivate the students to do better. Even more impressive, our SAT score increased 100 points to 1170.
That's truly remarkable progress. Cooper and Tatiana, we are counting on you to help motivate the students and set the bars even higher. As you may noticed, Mr. Skip Peters is not here with us tonight. He hasn't he has recently stepped down from his role. On behalf of
the board and our community, we would like to thank Mr. Peters for his six years of dedicated volunteer service. His commitment made a real difference and we deeply appreciate the positive changes he helped bring to Lacy Schools. I've spoken to our New Jersey school
board representatives about the next steps for fulfilling the seat. We will be posting the position soon and I encourage everyone interested to reach out to Miss Ornsby with questions about the application, interview process, and timeline. Our goal is to appoint within
65 days. In the meantime, I'm pleased to announce that Sal Armado will serve as chair of referendum committee and Dan Bell will fill the open seat. Linda Walker will be on the finance committee to fill that open seat. Dan Bell will also be on the superintendent search
committee and I will serve as the OCSBA delegate. All of these changes will be effective immediately. Now, I'd like to take a moment to address something a little more serious. I would like to remind everyone, students, parents, staff, and community members that
threats of any kind, whether in person or online, will not and cannot be tolerated. There are limits, and hate speech is forbidden. We take threats in all forms of hate speech very seriously and we will respond appropriately. You will also
notice notice changes on our policy in public comment tonight. Policy 0167 public participation at board meetings. Mr. Bell will speak more about that in our committee report. Any violation of the code may be an immediate termination
of the speaker, removal from the meeting by law enforcement, and in repeated cases, the board may consider limiting the rights to attend in the future. Also, please refer to the code of conduct in this section of the policy. Some point some points include but are
not limited to shouting from the floor, going over the allotted time and absolutely no distribution of any materials or any others during the meeting. Again, this is all in our policy 0167 which we are updating tonight. As always, our main focus is on
safety, success, and the well-being of our students, staff, and our community. And we would like to wish everyone a very successful year. And now I'd like to turn it over to student representatives or student representatives. Okay, go right ahead.
All right. I'm Tatiana Felos Perez. I'm the executive board president of SGA. And my name is Cooper Mick. I am the senior class president and I'm going to tell you guys some recent events with the student government association. So the student government association last met on September 8th uh with the
freshman. The elections for the freshman class officers will be held at the end of the month. They will be electing a president, vice president, secretary, and a treasurer. With our sophomore class, they are currently drafting ideas for a fundraiser. And they are also looking for volunteers to the upcoming trunk or trunk or treat event. With the
junior class, they are currently also drafting ideas for a fundraiser. And um the annual powderpuff game will be held on November 25th at noon. And uh with the seniors, they just wrapped up the paint a parking spot fundraiser, which was an incredible success. If you haven't already go went to go look at
the parking spots, I highly suggest that you do so. Um, information regarding senior t-shirts and cap and gowns will be going out to students in following weeks and they are also drafting ideas for a fundraiser. And finally, with the executive board, um, each class will be electing their homecoming court during
the week of September 29th. The 2025 homecoming football game will be held on Friday, October 3rd, and the homecoming court will be announced at halftime. And the 2025 homecoming dance will be held on October 18th. Admission sales will be in W 105 from 1:45 to 2:30 PM on October
7th through 9th for $30 and then on October 14th through 16th for $30. And finally, um all homecoming paperwork will be emailed to students and parents on October 1st and the student government association will next meet on the first Monday of October.
All right, next I'm going to go over the unsung hero. So September's unsung hero is Cooper Mick. Cooper is a highly [Applause] It's the reason for the switch up tonight, too.
So, Cooper is a highly engaged and driven student who plays an integral role in the school community. Ranked among the top in his class, he consistently demonstrates academic excellence and a strong commitment to personal growth. As a member of the Lacy Leadership Academy, Cooper constantly pushes himself and builds upon his
abilities as a leader. His natural ability to lead by example has made a lasting impact on his peers and teachers alike. What truly sets Cooper apart is his unwavering commitment to do what is right. He's never afraid to speak up for others or stand firm in his beliefs even in challenging situations. Whether he's
organizing events, mentoring fellow students, or contributing to schoolwide initiatives, Cooper's leadership, character, and conviction make him a respected and admired figure in the school community. Congratulations, Cooper. You really deserve this. Congratulations.
Thank you. And now our superintendent. And I'll bring uh Principal King will come down with the first of our seniors of the month. We have three this month. And as I always say, they are the most special because they have a body of work that the teachers remember even though
we've been in school for two weeks. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Zillinsky. Uh board of education. Thank you. Uh just a big thank you to all the students and teachers. We had a great opening this year and uh you know looking forward to an awesome awesome school year. All right, our first senior of the month for September is you may have seen this
person recently uh Tatiana Phyis Perez. A round of applause for her family is here. I'm Tatiana Felas Perez and I'm proud to be named September Senior of the Month at Lacy Township High School. Hi, Tatiana. Congratulations on being named senior of the month.
I'm most active in band. I play the saxophone in marching band and concert band and I play the bass in jazz band. I also am active as a swimmer on the swim team and I throw for the track and field team. Tatiana, when I think of you and all the things that you've accomplished over the
years uh that I've had you as a student, there are so many things that come to mind. for instance, your work ethic, the way you work with people, um the way you put your mind to something until you get it the way you want it, and just the fact that your organizational skills and everything you do is going to lead to success later in life.
Outside of school, I love to play the bass and just explore music. When it comes to Tatiana, um there are so many memories. I had Tatiana in middle school and in as our drum major in high school. Um, there have been so many conversations, but the amount of fun we had when you were in I think you
were in eighth grade and I was uh helping Mr. Lady out with concert band and we got to sit next to each other and the conversations we got to have. I got to know you real well and um I knew you were going to be great at anything you want to do. After high school, I plan to go to college for nursing and do nursing ROC
on the side and hopefully I will enlist as a Navy nurse. Latiana, I want to wish you the best of luck with the rest of the school year because we have a lot left to go and um best of luck with college and everything in the future. I know for a fact that you're going to be extremely successful at anything that
you wish to do. [Applause] I'll take care. All right, our next scene of the month is someone you've also seen recently. Uh, it is Cooper Mick. Cooper, come on
over. A round of applause for his family who's here tonight as well. So, round of applause for them. Hi, my name is Cooper Mick and I'm proud to be named as September Senior of the Month here at Lacy Township High School. Cooper, congratulations on being amongst
the first cohort of senior of the month for your senior year September 2025. Here at Lacy Township High School, I serve as the senior class president, the co-president of Interact, the co-founder of the speech and debate team, the vice president of the surf writer club. I'm the job fair chair for the National
Honor Society, and I'm also involved in the leadership academy of humanities. Coupe, listen, you never do anything below 90% at all with ever. So it is no surprise that you are a student of the month. You are one one of the most intellectual students that's ever come
through LH. You are involved outside of school working with organizations and on political campaigns. What you're doing is really setting the standard for how the rest of your academic career is going to go and we couldn't be prouder. Um outside of high school I serve as a secretary and outreach chair for a
political organization based in Ocean County and I'm also an intern on Representative Mikey Sher's campaign for governor of New Jersey. You know, Coupe, your personality and character is amongst one of the most consistent and honorable that I've encountered in the last 20 years of this
career. And I got to say, your character and personality would often show itself on discussion day in AP history with your peers. It was always a great day in class. You always brought great insights and believe it or not, the people in the audience, you actually have a sense of
humor sometimes. So, we appreciate that about you. After high school, I plan on attending a four-year institution to study political science and public policy. Coup, congratulations again on being named senior of the month for September 2025. We're proud of you. We look forward to the rest of your academic
career and to seeing where you end up. Good luck. [Applause] All right. And our September vocational senior of the month is Alyssa Swain.
Alyssa, come on down. I'm Melissa Swain and I'm proud to be named September's Vocational Senior of the Month at Lacy Township High School. It's a privilege for me to recognize our vocational senior of the month, Alyssa Swain. Some of the clubs and activities I participate in are interact club with
Mr. and our WLTS studio. This young woman is not only an incredibly gifted student in design and visual communication, but also someone whose kindness and compassion touch everyone around her. One of my favorite high school memories is probably
managing the swim team because the bond that team has is just like a family with the coaches from the people. It's just overall a great experience. She has faced challenges most of us can only imagine. Yet, she shows up every day with grace, strength, and an unwavering
commitment to her classmates. She looks out for her friends, makes sure people feel supported, and somehow still pours her heart into her creative work. Some things I like to do outside of school are hang out with my friends and family and just explore.
Her perseverance and generosity of spirit inspire all of us. I'm so proud to celebrate her today and to honor not just her achievements, but the remarkable person she is. After high school, I plan to go to college
most likely for studio production. I'm going to miss you so much, Alyssa. I hope you have a wonderful senior year. This is a welldeserved accomplishment. Please join me in congratulating our senior of the month. Thank you.
We got pictures. Pictures. [Applause] All right, Mr. Linsky, that concludes my presentation. Thank you, Mr. King. All right, next up. Okay, we're going to follow with our advanced mathematics
teachers. We have Miss Jessica Schaefer and Miss Christina Hayes who are going to come up with some very special presentations uh for our high achieving math scholars and our principles are going to help you hand those out as we move along. So, I know you have some
things to say. Hi, good evening everybody. We're excited to be here tonight to celebrate some of our outstanding math students from the elementary and middle schools. This past April, select students had the opportunity to represent our district in the Ocean County Math League. This
countywide competition challenges students with highle math problems aligned to the New Jersey Student Learning Math Standards. The league is designed to enrich students mathematical experiences and prepare them for the problem solving demands of the 21st century. It also provides a unique
opportunity for students to apply their skills in a competitive and collaborative setting. These contests are created by teachers and supervisors from across the county and our students work hard within their own schools to prepare for the rigor and time constraints of the competition.
Tonight is all about celebrating the students, their hard work, talent, and commitment to excellence. To put this achievement into perspective, there are 77 public elementary schools and 24 public schools in Ocean County along with many private schools. While not
every school participates in the math league, the majority do, which makes this accomplishment especially meaningful. With that, we're proud to recognize our teams with certificates and celebrate their impressive achievements. Congratulations to all of our math stars. Um, we'll start off with
the fourth grade from Cedar Creek Elementary School. They got third place in Ocean County. Um, so that was Darren Shei, Orion Buen Bonito, Aiden Hrisco, Aiden.
Oh, what was that? Sorry. Aiden Herrisco, Micah Trout, [Applause] and Keshv Pie. I'd also like to say Keshv got second
place in Ocean County for the individual competition as well, which is an outstanding Um that that's our fourth grade team. Um sure, sure. Our fifth grade team from Fork River Elementary School took first place in
Ocean County last year. This consisted of Chase Booth, Samantha K, Mariah Carvalo, Wes Pierce, and Leonardo Dola. I also want Oh. Oh, there he is. Hello,
Leo. Wes. Wes also took fourth place in Ocean County for the individual competition and Leonardo took first place in Ocean County for that. Okay, now for our sixth graders, we have
Ian Dennady. Oh, and this team I should have mentioned, they place fourth place in the county. Ian Dennady, Frankie Musicer, Audrey Henley, Adeline Brick, and Brody Murphy.
[Applause] [Applause] Okay. And our seventh grade team. And just a little special shout out to our seventh grade team that I had the pre pleasure of looping up with. I had them
two years in a row. So last year they didn't get celebrated but they got first place in the county and then in seventh grade they got second place in the county. So we have Jessica Kim. We have Gabriella Toner. Sophia Pastor,
Camila Mistella, she had soccer practice. And we have um our second place in the county out of all the seventh graders that took it, Ethan Sosa. Thank you so much. Congratulations, boys and girls. We're so proud of you.
This is our higher SAT scores. How many years a lot of pressureile go like this? [Applause] You want to just
Okay. All right. Last up, I have our own Zoe Hardy who's coming back. Uh met her before. I don't have your name in front of me. I know you're American Heart Association. Andre. Andre. Yes. Yes.
Please. Zoe wanted to address the the crowd. Okay. Good evening. Uh my name is Andrea Marusk and I've had the privilege of working with your um school community for the past 15 years through our Kids Heart Challenge program which is held each February and March in your
elementary and middle schools. Together with your amazing administration and PE teachers, we have educated countless students and families on the importance of their physical and mental well-being. We've empowered young people to become life lifesavers by learning handsonly
CPR and how to recognize the warning signs of stroke. We have reinforced for core values like kindness, responsibility, safety, and empathy, especially as students support those in their community affected by heart disease like our ninth grader Zoe Hardy.
Um over the past four years, Zoe has courageously shared her heart journey as a local youth heart ambassador. She has inspired the school community with her resilience, leadership, and unwavering motivation. This year, we are thrilled
to announce that Zoe has been selected as one of just 15 students nationwide to serve as a national youth heart ambassador for the American Heart Association. In this one-year commitment, Zoe will work closely with our school programs to
continue her mission of inspiring peers across the country to adopt healthier habits for improved mental mental and physical well-being. We are incredibly excited to see the impact Zoe's voice and experience will have both locally and nationally. Thank you to the Lacy
Township School District for your continued support for the meaningful role that you play in encouraging your families to be hearthealthy. We look forward to continuing this partnership and proudly standing by Zoe's side as she steps into this national leadership
role. Congratulations, Zoe. Good evening, members of the board of education, President Claus and acting superintendent, Mr. Zalinsky. For those of you who don't know me, Andrea just introduced me. Um, my name is Zoe Hardy. I'm a freshman from Lacy Township. I've had the honor of representing our town as a local youth heart ambassador for
the American Heart Association for the past four years now. This year, I was honored to be selected as a national youth heart ambassador. This has been a dream of mine since I started this journey. This prestigious honor would never have happened without the help of some amazing teachers and administrations. I would just like to
take a minute to express my gratitude to everyone who has played an instrumental role in this journey. Thank you Mr. Brewer, Miss Catrell and Miss Miss McDonald from Lake from Lenova Harbor School, the best elementary school by so who started me on this journey and still continue to support me years later. This
year, I'll be able to go back to my elementary school and share my story in person and encourage students to learn life skills such as hands only CPR, something that is my absolute passion. Miss Donahghue, my number one supporter, who allowed us to restart the Kids Heart Challenge program at Mil Pond Elementary
School without hesitation and continued that journey when the school transferred from to preK and kindergarten. The confidence that Miss Donghue had has helped me build will stay with me for a lifetime. Miss Savage, who has been my school Since day one, Miss Savage has helped me
with everything from hanging posters to handing out gifts. But most importantly, she has taught me to believe in myself and that anything and everything is possible with perseverance and hard work. Mr. Brandice, who granted me the freedom with within reason to create and implement the American Heart Challenge
at the middle school. This program was the first in our district. Mr. for running the program with middle school teens and keeping them engaged in this program, which is no easy task if I say so myself. Um, so he definitely deserves a medal for that. I think we can all agree with that. Um, I'm also deeply grateful for the help and support
of our school's parents/ teacher associations. Not only do we have ex exceptional teachers and administrations, we also have some incredible parents that support and inspire all of us. It does indeed take a village. Mr. Zolinski, thank you for listening to me, encouraging me to
continue this journey with your endless support. Thank you all for believing in me and helping me create a community of lifesavers. [Applause]
[Applause] Thank you. Awesome. All right, I'll just conclude for now. Um, I just want to look to the future, remind everybody of our upcoming bond referendum on November 4th. Um, it's a pivotal moment for our school district
and our community. Uh if it passes, the referendum will allow us to fully replace the roofs on five of our school buildings and complete critical HBAC work with a particular focus on the Lenoka Harbor Elementary School. As always, and I've said this before, strong schools are the foundation of a strong community and the place for all
of us to come together and support this vision is with the replacement of the roof in our schools at no additional cost to the taxpayers. This initiative is about securing our future and the educational facilities for the next generation. So remind everybody of that and I'll probably have a couple comments later. Okay, my report. Thank you,
President CL. Okay, we're going to move on to public participation. This would be your time if you want to go home and do your homework. To be done, you may go. Parents, you have to stay. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
Have a nice um he turned in August. Bye. Have a nice week. See you. See you next month. Do you want your congratulations? Thank you. Of course. I'll take my brother.
I'm good. How are you? Same here. Uh, no. Tom, that was I retired 10 years ago. So, you're still doing this? Good for you. Congrats. Congratulations.
Congratulations. You too. Just like that. Congratulations. Good night, too. It's exciting. Okay. Good. All right. All right. Here we go. All right. All right. We're going to start with um
public comment. Any audience member wishing to make a comment will raise his or her hand and 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 made one issue at a time. Comments will be limited to five minutes. No audience
members shall be recognized twice until all who have wished to comment have been recognized. The portion of this meeting is for public comments only and 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
is an establishing of command to follow. Go ahead. Hi, my name is uh Sean Mick. I live at 806 Harbor Road. Um I've had two children go through the system from Wigan. Now my uh oldest is going to be
done. My other son graduated when the college is professional firefighter. I just want to give thanks to uh the school board, the teachers. I saw Mr. Feedler here who's my my kid's teacher. I know it's a tough job that they have to do. We give them our kids and they
raise them. They do a tremendous job making sure that they're steered in the right direction. They pursue their goals and one son was an athlete, another son wants to be a politician, but they always steered them to where their goals will be met. Um the school board comes
up here once a month. They take a lot of views from people. A lot of people have different opinions. A lot of people have a bunch of different ideas. Everybody has the right to their opinion. Everybody has the right to their idea. I'd like to thank you personally. I know that it was a tough
year with the budgets, but you guys proved that different ideas, different opinions. You sit down at a table, you throw it all on the table, you figure out how to make it work. And uh that's true democracy. you know, you put it all
together and say, "We're going to have to cut some fat. We may have to cut some muscle, but let's put the best thing together that we could put." And I think uh you did a great job. And I'd like to thank you. And uh unfortunately, this is going to be the last of my kids. me my
grandkids will come here. But uh I just like to thank uh the school uh all the schools that my kids went to and the school board for year after year listening our problems being abused. People coming up here just wanting to talk and uh just rip into people with no
solutions. Um these guys sit there, you take it, you you listen, and then you get behind the desk in that door and you come up with a solution. And it's not always the perfect solution, but it's the best that these guys do. Yeah. I mean, you can't
always come up with perfect solutions, but um he's really did do a good job. I just like to thank all and the school. Thank you. Appreciate that. Thank you very much. See you later. Can I just remind all the speakers just to please address the comments to the board president, not to the room as a
whole. Good evening, President Klouse, members of the board, and fellow parents. My name is Teresa Whitman. I live at 308 Nautilus Boulevard. My husband and I have three small children. Our two sons currently attend preK in this district, and until last week, our experience with the district
has been overwhelmingly positive. The staff at Mil Pond are professional, caring, and kind. And I want to be clear that my concerns tonight are not inclusive of the teachers or staff who brilliantly serve our children every day. On Wednesday, September 9th, during morning drop off on my son's fifth day
of prek, it was raining and due to the weather, I chose to use the front dropoff line instead of our usual routine of parking and walking in. As I entered the driveway, acting superintendent, William Zalinsky, was standing in the center with cones dividing the car and bus lanes. As I
began to pull into what I perceived to be an open lane, the acting superintendent suddenly began waving his arms and shouting through my closed window. I rolled it down to understand what the issue was. He immediately began yelling that I had entered a closed lane, but the space looked open and unobstructed.
He continued to raise his voice, though I was not arguing. I had simply turned into what I perceived to be an open lane. He continued speaking in a hostile and confrontational tone. He instructed me to pull into Cedar Creek to wait. When I attempted to exit the driveway via a
Kturn to literally escape the grown man screaming at me, he began again throwing his arms into the air and stating that this was not what he had instructed me to do. This encounter was unnecessarily aggressive and deeply unprofessional, particularly for someone in a leadership
role. The tone and behavior that he exhibited were alarming and inappropriate for any setting, let alone directed at a young mother with a baby in the back. My son, who witnessed the encounter, was confused and unsettled, asking me afterward, "Why is that man so
grumpy?" After dropping my son off, I approached the acting superintendent again as he was walking toward the school. He did not seem to recognize me as the parent that he had just bered because when I asked him to confirm that he was the superintendent, he responded jokingly,
"Sometimes I pretend to be." After confirming his identity, I acknowledge the stress of leg of drop off logistics, but attempted to explain that I found his tone and approach both abrasive and unnecessary for an honest mistake. Rather than engage in constructive or professional dialogue, William Zinsky
briskly began walking away as I was still speaking, dismissively calling out, "Sorry you feel that way." I'm not standing here for a one-off incident. After sharing my experience publicly, I was inundated with responses from residents who described similar encounters with William Zolinsky over
the years. The words they used were consistent, argumentative, dismissive, condescending, bully. His behavior is not a secret in our community. I want to trust and believe that the
people on this board, the district leadership team, the entire staff of our district genuinely care to make Lacy Township a great place to raise our families. I want to believe that every adult in this room, from parents to the decision makers sitting up front, have
taken this responsibility on with the utmost respect for the privilege we have. Some of you have raised your hands and taken on the sacred duty of fostering an environment where children are safe, where communication is open, where there is more humility than ego.
And it's time to demonstrate that. Five days a week, I send my most cherished people into this world into a Lacy Township school district with you at the helm. I want people making decisions for my children to have the same character that I am attempting to still instill
within them. I want them to be noble. I want them to be humble. I want them to be kind. I want them to have integrity, to have respect for others, and to own their mistakes. With all of this said, I do believe that the acting superintendent owes me an apology. But
more than that, he owes every parent here a commitment that our voices will be heard, that open constructive communication will be encouraged and welcomed and valued, and that this district will lead by example in showing our children how to treat others with
respect. Thank you, Miss Whitman. Miss Whit, I'm sorry. Thank you. I'm sorry you felt that way. And I'm sorry, genuinely, did you call my office to discuss this ever? No, I didn't. Okay. I just want to make sure I didn't miss anything. So, I'm sorry. Thank you very much.
You're welcome. Thank you. Anybody else for public comment? Go ahead, Mr. Rosolei. Tony Ros. First off, I'd like to publicly thank Harold Skip Peters for his service. Uh he spent a lot of time.
Many people didn't agree with him on some issues, but he did spend time. He did serve like the rest of you elected people did. Right or wrong, he gave his time, and I appreciate that as a resident. Um Madame President, most of
this is policies. Please have Mr. Bell listen up. First one is policy 1636.01. Uh these are to be discussed tonight. Notification of promotion policy. Nowhere in this policy does it say that
the promotions go to friends, family or seniority. Please keep that in mind because that's stipulated and in my opinion is very important. Um, next is uh policy 1570, internal
controls. Uh, last time I was here, I asked a question of the superintendent. I didn't get an answer, which okay. Anyway, I asked how many employees we have that are servicing our 3600 or
whatever uh students. And I didn't get an answer, but this policy addresses uh this question. If the district has a budget in excess of 25 million or more than 300 employees, the district shall
maintain an enterprise resource planning ERP system that integrates all data and process of the in proc processes of the district into a unified system. Now, if we do meet that criteria, all I'm asking
is will the information under that criteria and this planning be available for public to scrutinize and look at? I just want to know what's going to be available to the public. Okay. Um the next one
has to do with uh policy number 2422 and this is from page three through page five. Um, I don't agree with these particular items that are listed in this policy number 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22,
23, 24, and 25. I just don't agree with them. Um, as a taxpayer and as a person who has addressed this board on many occasions over the last 30 years, uh, I don't see where any of this comes into a school's
responsibility. I think that diversity, inclusion, and other committee uh, views introduced by the NJA lawyers to make money for their firms, that's where I think it came from. I don't think it's the school's responsibility to uh have
these particular subjects that I pointed out um brought up. And I mean, it says you're supposed to pay attention for the contributions of specific groups. Well, I don't see
anybody named Vespucci, Mellin, or even uh guys by the name of Kennedy, although they were rum runners and criminals, but you know, they made contributions. I don't see any of those names. Uh but I
wanted to point out at the end of this it does say in accordance with the provisions of NJSA 18A semicolon 35-47 any student whose parent presents to the principal a signed statement that any part of the instruction in the health
family life education or sex education is in conflict with their conscience or s sincerely held moral or religious beliefs. shall be excused from that portion of the course where the instruction is
being given and no penalties no penalties no repercussions from teachers or administration if they decide to opt out okay as to credit or graduation sal result I mean if they want to learn
about Jarger Hoover okay and the first director of the FBI fine there's an internet and Maybe their clergy should explain some of the failures of that individual who was considered at that time such a great
American, but maybe not so much anymore. Okay? Or people like Alexander the Great who had some problems. Okay? It's on the internet. They can look if they're interested. Also, some maybe some Catholic clergy and what has been coming
out into the public's venue. I don't think it's up to the schools to do that. I think it's up to the schools to worry about reading, writing, and arithmetic and math like it was here tonight. I'll be back if Okay. Anybody else?
Go right now. Hi, my name is Kelly Brener. I have two children and I live in Fork River. It's the beginning of the year and I just wanted to ask if the board would be able to reconsider busing for all students within the district when you're taking into consideration next year's budget.
I'm fortunate enough to not be impacted, but I know many people that I'm speaking with are having a huge issue with this. So, if we mention it now, it can be on your forefront. You can keep that in consideration that is severely impacting many residents and a lot of the school district. Thank you.
Thank you. Anybody else like to speak? Go ahead. Regina Desensza, Sunset Drive, Sunrise Beach. Um, Miss Ormsby, um, you may have missed one of my emails, but I did ask how the
changes to policy 0174 came about. Um, it was on last month's agenda. Were the changes made by the district or did all the new wording come from Strauss SME? I have particular interest in this policy. I understand that you don't want to answer questions right now, but I do want to know where those changes came
from. As of this morning, I looked on the school district website and I cannot find any current information about the November 4th referendum. The old one, yes, I see that. But the date of the new one isn't even posted. How is this being transparent? And where is the posting of
the paperwork and estimates to the state of New Jersey requesting the debt service aid? I don't see that either. I had to get it myself from the NJ DOE. Based on what details I obtained, this proposed $28 million referendum is just for roofs, partial roofs, and some HVAC
replacement. As Mr. Zalinsky just stated, the costs cited for each project on the six schools from the NJ DOE document are as follows. Cedar Creek 2,148,000 full roof replacement. Fork River School
2,150,000 partial roof replacement. Lenoka Harbor School 2,382,000 roof replacement. Milpon School 5,468,000 full roof replacement. Lacy Middle
School 3,725,000 partial roof and HVAC units. and Lacy High School. 12,965,000 for HVAC and partial roof replacement for a grand total of 28,838,000. And this quote is direct from all six of
the NJ DOE project letters. This school facilities project is not ranked as a priority. This school facilities project has not been determined to be an emergent project by the department in concert in concert with the executive county superintendent.
None of the cost summary sheets by FVHD, the former architect, show how any of the prices were derived. Where is the cost source data? How can you expect the public to believe these prices with something with no backup documentation?
I recall a similar project in 2019 with the same problematic pricing issues. Now, here's something no one talks about. When a school bond debt is paid off, the return to the taxpayers is a reduction or elimination of the portion of their property taxes that was
dedicated to paying that specific debt. How much will property taxes be reduced with the bond payoff? Miss Ormsby has given us two amounts. Mr. Vidnick got an email in the last two weeks that stated $111 a year and then I got an email and
I was told $48 a year. We each have the emails. Both numbers can't be right. I'm very curious how those numbers got arrived at. Number one, I do not believe all these roofs need to be replaced in their entirety. Two, these prices are outrageous and have no supporting
pricing documentation. Number three, the R value, R30 insulation in the roofs could be higher. I had installed R38 in my son's house in Virginia, a state that doesn't even get that cold. So, don't give me bologoney about saving money on
the heat bills. R30 is not top-notch top-notch insulation. You can get better. And for that price, I would want top-notch insulation. 2,876 people said no in March, and I hope thousands more will vote against these
superinflated non-emergent projects. And tell the taxpayers the truth. If the referendum fails, we get a tax adjustment refund. I'll come back for the second five minutes. I have more. Anybody else like to speak? Go ahead.
try to sprinkle a little joy. Brandon Hurley, 219 Lenipe Trail, Fort River. Uh, good evening members of the board. I want to begin recognition first because I really think it's important to give credit uh where it's due. Uh, Principal Neimic and the staff at Cedar Creek have
done an outstanding job adapting to the new uh, pickup and drop off procedures that they implemented. As both a parent with two children at Cedar Creek and someone who has been able to observe the pro process closely, I can tell you firsthand uh, that what they've built is quickly becoming a wellorganized, safe
as possible and efficient system. uh their commitment to safety and the order deserves recognition and I I severely thank them for it having two kids in their in their school. Uh that being said, we need to look at the bigger picture with more families driving their children to school every day
um because of the busing changes. The volume of traffic has increased dramatically. This isn't just an inconvenience. It could quickly become a safety issue. Cars are lined up in the mornings and afternoons, creating congestion and stress for parents, staff that are trying to direct the traffic in the surrounding neighborhood. This is
why I believe we need to start planning now for another entrance point at Cedar Creek if possible. If we can find that, there are opportunities there and I'm hoping that with the town had just partnered with the district to improve Lenoka that we should produce pursue
something similar to partnership here. I think together this would relieve traffic, improve safety, and show families that their concerns are being addressed. I also recognize that the busing situation itself has added to these changes. Courtesy busing is by definition a courtesy, and many states follow that same practice as a way to
save money. However, I would like to see that in the future, we should start finding a way to implement that back. Again, I just wanted to retouch on Cedar Creek's ability to uh take care of the students as safely as possible. I did get a chance to watch it uh the last
three days with both my kids. Uh one of which is in the autism program and the other one has severe ADHD and is all over the place and his ability to get into the school safely um without incidents is a real testament to the staff there and I think we should applaud them on that. Thanks.
Thank you. [Applause] Would anyone else like to speak? Go ahead, Richard. Richard, you can go. Yeah. Good evening, Lacy citizens and members
of the board. At the end of the last board of education meeting, there was a mention of a lawsuit being voted on to settle a case with no details given to the public. The case had to deal with Crystal Dara, the former food service
director. It was settled with the district paying 180,000 for her whistleblower lawsuit against the district which had fired her. The previous food service director was also fired and had filed the lawsuit. We seem
to have a very bad track record with our food service department and as I've recommended, we really need to outsource it. I mean, we're doing the same thing over and over again, and the outcome is the same. At the last board of education
meeting, I requested that all staff salaries and benefit costs for each employee be posted on the district website like it once was, so everyone in Lacy can see where all of our hard-earned tax money is going. I followed up with an email to the whole
board, then an email to the CFO. I did not receive a response from the CFO. So, when can the taxpayers of Lacy expect this spreadsheet to be published on the website? You like to say you're transparent. Well, here is a big opportunity for you to prove it. If you
don't, it will be clear that you don't want the public to know how you're spending all of our hard-earned monies, which will mean you're trying to hide something. When government lives in the dark, it's never up to anything good, especially with taxpayers money. On the
topic of the $29 million referendum, I went through the cost of missions. Architect's fees for this project are over $1.85 million, which is just outrageous since you don't need an architect for roofing projects. And only if you go through the state bonding
program do you have to do such things, which is a total waste of state and local monies. Exorbitant bonding fees and even outrageous printing fees are all included in this bloated project. No one in their right mind would do a project like this if they were paying
for it out of their own monies. On another note, according to the CFO, Miss Ormsby, she sent me an email and she said the average home, which I guess is $288,000 is the value, would get $111 reduction. Rich, can you come back? Your time's up
already. Yep. Was it reset? Go. Two more minutes. Go ahead. Okay. Um $111 would be the reduction in savings is what she told me in an email
on an average house cost of 288,000. I've been questioning why Mr. Zalinski is still in the role as acting superintendent. In fact, this is a question that comes up on social media again and again. I decided to do a poll.
Over 90% of the respondents want him fired and for a whole slew of different reasons. The taxpayers want accountability. The schools are failing. It doesn't matter how much propaganda you try to throw out to the public. Everyone sees through the gaslighting. The board spent money on hiring a search
firm to look for another superintendent and hired no one. Another waste of our hard-earned tax dollars. Just like the 130,000 you wasted on the March referendum, monies that could have been used for busting our kids and taking care of our facilities. The lack of
accountability from the majority of the board is appalling and embarrassing at this point. In fact, it's readily clear that you care nothing for what the public feels or their concerns. You just want our money and expect us to put up and shut up. Absolutely outrageous.
And I will come back for my last comments. Okay. Would anybody else like to talk before we go round two? Mr. You're not policy, you know, 0167 public participation in
board meetings. Do we really need this, folks? Do we really want to take our first amendment and throw it in the garbage here in Lacy? Do we really afraid to hear from the public? You know, you put that kind of a an aura out to the public. The public says, "What
are they hiding? We already have this policy. We're just amending it." I I this policy has been around for years. Uh is is this a recommendation from the state or did it come from one of the attorneys who you choose? because your
track record for choosing attorneys and law firms seems to be very very bad. So maybe you should take a double look at what's being suggested to you by the attorney that you choose in the law firms that you choose. Okay? Because
like I said, they're not doing a very good job and the public understands that. But this particular policy, really look at it, folks. You really want to have that kind of an impression. You're going to vote on it tonight. Think about it and think about getting new
barristers. Thank you. Would you like to identify which portions you object to? Okay, Regina. Regina Desenza, Sunset Drive, Sunrise Beach. There is a report online dated
September 2000 from the state commission of investigation. This report details how school roof projects are not only far overestimated, but many precautions must be taken when writing the contract to be sure the district gets what it pays for. I provided the report link to your
attorney. This also was a source of negligence with the solar project bond. There wasn't even a true contract written or reviewed by the school district's attorney. And now I have a few notes from my August bill review. The monthly healthc care expenses for
August were low because not everyone gets a paycheck in August. It was $966,911. The employee contribution was $34,329. And again, this amount is nominal because a lot of teachers are on the 10-month payroll. The Delta dental bill
for July August was 97,910 with $600,000 allotted for the year. The Benard prescription plan for June was $715,77. 4.4 million is allocated for the year for prescriptions.
the electric bill and this is a partial. It supplements the full district balance after the solar JCPNL $14,565 allocated for the year $37,50. How will these electric bills be managed when the solar production goes to zero
and you throw all the solar panels in the garbage? I still have not gotten a satisfactory answer and I've asked twice before. We haven't figured that out yet. is not the right answer. I saw the synergistics bill for energy management. How's that working out? $7,416
for the month, 89,000 allocated for the year. Are they saving the district more than they cost? Please explain how at a future meeting. I'd like to hear about that. I beg the people of Lacy to say no to the 28 million. It is not at no cost to the taxpayer. And you already gave
20% over the past two years. And I can almost guarantee there will be another 10% increase this year. It's not that I want dripping roofs on the students and the staff, but there are less expensive approaches. Trying to overinflate the prices to get the state aid is
unconscionable. This is an exact repeat performance of all the problems that were noted with the solar bond in 2009. This month, the SREx yielded $64,000. That's a drop in the bucket against the $ 1.5 million bond payment. And this was
promised at no cost to the taxpayers. Therefore, the new referendum question must be voted down because it's not transparent. The prices are not realistic. Give the taxpayers our refund. And item 18, your policy revision of 0167 that Mr. um Rosolei
just spoke about, public participation. I already reported it to the ACLU. If you're looking for a lawsuit, that's a great way to do it. I strongly suggest it be written by someone who understands the law. The way it's currently written, folks, it's in violation of your oath of
office to uphold the Constitution. Apparently, nobody knows what's in the Constitution or how to interpret it. Mr. Senza, you had the courtesy of emailing me earlier and we spoke a little bit before the meeting. Would you like to tell us which portions you disagree with? The one that tells us what we can and
cannot speak about. That is not correct. Wh which one is that? Any topic? You can go to the podium. No discuss one specific issue. We did. We did. I didn't know if there were any others. Right. I mean, he's opposed to all of
it, which includes increasing the time to six minutes. Yeah. Okay. Mr. Bick, Richard Bidnik, part two. Um, my last comments are about the new public participation policy being read for the first time tonight. There are portions
of it that are unconstitutional. You do not have the right to restrict free speech at a public meeting, which is protected in the US Constitution. You do not get to be the arbiter of truth. You cannot stop a member of the public from speaking out against a public referendum
or a candidate who is running for election on the board. This will be challenged legally if you try to go ahead and approve this policy. And I'm referring to two points. B, where it's talked about speech that is defamatory. And C, campaigning for or against
political candidates or ballot measures. And I'm going to repeat this to you. A board president stopping someone mid- comment because they think it is defamatory risks unconstitutional viewpoint and discrimination. campaigning for or against candidates
ballot measures. Courts have held that political speech is core protected speech. But if you say a school funding referendum is on the ballot, banning references would be unconstitutional. And I'm going to quote the law here.
Ionuzi versus Burrow of Point Pleasant, Third Circuit Court, 2012. And then there's another one. Tinker versus De Moines, which is the New York Times versus Sullivan 1964, reinforced board protections and for political free
speech and a high bar for restricting defamatory comments, especially about public officials. The Lacy Citizens for Responsible Government will be holding a board of education candidates forum at the Lacy Library at 7 p.m. on October
22nd. The public is cordially invited and there will be an opportunity for the public to ask questions. Please mark your calendar as this will be the only time the public will get a chance to have this opportunity or ability to measure the merits of each candidate and the solutions they offer for the
district's many ills. This meeting will be taped and later put on social media. Thank you very much, Mr. Biggnik. Thank you for the citations. I also want to point you to Bessler versus Board of Education of West Windsor Plainsboro, which says a public body may control its proceedings
in in a contentneutral manner by stopping a speaker who is disruptive or who fails to keep to the subject matter on the agenda or whose speech becomes irrelevant or repetitious. For example, citing a case out of Indiana, a plaintiff who attended a meeting was removed because he was repetitive and
tculent and repeatedly interrupted the chairman of the meeting. The third circuit affirmed dismissal of those cases. Okay, we're going to move on. We're going to move on. Um I'm I think I missed your hand and and then we're going to close public comment because I think I missed your
Yeah. Ran Mendes. Woodland Road for River. I just wanted to reiterate that we are here with the lack of courtesy busing and the need for a referendum because of multiple years of state aid funding cuts
that not only happened mostly in Ocean County, but to 109 districts across the state that have been ongoing and horrible. So, as we go to the election and for this referendum, the ability to fix the roofs gives us 40% covered by
state aid, which we so desperately need. And it's not the best scenario, but it's where we are. And when we vote in November, we have to consider the state aid cuts that we've had. Also, thank you. Thank you. Okay. Now, we're going to move on to board committee reports.
We'll start with Mr. Bell in policy, please. Right. [Music] Our meeting was held uh September 10th at 4:15. It was myself, Jack Conned,
Linda Walker, and Mr. Zinsky. New policy regulations for review andor discussion. Training service animals policy 5337. Miss Mr. Zolinsky led a discussion of the service animal policy and the
committee will be making no changes at this time. Policy 01 67 public partition in participation in board meetings revised. Mr. Mr. Zolinsky led a discussion of public participation in board meetings
and the policy was has been updated to include six-minute opportunity for each one member of the public to speak during the uh public portion of the board meeting. Uh the new policy will also include acceptable public behavior uh
during the meeting. Co-curricular intergenerational at Lacytown Middle School additional uh not in original budget. Mr. Zalinsky led the discussion and informed the board of the addition of this cocurricular club
that was inadvertently left out of the original list. Safety and security uh SOS SSOs have received their vest and should be wearing them. Uh LTASA
replacement uh for Tim Dao discussion then Others uh Mr. Zalinsky worked with the committee and the date to discuss district and board goals will be held on September 23rd at 6 pm.
Next meeting Wednesday, October 8th 4:15. Okay. Miss Walker, would you like to do curriculum, please? Sure. curriculum was uh we had a meeting on September 8th at 2:30. In attendance was
Mrs. Omarda, Mr. Armato, Mr. Zalinski, Miss Amos, and Mrs. Kapowski um and myself. Uh we talked about the extended um district supervisor Michelle Amos led a discussion of how the district would be forming teacher and
administrative committees to develop recommendations for curricular purchases. util utilizing the extended surplus monies from the 2024-25 school year. Under special education, director of special services, Joseph Bond provided
an update on the CPI training for all staff, which included deescalation techniques for all staff that come into contact with our special education programs. Mr. Bon also provided an update on the efforts to continue the
special education parent advisory committee and he also gave a report on our crisis teams at each building and special education dismissal procedures. Under technology, Mr. Zalinsky provided an update to the committee on all the
summer technology work and upgrades to include Chromebook and laptop replacements as well as reimaging of all our network devices. And I must say our technology department has done such an outstanding job. They have saved us a
tremendous amount of money by doing the work that they have done. So thank you to all of them. Under personnel, the administration continues uh to work on certain staff replacements and additions. And even on tonight's agenda, we have some that we're voting on.
Under other uh we I think Mr. Bill just mentioned this. On September 23rd, which is next Tuesday, I believe. Yes. Um we're having our board um workshop to discuss district and board goals. That's
at 6 PM on September 23rd. Our next meeting is scheduled for October 6 at 2:30. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Conny. How about finance? Sure. had our meeting on Thursday,
September the 4th. It was myself, President Balls, Mr. Peters, Mr. Zinsky, and um we also had uh Scott from uh Senistics
um who gave a presentation update um on the status of the utility savings. Um, Morsby had a discussion on the next moves
in regards to selling uh land. Uh, Mr. Orms, we update the committee on the referendum meeting. As far as the playground at Hill Pond, Mr. Storms be had a discussion on the quote received from the architect and
district will be moving forward with that project. Uh under finance policy finder uh be updated board on the need to re-engage policy finder.
Uh we discussed the budget calendar for the 26 27 budget year. Under food services, there was nothing. Under curriculum, there was nothing extra. Uh
be updated the committee on the status of the interviews for the assistant to the facilities manager. Um the appointment will be on a resolution uh tonight
uh to discuss the supervisor of curriculum. uh Mr. Zinski updated the committee on the interviews and the appointment also on tonight's agenda as uh Mr.
Sinsky also discussed the need for a part-time social worker at the middle school and that appointment will also be on a uh resolution for tonight under security technology
transportation um reviewed use of uh facilities and professional development um and four goals. HEX meeting will be on Thursday, October 9th
and be adjourned at 57. Okay. Thank you. And Mr. Armano, do you have anything you'd like to add for referendum? Yeah. Um so with regards to transparency and information being shared with the public um in our last meeting we did speak with our groups and and the the
website will be updated. Um there's even been conversation of putting video cameras on the roof so you could see how it puddles up when when when we get a rain like we've gotten the last couple days and some of the pictures you'll see inside after after it rains and what
happens to our schools after it rains. Um, Lacy Day is an opportunity for you to ask all your questions regarding the referendum. You could corner your favorite board member and ask away and and and make sure that you're satisfied with the answers that you get before you
walk away. And um I think I think when we present this referendum, um I think the mail is going out at the end of the month, Sharon. Right. First mail is going out. The up website is projected to be up before the end of the month and and you'll see a lot better
job this time than it was the last time. I like the people um that Sharon presented us to hire this time around and I think we're we're in better hands and I think it'll be presented in a way where it'll be a lot more understandable. The questions that you're asking today will be answered uh
via either the website or at Lacy Day. Um I don't think anybody's walking away from getting this. I think it's it's important that we save the structure of the school and uh you know um that's just it. So that's some of the updates that I have. Um I'll be more forthright
at our next meeting. Um and I'll share as much information on this referendum as I possibly can. But um yeah, everything's in the works by by the end of the month. You'll start seeing things on the website. You'll start seeing some mailers and it'll be a lot more understandable. Thank you. And I believe the architects
are coming to Lacy Day as well. Okay. So, if you guys have any questions, it's just stop by our booth. Um, we have a board of ed booth. So, um, we'll be there. We'd love to see you. Okay. I think we're going to move on to superintendent comments if you have anything. So, I'll talk referendum uh because that
seems to be it's going to be the hot topic. Obviously, it should be. Um, and I I listen to some of the chatter that's out there and some of the things that go on and some of the options that people have presented. So, I kind of loaded all that into into the idea um tank trying to figure out, you know, some
commentary. It's critical to emphasize that the roof improvements are not optional. Um we've talked to the experts that we can. Uh the roofs in our buildings have reached the end of their useful lives. Failure to address this issue will lead to leaks, mold, and structural damage resulting in far
higher costs down the road. Our HVAC systems are aging and inefficient. They lead to inflated utility bills and create a less than ideal learning environment. The question is not if we should make these repairs, but how we should finance them in the most fiscally responsible manner. Some individuals may
suggest that using general fund monies to finance this $29 million project over five years. You've heard that time and time again by bond leasing it over five years. This approach, while seemingly straightforward, is a financially unsound and irresponsible strategy that would place an undue burden on our
operational budget and ultimately cost the taxpayers more. Here's the breakdown. Financing the project through the general fund would require an annual payment of $6.3 million without receipt of any state aid. Over five years, the
total cost would be 31.5 million. This is a staggering $2.5 million more expensive than a referendum alternative. A $6.3 million annual withdrawal from the general fund would have a devastating impact on our ability to operate and provide a quality education.
This would definitely necessitate necessitate painful cuts to vital programs, many we've already done because of our current budget. A freeze on teacher salaries, reduction in staff. It would our ability to invest in curriculum development, technology, and student services. In essence, it
would force us to further sacrifice the quality of education for the sake of a short-sighted and expensive financing plan. The bond referendum funded through debt service payments is the only fiscally sound and strategically intelligent path forward for school
districts, school districts in general. A $29 million bond would be repaid over a 20-year period with annual payments of approximately $ 1.5 million. The total repayment cost net of state aid would be approximately $29 million, which means
the state pays all of the interest. Okay? State pays all the interest if you do it through a bond referendum. This saves the taxpayers $2.5 million compared to the general fund financing option, which has been floated many a time even here. By using a dedicated
debt service payment, the district's general fund remains untouched and protected. This allows us to maintain stable operational budgets, avoid program cuts, and continue to provide the best education we can. We can continue to invest in staff, curriculum, and technology without being handicapped
by massive financial expenditure. A long-term bond distributes the cost of these longlasting improvements more equitably over time. Students will benefit from these new roofs and HVA systems for the next 20 to 30 years. Okay? will we and years will contribute
to their cost rather than placing the entire burden on taxpayers in a 5-year window. The most crucial and often overlooked point by using a bond referendum district becomes eligible for the state aid. We anticipate receiving between 34 to 40% of the products
projects cost back from the state. Means for every dollar we borrow the state will essentially pay for a significant portion of it. This translates to an influx of dollars that would not be available if we use the general fund for any repair. We don't do a bond referendum. Okay? It comes straight out
of general fund. State does not contribute. To reject a bond referendum is to knowingly and willfully forfeit millions of dollars in state funding and that is designed to help our district. It is the fiscal equivalent of leaving money on the table that is rightfully ours to improve our schools. The
argument against the bond referendum is not based on sound financial principles. It is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of public finance. To choose to pay more, gut our operational budget, and forfeit millions in state aid is not a fiscally responsible decision. It's an act of financial
negligence. The bond referendum is the financially prudent, responsible, and transparent way to address our capital needs. It ensures our schools are safe and functional. Okay? All while protecting the quality of education and saving taxpayers a significant amount of
money. Right? So that's the bond referendum speech I can give you for now. More to come next meeting obviously. So thank you president. Thank you. All right. We're going to do board board member comments if you um have a comment. No welcome. Nothing. Um
um a suggestion of going back to to the old ways of doing things. Um, so this is my fourth year sitting at this day as I sat with Frank, Linda, Skip, and now you, Miss Klaus. And, uh, one of the things
I'd like to see, especially when there's a change that affects things, is have the committee members, including myself, reach out to other board members and say, "Hey, FYI, we're making this change." Once upon a time, we had those discussions. Um, so we weren't
blindsided by anything. we, you know, people that work 9 to5 jobs aren't always on there. Google looking at these things and especially with this uh policy 0167 um I think a little bit more of a discussion should have went into it
instead of just sitting that policy. Um, so you know, I for one will do a better job that when I'm sitting on a committee reaching out to my fellow board members, if it's something very urgent or something that's important that, you know, so you can wrap your head around it and then come back with sound advice
or uh uh push back. Um, I think we should go back to making sure that that that's done. Um, I know you do a good job of reaching out to me when I have LTEA meetings. Hey S, what's up? Give me an update on that. Uh, you shouldn't have to call me. I should have called you and given you an update. So, if we
can make that effort again and just update board members on on press and things like that, I think it would be a lot more helpful and uh maybe prevent some things we don't want to talk about just yet. Sure, that's it for me. Okay, Mr. Bell. All right,
probably a few comments. Um, several of my favorite words were mentioned tonight. Constitution, truth, and clergy. Um, and I know a lot of times, uh, things get heated, uh, and there's confrontation that goes back and
forth, but I I do appreciate, uh, the board, and I'm going to miss Skip. Uh, he's been, uh, very very kind and helpful. Uh, and we haven't always agreed on things, but, uh, we could sit down, talk about it, and, uh, move on.
Um, along the lines of the Constitution, I was reading a little bit of the New Jersey Constitution this week and uh, it starts out, "We the people of the state of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which he hath so long permitted us to
enjoy, and looking to him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and transmit the same unimpaired to to succeeding generations to ordain and establish this constitution. Um again my one of my favorite words is
truth and uh the statement was made tonight your truth might not be my truth. Um truth in itself is not definable by individuals. Uh truth is truth and we can't pick apart what we like and what we don't and
decide whose truth is truth and whose is not. That's how we get in these predicaments. Um on September 10th, two men woke up in the morning. They had plotted their course for the
day. They had planned out the mission that they had at hand. Both of them set in order the things that they felt they were to do. I I believe both holding this is truth and
the one young man took the other man's life. We all heard the story. We all know about it. And I think it's important that we pause at a moment like this
and remember the freedoms that we do enjoy in America. But when those freedoms turn to the point where we cross the line and
break a commandment that I believe come from the almighty God that we here in New Jersey obviously uh thank him for those liberties. I think it's important that we stop and listen to the voice of the man's life
that was taken. Charlie Kirk simply said this, "The only thing death can do is deliver the believer to Jesus." And in all the chaos uh in our society,
um the word clergy was mentioned here tonight. Um, as far as I know, uh, and I could be wrong. I I will stand corrected if I am. Um, I might be the only one in the building that qualifies as clergy. Uh, if that's different, uh, correct me.
I don't have a problem with that. Um, but when it comes to clergy, uh, we put a lot on clergy that are not really the clergy's responsibility. um we put a lot on the school system that's not um the school system's responsibility.
I believe that almighty God gives children to parents and he expects them uh to set the course uh to train them morally uh to direct them to what truth is. And uh
for a long time we've just kind of allowed our children to fall under the category of it takes a village. Um it's nice to have a village but it doesn't take a village. Uh and so we need to get back
to the reality uh that almighty God did give us uh some commandments. He did give us some stipulations he wants us to hold on to. Uh, in fact, Proverbs tells us, "Prain up a child in the way he should go, and when he's old, he'll not depart from it."
I've tried hard uh to keep teach my kids truth and to set them on a course that they will then pass on to the next generation. And I just think it's important to really at this time
focus on what is truth. It's not my truth. It's not your truth. There is truth. And I'm thankful that uh we can open a book um called the Bible and we can find truth. Uh and I do have
to say um we've gotten so far uh into this religious liberty uh that we've allowed the First Amendment to become the opposite of what it was intended for. Uh, and it's my desire I one of the things I love about
this open forum system is when people get up and speak their mind. Um, I'm not opposed uh to hearing opposing uh thoughts and uh it's important that we keep that going, but I do believe if we don't go back to our own constitution
and become once again grateful to Almighty God, um it's not going to be too long uh before those liberties are gone totally. Uh, and that's the end of my comments. Thank you, Mr. Armato. Thank you all for coming out tonight.
Um, once again, congratulations to all the students recognized. They are clearly the shining stars of Lacy. Very proud of them. And Mr. Roselli, am I pronouncing your name correctly? Roselli. Rosolei. Rosolei. Rosolei. I just wanted to address something. You talked about
the health and sex policy. So, um, just so you know, as a parent, I did children out when they went to school here. They were excused from class and they sat in the library and they had other work to do. So maybe parents don't know that, but thank you for bringing it up. So if
somebody doesn't agree with the current curriculum, you have to take that upon yourself and you have to look at what it is. I didn't agree with it and I was able to do that. So just so you know, yes, you can do that. And that's pretty much it. I just wanted just to address that. Thank you. Mr. Conny, do you have any
comments? Congratulations to uh award recipients tonight. Uh welcome back. Best of luck teachers, staff, students.
Mr. Peters, thank you for your guidance over two and three/4ers uh years. Um wasn't always pretty, but You got through it. And that's it. Okay. Thank you. Um I think we're going
to bring him in next month, just so you know, so we can officially say goodbye. Um okay. I received a letter about uh coach Versillo. Um he's been coach here from the beginning. Uh 45 years. Um he
just received um an award, the Phil Sims North South Football Classic Award, and he also received a $500 donation um that went to the Football Foundation. Um he's also been recognized, just briefly, I'll run through it. Um 1963 Dumont High
School Hall of Fame, um Tario College Hall of Fame, New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Hall of Fame. Um he received uh New York Giants high school coach of the week award in 1996. Uh Hall of Fame
again in 2006. Governor's bowl um classic hall of fame in 2006. Introscolastic coach of the year 2006. 2007 he was also the football coach honore for president uh Ford. Uh 2007 again he was coach of the year uh
national federation. 2007 again he was National Fed Federation of High School um coach of the year. 2012 he was Shore Football Coach Foundation Hall of Fame. 2013 again Hall of Fame. Um 2018 he had the
Ray Cran Lifetime Achievement Award. 2021 he was uh New Jersey Jets High School Coach of the Week and 2022 they named the stadium after him for the Friscillo Stadium. So I just want to congratulate him for yet another award. Um there's also a game tomorrow night if
anybody's interested in coming out. Um we are honoring the Lacy Football Foundation. I'm part of that uh foundation. We're honoring our veterans. So if you are a veteran or you know of a veteran that would like to come and be honored on the field, it's actually very nice uh ceremony. Uh we'll be starting
at 5:30. We bring them out on the field and it's a nice experience and then they can sit on the side um on the sideline for the game. So um if you know of anybody, please let them know. Okay. And we are going to go into new business. Okay. And we are going to start with
Can I ask a question before we move on? So with regards to policy 0167, are we tableabling that as we had discussed earlier or are we going to vote on it tonight? I think we can vote on it. If we need to make changes, we can always come back next month and make the adjustments. We can have another month to discuss. So,
but it's it's on for tonight. If you want to vote no, you can. Okay. Um, that's fine. Okay. If it passes, we we still have to do a second read. First read. Yeah. It's only a first read. So, we can still make adjustments if we need to. And even after second read, we can always go back at it again. Yeah.
Okay. All right. Let's do page two, A1, meaning minutes. Can I have a motion, please? Motion. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato, yes. Mr. Bell, yes. Mrs. Armato, yes. Mrs. Walker,
abstain. Thank you, Mr. Cod. Abstain as well, please. And Mrs. Claus? Yes. Page 2, A2-3, list of bills. Can I have a motion, please? Motion. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato. Yes.
Mr. Bell? Yes. Mrs. Armato? Yes. Mrs. Walker? You said items two and three. Two and three. Yes. Yes. Two and three. Listen. I'm going to abstain on um A3, Mr. Brandis 980 due to conflict. Thank you, Mr. Conny.
Yes, on uh number two, but on number three, I need to read cues on 691 and 163, 161, and 986. Thank you, Mrs. Claus. Yes. A4 transfers. Can I have a motion, please?
Motion. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato, yes. Mr. Bell, yes. Mrs. Armato, yes. Mrs. CL uh Mrs. Walker. Yes. Mr. Conny, yes. Mrs. Claus, yes. Uh, page three and four, can I have
um A6 through 10, finance and facilities, please? We're um administratively removing A5. Okay. Can I have a motion, please? Motion. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato, yes. Mr. Bell, yes. Mrs. Armato,
yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Conny, yes. Mrs. Claus, yes. A11 through A14, tuition and transportation. Can I have a motion, please? Motion. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato, yes.
Mr. Bell, yes. Mrs. Armato, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Conny, yes. Mrs. Claus, yes. A 15- 17 other. Can I have a motion, please? Move. Motion second. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato,
yes. Mr. Bell, yes. Mrs. Armato, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Connelly, yes. And Mrs. Claus, yes. Um, A18 and 19, policy and regulation. Can I have a motion, please? Move. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato,
I'm going to vote no on the first read on 18 and I'm going to vote yes on 19. Thank you, Mr. Bell. Yes, Mrs. Armato. So, 18 no, 19. Yes. Thank you, Mrs. Walker.
Yes. Mr. Conny, yes. And Mrs. Claus. Yes. Page six, donations. And I'd like to thank everyone for these generous generous donations. I'll move. S. Second. Can I have a roll call, please? Mr. Armato. Yes. And thank you, Mr. Bell.
Yes. And thank you, Mrs. Armato. Yes. But I just want to point out that um Lenoka Harbor PTO, the amount they donated was 69,025, just in case you didn't see that. That is amazing. So, thank you. We're trying to bring him to October's meeting. Yeah. That's amazing. We should bring them to the budget
meeting. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Conny, yes. Mrs. Claus, yes. Uh, page 7C, programs and uh curriculum. Can I have a motion, please? Motion. Second. 69,000.
Roll call, please. Mr. Armato? Yes. Mr. Bell? Yes. Mrs. Armato? Yes. Mrs. Walker? Uh, yes. upon them abstaining on Nicholas Madenski. Thank you. Mr. Connelly, yes. Mrs. Claus, yes. Page seven, uh, professional days
and workshop travel. May I have a motion, please? Motion. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato, yes. Mr. Bell, yes. Mrs. Armato, yes. Mrs. Walker, just clarification, we're voting on E1 through what? We're on D.
C. Professional days and workshops. Oh, okay. Yes. Sorry, Mr. Conny. Yes. And Mrs. Close. Yes. E personnel. Uh E1 through 13. We have a correction on E3. Lucy Pastor.
Um everything is correct, but it should say BA plus 20. Okay. I have a motion, please. Motion. Second, please. Second as amended. Miss Claus, 1 through 13 takes us to page 11. Correct. 7 to 11. Yes. Okay. I'm just making
roll call, please. Mr. Armato. Yes, Mr. Bell. Yes, Mrs. Armato. Yes, Mrs. Walker. Yes, but I'm abstaining on E3, Miss Mr. Dow and Mrs. Mallaloy. Thank you. E7, Mr. Mansowski. And E10, Mr. Brandis.
Thank you, Mr. Connelly. Yes. And Mrs. Claus. Yes. Page 12 through 16, non-certificated personnel, F1 to F-13. Uh, we have a correction on uh number nine. It should read Susan Bowen.
Okay. Can I have a motion, please? Move. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato, yes. Mr. Bell, yes. Mrs. Armato, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Connelly, yes. Mrs. Claus, yes. And that is all. Motion to adjurnn. Move.
Second. All in favor? I. Congratulations to Margaret and Patrick are in the back as well. Congratulations to both of you. Congratulations.