I'd >> like to call this meeting to order. Uh 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 on January 9th, 2025. and by posting the notice in the Orchid River and Lenoka Harbor Post offices and by filing a copy of the notice with the Lacy Township Clerk as requested by the
Open Public Meeting Act. Roll call, please. Mr. Armato absent. Mr. Bell absent. Mrs. Armato >> here. >> Mrs. Walker >> here. >> Mr. Cony >> here. >> Mrs. Claus >> here.
>> Okay, we're going to go into executive session. Be it resolved in executive session be convened for the purpose of discussing confidential student matters including but not limited to in harassment intimidation and bullying confidential legal matters including but not limited to the current case load and confidential personnel matters. The subject matters of these discussions
will be discuss disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides. The length of the executive session is estimated to be approximately 60 minutes after which the board shall reconvene and proceed with business at 7 p.m. action may be taken. Motion >> second.
>> All in favor? Iing. >> Good evening everyone. I'd like to begin with a few important reminders. We currently have an open position on the board of education to fill Mr. Peter's seat. The application process is open till Friday, November 7th. At our board November board meeting, we will hold
open interviews after the board after the board uh will select a candidate in private session. The selected candidate will be officially announced at the November board meeting and will begin their duties following a successful background check. Please visit our website for instructions on how to
apply. Also on our website, you'll find information about the upcoming referendum. Unlike last time, this referendum only includes one question focused on necessary roof and HVAC upgrades. The best part, there is no tax increase as we have debt coming off our
books. If you have questions, fe please feel free to contact the board office or attend our final information center uh session followed by a Q&A October 30th at 7 p.m. We welcome all questions. The vote will take place on election day, November 4th. Unfortunately, it has come
to our attention that a small group of individuals actively opposing the referendum have taken to social media to post photos and make slanderous personal attacks against our acting superintendent, Mr. Zalinski. Let me be clear. While we fully support freedom of
speech and the right to express differing opinions, we do not con condone online bullying, harassment, or defamation of anyone. Mr. Zalinsky, I'm truly sorry this is happening to you. It was not acceptable when they did it to our previous superintendent and now it's
you. I see a pattern here, so don't take it personal. Let's begin with the simple truth. Rudeness should never be normalized and bullying, whether online or offline, is never acceptable. While we don't have to agree, no one should stoop so low to
sling personal attacks, especially knowing that we cannot respond. [Applause] To those engaging in this behavior, let's all call it what it is, bullying. I want to say this plainly. You don't gain power or respect by tearing other
people down. you lose part of your integrity and damage your character in the process. To the parents, students, staff, and residents, continue to show what truly defines our town. Keep doing what we do best, lifting each other up, showing up when it matters,
volunteering, and standing together to create real lasting change. That is who we are. Remember that someone else's disrespect says far more about them than it ever will about us. Let's rise above the noise, stay focused on what matters
and the reason why we are here, and keep building our communities that we could be proud of. Thank you. And now we're going to move on to our student representatives. All right. So SGA last met on October 6th. For freshman news, they just
elected their new officers for the 2025 2020 2026 school year. They're now planning their featured teacher, unsung hero, and possible duck in a bucket fundraiser. And they're planning for their trunk or treat. The sophomores are planning their featured teacher and unsung hero for December and May. And
they officially set up a sophomore Instagram page. The juniors are preparing for their PF Changens fundraiser, preparing for the fall powderpuff game on November 25th on LTHS football field, $5 entry at 6 p.m. and they're brainstorming for their junior
prom. Seniors completed their this month's feature teacher in NZong Hero. They are thinking of possible fundraisers to elementary schools and caps and gowns were sold last week in Cafeteria North to all seniors. For executive board news, they concluded
their homecoming sales today and the dance is on Saturday. We are planning for the Veterans Day ceremony that all officers will attend on November 11th and we are beginning to plan the battle of battle of the classes and the next SGA meeting will take place on Monday,
November 10th. >> Thank you. >> All right. And for the month of October, the Student Government Association is proud to announce that our unsung hero is Jonathan Graveman. So Johnny, if
you want to come down. All right. So the Matthew Blum Unsung Hero Award is awarded to a person who has exemplified unselfish acts within his or her community. For the month of October, our recipient of this award is someone who has always been an upstanding member of the LTHs student body. He has challenged himself with
some of the most rigorous courses available in our school and his academics have placed him a spot in our prestigious national honor society in our school. In Interact, he is a frequent volunteer in his community, dedicating his time to those in need and he has also been a tremendous help as the manager of the boys volleyball team
dedicating his time towards creating an encouraging environment for all players. And aside from his incredible accomplishments, the most inspiring aspect of this student is his positive attitude. There is never a dull moment when you speak to this student. He is certain to always have a smile on his face during the day. For these reasons,
SGA is proud to announce that our October unsung hero is Jonathan Grave. Congratulations, Johnny, and keep up the great work. >> Congratulations. Um, now we're going to move on to superintendent report. >> Thanks. Thanks, guys. That is awesome. Matt Matt Malum truly was an unsung hero. So it really is awesome. You
didn't know him, but he was really uh he really does exemplify this and I see it in the people that you pick. So very nice job. >> Thank you. >> Very good. So now we'll bring up uh Principal King who will bring down another very long-standing tradition of ours to have seniors of the month. Probably about a quarter century now we've been doing this.
>> Well, all my time and Mr. Oski did it before me. So we're going to hear about our two two awesome seniors this month. Yes. >> Yes. Two awesome seniors. Good evening everyone. It is once again a great pleasure for me to stand before you and announce uh two of our amazing seniors. We have so many. This is just two I get
to celebrate this month. Our first October senior of the month is Ava Flanigan. Ava, come on. Come on down. Round of applause for Ava's family who's up there in the back. So, a round of applause for them being here tonight. [Applause]
I'm Ava Flanigan and I'm proud to be named October Student of the Month at Lacy Township High School. >> Congratulations, Ava Flanigan, on being chosen as Lacy Township High School's October student of the month. >> At Lacy Township High School, I am president of National Honor Society and I also play for the women's varsity,
soccer, and basketball teams. >> For four years, I've watched Ava uh progress through uh her athletic ability and her work in the classroom. She's also a outstanding student with uh volunteer work and assisting other kids through clubs and other uh interests
that throughout the school. She's uh I watch how she interacts every day with her peers and other students in the school and she's a fine example as a representative of Lacy Township High School. >> Some of my favorite memories during high school includes having classes with all my best friends, being in the STEM Academy, and just hanging out with my
friends in and out of school. Ava's been a great athlete for the school and I see her every morning every every afternoon and lunch and I tease her every day about soccer when she whatever whatever season she in how many points is she going to score how many rebounds how many goals whatever she uh
always has a smile on her face and she's just a great kid and is like I said earlier she's always uh has a positive attitude and interacts very well with all the other kids uh friends and other students alike >> outside of school I love to go to the beach go out for coffee and go out to
dinner. >> Again, congratulations, Ava. I wish you uh success the rest of the school year upon graduation, and I know you do well whichever path you choose in life. Good luck. >> After high school, I plan to get my doctorate of pharmacy and hopefully
attend school up north or maybe even down south. [Applause] >> I know. All right,
congratulations Ava. Our next October senior of the month is Michael Austin. Michael, come on down. Yep. Round of applause. Here's his family all here helping out. [Applause] >> Hi, I'm Michael Wson and I'm proud to be
named October Senior of the Month at Ly Township High School. Congratulations, Mike Austin, of being named senior of the month. >> I'm a member of SGAA and National Honor Society. I'm the vice president of Interact Club and I'm a captain of the volleyball team. >> Ever since you were a freshman, you came
in the academy, a little timid, but definitely confident in your academic ability. Look at you now. You're the type of person who's confident in every area that I've ever seen you actually encounter. >> One of my favorite memories of high school is winning the Kim Cole Cup with the volleyball team. I remember your
junior year working on public speaking, getting out of your comfort zone. You're the type of student who likes to thrive in those types of situations. It's going to carry you extremely far in your college career. >> Outside of school, I like to hang out with my friends and family and play
sports. I also like to volunteer for the Elks. >> So, congratulations, Mike Austin, on being named senior of the month. I'm extremely proud. After I graduate, I plan on going to a college and studying quantitative finance.
[Applause] >> All right, Mr. That is our seniors of the month. >> Thank you. >> All right. All right, two items. Uh the first one is we do a a midyear uh hip grade report. Um we will post all this
information up. The reason that we post hip grades twice a year is that you go look at them online, you can comment on them, you can call my office and discuss them with me. It is for your public consumption. Um it does describe why how we get those hip grades. They're
selfassessed hip grades. They're out of a score of 78 for each building. I report out on them twice a year, which I'm going to do right now. Uh, and then you can always find them on our site under harassment, intimidation, bullying. Uh, and you're free to, uh, go there and ask us questions. You know, how do we deal with harassment, intimidation, bullying in our schools, especially in the middle school and high
school. Uh, and how do we arrive at those grades? If you ever have any questions, you call me. Uh, so it's out of a grade of 78. It's not a grade like out of a zero to 100. It's just how they score them. Okay? So, it's out of a grade of 78. The Milan school was a 73. This is a self assessment. Cedar Creek
schools are 73. Fork and River School is a 73. Loca Harbor School is a 73. The middle school is 75. And the high school is 74. And uh we'll play ball in a minute. It's okay. Take your time. I know we're
in the middle of of some hot games. Like it was a big blowout last night. It was good. So those are our hip grades. Uh we'll post them up. Uh so that's just an item of uh of taking care of things. More importantly tonight, we're going to invite down our district supervisors, Michelle Amos and Margaret Mallaloy are
going to come down and they're going to do our yearly presentation. I'm going to give you like a little leadup. I wrote one. Okay, I'm not going to lie. I've been dabbling with a little AI to help me like put my thoughts together. All right, we and I I'll read it to you. So, we know that test scores are a very serious subject. For years, we've heard
the conversations and we've listened. Okay, we've done everything we can to tackle these tough assessments. These are state assessments and local assessments that we give. Okay. Tonight you're going to see the strides that we've made. Really tremendous strides. 2425 school year was a good one for Lacy schools. We faced tough state standards.
We approved uh we outscored the state in 11 out of 14 areas. So we closed those gaps with the state scores in 11 out of 14 areas. Okay. And we consistently beat the state of New Jerseyy's rate of improvement. So all good things in there. Record rates you're going to see for our AP scores.
>> Okay. We had 69% passing rate for AP, up from 54%. That is good by any high school and I'm very proud of that. Okay. 23 college academy uh graduates last year who left LTHS. They had their high school diploma and their their college diploma at the same time. We always love
to remind people of that. Okay? This stuff doesn't happen by accident, folks. Okay? It's a direct result of a smart strategic way of that we're thinking. These two very responsible for that. Margaret is our secondary district supervisor and Michelle is our elementary district supervisor. Okay,
this year's data really offers some clear proof that we're moving in the right direction. Okay, we're very proud of our students and teachers. We hope to see better results, you know, more better results next year. I probably didn't say that right for an English teacher in the room. Okay, but uh we're excited to see your PowerPoint. I don't know if the board wants to move and go
the other way or just turn around. Uh it's a little lengthy, but uh it's worth it because uh there's a lot of good in there. areas of improvement you also highlight as well that we have to keep improving on. Thank you. All right, floor is yours. >> So, it is a little lengthy. The state um gives us some parameters on what we have to report on and then we have some
additional information that we thought was positive that we wanted to share as well. Um so, we're going to start with the NWA MAP growth assessment that's given to our students. last year was given in grades K through eight in ELA math and last year was the first year
that we administered it in in science as well. Um it is given to about 9 million students across the world every year. It's administered two to three times and it is normed and their norms are redone
every five years. So the scores that we're going to share with you today are the compared comparative in the 2025 normative data. So um the blue bar is our fall scores in each grade level. The
maroon is our spring and the gray is the spring normative data. Um so you can see that consistently this is ELA. Our students are growing. It is um standardized and it's adaptive. So it levels up or down and it is a growth
model which we've been doing this I think since 2011 and the state is in the process of changing the state assessment and it is also going to be an adaptive assessment. So I'm I'm hoping you know our students having some experience with
NWA may benefit them for the uh upcoming state tests. This is our math data in grades K through five. Consistent growth again and consistently outperforming the I guess international normative data.
And this is math in grades six through eight. Um you know 8th grade we're hanging right there with with the normative data but consistently um growing a little bit of a drop there in seventh grade math.
This is ELA for grades six, seven, and eight. Also, just the same comparison. I won't linger. We've got a lot of slides to show you. Um, with the science, we're a little bit closer to the norms, but I expect as we continue
to administer this and get more familiar with reading science questions um, and answering the science questions using data and and learning the the steps that they have to learn, they they're only going to continue to
>> First year you did science. >> Yes, first year we did science. we were looking to improve our state science scores and we did in fact see some improvement there. Okay. So then we'll start to talk about the NJSLA.
Um this first slide just shows the state the percentage that met or exceeded expectations compared to the district. Um fifth grade being a highlight we exceeded the state um and we're close in other areas. In upcoming slides, we're
going to show you as well comparisons of the grade level to grade level and then cohort. And I'll explain a little further as we go. So, um, third grade, the state in 2024 compared to the state in 2025 saw an
increase of 1.3%. We saw an increase of 7.9%. So, we're growing at a rate faster than the state. um we're not quite to the state uh percentile yet. We acknowledge
across the board that fourth grade is an area that we're going to continue to work on. We um I'll talk to you a little bit about how we've handled intervention and the way that I believe we've been able to make gains and we're going to really put a focus on fourth grade to try and increase those
scores as well. um fifth grade huge gains 13.5% growth and we're exceeding the state there. So this is where we were talking about the cohort performance change. So our
third graders that took it in 2024 then in 2025 took it as fourth graders. We saw a lot of growth there in ELA, 15.3%. And we saw a 3% growth in our fourth graders moving to fifth grade in ELA.
So, we're making gains. >> But what's interesting about our fourth grade, they had our attention in third grade. >> They did. >> So, we're glad we saw big gains here. They're still not performing where we want the state, but we've tracked that back to some other issues probably 2020. We all know what happened then. So, the third grade now fourth grade has our
full attention. >> Yes. >> Yes. And um the state also requires that if you in a grade level have 20 or more students that are identified as a subgroup uh you have to report on them. So we're just reporting straight
percentiles here of students that met or exceeded. Um in in talking with my colleagues and with Mr. Zinsky, the only group that is significantly large that we were seeing uh great increases in were the economically disadvantaged.
It's hard with the other groups because if you only have if you're just meeting that threshold and you only have 20 students, a few students one way or another can significantly skew the data. So we're I I don't have a comparison there from the year previous. Yes.
>> Can you give them a little context? Like for the high school example, how many students are economically disadvantaged percentage wise? >> Percentage wise at the high school it's about 30 I believe >> 30%. So give them some context. It's a lot of kids in that pool and it has our attention because those kids don't get a
lot of support at home. They might not have resources all the time. So we're glad you saw big gains there. >> Overall the district is at around uh 32% and some of our schools are higher or lower. So, then we'll talk about the math
scores. Um, we're hanging there with the state. We need to do a little bit better. Fifth grade again, met the state average, didn't exceed it, but we're going to just continue to work and try to fill these gaps and have our students uh score higher each year.
So, here we again have the third, fourth, and fifth grade. The state changes versus the district changes. Um, we're seeing growth. We're still looking in fourth grade to have that focus. Um, we are looking into some
interventions that we're going to provide professional development for the teachers, give them strategies for uh like our tier three intervention where we have basic skills pull out and and really try to hone in on the the skills that are missing so that we can build
and have our students be successful. cohort performance change. A slight downturn in third grade, but not super significant. And we grew from fourth grade to fifth grade. Again, same thing reporting out on our
subgroups. Um 504, if we didn't have 20 of them, you're going to see that NA in there. Um, so not there weren't that many grades that had 20 or more 504s to have it be a subgroup report. >> Excuse me, Michelle. Can you just explain briefly what a 504 is for the
public because they might not know what that is? >> Sure. It's a it's a federal document that allows us to provide it's not an IEP. If if there is a significant life impact from something that is affecting a student, it could be as simple as a
broken arm during testing time. It could be um ADHD which isn't a classification. We work with the families to write a 504 plan that will address the students needs and help them to be more access more successful in school and life are
based on federal law. They're not controlled by the state. So mandated and you do the adults have as well because it's federal federal mandate. >> Thank you. So, I wanted to talk we we our intervention uh our primary intervention
has been the New Jersey tiered system of support and I give a lot of props to our building supervisors and teachers who have been working so hard with this system. We looked uh we created plans we looked at where 80% of our students were struggling with a certain uh standard or
topic and that became a focus for the teachers. Then the teachers also in the classroom looked at their students that were struggling 20% or more and they created plans to uh in small group to intervene and help build those skills
that the students needed. And then our tier three students work with our interventionists and basic skills teachers to uh to layer on that. So a student could in fact be getting tier one, tier two, and tier three. It's a
lot of work. It's a lot of work for the teachers to create the plans. It's a lot of work uh looking at the data. The supervisors dig deep into that data. They work with in PLC's, professional learning communities with the teachers to identify strategies, resources,
needs. And so that is our primary intervention because it's going on every day all day. And then these are some of the programs that we fill those interventions with. Um and I won't read all of them to you.
Um but we've used a a lot. That is individualized. It goes it is self-leveling. Goes up, goes down. We get reports. We can look at them. We can hone in on what those students need to be successful. And I had a meeting
yesterday with the supervisors. We had taken our students that were really close. I I don't if you were here last year, we talked a lot about our students that were our bubble kids that were right there. They were so close to being proficient on the test. And um they we
took those students and we really focused on where their deficiencies were. And when I spoke with the supervisors yesterday, about half of those students made that transition into uh meeting expectations. So, we're going to continue with that and we're going to
continue um to look at professional development, curriculum, uh student needs, and try to just continue to build on this. It feels like it's the first time uh in a while that we've had some positive news to give and
some some good growth. Well, if you go back slide to your to your tiered system, that was a conscious choice we made three years ago, right? >> It was >> that we need to make a change. We made that change. I think we're seeing the results of that. >> And I think standards based >> that's an institutional change here. We did that. >> It is. Okay. >> As well.
>> It is. And I think our standardsbased report cards at the elementaryaries too helped to focus us on which was a really heavy lift too for everyone but to focus us on the standards and making sure that we were assessing what was what was the
state gave us as standards. Are you Yes, you're up. All right. Right. So, when we talk about the NJSLA for our secondary grades, it's required for students to take the end of course assessment in grades um six, seven, eight, and nine. So, it ends at grade nine. So, what we're looking at
here is the NJSLA ELA, English language arts scores for grades six through nine. Um, as you can see, grades seven and eight did surpass the state, which is really incredible. Um, and we also saw good growth in grade six. Um, so this is the year-to-year change. So comparing
the grades from the 2024 scores in that particular grade, um you can see that in grades six, seven, and eight, we saw really great growth. Um and it surpassed the state's growth. Um so in grade six, we were um at a 6.8 6.8% more students
met or exceeded expectations than the previous year. 7.2 in grade seven, 14 in grade eight. And in grade nine, we saw a decline, but it's on the same um pace as this date. The next thing that we'll look at is the cohort performance. Um, so this is comparing the same group of
students. So it's really a worthwhile um, piece of data to look at because you're taking a look at the same students same group of students how they performed on the previous year assessment. So um, for our sixth graders, we're looking at their 2024 grade five assessment and we saw an 8.5%
increase within that group of students. Um, in grade seven, phenomenal. We saw a 16.5% increase in that group of students. Um, and then from grade seven to eight, we saw a 6% increase. Uh, as you recall, in grade nine, the year-to-year score did
go down. However, we still saw almost a whole percentage point increase within that cohort. And the same cannot be said for the state cohort. So, this is comparing our cohort with the state cohort. And you'll see our cohort growth was significantly larger again compared
to um the state of New Jersey. Taking a look at that grade nine because that's where we saw the decrease in the year-to-year score. Our cohort saw a 08% increase. The new state of New Jersey saw a neg3 decrease. So, it's um looking
really positive. Here's our subcores that we're required to um report out. Uh again, just to echo what Miss Sam said, um our economically disadvantaged students did increase by about 10%. So we saw some really good
gains there. We'll move on to math for grades six, seven, and eight. Um our state scores are in the first column and our district are in the second. You'll see our grade six is closing the gap pretty quickly between us and the state. Grade seven
has a little bit further to go. Um and then you'll see there's a little bit of a bigger gap between um grade eight for our district and the state. Something to note for grade eight is that a very large portion of our students are taken out of that population to take either algebra 1 or geometry. Over a third of
our students actually are taken out of that population. So you're left with a smaller group of students that are taking that grade eight assessment. And that kind of affects our scores. Here you'll see the year-to-year change comparing the 2024 scores with the 2025 scores. So you'll see Lacy Township
School District had um greater growth in grade six and seven than the state. Grade eight, we saw a little bit of a decrease and the state saw a little bit of an increase. Um this is our cohort performance for grades six and seven. Um we can't really do a cohort per uh performance for grade
eight because again so many students are pulled out of the population. Um but you'll see our cohort change um was plus one for grade five into grade six and um our cohort change was uh positive.2 for grade six into grade seven. Every little
bit counts for our students. Also when you compare that to the state our growth even though it's small um looks more significant when you're comparing it to the state. saw negative growth from grade five to grade six and grade six to grade seven. So, our teachers are doing
a really great job not only getting kids to achieve, but pulling more students up to meeting the expectations than the previous year. Here's our subcores. Students also take the NJSLA in algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2, our
secondary math courses. Um, we're really proud of all three of these as they're significantly above the the state average. Um, algebra 1 last year was about a percentage and a half above the state average and this year we're about five percentage points above the state.
>> Is that eighth grade are they taking algebra 1 now in eighth grade or ninth? >> So, it's a combination. We have students taking algebra 1 actually in seventh grade. a small group of of of students about 25 and then we have about 80 students in eighth grade taking algebra 1 and then the remainder of the
population takes it in um nth grade. >> Okay. So this is all combined >> correct? Okay. Yeah. This is for the whole district. Um geometry is similar. There's eighth graders taking geometry and nth graders taking geometry that are reported here. And our algebra 2 scores these are all ninth grade nth grade scores.
Here's our year-to-year change for algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2. Um, the state actually went down in algebra 1 where we saw a 2.3 um% increase in students that met expectations. Geometry, we saw a 20.9% increase. And
algebra 2, we saw a 17.6% increase. >> And we exceed the state average in all three of those areas. >> Correct. Yes. >> We have a very, very strong advanced math program. And then of course, when they get to the middle school, >> right, regular except for that eighth grade cohort, but again, we call those out. out and they start doing regular
math, high school math, right? >> Correct. And seeing these higher scores in the secondary math is really positive. Algebra 1 is a foundational math course for students future success in mathematics. So, it's really great to see that our students are doing so well in algebra 1. Also, the NJPA, which is
the graduation assessment, pulls from algebra 1 and geometry. So to see our students doing well in these two areas is positive um for that that assessment that comes up in their 11th grade year. There's our um subcores for algebra 1.
Um so for our grade six through nine interventions, we're building upon um the interventions that we've implemented over the last uh few years. We've seen such um positive growth. So we know the things that we have been doing are working. So we're just working on um
refining um the things that we have in place. Our small group instruction, making sure that there's student conferencing incorporated in every instructional block. We have a win period which stands for what I need in grades six through eight um weekly that has targeted instruction not just from their classroom teachers but also from
interventionist um that provide that tiered instruction that Mrs. Amos uh mentioned. We use, we use their snapshot diagnostic to really pinpoint where students are on grade level and where we need to work on them to get to make sure that they are on grade level. Um, we
have implemented uh common unit assessments making sure that they're really standards aligned and also aligned with the NJSLA so that our students aren't surprised when they sit down and they take these high stakes tests at the end of their course. Um, and we'll continue that this year to
make sure that we're imp we're integrating the new NJSLA adaptive practice test items into instruction. Uh, we have instructional data coaches. Um, and last year we um had an NJSLA boot camp for all 9th grade students prior to taking the NJSLA. Uh, and it
was successful. We plan to do that again. Um, this is NJSLA science. So, students take the NJSLA science at the end of grade 5, 8, and 11. And it's a comprehensive test. So in grade five, the students are being tested on all of the elementary science standards. In
grade eight, they're being tested on all of the middle grade six, seven, eight standards. And in grade 11, they're being tested on all of the high school science standards. So it's not just assessing what they learned that year, but what they've learned over um a course of several years. Um we've made really great gains in science. Um we're
closing the gap between us and the state. Um in all areas, we're five percentage points or less um below the state. And if you look at our year-to-year change, um, grade five did, uh, really well, almost double digits with their growth compared to the state of 2.5. And
in grade 8 and grade 11, we are growing at a faster rate than the state. Here are subcores for science. Um, so some interventions that we are implementing for science are just to make sure that we're reviewing the science items that have been released by the state, making sure that our students
are being exposed to the types of questions that will be on the test. Um, administering the NWA in science um will really help the students prepare for that assessment. Um, and increasing the vertical articulation between the teachers, making sure that all of our standards are covered in depth,
administering common unit assessments like we're doing in our other subject areas. um and just tracking student progress and delivering that that um the tiered system of supports. Next, we'll move on to the NJ GPA. This is the 11th grade assessment that all
students have to take um for uh to meet graduation. So, in ELA, um we're really happy to have over three4s of our students considered to be graduation ready. Um we did see a slight decrease from the previous year, um but so did
the state. we're we're right there with them. Here's our subc scores. Um for the NJ GPA for math in grade 11, um we have over half of our students that are graduation ready, which is um really significant. Last year, we only
had 47.5% of our students graduation ready. So, we saw a really great increase, and we're less than two percentage points away from the state with that. Here's our year-to-year change. We saw an 8.8% 8% growth, which is huge. Um, where the state of New Jersey only saw a 3.3% growth.
There's our subcores. Okay, moving on. Um, the SAT, there's our mean score for the class of 2025, which is um, which exceeds the state, far exceeds the state mean. Um the n the
state mean is is typically above the national mean which hasn't been released yet from um college board but in 2024 the national mean was a 1024 um last year LTHs had an average of 1070 so or 1071 so we saw quite an increase from
last year in the SATs >> SAT is an interesting because we studied this over the years like you're not everybody takes the SAT you're generally your kids who are collegebound four-year colleges all over the state of New Jersey are taking the SAT. So, your competition is
tighter when you get to the SAT. It's not just general competition of a whole population. So, doing well here is a real highlight. Like, and outperforming the state is an extra big highlight. Highlighted again by the fact we had really a record number of kids taking
the SAT. They can take it multiple times, but we had a record number of kids taking it, which proves a couple things in my head. You know, that we've got kids graduation ready. going for your schools and they're ready for that. The SAT is a metric whether you believe in it or not. Colleges are going right back to it. You know, it's not going to be test optional in about two years
again. So, you know, I really enjoyed these scores. They were very good. >> Okay, moving on to our um AP scores, our advanced placement scores. Uh Mr. Zullinsky spoke about this in his introduction. We're extremely proud of a
69% passing rate. That means that 69% of our students that took AP tests had a three or higher on their AP exam. You can see from 2021 to 2024, we were kind of around 55%. Um, so that jump up to 69 is really very
very incredible. >> You just go back when I when I was teaching, if you had 60% passing, you got a pardon. Our district is 69% passing on the AP scores. And that's how many classes we have. 17 18 classes that we teach. So I want you to highlight.
Sorry that was just such a big deal. >> Um these are just the numbers. So we had 314 total exams and of those 3146 of them um were three or higher. So well over half of them got three or higher which can earn students you know college
credits. Um and >> resume builder. >> So so significant. Uh we wanted to celebrate some of the really high performing um AP classes. Uh so in alphabetical order we have a few listed that were really I mean all of
our classes did very well but these ones truly were they did very well. Um so 2D art and art and design 3D art and design um calculus BC calculus BC with the AB subcore. >> Would you call BC the most grueling of
them all? >> Yeah it's extremely it's it's passing. >> It's like the pinnacle one who say >> did you pass? Oh, I didn't take it. Well, I'm in it right now. >> Yeah. So, is a Mike and Mike? Actually, >> that is the most >> our calculus our calculus BC students
are the ones that are taking algebra 1 as seventh graders. So, they're taking a high school, typically a ninth grade course as seventh graders to get themselves to that calculus BC. >> Pass it. 78% is just >> um chemistry. We had a 100% of our
students get a three or higher, which is a very difficult um AP science course. Uh >> second, science and chemistry >> very yeah very difficult. Um computer science principles 100% English language and composition 85 English literature
and composition 85 environmental science 91 psychology this is um more of an entry level AP course. So, for 55% of our students to um have a three or higher in that class is worth celebrating. Uh because a lot of those students maybe
never took an AP class or maybe never even considered taking an AP class. They didn't think that it was for them. So, for over half of them to have that three or higher is really significant. Um AP statistics 80% you United States government and politics 78% United States history 77% and world history um
those are all freshmen that take that AP class. So to have almost half >> So the audience is like that's a low number. They're all freshmen. >> They're all freshmen, which most schools don't have freshmen take AP courses. >> And we we not only have them take it and have that experience of sitting through
an AP class because with getting a three or not, you still get a valuable experience um having being exposed to the rigor of an AP course, but to have almost half of them also then get a three or better is really really significant. The worst part about those freshmen is
they don't count towards any of our ranking because the ranking group won't let us count freshman sophomores taking APs yet. They're scoring threes and highs. So, but they're going on to better things. We know that. So, anybody take a day,
>> right? Good class, right? >> It is good. >> It's very compact. >> Hard. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Um we don't have our um four-year graduation rate yet. You'll see 2025 is missing. So when we uh do have access to that, we'll update our slides.
>> They switch to a new of course a new program and so they haven't released. >> We do have our post-graduation plans. Um you'll see there's a little bit of a dip in the percentage of students going to a four-year or two-year college. There's an uptick in um the percentage of
students going into trade and technical fields. Okay. And lastly, we'll celebrate our um college academy. Mr. Zillinsky opened with our 23 LTHs students just recently earned or last in the spring um earned their associates degree at Ocean County
College in 2025, which is really um it's incredible. It sets them up for uh a lot of a lot of great things right as they graduate high school. >> You're responsible for 184 college graduates. That's as as a public high school institution.
>> Yeah. So So in those 23, they added up to 184 total college academy graduates in May of 2025. That's a lot of students. >> A really reduced cost >> to them. >> Yep. >> And just another statistic, 11 students excelled in AP classes and purchased 33
credits through the Fairley Dickinson University Early College Program on top of that association. So my financial people in the room too, we get paid from Ocean County College to teach those classes. We get a reimbursement. Okay? So we actually get revenue by disorder. I think it's about $40,000 a year. Yeah.
Okay. Come into our general fund because we teach those classes to those kids >> and it also increases our the um variety of courses that we can offer to to our students. You know, there's a course on the Pine Barons that we wouldn't typically offer, you know, but it's with
the OCC program, so we're able to So DMs, DMs, we are required to report out of the DLM. DMs are an exam that we give to our most cognit cognitively impaired students. So we report those results out. Um what's interesting is I've tried to learn a little bit more
about it. Once a student is at target or advanced, we generally put them in the regular testing regimen. So the NJSLA testing. So you don't see a lot in there, but what my group is, my special ed group is very happy that we have that many approaching students uh uh in ELA
uh and growing a little bit in the other areas. So we're trying to move them from emerging to approaching, but these are students who can't take regular state testing. Okay, so these are the results. We'll post these up. If anybody ever has any questions about DLM, I'm going to point you in the right direction because it is a very specific population of
students. It's generally 1% or less of your entire student body population will take the very challenging test, very personalized. You actually sit with the teacher and take these exams because of their disabilities in most cases. So that's the results.
>> Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. [Applause] And that concludes my our report for today. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Just recognize Eric and Jess, our principal in the room. I always like to
recognize our principles. Jessica Agelini is one of our supervisors. You're responsible for a lot of this work. So just like to recognize them as well. They're awesome. And if you haven't met for River School, you know that. So thank you again. Mr. King as well, but you already see your CN, >> right? >> Do you want to discuss?
>> Yeah. Guys, anybody needs to go student wise, homework, it's up to you >> always. Parents as well. >> This is your chance. >> I know the rest of the meeting is exciting. >> You're going to miss public comment. You're going to miss board comments.
You're going to miss committee reports. >> Up to you. Good night. >> Have a good night. >> Congratulations. >> Good night, guys. Thank you again. >> Thank you. Congratulations. >> Where are you going to go to pharmacy school? I went to school all the rockers people. I went to all the rockers. >> Oh, Rhode Island.
>> That's where my sister went. Loved it. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we're going to move on to public comment. Um, 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 member shall be recognized twice until all who have wished to comment have been recognized. This portion of the meeting is for public comments only and there
will be no questions answered. The purpose of this board meeting is for us to perform our business in public. Everyone is entitled to a public comment. If there's a question for the board, there's an established team of command to follow. Would anybody like to make a comment today? Go ahead, Mr. Mosley.
Okay. Tony Rosolei. Uh, first page three of the agenda. Number seven, you're selling a piece of property. I'd like to know where the money's going and can it go to debt service. And as far as the property itself,
according to the uh according to the township, the property has been appraised at $549,000 on a tax map and it's under resident zone R 100 resident zone. So, it's it's
mostly for residential use only, but whoever you sell it to can go and get whatever variance they want and use the property any way they want. there's just that with that much money coming in, I'd like to see it going towards debt service because when I went to the
meeting last night and the engineer architect and uh was talking about it and and our business administrator was talking about debt service, um you know, we have a lot of debt service currently. If the referendum does go through, which you know, it'll be up to the voters, um
we'll have a significantly more amount of debt service. And if the project comes in under budget, the debt service that's there is going to end up not only giving it's supposed to go back to the taxpayer, but if there's existing debt service, it's going to be transferred
into the existing debt service account. So, if we're going to make money, you know, selling this piece of property, I'd like to see it go towards the debt service. And that's only thing I wanted to talk about as far as that on the agenda on that page. Um, I have a
question. On page six, under agenda item uh agenda item 13, we're going to pay $72,67155 to the FedCap school in West Orange. I'd like to know, is that only for one
student or is there a bunch of students that are getting on a transportation bus and then going? >> Generally, Mr. result generally when you see students like that in the board agenda they are placed by the state >> okay >> you don't have a choice >> one student >> I don't know specifically
they they exist in every district and we have no choice in the matter and they >> no I understand it's just that >> you send us the bill >> if it's a lot of money yeah when you that's our biggest complaint with the state that they don't have a fund for districts to handle that because many
districts have large numbers but we don't have large numbers thank goodness yet. But there's districts out there, their districts are their budgets are devastated by out of district kits. We've complained to the state, I've testified in front of the state that they need to get that in hand because they can just tell us, "Oh, by the way,
Lacy, here's your kid." And we have no choice. >> Okay, that's fine. Can you increase my time a little bit >> um because I didn't ask for a response, but >> sure. >> You know, I'm glad you did respond though. I'm happy about that. But boy, that seemed like a heck of a lot of money just to put one kid in the van and
take him to West Orange. That's what happens, >> you know. >> Come on. Okay, this one I don't think you're going to like, but it's on it's on page 12. We're going to spend
$151,000 for stipens. Now, the stipens that we're talking about here are for other than fair and efficient education. It's over and above. You guys made that choice. Fine. You made that choice. The state
said, "Don't spend this money." Okay, you decided to spend this money, okay, over and above a fair and efficient education. That's your that's your uh ability to do sitting on the board and it's your decision. But, okay, in doing
that, in spending that money, I would rather see that money go towards the academics that were just presented. If we took that 151,000 and used it towards the academics to incr increase our
academic performance, I would feel much better about that. Under number eight, you're going to spend $5,800 for somebody to hand out towels in a locker room. I would rather see him teaching math, teaching English, teaching some of these other things to
move those scores up. That's my personal opinion. All I'm saying is think about it. If you're taking your advice from, you know, legal advice, hey, look, they make money by getting us in court, okay? And that's the advice
you're going to get from a barristister. Let's go to court. Let's fight about it. Let's lose it. Let's appeal it. Let's my firm make more money. That's all I got to say about that. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Go ahead. Hi, Ashley uh Meer Wehawen.
Okay. Um this is just about some issues I'm having ongoing with the special education department. Um in July I came and spoke regarding my special needs son not receiving services and therapies mandated in his IEP and issues within the special education department. I told you that
superintendent Zoneski had ignored about 15 emails in the course of approximately two months. I begged for your help. Things have only gotten worse. I had to file emergency due process, represent myself in a hearing, and in August, I was awarded an emergency court order by a judge requiring Lacy to comply within
days. That month, after the court order, no one from the board or the superintendent contacted me, apologized, checked in, invited me to speak in close session about my experience, or followed up with me in any way. The emails I sent to the board after the court order were just ignored. Your executive session
minutes for the August meeting even showed that you discussed zero student or personnel matters. No parent should have to go to court over something they are rightfully owed by their school. In fact, Lacy actively tried to get my case dismissed instead of working in good faith to simply resolve it and apologize
and help my son. To date, my child is still facing issues and hostility with Lacy School's special education department. As one example, when I declined some wording in a proposed IEP amendment last month, I received a letter home stating it would be implemented anyway, and Lacy didn't need
my consent. Legally, an IEP amendment without a meeting must have parental consent. And I confirmed this with the Executive County Superintendent's Office. I emailed you about this, but you didn't respond to that either. You also didn't respond when I alerted you of complaints I filed with the state
department of special education that resulted in findings of Lacy's non-compliance to law. I want to stress my issue is not with the wonderful teachers but administration. I wish I could say lessons were learned here or that I was confident things would change and improve in Lacy, but they have not
and my child is still suffering with the consequences. It is increasingly difficult to work with the special ed department in Lacy and the environment has become incredibly hostile and stressful. I've had to send many, many emails just to access my son's IEP. I was told Lacy's IEP system has issues
and confused and that has affected my son and his services and other emails, other issues I've emailed you about, like things being put in his IEP without my approval. It is truly disappointing to see continued problems as I have tried relentlessly to bring them to your
attention. I truly hope other disabled children aren't affected by similar situations. It's not okay or normal that a parent would have to go so far to get an emergency court order just to get help. You have the power and responsibility to protect Lacy's children. Please make special education
a priority. Thank you. Um on behalf of the board, I would like to acknowledge your concerns. Please understand that the board is not able to comment on these matters that involve litigation or individual students as they are confidential and protected by the law. As a board, we remain committed to
listening with respect and responding with professionalism, even when perspectives differ. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts this evening. Would anybody else like to have a comment? Go ahead, Regina. Regina Desenza, Sunset Drive, Sunrise
Beach. Um, my first comment um concerns what Kim said earlier in the meeting. Um, I have no graphic arts software and I can assure you I'm not talented enough or responsible for the social media posts I think you mentioned. Um, the black and yellow signs are mine and my
name and address and phone numbers on every single one. I had the sign company designed them for me. I don't do anything anonymous, just so that you know. Um, so last night I attended the information session on the referendum at Fork River School. Only 15 people,
including myself, were present. Someone I know went to the meeting at Mil Pond two weeks ago and said only 15 people were at that one, too. Pretty strange that a mass text and postcard mailing to the entire town only got 15 people out last night. I hope some more people show
up at the high school on October 30th. Anyway, I went to listen to the changes and few differences from March till now. I don't want rain on any students or staff and please know that I had asked in 2015 why the roofs weren't being fixed. Now I know it was pretty much on
purpose. I remember walking around trash cans collecting water in the high school in 2015, 10 years ago. I hope by now all the parents are aware and know that air conditioning is not being added anywhere in any school building. All the HVAC
systems are replacements, not additions. That's correct, right? >> They're replacements. >> Correct. >> Now, the roofs were puzzling me for several reasons. In 2009, Mr. Savage claimed that all the roofs were 20-year roofs during the solar referendum. So
2029 would be the end of 20 years for roofs, and several have been leaking for the past 10 years with no one invoking any of the supposed warranties we keep hearing about. Turns out this past February at an information session for the previous referendum, Mr. Ted
Hopkins, the architect, told me they were only 15year roofs. So that would explain a lot of the leaking. One night a while back, Mr. Peters had given a roof leak rundown for all six schools. He did note that the Lenoka Harbor School had only one leak. So, I
suspected this was why their roof was removed from this current referendum question. And then I had the old flyer from 2009 that stated Lenoka Harbor School was getting a new roof with the solar project. Thus, this must be the only 20-year roof still under warranty
in the district. However, last night, Mr. Satimbrino claimed all the roofs were 20-year roofs. So, who really knows which roof is which? I think I do. The other five in 2009 were brought to almost new condition to place the solar
arrays, but they were not replaced from scratch. And if they were originally 15-year roofs, then yes, the other five are all expired and passed their useful lifespan. Thus the reason the high school roof was leaking since 2015. I thought it was very strange that it
began to leak only five years after the solar project completion. So now how do I believe what anyone says? In March we were told all the schools needed roofs. Now in October the Lenoka Harbor School does not need a roof. Was the one leak repaired? That is a question I would
like answered. A simple yes or no. Does anyone know if the one leak at Lenoka Harbor School was repaired? >> Yes. one. Okay. Yes. >> Because then that one is under the 20-year warranty. >> Yes. >> So, great. >> I think we fixed it, though. We didn't call Trim Company. >> Well, whatever. It's done. Okay. So, now
we only have five leaking roofs. >> And all the pricing on these projects is very high. I contacted a private commercial roofing company myself and they assured me all the pricing was exaggerated. I gave them the insulation specs and the building addresses.
And I don't know if I heard this correctly last night, but who said all the district is paid all the district debt is paid off in March of 2026? >> No, it's not true. >> No one said that. >> No. Okay. Because I went to the CFR and
it shows the last long-term debt payment as January 15, 2030. And there is a payoff April 1st, 2026. That's the one you were referring to last night. Okay. 4126 will be the last payment on the school expansion bond. I believe that
one was, which even includes this room. This very room we're in is still not paid for yet. And half the equipment in here doesn't work. It's a shame. So, I've been examining all the board emails that I've opened for this past year, and I see zero board communication
on email except for a few things from Miss Claus over the year. mostly reminders about meetings and a few items from the business administrator. This tells me the board is conducting business outside the public purview by using their personal cell phones for text messages. Just a little note, this
is not legal under the Open Public Meetings Act and when I was on the board, I had gotten text messages so long. >> Regina, can you come back? >> Yeah. They didn't fit on my little flip phone. >> Okay. Thank you. Would anybody else like to have a comment before Regina goes
back? Go ahead. Good evening. Um, Linda Miller, Forket River. Um, I'm a true lover of children and I'm mandatory computer a contributor to the Lacy schools for 51 years. And I
might want to add a yes, I um do have um a senior freeze, but I'm speaking for the whole community. There's a lot of people that live here that are not old enough for a senior freeze yet. And um
with the taxes going up, it's not easy for a lot of people. Um and I I will be voting no on the referendum. Uh the last statement of the 2025 referendum reads, "The board of
education is authorized to transfer funds among the projects approved at the election. um misleading the public and giving you
the board of ed the opportunity to use the 28 million toward any of the 18 submissions approved by the state. >> Just I have to stop you for a minute. That's completely incorrect. >> That is not how it works.
>> Absolutely not. You are forbidden from doing that. That is not true. >> Okay. Who who forbid it? The state of New Jersey forbids what you're describing to happen. That is illegal. >> Okay.
Okay. All right. Um, in other words, um, I don't think you're telling the voters all the truth, the whole truth. Um, this can be very tricky business. Remember the state can rece
resend the 40% debt service aid at any time. All of this is not solving the educational decline of the school and the fiscal decline of our whole community. And um I always have a question where um
our monies went with the raising of the the 20% taxes. Thank you. >> I invite you to come to the next information center um that we're having in October 30th for the referendum. You can ask all your questions there. We
went over a lot of that last night. Um but please come. Okay. >> Okay. You can still vote no, but this way at least you know why you're voting. >> Okay. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, Richard. Okay. Uh Richard A. Bitnik, Fork River,
Lacy, Citizens for Responsible Government. Uh, good evening members of the board, citizens of Lacy Township. I would like to start my comments tonight first by apologizing to Ashley Meyer. Since the board won't apologize to you,
I will on behalf of the citizens of Lacy and the board because they won't do it for what you've been through. I'm sorry that you've been put in such a position and I hope that things will improve. I really do.
I would like to start my comments tonight concerning the threatening letter I received from the board attorney, Mr. Manning, concerning the lifting of the school's logo to promote the school board candidates forum that the Lacy Citizens for Responsible
Government is holding at the library on October 22nd at 7 p.m. This was an utter waste of taxpayers dollars. I hope though you sent a threatening letter to the candidates who also lifted
part of your logo and their campaign paraphernalia. If not, it readily appears that you were targeting not only a taxpaying citizen but a citizens group. A simple email from the board president would have addressed this issue, but instead you
wasted public dollars on this nonsense. Shame on you. Many of us have received text messages concerning the referendum using language which is promotional in nature. This breaks the content neutrality supreme court ruling which
was a landmark decision application for referendum on the city of Trenton ordinance 2011 New Jersey 349 2010. The ruling concerned the fairness doctrine. Using public funds to advocate for a specific outcome creates an unfair
advantage and can undermine the integrity of electoral process. Government can inform but it cannot advocate. Any form of bias is illegal and anyformational paraphernalia must be contentneutral and explain both sides.
Neither the video you have online or the text messages or the mailings are balanced in any way. Many of us are against this referendum and reject the use of public monies to support something we are against. Please cease and desist with the promoting.
Some of us realize repairs need to be made, but not this way. The lack of transparency and absolutely no vendor estimates to back up any of the repairs raises many red flags, especially since the architect will get a cut of the total project. In this case, to the tune
of $1.857 million. Without these, I can't imagine how anyone in their right mind would vote yes for this referendum. Citizens of Lacy use some common sense and vote no. Please leave all the emotion at the door. When emotions take
over, all logic goes out the door and some of the worst decisions we ever make in our life are made when emotion takes over. I have asked the board several times for the salaries and benefit costs of each and every employee to be posted on the
school's website where it once was. I've sent emails and have publicly requested this information on several occasions. So, where is it? Why isn't it online? Why has it not been made available? Again, the lack of transparency raises
utter questions about what is really going on and why the board does not want the public to see this. The husband of one of the so-called esteemed teachers, Miss O'Harn, wrote some very disparaging and defamatory comments about me online.
To be clear, I've never met this man nor ever communicated with him in my life in any way. Yet he seems to broadcast what he knows is in my brain. In posts, he actually wrote, "Bidn is
the biggest piece of in this town. In 50 years, there's never been anyone who has hated our children or town more than him. Although I'm not too sure about you, Phil." He was talking to this other person that he was making these
comments on. He said, "Maybe you'll fix everything." Okay. So, I have a word of the wise to Miss O'Harn. You might want to use some of your teaching skills on your husband. >> Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, you're going to stop there. >> You're going to stop there.
>> Okay, you go back. Go forward on your comments. You will not talk about staff like that. You are not responsible for the commentary that you're reading. You will stop there and apologize for that. >> I will not. >> That is not her fault. You will stop. >> I am giving her a message.
>> Finish your comments. You do not have the right to tell me what to say. >> You do not have the right. >> You do not have the right. >> All right, your five minutes are done. You can sit down, Regina. >> Yeah. Okay. Sorry.
Good evening, Barry Bender, Bay Avenue, Fork River. Just a little hysteric hysterical historical context for the young lady who was talking about her son. I had two children who graduated from Lazy High School twins, both of
whom had uh were considered uh and they they had the IEPs. Um my daughter is much higher functioning, my son not as high functioning as my daughter, but in four years, well more than four years all through school, it was a battle to get
services for the for my son. It was every at every turn it was a battle. and the I don't think it's anything new as far as I'm concerned that the school district neglects the special needs children and uh that's all I wanted to share. Thank you.
>> Anybody else? >> Regina Desenza. The remainder of my comment is that a lot of people often ask me what are some suggestions for helping the board's budget. Um, three major ones constantly overlooked for the past 10 to 15 years, but simple. It's
more than time to subcontract out the transportation department and get a company that will agree to use the local drivers. When it was first proposed years ago, Jack Martin was the board president. That was eons ago. Think of the savings from not paying bus
insurance alone. Bus maintenance is expensive. I see the bills. I review them usually every month after the meeting. Subcontract out the food services department and find a company that will also agree to use our local employees. Many do. I inquired when I
went to the NJSBA workshops in Atlantic City. Item three, paytoplay sports. Vanessa was always afraid to do this because of parental push back, but it's time. This board must find ways to free up money in the budget and do regular
maintenance. If other districts can do it, so can Lacy. If every district in the state neglected maintenance, there wouldn't be a school building left standing. It's called management. And if these suggestions were implemented years ago, you might even be able to squeeze a
few dollars back for courtesy busing. But I'm sorry, parents. I do think that is gone for good. Now, tonight, once again on the agenda, I see changes to policy 0167. And I think it's still in violation of constitutional provisions. Has it been
discussed with the police chief? Does he know he might be asked to enforce it? I think it's absurd because defamatory and derogatory comments are determined in a court of law, not at a schoolboard meeting, and I will be consulting with
the ACLU. Thank you. >> But do me a favor. We're not here to talk about employees. We're not here to talk about the public. But you shouldn't have. So, let's just move on. Let's move on. >> Let's move on. >> We'll take care of this.
>> You go right ahead. >> Seriously, I'm sick and tired of people trying to shut us down because you don't want to hear the facts. >> I do want to hear >> Mr. Bick. Mr. Bnick, you were using vulgarity. You were talking about >> How was I using Can I finish? You were talking about a staff member who's not even here about something. I'm not
something she did not even do. >> I wasn't talking about her. I was just giving her some advice. being sarcastic and snarky. >> All right, I'm sick and tired of you people telling me. Okay, >> you get up there and complain about defamation and then you complain about this policy here. You're free to public
you want, but let's be professional. Let's act in a civilized manner. >> Yeah. And who started screaming at me? >> Who used Bulgarian? >> Who start I've just I just read what one of the people >> say piece of S. We all know what that would mean.
>> All right, let's start. You rather I just lie, right? And not say the truth. >> Starting your time is you make a public comment. >> Okay. Please. >> I find it ironic to hear our our illustrious board president talk about
bullying and harassment geared toward Mr. Zinsky from Pat posts on social media. Too bad, Miss Clauss, that you did not say this when a former school board member, Skip Peters, wrote disparaging comments against citizens who were just
trying to get all the information out during our March referendum on Facebook, which led to ethics violations being charged against him. Please practice what you preach. >> I do. >> Well, you didn't back then. You didn't. >> I wasn't the board president back then.
in March >> representing >> in March. >> Yes, you were you were board president. So, please Okay. So, the other thing too is I want to um mention please take my advice and Regina's advice. The food
service department and our school busing, they should all be privatized. And this should have been done actually seven years ago. Your lack of action on these issues has not only caused the district to have to pay out on two lawsuits for two previous food service
directors who sued the district. It would have also saved us valuable dollars in the long run. And since our finances seem to be our biggest problem, please do your job and don't raise our
taxes to astronomical levels ever again. >> Thank you. >> All right, I'm going to close public comment. We're now moving on to board committee reports and we'll start with Mr. Cons Mr. Armato Mr. Zillinsky and Miss Orby talk about the uh middle school hearty
view project. Um it's going to be they were originally going to be doing it over winter break but now it's pushed up to fall break. >> Correct. >> Um so pushing up on that uh cow for paint at the high school. We're
going back and forth at them again as far as the warranty. Um this one to be discussed at the referendum um and that they were having a meeting a day or two after um
discuss the potential for the land sale um and about putting the resolution on there. >> It's okay. >> Sorry. >> Yeah. >> Um have we discussed that policy binder again?
as far as we talk about uh the SRX and how there's a big decrease in the value on that. Uh Mr. Armsby talked about the um strategic plan since a current one
expires in 2026. Uh briefly discussed the 2627 school budget. Um and then the uh 2627 comprehensive maintenance plan and form M1.
Um that'll be on tonight's agenda. Talk about the uh pea funding. Um, and then we discussed the uh the catering pricing and how we uh
revised some of the prices. Um, more of a LTA discussion and not mediation about that. Um the Blum USA display boards talked about
uh replacing uh had a dozen of those and then use facilities and then uh this room be had a discuss discussion on a grievance settlement and then a uh
potential scout project here at the high school. I was at committee concluded at 4:50. >> Thank you for your report and we'll go to Miss Armato for curriculum, please. >> Okay. The curriculum meeting took place
on October 8th, 2025 in the board office. Uh call to order was 2:30 p.m. U members present were Linda Walker, myself, Mr. Armato, Mr. Zalinski, Miss Amos, Mr. Dow, and Miss Cro Krogaskski.
Um okay. The committee was given a preview of the October achievement presentation that was presented tonight. The committee was given the schedules for the upcoming professional development day that has been postponed due to the recent noraster bottle learning. This computer
application has been added to the list of approved applications for use on student Chromebooks. Special education. Miss Kravaski described the formation of a behavioral support committee to assist some of our neediest learners.
Technology Mr. Zalinsky described the replacement of the outdated desktop IP phones in all classrooms. Mr. Zalinsky described the upcoming state field testing that is the result of the state changing testing vendors and changing the format of the
test to an adaptive style test. Let's see. Mr. Zalinsky described in detail many of the per uh personal needs that we continue to have throughout the school year. Many of them are filled yearly and our co-curricular or coaching vacancies
and and other Mr. Zalinsky provided details for the upcoming referendum including plans for the text and voice messages for the entire community and land resol land resolution. Mr. Zalinsky described the land sale resolution that will be placed on the
agenda for approval for the possible sale of the property behind the Mil Pond School and Mil Pond Elementary School. And the next meeting is scheduled for November 10th, 2025 at 2:30 p.m. That's it. >> Thank you. And we'll go to Miss Walker, please. On policy,
>> I'm reporting on policy tonight. Mr. Bill is the chairperson. He was present at the meeting along with Mrs. Claus, myself in for Mr. quantity. Uh the meeting took place on October 8th at 4:15. Uh we talked about new policy
regulations for review and discussion. One was policy 0155. This policy was updated to include a personnel committee in the finance section which was previously omitted. P0163
quarum revised. This policy was revised to reflect the proper individuals for required for a board quum. Public participation in board meeting meetings P 0167. This policy was revised
after input from the September board of education meeting and from the policy committee is being placed on the agenda for first read tonight. organizational chart was revised to reflect the addition of the assistant facilities manager positions in the
district. That is policy 11 one10 for organizational chart. We discussed co-curricular um the assistant hockey um program is being eliminated due to
budget cuts safety and security. Uh Mr. Sinsky shared that Mr. Mr. England will serve as the new school safety specialist. Since Mr. Dow is no longer in Lacy, he has moved on to another district. >> Point Beach.
>> Point Beach. Um the LTASA, Mr. Linsky shared the details of the hiring of an interim supervisor for Mr. Dow who was leaving. In addition, um I think Cheryl already covered it um about the up
upcoming referendum on uh November 4th. We have a a forum on October 30th at the high school. Roboc calls and mailers will be going out. Our next meeting for policy will be November 12th at 4:15 p.m. Thank you. Okay. And I will report
on the uh referendum committee. Um the chairperson, Mr. Armano uh was present, Miss Walker and myself, uh Mr. Zalinsky and Miss Ornsby. We also had um Kevin and Rita Centrino, our architect and our
engineers uh present on this call. Um it was Wednesday, September 24th. We discussed uh the review of media campaign for Lacy Day. The committee reviewed the mailer, poster, and video for Lacy Day. Mr. Santorino and Mr. McFaten will work on modifications. Um
discussion follows. We also had um a meeting on Monday, October 6th. Mr. Armano, the chairperson was present. Mr. Zalinsky, Miss Ornsby, and John Smith, our uh facilities manager. Um they discussed review of media campaign. The
committee debriefed on Mil Pond presentation. and each committee member gave their input on the positives and negatives from the presentation and how the presentation could be improved. Mr. Centbrino will work on getting text messages out to registered voters as well as create a a flyer discussion
followed and the next meeting October 20th. Okay, that's it for our committee reports. Um now we'll move on to superintendent report if you have anything. >> I do. I just I'll talk referendum. Uh I wrote a couple notes. um you know the discussion and and the information you know we need to discuss this critical
need about the upcoming bond referendum we were talking about all night on November 4th. While a small vocal minority has attempted to sow doubt and misinformation I just want to be clear their opposition is not based on sound financial principles. is based on a misunderstanding of public finance that if we follow their advice, it's going to
cost you, the taxpayer, a lot more money and compromise the quality of education in our schools, which we're very proud of tonight's showing. The need for new roofs and HVAC systems in our six buildings is not a matter of debate. Our facilities are aging, utility costs are skyrocketing, and we're facing a
mountain of deferred maintenance. To ignore this promise to guarantee a far more expensive crisis in the future. The question before us is not if we should make these repairs, but how we do so in a responsible and cost-effective way. The opponents of this referendum would have you believe there's a simpler,
better way, paying for the $29 million out of the district's general fund over the next 5 years. I've seen that. I've heard that. Okay. This is where their argument falls apart and reveals a stunning lack of financial knowledge. If we finance the project over 5 years using the general fund, the annual
payments would be 6.3 million. Total cost 31.5 million. Our proposed bond on the other hand requires annual payments of 1.5 million over 20 years. Total cost of 26 million. Okay. The the other plan people are advocating for a plan that's
$5.5 million more expensive in the long run. You may not feel it now, but you will feel it in the future. By using a bond referendum in New Jersey, this is public finance 101. Our district is eligible for a massive financial contri cont contribution from the state between
34 and 40% of the project costs. That's a huge number coming directly from the state. The opponent's plan would make us ineligible for this funding. In essence, they're telling us to turn our backs on millions of dollars of state money that is rightfully ours. You have paid that money out in your gross income taxes.
Okay? We've learned that over time. I always wonder where our gross income taxes went. It goes into this fund. Okay? It's not their f their strategy is not fiscally sound. It's an act of financial negligence and a choice to place a larger burden on the local taxpayer. The bond referendum saves
taxpayers money, protects our operational budget from devastating cuts and unlocks millions of dollars in state aid. Those who oppose the referendum are not not acting in the best interest of the community. Okay. And the facts, they're willfully misleading the public online. We've seen it. Okay. of the plan. Their plan is more expensive, more
disruptive, and will cost us millions in free state money that we should be getting. It's rightfully ours. You know, we've suffered from S2. Let's get some of that money back. There's a clear choice between fi fiscal responsibility and financial recklessness. I urge everyone to consider the facts for the
future of our schools and the financial well-being of our community. Thank you. >> Thank you. It's >> the last we'll say on it. Okay. >> It's coming up. >> Yes. U Miss Walker, would you like a board comment? Anything to say? >> Uh just a couple of things. I want to first um congratulate Jonathan Graveman for did he I think he left
>> um as for the unsung hero award. Um those of you who know I've been on the board for quite a while and this is my favorite award because a unsung hero is the one who doesn't look for recognition. It's the one who does a lot of the work and you know thank god we
have these unsung heroes and um you know it doesn't take away from other awards but I think this one is so special. So, Jonathan, if you're watching this, congratulations. I also would like to congratulate Ava and Michael on students
of the month. I'm always amazed at their accomplishments, what they do. Um, Michelle, Margaret, thank you for your presentation tonight. It was very good. It was clear. Uh, I think everyone could understand it. Um, so thank you and I
look forward to watching from that side of the podium. uh to see >> like you'll come >> yeah uh increases uh in the future. So thank you. Um and um just back Kim your your comment in the beginning of the
meeting I thought was very good. We got to stop this nonsense going on in board meetings. I mean emotions you say don't make it emotional. Don't make it personal but it is listen to the screaming and the comments negativity.
That's not lacy. That shouldn't be done in a board meeting. You don't like somebody, you don't have to come up and say that in front of if you don't like somebody, come privately. Hey, I don't like everybody. You know that. And you don't like me. But why do we have to be
so negative? And last but not least, um Ashley, is that your name? Ashley, have you heard of CPAG? Have you heard that group? You might want to join that group. and because they're a great parent group that talks about the needs
of special needs children and they're a great we used to meet with them as a board and they're great people to communicate with and I would highly suggest that you see if you can attend those meetings. I know it's hard when you have little kids but if you can and I think the phone number might be on the
website. >> It might be. >> I know they have a Facebook. >> If not you could call the board office and get the phone number. >> Okay. probably a school. I don't know what they call >> they they probably do, but it's a great organization and I think um you you >> they just kind of reformed themselves on a new leadership.
>> A new leadership. Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Miss Armano, do you have any comments tonight? >> Linda pretty much summed it up and wants to congratulate the students. Um thank you for the presentation and I also want to thank all all that donated that we're going to approve tonight. And that's it.
>> Thank you, Mr. Conned. >> Yeah. Uh Jonathan, Michael, and a congratulations. Um just to explain a little bit on the uh transfer of funds in between the approved projects. It's only
>> the projects that are approved under the referendum. >> So we can't move it to >> recede the grass as a project. It's only what was approved in the referendum. >> Are there submissions that were approved
by the state. >> Do you have anything more, Jack? >> So, um uh lastly, um there's been a lot of comment about this board, this board, this board, and the solar project and how they botched that d. This is not the
same board as 20 years ago. It's not the same as administration as 20 years ago. So, um take that into account. Finally, the uh trunk or treat October 28th, 4:30 to 6:30 here at the high school. Um for
anybody that's interested and >> have a great time at homecoming. Be safe and that's it. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. We're going to move on to new business. You ready? >> Okay.
Page um 2 A1 meeting minutes. Motion. >> Second. >> Can I have roll call, please? >> Mrs. Armada. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Walker. >> I think I have to abstain. I don't think I was here in the September meeting, was I?
>> This is October. I'm going to abstain because I think I was absent. >> Uh, Mr. Connelly. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Claus? >> Yes. Uh, list of bills. A2, page two. Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. Mrs. Mrs. Armato,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Conny, >> yes. But I need to abstain on my employer 163 and 161. >> Thank you. Mrs. Claus, >> yes. Page 2, A384, transfers. Um, can I have a motion, please? >> Motion.
>> Second. Roll call. >> Mrs. Armato, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Conny, >> yes. >> Mrs. Claus, >> yes. Uh, A5 through 12, Facilities and Finance. Can I have a motion, please? Motion. >> I'll second. Roll call, please.
>> Mrs. Armato, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Conny, >> yes. >> Mrs. Claus, >> yes. Page 6 and 7, A13 to A19. Transportation. Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion. >> Uh, 13 to 18. Can I uh 19? Sorry, my
eyes were going. >> Did you get a motion? >> Yes. Need a second. >> Do you need a second? Linda, can you second? >> Second. Okay. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Armato, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Conny, >> yes. But I need to recuse on 18 on Mr.
Gibson, please. >> Thank you. Uh, Mrs. Claus, yes. A 20 to 28. Other. Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion. Um, can I second? >> I can. >> Second. >> Roll call, please.
>> Mrs. Armato, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Connity. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Claus. >> Yes. A29, policy and regulation. Can I have a motion, please? >> I'll move. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Armato,
>> yes. >> Mr. Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Conny, >> yes. >> Mrs. Claus, >> yes. Um, A30 Hibs. Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Armada, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Conny,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Claus, >> yes. Um, donations. I'd like to thank everyone for the generous donations. Can I have roll call, please? Motion. >> Motion. >> Motion, please. >> Motion. Second. >> Make it easy. You guys do it.
>> Uh, Mrs. Armato, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Conny, >> yes. And thank you. >> Mrs. Mrs. Claus? >> Yes. But I need to abstain on the Lacy Football Foundation. >> Thank you. >> Can I have programs and curriculum? Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion.
Just make it easy for you guys. >> I'll second roll call, please. >> Mrs. Armato, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Connelly, >> yes. >> Mrs. Claus, >> yes. Professional days in workshop and travel. Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion. >> I'll move it. Oh, second. I mean,
>> roll call, please. >> Mrs. Armano, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Connelly, >> yes. >> Mrs. Claus, >> yes. Um, E E1 through 15, certificated personnel. >> All right, we have a few things here. Um, we have to table number one and
number three because we have a lack of a quorum to vote on that. Um, we have to table E12 and E13. There's some changes there that we have to take care of. And then we have to table E14.
Uh, just Margaret Mallaloy because we don't have a quorum to vote on her. >> 14. Did you say >> E14? Leave of absence. the leave of absence for Margaret Malloy. >> Okay. Can we have a motion, please? >> I'll move with all those corrections.
>> Thank you. >> Second. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Armato, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Mr. Conny, >> yes. >> Mrs. Claus, >> yes. >> Okay. F1 to nine, non-certificated personnel.
>> Can I have a motion, please? Um, I have one change in here on number eight. Mr. Grilla, he's listed under uh discretionary no pay, no benefits. You should be under discretionary no pay with benefits.
>> Okay. Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion. >> Second. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Armato, >> yes. >> Mrs. Walker, >> yes. >> Yes. Sorry. >> Mr. Conny, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Claus, >> yes. >> Okay, that's it. All right. I'd like to adjourn the meeting.
>> Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Vote. Good. >> Third.