Uh the time is now 7:01 and call the meeting to order. Uh call the meeting of the Leon Board of Education to order. Um adequate notice of tonight's meeting has been provided in accordance with the open public meetings act by the following methods. Through distribution of notice to the record uh and posting
of the agenda on the school district website as well as through parent square. Can everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance. Mr. Thomas, can we have the roll call, please? Miss Choy, Mr.
Grow, Dr. Mester, Miss Molina, Mr. Park here, Mr. Zevka, Mr. Seagel here, Miss Thompson, Vice President Melman here, and President Lee here. We have a quorum
tonight. Uh, also in attendance is our acting superintendent of schools, uh, Dr. Carolmanos, as well as our one student rep, uh, Renee Kim. And we have from Fogurt and Har Sean Fogerty. Thank you. Uh, just let the record reflect that Mr. Zupka did
contact me to let me know that he could not make it tonight for personal reasons. and we will move on to item 1.4. So, public comments regarding any agenda items. Um, anyone from the public wishing to speak, please step up to the podium, provide your name and address,
and you'll have two minutes to speak. Yes. Any agenda related items? There's a separate public speaking section if you have anything that's not related to the agenda. So that'll come up a little bit later in the meeting. Arthur 125. Um just a couple things.
uh the HIP investigations. Um do we ever throw kids out of school for bullying? I mean, I don't know. I don't want to know names or anything like that. I just want to know if we there's instances where kids have been discharged. Just I mean, bullying is just such a as as you all know, it's a
hot button of mine. Anyhow, I know I think there were five or six on this agenda that were listed but were either in inconclusive or determined or whatever. Um, the comprehensive equity plan. I couldn't find a link. So, I'd like to know what that is. At least at least to point me where I can read it if
it's online. I didn't notice it was online. Sometimes there's a hot link, you know, you can hover and it pops up and didn't pop up. Um, that was 7.3. Uh, contract award 8 uh 8.12 contract
award for professional services. Um what what were the professional services under for that particular item? U 8.12 um 8.13 contract award for um review and submission of available
energy tax credits. So we're paying $11,900 for somebody to find out uh what tax credits there are. So do we have an idea that the tax credits are going to be a lot more than $1,900? meaning there's 20 30,000 there's an opportunity to absorb the cost that we're spending
for somebody to find this stuff. So I'd like to know if you if we know there's a what the bundle what what the opportunity is out there for us to capture it. Um has there been any thought I've missed a couple of meetings to or conversations about cell phones again I brought this up a year ago two
years ago about my thoughts on it. I think I sent Zanthy and and then Brian uh some articles on that now that and I'm I'm bringing up now because it looks appears that New York is on the verge of issuing a state regulation on that. I'm very pro lock them in the lockers. I don't care what the parents say. Keep
them out of their hands. It's not it's you know it's a main source of bullying and distraction. So I'd like to know if there if there's any movement on our part or our state because the state's really what's going to going to affect most of that.
I think that is it for now. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak on any agenda related items? Okay. Thank you. And again, there will be a second public speaking portion on um any matters that are not on the
agenda. Um, okay. Seeing none, we will move on to the next agenda item. Um, which is our board member comments on any agenda related items and response to the public comments. I'm gonna take them all.
Yes. Um, okay. So, uh, to answer some of your questions, Arthur, HIP investigations, do we throw students out for bullying? So we do we have not thrown a student out for bullying. Um we follow a code of conduct that uh is a policy of our code of
conduct and then our schools have handbooks. We have thrown students out for violating the code of conduct behaviors which are very strict and explicitly written out at what point a child gets a disciplinary hearing and goes through that process. Um so we do take
those very seriously and uh you know we do have explicit rules in our handbooks of uh the policies that we follow. Uh the C the comprehensive equity plan. So the comprehensive equity plan is a state required plan that uh we submit every
three years. Uh we haven't done one uh because of COVID the state kept waving the plan. So we haven't done one here since 2018. We haven't done one in New Jersey since 2018 um or 2019 somewhere around there. Um, so what it is is basically we the the state has a list of
equity policies and practices and then we align those with our uh strauss with our policies that the board adopts. So it's a list of all the uh required ways that um the state requires us to have the state equitable practices and then which policies align to those. Um
Strauss really helps us a lot with that document. I am not sure and I this might be a question for Sean. Um I'm not sure if the comprehensive equity plan can be public. We did not put it as a public link because we thought it was an internal document for approval. But if it is public, I'm happy to make it
public. Yeah, that's something that can be made public. Perfect. So, we can definitely make we can change that public and it'll be on the the agenda for that's posted on the website. Yeah, I can email it to you too, but that way it can also be public for whoever else wants to look at
it. Uh 8 8.12 the culinary lab. Um that was to uh the architect services was to um look at the current design. There's some uh at this point there is no uh
dishwasher in the culinary lab. um when the culinary lab was designed and then there was uh some re this was before my time before Eric's time there was some um reworking in the culinary lab and they moved a washer and dryer to a different space um and basically what
happened is we did we because of that move affected where the dishwasher could fit and now there is currently no dishwasher in the culinary lab and since I've been here the teachers have been asking for a dishwasher for the culinary lab as you can imagine having 50-minute block and then having to wash everything
by hand takes a lot of instructional time away. Uh so, you know, we've kind of said we should give them at least a dishwasher. So, that's where we had the architects come in and reevaluate. And the actual installation will be won't it's mostly the architect fees that are
the most um and then I'll let Eric comment on the tax credits, but just for the cell phone. So, where are we? Uh the board, the policy committee. Um I keep giving them an update every time we meet as a policy committee. Um but the we're still
waiting for the state to fi to finally approve. So they are last time um last time we received an update from uh school boards or whoever sends us our updates. Uh the the bill was being revised and then going to the next level
for for review. Um but that bill is coming as a statewide requirement. U what that's going to look like. We're still kind of waiting. Um but that will hopefully be and that's something um we've talked with uh the uh some
organizations in the town about too. It's a I'm going to a macro meeting in a few weeks. Um they've asked about it. So it's something that we need to start a little bit talking a little bit more and what that looks like in Leon and that's something that we'll do as a policy committee. And just to add to Dr. Carammanos's
response to 8.12. Uh the reason uh she explained it perfectly as far as the architect services uh the reason for the the higher level of cost relating to architect services for the re uh location of the dishwasher and and um in
relation to other equipment um which we had a dishwasher but they strategically uh relocated for more space and and uh better area for the students and staff. It requires a lot of uh compliance requirements that the architect needs to follow. So it's not just you know
installation of a dishwasher, there's plumbing involved, electrical, there's fire fire um apparatus that needs to be installed because of the location. So that's why you know the cost is is higher than you know uh normally in you know a reg regular residential um
installation uh relating to 8.13 for the tax credit. So, this was something that we kind of uh was monitoring uh with the IRS when the regulations came out about EV credits uh um for commercial as well as for um
individuals. So, this is an uh opportunity for the district because we did purchase seven EV buses through a lease. Uh we currently have four four of those buses um in district. We received four buses. Three of the buses are still in the process of being inspected and
registered with the state. Uh this credit uh allows the district to basically get up to uh based on the weight of the buses up to $40,000 per bus. Uh and so from looking at other, you know, but there is a lot of compliance requirements that the district has to follow with the IRS and
all that. So we we basically um there was another vendor that we looked into which was 10% of the credit. uh this this professional service vendor which is also our you know auditors, accountants, uh they're basically strategically uh less expensive.
So okay, thank you. Um any other board member comments on agenda related items? All right, that brings us to item 2.1, student representative comments. Okay, thank you Renee. Um, that brings us to item three, approval of consent agenda items. Uh, can I have
a motion and a second, please? Dr. Meister. Second, Miss Thompson. Excuse me. Um, there's a presentation tonight. Oh, yes. Excuse me. Um, I skipped right past you. I put a check mark next to it by accident. Um, since we have a motion in a second,
should we just finish that then? Unless there's Oh, actually, it has to follow. Okay. All right. We'll hold the motion in a second for the presentation. Um, if there are no changes, then we'll we'll let those motions stand. All right. So, Mr. Thomas
Savage, it's all the it's all the caffeine I'm having. And one day we'll have updated presentation equipment. one day. I know. That's why I said it. Yeah, we would gladly accept donation of
um of services and and materials. Thank you. Thank you, President Lee. Um, so I'd like to welcome the public um as well as the board and everyone watching at home. Tonight is the public hearing on the final budget. Uh, this is in in conjunction with the tenative budget that was introduced back in March. So
this is basically the final numbers that the board will be voting on and the information that will uh be sent to the state and impacted on your tax levy. So just quickly I I did mention this during the tenative budget but we have some new um people in the audience.
So the main objective of any school district budget is to um these are some key points aligns the district's educational priorities serves as an action plan for the district to support districts and board goals. uh support the strategic planning which the district just completed um as well as
support the long range facility plan for capital items. Um another area is to ensure accountability to the taxpayers as far as what you know what the taxes are going towards what what purpose. Uh it also establishes a framework for allocating spending and and also
complies with state federal and and local statutes and laws. Uh this is our mission statement which we're in the process of looking at revamping. Um and that is something that we consider when we look at the budget as far as what the you know key points
that the district in in in a whole wants to hit. Um just some overview for some of the newcomers um in the audience. So the district in Leone is basically three schools. We have an elementary school, a middle school and a high school as well as an administrative building and an
annex building. Uh so those are some factors to consider as far as maintain maintenance capital items. Um as well as we look at staffing. So we have roughly over 400 full-time part-time employees including substitutes. We have roughly a
little under 2,000 onroll students of which 1460 is resident students. Uh so the large bulk of those students are coming from uh Edgewater. We have a send receive with Edgewater. Um, in addition, we do have athletics,
which we have 33 sports, 51 teams, 54 coaches, one athletic trainer, and roughly over 800 student athletes. So, we do, you know, do provide a a great job as far as, you know, providing those those student athletes with um, you know, other other areas outside
the instructional day. Um, in addition, we have 65 co-curricular clubs and activities to support those other students that are are into some other interest. Um and then this is here uh one of the other areas where we look at in the budget to reduce cost is shared
services. Uh we do have some various shared service agreements. Some of them relate to transportation and related services purchasing utilities uh insurance which insurance and utilities um that is a rising cost. So with the
shared services, it kind of maximizes cost savings as well as curriculum services and we have a couple um some various shared service agreements with the bureau of Leona. The budget comp comprises of general fund, special revenue fund, and
debt service. The bulk of the budget is the general fund. That's the general operations of the district. Uh special revenue is all our grants which is we're required to to account for them in a separate fund and debt service is any referendums that were approved by the voters and that is the debt payown of
the debt. So from the tenative budget I just wanted to kind of highlight some of the changes that the district is is um introducing tonight uh looking to adopt in the in the final 2526 budget. So these are the revisions from the
tenative budget. Um part of this change was due to uh new information from the state that they released and that was basically the state had opened up an application for certain districts to consider um uh when when considering additional
expenses. They allowed them to uh the districts that were um deemed underadequate. They allowed those districts to to uh increase the budget and meet the adequacy level. Uh so roughly in Leonia we're we were
identified to be uh $1.74 million under adequate. The reasoning for the under under adequacy is is based on the state aid calculation which it attributes to equalized value.
So as the equalized value is increasing, it kind of uh restricts districts from from uh going over the 2% tax levy as well as uh the the income level of Leona residents. So both those levels just to put some numbers in perspective
equalized value have increased in Leonia from 1.745 billion in total uh to a little over two billion and the income level um in Leonia has increased from 475 million in total for the for the town to
519 million. So both those avenues kind of restrict state aid. So when the state comes out and they and they calculate how much state aid that the state will provide to Leonia to support the budget, they factor in those those two levels and kind of reduce the amount of state
aid. So one of the areas um that they allow this the the districts to do is to basically um increase the budget to to meet the the adequacy by going you know and and increase in tax levy. So these are some of the areas where we
identified um myself and and Dr. Carammanos uh with the you know finance committee as well as uh administrators. So we identified certain key areas that to meet the adequacy which is basically um to provide a thorough and efficiency
education to every student. Um so it's one of the changes was increase in grades one through five salaries of a teacher. Uh that's predominantly a computer science teacher for 70,000. Increase in purchase professional educational services for instructional technology to kind of move up um the
level of need in that area. 79,000. Increase in general supplies for regular programs. That's basically prek all the way to 12th grade. That's 209,000. Increase in general supplies for special education programs, $2,000. Increase in per purchase
professional education services. uh for comprehensive in district mental health program. That was the bulk of it. 300,000 increase in salaries of educational media and library services. That was to add a district uh full-time
district media specialist for 70,000. And then the last bucket was um maintenance services of 20,000 identified in the elementary school as well as the middle school. Uh also something to think uh to
that the district is monitoring is the state delayed the the final approval letter. So uh the direction through the county they basically indicated that all districts to approve the budget uh with the revisions that's being provided today and then once we receive that
letter if the uh state approves it as is then we can move forward with the budget. If they don't, then we'll uh come back to the to the board through a public meeting and then we'll make any revisions that are needed. Um so this is the final overall changes with the revisions compared to
the tenative budget. So as you see here, the overall total budget decrease. Um so it's still a decrease of a little under 700,000 which is 1.44 million uh 1.44%. uh general fund with the additional increase is actually kind of keeping the
the level uh of expenditures compared to last year almost flat. Special revenue had a decrease of about uh 600,000 that was due to grants coming off and no new grants being awarded to Leonia and debt service with a slight increase. That's based on the debt service payment coming
due in 2526. uh we consider enrollment and then these are some of the major changes in addition to those revisions that are included in the budget. So the overall tax levy is increasing uh 1.6 1.7
million that's a little under 7%. And here and the breakdown is general fund is a little over 7% increase and the debt service fund is a little bit um shy of 1% increase. Uh there is a reduction of state aid. So part of this budget uh
based on enrollment and what I indicated with the local share the state identified that uh Leonia is due for uh I guess the the previous year state aid they determined that Leonia um it's too high. So there's a decrease
that is warranted. So the state is is maxing out that decrease roughly about 3%. So, it's a little under 400,000. Um, in that number, just to to back up, um, with this additional $750,000, the state is providing 10% in
support. So, that's where that $35,000 in general fund aid is included. Um, in addition, there's a reduction in tuition revenue in the budget. That's based on our out of district um out of district students that are coming in district. So we do
accept students not only Edgewater but other LEAs and we try to bring them in into our one of our special ed programs. It could be general ed programs. So there is a slight decrease that's based in enrollment. Uh there is an increase in miscellaneous revenue and other uh reduction in withdrawal from capital
reserve that's really earmarked to capital projects. So there there were a lot of capital projects that we're kind of completing and with the strategic planning uh being completed we're kind of aligning future projects with that plan. So for next year it's you know
there is no new capital projects. That's why there is a decrease in the in the withdrawal from the reserve. Um, in addition to kind of support and provide tax relief, this board has has approved uh withdrawal from the unassigned fund
balance of 300,000 to offset, you know, the the tax burden on the taxpayer. Um, and here's some of the major changes in the expenditures. So, there's a reduction in instructional program costs. That was a large bucket of
425,000 that was based on enrollment decreasing. uh reduction in state and federal grants which that's in line with the revenues um as you see here of the 598. So as the revenues go down they're offsetting appropriations.
There is an increase in out of district tuition that's based on enrollment of students that we need to send out based on their special ed needs. That's increasing about 186,000. uh increase in student services and guidance. That was due to that additional uh comprehensive indistrict
mental health program that we uh identified during the tax levy incentive uh program that the state allowed us to increase the budget by. Uh there is a reduction in general administrative cost uh which is attributed to a lot uh pending legal cases coming off which I
mentioned during the tenative budget and hopefully by the end of this year we could cancel some of those un unexpended uh legal fees. There is a reduction in operations and maintenance costs in this budget of a little under 300,000. An increase in transportation which is uh
mainly due to payment of the EV bus leases which first payment is uh due next year. Increase in in health benefits as well as any other benefits a little over 1 million that was due to u projections by our brokers for next year
and the reduction in capital projects which is attributed to the withdrawal in capital reserve. Uh I'll go through this quickly. So as you see, state aid had u was flat for numerous years. Then it kind of spiked up during the COVID where the state provided additional support to all
districts through federal funds as well as state funds. And then now it's slowly decreasing and and kind of um in line with that new formula the seifer formula which is in line with you know the local share as well as enrollment. Student enrollment for
Leonia residents is kind of decreasing which is affecting state aid and then the student enrollment for enroll these are residents only. uh the student uh enrollment for enroll which uh Leonia is is the red which there's a decrease there as well as received
students predominantly from Edgewater that's also a slight decrease from the past three three to four years and here's the overall uh total of the fund of the general fund as well as special revenue and debt service budget it's a little under 46 million in
total here's the various buckets of the revenues So mainly uh all districts um these are the areas where re revenues are generated. Uh the largest area is local tax levy as well as state aid. And if um
in in Leonia's case because we're a send receiver uh relationship with Edgewater, we have you know we bring in a lot of tuition revenue. So this is on kind of all the lines of the of the general fund budget.
So, it's basically flat $62,000 decrease um over the various revenue lines, which I highlighted some of the the key areas, but this is all lines in the budget. Um and then this is the analysis. So, as you see here, roughly 92% of the overall
bud budget is made up of uh state aid uh as well as tuition in Leona's case and taxes, which all that is driven by enrollment numbers. uh with special revenue programs. These are the grants that we have included in our budget. These are reoccurring
grants. So, as you notice, there is no COVID grants. Those grants came off. That's uh the reason for the large decrease in in the grant funding. As grants come on during the year, we will always have the ability to appropriate it during the year, not just during the budget
time. And then this is the special revenue. So, as you see, there's a decrease of about 600,000 based on those AR uh grants coming off. And debt service is pretty much flat, which is um in line with the debt service payments when it when it
matures. And then these are the appropriation buckets. So, as far as instruction, there's uh regular special ed, other instruction, and then you have your school sponsored activities and athletics. Then you have all the all the support service areas as well as capital outlay and debt
service. And then this is kind of the the balance side. This is the appropriation side in the general fund. So this is what makes up that $44 million in revenues being allocated over the various categories. Uh and then just something to keep in mind the state
requires all districts to to basically um allocate all their expenses by these categories. Uh, one of the areas where that kind of triggers, you know, increases, decreases in in all school districts is salaries and benefits. As you see here, even
consistent with prior years, basically salaries and benefits, including fringe benefits, it makes up about 81%. So, obviously, staffing, health benefits, all those increases pretty much drive the school district budget. This is the special revenue side uh
relating to the appropriations, debt service side relating to how that the uh revenues are being um paid down relating to interest and and principle on the bonds. Um, some of the things to kind of point out, I mean, this district has done a
great job in trying to maximize capital projects, improving school district uh, buildings while not going to the taxpayer and increase in taxes through a referendum. And you see here, there's numerous projects that we're currently completing or have completed. And a lot of these projects are either through
grant funds, as you see here. ACS roof is a ROD grant. Uh, we have the seven EV charges and buses. We got some D grant funding. uh mitigation projects. We got some funding through FEMA as well as as you see there's a lot of insurance
recovery through uh flooding that occurred on on two mainly two occasions that we were able to to um improve uh mainly the high school. In addition, you know, the district has supported it through withdrawals from capital reserve
to kind of offset taxpayer dollars. Um the other thing as you see here budgeted in 2526. So this budget is really um the only capital items is really the pay down of the turf field that we have an agreement with the burrow. It's a it's a shared shared agreement. So our portion
is is paid directly to the burrow to pay down that debt. And we have a technology infrastructure upgrade lease that we're paying that down as well. So those are the only two uh capital items in this budget. Um as you see here, long-term bonds, so pretty much debt service is
pretty much flat. And then we only have one bond and it matures in 20 303 31. So that's something to think about for future planning, budgeting as we go into the future future years. Uh these are some other capital financing. So these aren't permanent debt. These are leases uh whether
operating capital and you'll see here uh we have the turf field, tech upgrade, water coolers, some smaller items. The large one which we had to add this year was the seven EV buses. And that's also something that we consider when we're looking at when payments are coming due and if there's a
a big drop off as you see in 26 27 there's a you know substantial drop off in payments and then that's pretty much consistent up until 203031 is the big drop off year. So the big um impact is obviously
taxes. So what I did here compared to the the tenative budget I provided because so the tax rate is always uh calculated based on the average assessed home. So, anytime you get your tax rate um from the bureau with, you know, county,
state, uh local, you have to take that rate time the assessed value, not the true value, but um to be more transparent uh to the public. What the assessed value, the average assessed value in Leone is $441,000 roughly on the average home.
What that really equates to in true value is about uh 725,000. So, if you wanted to get an idea, you know, what this means for me, um, if your home is, uh, you know, determined to be valued a little bit higher, the impact is going to be a
little bit higher than $595 increase annual. Um, and for the year n a little, you know, 9,300, it will be a little bit higher than that. If your, um, home is valued a little bit less, then that impact will decrease. And you see here um it's going to go
from 2.113% to 1.9753% which is roughly $595 increase for the school year from July to June. And then the other thing which I
try to provide um all the public and the board is obviously taxes are based on the calendar year. So the school year is is a little bit different. Um that that levy is kind of split up into half of it's in one calendar, half of it's in
the other. So as you see here, the levy basically of the 2526 budget is pretty much split. So of that 26 million, 13,000 is raised in uh from July to December. The reason why it's not completely half is because debt service
is is raised when it's due. So the bulk of the debt service payment is due in July. So that's when the money is raised. Um and then the last year's budget, half of that is raised pretty much from uh January to June. So the combination of the 11 roughly 12 million
and the 13 million, that $25 million is what the 2025 tax rate will be. And as you see here, it's slightly less because it's, you know, half of last budget, which is was a decrease. So, it's roughly 2.0430%. Which the average uh impact on
the average assessed home is a roughly about $462. So, here here's the budget schedule. So, we're really at um right here the public hearing. So, that's tonight. Uh on tonight's agenda, you'll see numerous resolutions that we're required to provide to the to the board.
the board will take action on it if it passes. That information um gets sent to the county and then the taxes are all that tax information gets sent to to the bureau to um the tax office, the county tax office to certify the taxes. with
the caveat in this budget because we're revising it based on that that new um approval that tax levy incentive program by the state. We have to wait for the sign the final sign off by the state which we haven't received that letter yet. So, uh the direction from
the county office was to approve the budget as is. Um and then once we get that letter then we could finalize and submit everything. If the state comes back and and doesn't approve that revision that we submitted, um then we would have to have a public a special
meeting prior to May 14th and then I'll open it up to for questions. Okay. Um thank you very much and we'll start with any board member questions. Um following any board member questions, we will give the public an opportunity to ask questions. We would
ask that you step up to the podium and follow the same format as the public speaking portion where you have two minutes to speak and then we'll provide responses to the questions. So there's any board members with any questions regarding the budget. Yeah.
Thanks. So at the end the impact to the residential tax levy is the 2.04 4 right or the tax rate but then earlier it was 7.04 increase in the tax levy. Can you just explain to me how those two
interact I guess those two numbers? Yeah. So the the seven um which was a little less than 7% but the district-wide tax levy increase is a little less than 7% increase. So if you take a look here this is the tax rate. So the the
01048% is roughly a 7% increase. I see the rate the other thing increase. Correct. Thank you. Yeah. Yep. Correct. Yep. Um so I think there was a a noticeable decrease in salaries. Um do
we know why? Is there any specific reason for that? So the large um reasoning for the salaries is based on enrollment. So, we looked at, you know, different class sizes and the enrollment levels at different levels. Um, and basically some of those staff were um I
guess basically non Right. I can jump in. Um, some of that stuff. So, we did a lot of uh we did a lot of internal review about the positions we have in the district. Um, based on enrollment, uh, we were able to just kind of modify some of the positions. As you know, our
kindergarten section last year was five sections and now is four. So that kindergarten class will move up to grade one. So things like that that we saw. We looked at enrollment. We looked at the trends and we were able to eliminate positions in that um in that capacity. We also looked at efficiencies across
the district to see if there were areas that um we could uh for economic efficiencies or just effic just operational efficiencies um kind of help with what we had to do. We we tried to minimize the impact on people as much as
we could. Um but by prioritizing what was in the best interest of our students prove the thank you. Any other questions from board members? Okay. Seeing none, we'll give the opportunity for the public to ask questions. And similarly again, please
step up to the podium, provide your name and address. You have two minutes to speak. You want You want to just have them stand up and then Daniel could Arthur's at 125 RAD. Uh, another outstanding A+ uh explanation of our
spending. Uh, draw to the attention of the public. I'm sure they they noted it, but of the school budget is the largest portion of our tax bill by by far. But of that, of the $44 million, about 80% of it is
contractual and is non-discretionary, which means there's not a lot we can do about it. And a large portion of the balance of that, although not discretionary, uh is mandatory because you're going to be buying a sports equipment and replacement materials and things that wear out. So, there's really
a very very small amount. So, uh uh it's really a terrific explanation, probably the best that uh you know, we've had in years. And a side note, uh, many people don't realize it, although it was in one of the agendas, Eric's leaving and that is going to be a very big loss for the
town. Uh, this is Eric's probably been, as I've said it many times, I've been going to board meetings 35 years, and Eric has been the best of the best. Thank you. Thank you. We feel the same way. Arthur, any other members from the
public wishing to speak, make comments about the presentation? your name and address. Christian Hudson. There he is. That's better. Christian Hudson, 316 more Avenue. Well, we got to save money wherever we can, right? Um I
didn't know Eric, but he was fantastic from the So, um quick question. Y um I noticed a lot of tactical there's also the fiveyear strategic plan that you guys have begun crafting and working on. I didn't see any specific callouts in
the budget for how do we begin to move that plan forward. Maybe it's baked in along the way, but I just want your assurances that this wasn't an exercise for not that we are just going back to basics and that this is um something that you're focused and continuing to be
committed to. Also, gifted and talented, which I'm sure we'll talk about later. Um and the last question I have is did you guys calculate f future burden of any of these? Anytime we raise salaries, that's not a salary raise that happens today. It's a salary raise that happens every year in the future. So every
dollar that is in health care, additional healthare, that's future burden as well. Have you guys and do you guys maintain a future burden analysis? So we we don't currently have a a detailed future burden analysis, but we do uh when we are building the
budget, we do look at um as you see here, salaries and benefits. So the benefits is a little bit hard. I mean we do have projections from the state. So historically uh prior to these past three years the state has kept health benefit increases kind of flat. Um
recently with their analysis with their actuary reports it's been at 10 12 15%. So from that level we are projecting you know a higher level increases based on what we're hearing. Um in addition to the salaries so we do have you know these salaries are based on approved
bargaining agreements. Um so we know percentages, we know what things are being settled at and that is one of the you know the areas where you know the state basically said that we're under adequacy. Um so this was an area that we were able to to kind of meet those under
adequacy levels by taking advantage of you know that um I guess previous budget years not maximizing the tax levy uh because once once uh all districts could basically go up to 2% tax levy um with the exception if you have health health
care cost enrollment the state allows you to go over 2% if in a given year if the state doesn't m If the district doesn't maximize that 2%, then what happens is the state allows you to carry over those un I guess unspent um tax levy amounts into two future years. The
third year it kind of wipes out and then your tax levy basis kind of decreases, right? So that's one of the areas where you know in in years past um by not maximizing you know any bank cap any any of the 2% it it kind of um hinders
districts where you know salaries are increasing at three and a half percent but your tax levy cap is maxed at 2%. It's something to think about. The other thing is is um with the tax levy because of state aid which I might have not mentioned. So when the state gave us an
analysis of the state aid amount that we should have uh received um in the in this year the state basically to kind of um help districts out where there were getting a decrease they capped it at 3% decrease. So in Leonia we should have
received a much larger decrease than we what we received. Um and I believe I have that number. Okay. Yep. Correct. Correct. Correct. Yep. Correct.
Yep. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, I I see what you're saying. So, um I mean there's a lot of fact what you're saying with salaries is yes, but once we put um a staff and and add a
full-time equivalent, that full-time equivalent is there for future budget years. Yeah. Yeah. So, it's not only it's not only the the three three and a half%. Mr. Hudson, I don't mean to cut you off, but it's not the board meeting is not it's not the time to have a dialogue if you and and this is not it's
you can certainly ask questions of Mr. Thomas Sevich outside of the board meeting. It's just that we have a full agenda. We do have people from the public wishing to speak. So though you are more than welcome to to contact and reach the board office if you have specific questions about the presentation or even if if Mr. Tom
Thomas is willing, you can ask questions after the meeting. Yeah. So this presentation will be on our website. Um the tenative uh presentation on the tenative budget is on our website. This will be posted. Um if the state approves to move forward, we are required to post our
user-friendly budget. So all that information will Yep. And just to follow up about your the first part of your uh your questions, Mr. um we made every decision with our strategic plan in mind as we were going through the budget. um
that strategic plan uh I've I personally have been asking for a strategic plan from the district for years now. Um so I'm very excited and we are fully committed um and as long as I'm here, we will be fully committed to the strategic plan and making sure that those goals that we've developed as a community come
to fruition and that in five years we see our district moving light years ahead of where we are now. Um not that we're anywhere to be we're in a great place to be clear, we're in a great place. Um, but it's all about moving forward as a district. Um, so we are continuing all the decisions we've made.
If you, um, you know, when you look at the presentation, all the things we put back into the budget from the tax levy were all things that were aligned to some component of our strategic plan. Um, including the gifted and talented piece. Uh, so everything we have done
has been with that with those goals and the district and board goals in mind. And I actually want to build on that a little bit. So I think Dr. Kermos, you started in the district just before I joined the board and I joined the board just before COVID. Um and at
that time the uh my desire for a strategic plan and my understanding of boards of education and their roles um that's when that was born and that was something that I was asking for from the very beginning. Um I had pressed a lot about the long-range facilities plan also because it didn't seem like we had
completed one in quite some time. Um, the most unfortunate thing about the strategic plan because I think the board members were all on board. I think the board office was on board was COVID COVID happened and then that put kind of everything on pause. Um, and then we our
superintendent retired that put the strategic plan on pause. Um, and then we found a a small gap in between the start of our new superintendent and and his announcement. Um, and we were able to get it done. Um, so and it's been to the
point I mean to to Dr. Car Carammanus' point, she's reminded me multiple times that, you know, some of the decisions that we've made and the agenda items you see are born out of strategic planning elements. So that's not something that's going to be forgotten. Um, that is a part of the fabric of the board of ed and the school community. So that's
something that's going to be important for us to maintain. And Arthur, I didn't get to thank you um for the announcement you make reminding any of the public that might be watching about the um where the majority of the costs um in this budget go because that's that is a
very important point, the 80% of the cost really is to to pay the teachers that are educating the young minds of our students. Um, so I just want to appreciate and thank you for for calling that out because that's an important point that I think is over often overlooked and that there really is very little control
over, you know, how much money we can cut or not cut or where we can make cuts and and those cuts that we do make, they really go deep and they hurt when when we have to make them. Um so this uh the the the uh incentive program that the
state is offering it although they say it's based on in an inadequacy uh I think I mentioned it and I had a long diet tribe at the last board meeting um we we are not providing an inade adequate education um through the efforts of the board office and our
teachers that have found major efficiencies and and the way to be able to make our education system work with the budget that we had we provide the the high quality education that we do. This additional funding will just make it a little bit easier to do that. So, thank
you. Any other members of the public? Any comments about the budget? Okay. Thank Oh, yeah. We have not done that yet, but that's part of one of the pieces in the strategic plan for the first part of the
uh facilities infrastructure review is going to be looking at our demographics, our uh we'll hire with in collaboration with Edgewater um to do a demographic study and then uh also looking at how that affects our space. So, it's part of the plan which
will happen. Yeah. Um I could just elaborate. So, in 2022, we did uh we had to revise and and approve our long range facility plan major amendment. Um in in part of the long-range facility plan, the state requires us to do a demograph
demographic uh study for uh enrollment and and capacity. um as part of our long-range facility plan in 2022 based on that demographic study it actually they projected an increase. So even a lot of these studies sometimes is not
perfect. Um but one of the areas is we we try to communicate with with the burough to figure out if there's any new developments if there's anything coming on that possibly will have an uptick beside just you know people selling and new people moving families moving in.
Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Thomas. Another great presentation. Thank you. Okay. Um, okay. We already covered 2.1 student rep comments. No more changes, right, Renee? Okay. Thank you. Um, and we had a motion by Dr. Meester and a second by
Miss Thompson on item 3.1, approval of consent agenda items. Does that do your motion still stand? Okay. Can we have roll call, please? Or excuse me. Um, any items for discussion? Does anyone want to pull any items for discussion? Okay, I'm seeing none. Can
we roll call, please? Miss Choy, Dr. Mester. Miss Molina, yes. Mr. Park, yes. Mr. Seagel, Miss Thompson, yes. Vice President
Melman and President Lee. Yes. Motion carries on consent agenda items. Thank you. Brings us to item five, administrative reports. Dr. Caramonos. Okay. So, for a few things for my administrative report. First, today is National Teacher Day. Uh this week is
teacher appreciation week. So, we just want to thank all of our teachers, all of our educators out there. Um the teachers in our district, out of our district, teachers that are on the board, that have been on the board. um you know just thank them for all the work that they do with our students and for making Leonia just a great place for
kids. Um next board meeting on May 20th we will be uh honoring the three teachers uh from each building that won teacher of the year this year uh elected by their peers uh for this honor. So we will have them here to recognize them. We will also have our student uh
Valentina Colola. Uh she will be re she's received an award from the state New Jersey Council of Social Studies for a high school recognition award for the excellent work she does in in uh social studies and that in humanities. So we will be honoring her and our three
teachers next week or next board meeting on May 20th. Um, I also want to congratulate the Limelighters for an amazing job uh with Mean Girls. Uh, they did a phenomenal job. Completely blew me away, which I feel like I say every time
I come back from some musical or art or some type of music performance that we have. Um, but they our students are absolutely phenomenal. Um, I I cannot tell you the the vocal the vocal chords on some of those kids is absolutely amazing. the acting, the dance, like I
just overall absolutely amazing. Um, if you had the opportunity to see them in action, you know, you're lucky. If you didn't, next year you better put on your calendar because it was it was an amazing amazing they did an amazing job. Um,
uh, so we want to congratulate them. Uh, next I just want to remind everyone the New Jersey um school climate improvement survey is open is officially open. Right now we have only like about 4% of our parent population has responded to our
survey. Um, so we do I sent out a reminder today. So we do encourage families to please uh, you know, submit their feedback. Uh, feedback is really important um, and really helps us kind of look at the the data that and kind of give us data points that we know we need to to look at. Uh we had about 45
families at ACS, 18 parents at LMS, and 25 parents at LHS. So I hope by next week I can report much higher numbers and that's about 4% of our population. Yeah, good. Good. Happy to hear that.
Now we just need the other 96%. Um so we hope so please take some time. Um, I did send out the link again today through Parents Square. Um, just want to remind everyone there's a lot of end of year events happening. They're
starting to gear up. We've got musicals, we've got uh concerts, we've got induction ceremonies, we've got graduations, we've got parent workshops, we've got it all. So, please be on the lookout for parent square posts uh from your buildings and from also myself
about uh different opportunities and different events that we have in the schools. Um it'll be an exciting few weeks ahead of us. Uh especially for our seniors. Uh lots of stuff going on and we're really excited. So um make sure you keep an eye out and put things on
your calendar. Um uh just an athletic season. We're about midseason in the spring. So this is about the time I'll give you an update. Um we are gearing up for county and state tournaments in all of our um athlet athletic programs. Uh there's two
programs specifically that are doing exceptionally well this season. Uh our softball team um our our softball team recently defeated North Arlington uh in the first round of the Bergen County Invitational Tournament. Uh the next round of the county tournament uh is
tomorrow. So they play again tomorrow and they play they travel to Bergen Tech. So if you are interested in seeing that head to Bergen Tech um it'll be great tomorrow. We wish them the best of luck. And our softball team is currently in contention for a league title. So, it' be really exciting. Yeah, it would
be really exciting. Um, and then our track and field, our both our boys and our girls are doing very well. Um, the boys finished second at the NJIC League Championship meet and the girls finished fourth at the NJIC League Championship meet. The county tournaments are scheduled for the 9th and the 10th and
then the state tournaments are the following week on the 16th and 17th. Um and our boys volleyball team. So this is the first year that we've had a boys volleyball team. Um so we want to congratulate them for their first season. You know, they're halfway through the season and they're doing it. So we're excited to see where they'll go
in the future. And that's about it for me. Thank you, Mr. Thomas Evitch. Thank you, President Lee. I just have one additional besides the public hearing just to remind all families summer EBT is is currently underway for 2025. Just
to I mentioned it at our last board meeting, but just to um explain what summer EBT is. It's a federal program to help families buy food for their school-aged children during the summer. Uh roughly every family that has a qualifying child will receive $120.
That's through the state. Um, so if you're currently if you're currently uh have submitted an application and you're getting free and reduced meals um either through an application or through direct certification, there's nothing that you have to do. We have your data that'll get uploaded um the in the first initial
upload is May 16th. If you haven't submitted any application, we always encourage all families to submit um a meal application to see if you qualify. If you qualify during the course of the school year, you will get free meals. um because even if you qualify for reduced
uh this board and and um in past years we we approve all free meals for free and reduced families. So not only during the school year but also for the summer months. So our initial upload is May 16th. If you um still would like to submit an application, you have till May
9th to get your um information during that first upload. after May 6, after May 9th, you could always still submit the application before June 30th and even into the summer months and you will get um and if you qualify, you will get it on the next upload, but the first
first upload is May 16th. So, uh May 9th is when the first applications are due and then May 16th is that upload. And then based on that data, the state will provide the the meal cards as well as $120 per child um for for each family
that qualifies. Thank you very much. Okay, that brings us to item 6.1, student representatives. Hi. Hello. So, I have two things or three things to talk about. So, culture culture day for the high school will be on May 23rd, and it's essentially a day
full of um performances and opportunities to go around the um the gym to eat different foods from different cultures. So, I push students to sign up for tables because it's a great opportunity to have fun with your friends. Um, my second one is that prom
tickets will be go starting to go on sale starting tomorrow throughout the 19th and to please get that in as soon as possible so we can make tables. And then lastly for seniors, a reminder to submit their senior week permission
slips. These permission slips are very important for us for dou park and all the other activities and need to be signed by a parent. So please do not forget about them. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um that brings us to the uh board of ed practices and
principles committee. Miss Melman. Yeah, we have a few important updates. Um first off, the um board and district goals update has been moved to the June meeting. So it will be kind of more like an endofear update. Um also we
are in the process of completing the CSA evaluation for Dr. Karammanos. Um the template is going to be emailed to all board members later this month after our committee meets. Um we still have uh six standards that we'll be reviewing. Um so
just keep a lookout for that email from me. Um and then when our committee meets again, we are going to be looking at the different platforms for the strategic plan that will allow for all that information sharing with the public.
Thank you. Uh that brings us to buildings and grounds. Mr. Zucker is not here. Any other committee members have you guys met? Don't think there's been much. Do you know? Yeah, we haven't met yet. Um okay, that
brings us to item 6.4, the education committee, Miss Thompson. Uh so we met uh we did a few things. We one of the things we talked about were the next steps for the gifted and talented program actually. So there's something in the works. I don't know if
I could talk about it but you know more to come on that. We're definitely um making sure that you know with the momentum we have after the audit uh we continue to to make progress on that. Uh we also
um talked about our strategic planning goals and objectives and how to make sure that the committee stays on top of those. Uh let's see. And the other thing I wanted to mention is that tonight is the second
reading. It's maybe I'm stealing Sid's thunder a little bit of the policy around uh the required graduation credits for high school. So we are aligning our policy with um the state whereas previously we required more
credits in the state and uh and aligning it as well with most of our neighboring school districts. So thank you for everybody's work on that. Thank you very much. Um item 6.5 is finance and planning which is myself. U
because there were essentially no changes to the budget um from the last time that we had met uh we have not met Um, so the next meeting we'll have is sometime after budget adopted. That brings us to item 6.6, policy. Mr.
Sable. So, as Miss Thompson mentioned, we do have a second reading of the policies today. Uh, there are a few more policies that we are looking to update and evaluate. So, we're in the last stages of planning the next meeting, ideally the next either later this week or early next week to finalize that. Then those policies will be on a
subsequent agenda. Okay. Okay, thank you very much. That brings us to [Music] item 11.1, which is a second public comment section. So, anyone wishing to speak from the public, please provide your name and address. You have two minutes to speak. And I thank you.
Appreciate your patience. Hello. Hey, uh Dan Slayman, 177 Lake. Um so my family has been in Leonia since 1979. I'm a alumni of Leonia public schools. Um last year the only school
board reached a $6 million settlement with two brothers who were sexually abused by ACS teacher John Anagnosti over a six-year period. Why is the settlement not been disclosed publicly? Is this board trying to hide the settlement because you fear there's more
victims who may try to come forward? John Anagnosti was a teacher in this school for 14 years. In 1981, when Mr. A was arrested for sexual abuse, the Onia and the school board chose to support that predator. That support included
fundraisers, petitions, letters of support orchestrated by teachers in this school, regular news articles, a parent of one of the accusers being arrested, and more. When Mr. was convicted. Rather than taking steps to
see if there were more victims of his abuse, Leona decided to do nothing. And that decision left those of us who were his victims with the lifetime of having to deal with that trauma of being abused and ignored at a very young age. In
2019, when New Jersey passed the new sexual abuse law, this board had another opportunity to do something to support Mr. Ray's victims. To date, you have demonstrated the same lack of care that happened in 1981 and
1982. I'm here tonight because I'd like you to hear an example of an institution who is taking responsibility and caring for victims. The Boys and Girls Club is facing similar issues. Rather than just ignoring the situation, they have
adopted a comprehensive child safety policy, policy that this school district should adopt as well. They have also gone further and taken public responsibility by making the following statements. We fully recognize that although these incidents allegedly
occurred many years ago, time does not erase the pain experienced by survivors and their families. We continue to support legislation that grants survivors access to justice. We respect those who have courageously brought forward these particular important
concerns. Our organization will work diligently to have these matters resolved in a supportive, empathetic, and ethical manner. That's their public statement. Your mission statement as a board says you seek to inspire students. What message are you sending students? you
seek to inspire by continuing to hide what took place in this school. The school district needs to take responsibility and show care for other victims who still may be out there struggling from being abused when they were children. Mr. Ray was in the school for 14
years. 14 years. The owner should follow the example of the Boys and Girls Club. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak?
Arthur uh Arthur J125Ds. Um the current board is in a search uh effort right now which is taking a lot of time and and you're doing a lot of work on it to replace the superintendent uh Brian who proved himself in a short period of time to be outstanding. So it's a challenge a
huge challenge you have to fill. Um it's going to be tough and now you've got Eric leaving all s you got two enormous projects in front of you. So, I encourage you to find a superintendent that is grounded whenever you find that person and also somebody who has a
personality kind of like Brian that it it goes a long way as far as fitting in and uh and being uh approachable. Um uh the board again has been working hard. I've noticed that anybody who reads the uh the public who reads the minutes as I
do, you'll find out what's been going on. Um, and um, one of the great qualities Eric has had is a great view of the road ahead. And since I do a lot of the financial looking, you know, seeing what you're spending and seeing what problems are coming down the road,
he always seems to be able to have an answer. And that's important. So, you need to find somebody who has that tough to find. Hiring is really, really a challenging effort. So, you need to find somebody who has that quality. Uh, and Zanthy, appreciate you doing double duty. That's a lot of work. Um, and
regarding the the previous speakers, and it's certainly an unfortunate uh situation that that the the school district went through, but it was publicly stated, it was the the settlement was in the was in the minutes of the of the reading because I I raised that issue also financially. What was
this large settlement for? And it was for that. But I have no obviously this the situation things that he raised were obviously um sad and need to be addressed. But again, this is a different board. There are boards and boards and boards. But uh it doesn't
mean that uh because the boards change that the issues have to be dropped. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments from the public? Name address. You have two minutes. Great. Christian Hudson, 316 Moore Avenue. Um all of these are in
response to the gifted and talented presentation from last board meeting. Um will a slide deck be shared? It hasn't been posted yet. Will it be posted? Yes or no? And if so, when? Uh can the data from the survey as requested at last
board meeting be shared? Yes. No. And if so, when? Um, as requested at the last board meeting, is there planning to be or could there be a separate meeting specifically with the consultant and members of the committee/board to continue the conversation that was being
had two weeks ago? Yes. No. And if yes, when? [Music] Um, the specific questions is, do we know who the coordinator on record of the program previous Martinez? We said now it's probably doctor, but we don't
know. And we'll get back to you on that. We also asked how many gifted and talented children are there in the district at this point in time. We were told don't know but we get back to you on that asking for an answer on that. Has a formal committee been established? It sounds like there's been
a meeting but has a committee been established to push any part of that action plan forward? If so, is there any intention to include the community in that committee? Yes. No. Um, and if so, details on that committee's role, involvement, so forth,
and specifically, what are actual next steps in the gifted and talented that can be extended to include the community or at a minimum at least be announced and made public so that there is accountability for the plan moving forward. That's it. Thank you.
Okay, we're going to start with uh the gifted and talented. Um the gifted and talented presentation has not been posted because we're redoing the website as I mentioned last time. Uh we need to wait until and actually I know that you have a copy of the presentation. So, I
know you're I I think I sent you and your wife a copy of the presentation and the actually the whole audit itself. Um, but regardless, the the as I mentioned last time, we're redoing our website. So, our website right now, we can't add
anything to our website until we um we uh they finalize the migration over. So once the content gets migrated over then we will uh we will update the gifted and talented portion on the website with all of the information that we discussed with the consultant and with all of that
uh additional data the presentation and a summary of all of the data that was uh collected from the audit. Awesome. Um and we really do appreciate you sharing that with us. We were unclear whether or not we could share it further because you hadn't posted it. You know I mean it's one of those things where Mr.
Hudson, we're not going to do a back and forth. I apologize. No, she raised the question though. She said, "We sent it to you." So therefore, okay, she brought she brought she brought it into the I appreciate it, but it wasn't a question to you. She was just making a statement. And in terms the format and I I I'm not
trying to shut you down just the formal process of the the just following the protocol, right? We have we follow Robert's rules of order, which is the same process that the council follows as well there. And and just like you have the opportunity to contact Mr. Thomas Sevich, you can
also contact Dr. Karamanos for your questions and h and and in that format you can have a dialogue and it's just because we have to follow these procedures just so that we can stay within within the quorum and follow appropriate procedures for our meeting. Again, if you had that question, you could have you could have asked and I
know you don't know what her response was going to be, but it really isn't. This is not the forum for discussions back and forth. the time for that. If you have questions, you can always reach out to this the the acting superintendent. You can always reach out to the schools for those. This is the time definitely. I mean, you can ask
questions here, but it's not the opportunity to go back and forth. So, I appreciate your understanding. So, uh like I said, the presentation and the survey, the summary of the survey results will be posted on the website once we finish that migration over. Right now, we can't change what's on our
website. Um but we will post that. Um and as we talked about last time, it will be with the updated information and also a road map of our overall audit and each like of the the steps that we saw when um when our consultant was here.
Um there is so we did I do not have the answer about the gifted and talented students at this time. I apologize but I can follow up with I you know it was it's been a little bit busy but I can follow up with you uh in the next few days. Um
and then that way if you do have questions and want to talk specifically, we can absolutely talk more. Um the committee has not been established. Um it is it was two weeks ago that we had the public presentation and the education committee met last week. Um we did uh we are in the works of putting
together a parent workshop to get the to keep the momentum going for uh just to show that we are continuing and we do have uh we do intend to move forward um a committee but while the committee has not been established we are planning for how we are going to establish the
committee what exactly because we do have three buildings so we want to make sure that each building is getting a committee that is specific for them and then how often are they going to meet given all of the other you know we have five different strategic planning goals. We have a lot we have to cover next
year. Um so kind of figuring out how we can strategically support each of the buildings. We have scheduled the administrator training which will be at the end of August. So all of our administrators will spend a half day with our consultant and uh training them on um on how to support uh students and
how to support teachers when it comes to our gifted and talented population. Um and also our enrichment, what enrichment means in uh the the district and what that looks like and what teach and what our administrators can how our administrators can support teachers in building enriching lessons um and
differentiating to include enrichment. Um so that's that's where we're at in terms of the planning process. Um we are there is a portion of the committee there is some committee work that will need to be done within the either the administration or the staff because
there is we if we do want to talk about students parents aren't privy to that information right so um we do want to make sure that we have some committee time without parents but there is there will be an opportunity for parents to support in terms of like looking at the
multiple measures looking at the assessment tool whatever it might be whatever objectives that the committee has we do intend to include a parent representative uh from for each of the committees that we establish in in the buildings. Um and in terms of the uh coordinator right now uh since Dr.
Martinez left I am the designated coordinator. Um we are as I said with every budget decision we made we did intentionally make all of those budget decisions. um with the idea of having and you know I can't speak too much because it's personnel but with the idea
of having uh a gifted and talented role established in the near future. Um so all of those all of that is part of the works uh in the works. Um we do ask for some time because it is the end of the school year. Um, I do promise and I know I hope you can take my word because I've
met every time anybody's asked, I've had the conversation. Um, that we are intentionally doing this work and we're not putting on a show by having an audit. It is something that we are committed to doing. We just need the time to be able to do it and you'll see a lot more action over the summer.
And Mr. Hudson, I do want to elaborate a little bit more on my comments from before. So, there was a point in time when I sat in the seat that you're in now, and I had the same sentiments and same feelings of the board president that I was being silenced, that I wasn't
being heard. Um, that's what drove me to run to be on the board. And um I have grown a lot since I've been seated on this side of the board. Um the one thing that I have absolutely learned is that
um that the board office board staff, board members are open to conversations with the public. Um, but again, from from the forum perspective, this is not the forum for discussion. So, um, I I'm sure Dr. Konos would be more than willing to, and I'm stepping out on a
limb, um, to have a conversation, extend the conversation with you. Um, that's really where the dialogue happens. And then at the board meeting, we're we're really taking action on items that are already and previously been discussed or reviewed in committee and things of that nature. So, it's not again it is this is
not absolutely not an attempt to to ask you to be quiet or not speak your voice. There's just a a decorum that we're supposed to follow and that's what we aim to do at all of our meetings. So, I appreciate your I actually appreciate your comments and I appreciate your desire to keep the board accountable to
what we said we're going to do and I'm happy to see you here. I'm happy for all of our P members of the public to be here and have this this is the purpose of this meeting. We have far too many meetings where we don't have anyone from the public coming except for Arthur and
and very often Jordan. Um, so I do I I do appreciate you being here and I do appreciate your comments. So working um I wanted to make one um kind of follow-up comment about the G&T programming. Um when we first started talking about this as both an ed
committee um and principles and practices slashstrategic planning um I was really impressed with the thoughtfulness that Dr. Carammanus brought to this discussion because um with my own kind of limited knowledge of gifted and
talented um she really um made it a point to say we're going to take our time. Um, and I understand um that you know there's there's a pressing need for gifted and talented. That's why
we made it such a big part of our strategic plan. But at the same time um she made it very clear and I think we all agreed that we didn't want to rush into anything. We wanted to um approach it with a lot of care and thoughtfulness. Um and that's why Dr.
Carmanos attended, you know, professional development on it and things of that nature. Okay. Thank you. And um Vic, I wanted to check with you on terms of the limitations on a response to Mr.
Schlavven. So, just so we're clear, in terms of responding to any, you know, continuing litigation, we can't do that. But in terms of um his request that we consider uh that policy that um that I think Mr. Schlayman sent to Dr. Carmanos and maybe
to the whole board. But um that's something that certainly can be reviewed. Obviously, we can't review at this time, but it's something that the board can review. Um and um and again, I think to Arthur's point, um it it may not have been very obvious to everybody, but I
think that, you know, attended to the board meetings, the the settlement agreements were put on the the agenda. They were publicly approved. I know that Arthur commented on them several times. So, um, uh, certainly completely perfectly appropriate comments for Mr.
Schlleman to make here tonight. Um, our response is obviously limited in terms of the the lawsuit piece. But, uh, but in terms of the policies and and looking at adopting that kind of a policy, that's something that has that I think, let me rephrase that, that's something that the board can certainly consider
and have a discussion about. probably first would go to the policy committee um and then a larger board discussion which would be a public discussion. Yeah. Okay. U Mr. Slademan, I do appreciate you coming tonight and speaking, sharing your thoughts. Um if you did send a communication to the full
board, I I did not see it. I'm not sure if you sent something already or not, but I do appreciate you sharing your um sharing the um example for the Boys and Girls Club. Um and we will take it under consideration. Thank you very much.
Um, any other board comments. Okay, we do have I I actually have a couple other comments. Um, I do want to appreciate and say a word of thanks to our teachers. If anyone here or anyone watching has ever had a teacher, um I would encourage you to
thank one and appre be appreciative of them. Um they certainly deserve it for all that they do and all that they go through. Um and I also wanted to give the public a brief update on the superintendent search. So I think that was
um Arthur had mentioned that but we are coming off of an extremely lengthy search process that we started back in February. Um we had about which culminated in uh nearly 40 potential candidates. We went through an
exhaustive review process in terms of who we wanted to proceed with interviews. Um we had several evening meetings and several other meetings and lengthy discussions um in this room. Um and ultimately ultimately we didn't find a
candidate that we felt was truly the fit for Leona. Um each candidate each candidate was highly qualified and they all brought unique strengths to the table. Um but we just didn't feel that any of the candidates fully met the comprehensive needs and
long-term goals of our district. Um this was a similar process we would we went through three years ago. Um the candidate profile was developed through community feedback through staff and teacher feedback as well so that we could find the right person that ultimately ended up with us finding Dr.
Gaitton's. Um we are again going through that similar process. But unfortunately with this round, although you know again we did have highly qualified candidates um there just wasn't one candidate that we felt that met all the needs that we were looking for in a superintendent. So
in the meantime what we will be doing we we have advertised for an interim superintendent. Um so we'll be once we receive candid candidate information um we'll again be going through an interview interview and selection process for the interim. Interim superintendents can operate for up to
one year with the school district. Ideally, we won't need to go that full year. Um, but we are going to take some time um to step back, take a breath. Um, we've gone through an extremely extensive process over the past three months. Um, I think the board just needs
some time to gather and collect our thoughts as we we prepare again to go through another round of superintendent searches. And obviously on top of that, we also have departure of Mr. Thomas Sevich, which is a great loss to the district. He's done a lot for us in terms of cleaning things up and really getting us into a good financial
situation. Um, so Dr. Caramanos in the meantime, you know, she has posted for both an interim and a permanent BA position to see which types of candidates we might be able to get. Um, as the acting superintendent, the fulfillment of that role is Dr.
Carammanos's duty. Um, the board's role is simply to approve or deny her recommendation. Um, so, so we're putting a lot of faith in Dr. Caramano. So, I know she's been looking um, and she's already brought some great ideas in terms of candidates and how we can go about expanding our search and finding
the best candidate to hopefully fill the the big shoes of Mr. Thomas Savage. Um, so I mean the good news is we are left in a very very strong financial position by Mr. Thomas Savage. So, whoever is coming into the district to fill that position is very fortunate to be left
with um, very tidy books. So, um that's the short or short update on the superintendent search and thing I actually one comment I wanted to make to the board. Um this past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Leonia day where I got this wonderful water bottle.
Um one of the things that I noticed um I do want to thank the LEA for attending the meeting and I'm saying this publicly because I want to try to keep the board accountable for this as well. Um, I know we've been extremely busy with the superintendent search and I kind of lost
focus on the public outreach component and seeing the LA LEA and many many other organizations represented at Leonia Day. I realized that that was a great opportunity for us to not only give an update for the superintendent search to anyone from the public that might be interested that doesn't watch YouTube or take the time to come to
these meetings. Uh, but it was also potentially an opportunity to remind the public that we have elections every year and that there are three seats up every year and to give people information on how to run for the position and what forms you need to fill out. Um, but in general just to have an opportunity to interact with the public on a level
that's not so formal and and defined as a board meeting. Um, so my ask to the board and my um ask to the public from an accountability perspective is to look out for board members. You know, when you can, I'm asking the board for us to
look for opportunities to reach out more to the public to see if we have events like Leona Day coming up where maybe we can set up a table. We can take turns staffing and then providing information to the public just on what we're doing, what's going on lately. um if if the public has questions about the board and
what we do um directing them to the appropriate entities if they have issues or comments or praise for the school like where that should go. Um so I'm just asking for your support and looking for those opportunities as well. So that's it with that. Any other board
member comments? Yes. So I actually have um two thank yous. One uh thank you is to the ACS home and school for putting on a wonderful uh gala fundraiser on Saturday night. Kim
and I were both there supporting ACS. Uh and it was a a great event. And also I really just wanted to thank Dr. Carmonos for stepping into the acting superintendent role for the second time now and really embracing it and leading
us and and driving change. not just sort of keeping the ship afloat, but continuing to to help us work on improving the school district. And you're everywhere and we're so grateful for you. I'm happy to be here and I'm happy to be
everywhere. Yeah. In continuation of some of the thanks, I just want to also recognize Leon High School, uh, you Mr. Calendar, Mr. Service, you know, last Friday there was a transformer issue. There was power outages going on. There was there was state testing going on. They were able
to balance all that. We got continuous updates from Dr. Caramonos as well as uh from from Mr. Calendarer and and so there's a lot of moving parts going on there, but they were able to ensure that students safely got home. Students who were supposed to come in later in the day, they didn't come in because the school was having the power issues. So
really great example of communication of something that was completely unexpected, but uh they pivoted well along with the rest of the staff. Thank you. It was a long Friday, but we did it. Thankfully, we were able to reschedule testing, too. It'll be later in the month. I'm sure the kids are
looking forward to that. Okay, any other board member comments? Okay, seeing none, that come that brings us to item 13.1, which is close session. Um, we do have some items to discuss, including next steps for the superintendent search and some other
matters. Um, so for those members that are here in person and for the members that are watching on YouTube, um, we'll need to go into close for for approximately 30 minutes. Um, after which time we will come back from close session, um, simply for a vote on
personnel um, and then a motion for adjournment. So, can I have a motion to go into executive session, please? Mr. Seagel. Second, Miss Thompson. All in favor? Any opposed or absent? Okay, we are in close session. Miss
Troy, Dr. Mester, Miss Molina, yes, Mr. Parr. Yes, Mr. Seel. Miss Thompson. Yes. Vice President Melman. Yes. And President Lee? Yes. Motion carries on personnel.
Thank you. Uh, can I have a motion for adjournment? And just um I don't know if I could use the same vote for the new business. We didn't vote on new business. All right. Can What's new business again? It's um a point from uh special legal counsel. Can
I make a clarification and confirmation? Okay. Can I have a motion for item 10.1? Miss Thompson. Second. Second. Mr. Park. All in favor? I. Any oppose or absentions? Motion carries. A motion for adjournment. Mr. Sigel. Second. Miss
Thompson. All in favor? Any oppose or abstensions? Okay. We are journed at 10:07 p.m.