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 and posting of the agenda on the school of the school district website and through parent square Can everyone please stand for the
pledge of allegiance roll call please Miss Troy Mr Grow Dr Mester Miss Molina Mr Park here Mr Zepa Mr
Sega Miss Thompson Vice President Melman and President Lee here We have a qu and and also in attendance is our superintendent of schools Dr Caramanos
Okay I'll let the record reflect that Mr Zucka Miss Thompson and and Miss Milman all contacted me before the meeting U they had personal conference time as well as our student representatives That brings us to item number 1.4 public comments regarding any
agenda items So that's anyone in the public wishing to speak Um you have you'll have two minutes to speak on any agenda related items Seeing no one we'll move on to board member comments on agenda related items Any board members wishing to speak
about any agenda related items okay None Um okay That brings us to item 2.1 but our student representatives are not here tonight So we'll move on to item 3.1 which is essentially the subject of
the meeting tonight Um that's item 3.1 to authorize the application to increase expenditures in the proposed 252.6 budget Dr Kam Carmanus will give a little bit of background on this this item Sure So I will start off and then I
will pass it to Mr Thomas to give us some detail Um but I just wanted to share with uh the public and those at home um why we are here why what the special meeting is for and why um this agenda item is here Uh so um for some
context after we went through our entire budget review and prepared for next year and presented it to you all a few weeks ago uh we received an email from the state on about February 4th I think it was It was the Friday uh sorry April 4th It was the Friday uh the first Friday in
April Um that said that we were designated uh by the NJ Department of Education as under adequacy Um what this means this designation really means is that according to the state formula the state funding formula our district is currently spending less than what is
determined to be necessary to provide a thorough and efficient education And I say that in quotation marks because there the state has its own standards for what thorough and efficient education means Um it's really important to say out loud that this does not
reflect the quality of teaching that we provide our students and the quality of education and commitment that we have to the students here in Leonia and our students in Edgewater Um but rather it highlights for us a structural funding issue that impacts our ability to uh to
support the increasing academic social emotional and operational needs of our students So as the state is requiring more of us um those and those um and the needs of our students are changing and increasing um it's highlighting that we aren't really meeting those uh we don't have enough funding to meet those
expectations Uh over the past few years uh particularly the past few weeks uh as we prepared for next year's budget we worked very diligently to stretch every single dollar that we were going to get for next year Um we made very strategic reductions We reallocated funding We did
a lot of work Uh but with the rising costs especially in uh mental health supports educational services technology and facilities maintenance um you know the rising cost really made it increasingly difficult to meet the state uh adequacy targets without any
additional revenue Um so having the additional revenue will help us support the essential investments in mental health services instructional staffing and classroom resources that when we were highlighting and we were reviewing um what this additional revenue would
provide for us we really looked and carefully aligned each of these items to our strategic planning goals that we developed as a community right we we went through that community process to say that these were the important things that we wanted in our schools So we aligned all everything that we have that this revenue would support is aligned to
our strategic goals as well as the state standards for educational adequacy Um so I will turn it over to Mr Thomas to dive into it a little bit more from his end Um and then we can answer any questions following Thank you Dr Carmanos So just
to add a little bit more context to what Dr Caramano said So the state um has released u basically for fiscal year 26 an appropriation act which allows certain districts that were determined to be under adequate Um what that determination is is it's based on the
state aid formula It's calculated based on enrollment Uh the state calculates uh based on the various buckets of the student population uh where the students fall and the cost to like Dr Caramano said um to determine
a thorough and and uh adequate education um by determining that one of the the factors that the state utilizes is the equalized value of the town as well as the income level of the town So that is basically to determine how much
equalization aid is required in Leonia So when they did that the state a formula kind of determined that based on um equalized value increasing which basically in Leonia it has increased uh roughly one point in total
1.745 billion to a little over $2 billion right so as as that level is going up that equalization aid that is needed decreases the other area is the income level of Leonia um they determine that that income level has increased
over the past uh three-year data which has in5 million to 519 million So both those areas which is positive for the community for Leonia it's it's kind of a
uh aspect relating to state aid calculation and the need that the state will provide to Leonia to for education So because of that uh the state basically calculates in other buckets whether it's special ed transportation security aid they
identified you know based on enrollment the cost in those different buckets and how much state aid is needed for you know for Leonia to support the the 2526 uh budget uh through all that that aspect identified the overall state aid
um that the state will support Leonia is at a level of it's just under about $2 million Um they compare that obviously with the uh prior state aid that they provided Leona which is a little bit over it's $5.3 million So they kind of uh determined
that the state aid is needed in Leonia is is roughly almost a $3.5 million decrease Uh what the state did is to kind of minimize the impact on all districts They basically capped it at 3% So going into next year we're getting a reduction of state aid about 161,000 So
with that you know taken in mind and the projections that we've been internally we're also looking at you know current you know 25 26 and also future years and projecting out where the stated it's going to be for for those future years and future budgets Uh with that being
said uh the under adequacy number just to kind of put it in context uh that they determined by the state is roughly 1.74 million So that's basically saying that that Leon is under adequate meaning that the level of the expenditure level
for instruction purposes not the whole budget is is basically under by 1.74 million However you know this district has tried to you know minimize tax levy and and um you know maximize financial resources whether it be grant funding um
and and other areas So with that being said is the districts o is restricted to to kind of increase that level and bring that level up to where you know we identify certain needs you know every year we're restricted and there's always
a 2% cap so that you know even though we're under adequate we have to maximize you know we have to meet these these criterias in order for the budget to be compliant So which we we're consistently doing Um currently what we projected out for 2526 is we're utilizing all that
maximum capacity So we're at the 2% cap We're we're adding additional um tax levy for healthcare adjustment which the state allows So currently we're at you know roughly a little over 4% tax levy increase So with that being said is the state you know because of the under
adequacy they're allowing all districts that are determined to be under adequate to increase the tax levy tax levy up to the under adequacy number um which is you know 1.74 million whilst but um the
caveat is you have to maximize all your prior year bank which Leonia has done they you know they they kind of are utilizing all that that prior year bank that we banked in the previous years and and maximizing um you know reallocation of of expenditures which we you know
myself and Dr Carammanos with all the administrators we looked at areas of you know to reduce um expenditures that are not necessarily tied to efficiency and uh um thorough and efficiency standards So with that being said you know the the proposal for tonight's budget on this
resolution is not going up to the 1.74 million It's actually um increasing it uh to a level of 750,000 which the state's going to give um provide some relief which is 5% So of
which 714,000 will be um increase in the tax levy all this the next steps uh you know based on tonight's resolution the application will be submitted to the state the state will review all the the um information that myself and Dr Carmonos provides as far as identifying
the needs They review it if it gets approved Those changes will be provided to the public at the public hearing on May 6th So we'll you know we'll go over the areas where we identified that additional increases will be you know highlighted in with the approval of the
state So that's where we current currently are tonight Thank you Um any questions or comments from the board um okay So I do want to make a statement um um trying to summarize some of what what
uh Mr Thomas Savvich and Dr Carmonus were saying Um I think for the general public and really for the record and for the so I have because I'm on the finance and planning committee we actually met um in an emergency meeting to review this opportunity Everything really did come last minute Um I tried to relay a
lot of information through the email that I shared with the board but obviously it's you know you can't feel the tone and sense that I'm trying to portray Um a lot of what was heard tonight and and for you know the the public that are here and watching um I
think there's there's two kind of conflicting information pieces of information that it may sound like came out um that that the state according to some formula they have it appears that we're not spending enough money to provide a thorough and adequate
education Um but you've also heard that we absolutely do provide a thorough and adequate education and I would challenge anyone to look at our school district and try to find areas where we're deficient So there's those two competing kind of thoughts and then the question
leads to and what that turns to and as a state sees it they see it as well you need to spend more money you need to raise more taxes and they've given the board the difficult decision and they've given us this decision a week and a half ago Um so not enough time to share
enough information with the public not enough time for us to analyze and really do a thorough analysis of okay well what can we put back in the in the budget that we had to cut out in order to keep the tax flow where we had it Um and but thankfully you know hard work of Eric and and and Zanti we were able to figure
that out and we have what we believe is a good and strong application that'll be approved by the state to allow all that all those services to be added back in Um but you know we mentioned I mentioned that we are providing you know a thorough education for the students of
Leonia So why like why are we then choosing to increase the tax levy take advantage of this application process and and and proceed with this it's tough economic times Imagine I mean everyone in this room is feeling it price of eggs Yes they're coming down but everything
else is still going up And I'm almost willing to guarantee that the salaries that you're getting are not comp keeping up with increase in costs That's not something that's that's looked over by the committee or the board But the reason why this is important and Eric touched on a lot of this um is you know
our our budget relies a lot on state aid Um the state reduced our state aid this year Uh we were actually fortunate this year the reduction actually wasn't as much as it was supposed to be The state actually capped how the reduction in our
state aid this year Um the trends are showing that enrollment is dropping Enrollment is one of the biggest factors in the determination of state aid and we see that that may happen again next year There is no guarantee that the cap that
was put on the reduction this year will be there next year as well So for the board let's imagine we we take this opportunity and say you know what we're not going to take advantage of it We're at a little over 4% and we're going to
leave it at that Then next year state aid numbers come out and it's even it's even lower than what we received this year we are only digging ourselves deeper into a hole that was that has developed over the years So for us to
to completely just turn away from this opportunity is is really shortsighted Um on the flip side um the number that Eric put out the 1.74 million that's the maximum that we could have added on top of what we were already what we're already proposing Um
that equates to a total of it would have been about well it's 7% Um that 7% it it when you when combining it with what we were already proposing comes out to a total of about 11% increase and that's just something that is not it not
something that anyone on the committee was even willing to entertain Um so we we are taking advantage of just a portion of the opportunity even though I mean the state's telling us we really should be increasing the full 7% to meet
their formula Um obviously the budget and the increase in the funds is every penny helps with the school district None of it is wasted It's all going to be put to good use We would love to be able to go up to the full 7% but that's just not something that's sustainable by
this community So that's why we're proposing that's why we landed on the 3% Um even with that I mean there were still tough decisions in terms of what to add back into the budget because we still have the sacrifices that were made in the budget this year to make the budget work Um it's just that now we
have a little bit of a less less of a sacrifice that we're making Um so that's that's the why Like that's why we are choosing to to move ahead with this And what is again is terrible is the state reduced our state aid but
then told us you need to increase your taxes and that's why we're here to make these tough decisions but it's for the benefit of the students for the benefit of our teachers that provide the education to our students and it's really for their future and I strongly
encourage an affirmative vote Um again I wish we could push for more but in the current economic climate really we we really feel like we're reaching for the for the maximum that's really really possible So I just wanted to provide that color I know most all the board
members received my email but for the public to hear the sentiment and the thought that went behind this it wasn't just an arbitrary decision and we picked the number Um there were there was a lot of concern for for the ability to take this action because typically this type of an action requires a referendum and a
vote and more information to the public but the timing of this we essentially have to have this vote and we have to submit by the 11th So they the the state really didn't give us a lot of time and again to pass up on this opportunity sets us up for major budgetary failure
in the future Thank you Yep Um you'll send this application into the state based on what you want to add back into the budget and the state can tell you "No we don't want you using the money for this." And then what happens
so basically the district has submitted the tenative budget um through the county office for state review that all those checks have been have happened and signed off So um so what was presented to the public to the board at last board meeting has been approved It's complying
with you know 2% all the caps all the requirements all the support all the backup what we put in they checked it off So now the next step with this application is we're you know we'll submit it to the the state for review for the additional funding If the state either approves some of it doesn't
approve some of it then those changes will either will be made in the tenative budget for public hearing or they won't be made So once they you know they allow us to say you know you could put this into into this line this into this line this one we don't agree with Um then
that'll allow us you know to to make those changes based on that review And to be quite honest the state hasn't really given us a lot of information Um even it was kind of I mean Eric and I started the we've been working on the application Um there's parts that says
explain an explanation but doesn't really give you much information on what they're looking for So I mean we've gone through the standards that they're expecting We've scoured the internet for every single standard document we could find You know we've done our back-end
research um thankfully with chat GBT But uh the um we don't know right we we don't have there's no rubric There's no you know directive There's no just there's no understanding from the state level which is happens a lot unfortunately But you
know we'll try our best Yeah Um the uh yeah sorry about that like you know the uh this is the unfortunate circumstance that we we getting really budget hit and they're reducing all the like state budget So according to um the Mr a statement saying that um the uh so we are
increasing uh 7.5 million out of um the 1.75 million what they what the state required to increase 7 okay 75 okay 75 so that okay yeah okay I'm sorry yeah so yeah so that um so it's about like 40% of the whatever the
state called the adequacy rate so that uh by saying that um the we still doesn't meet the uh you know whatever the state uh think it is adequate um so the probably uh you know I'm pretty sure that the administration like work really hard that like something to really cut or whatever that is I really appreciate
that But now um the uh I mean which part is we are very short on um the um you know um which part of the uh adequacies rate what state says that and which part we kind of like um the still need more uh the according to state uh the
adequacy rate under certain budget So so you're asking about the items that will not be returning into the budget Okay So we did um when we initially prepared for the 2526 budget we cut a lot of uh supplies a lot of technology
uh a lot of um we went through and we basically just kept in the budget what was absolutely required to run the school district So a lot of the extra stuff uh we downsized uh the amount of instructional tech programs that our students will have access to next year
Uh we uh you know really evaluated the curricular programs that we have access to uh staffing we we did we were very strategic with staffing for next year So there are there's still a lot uh maintenance a lot of maintenance um a lot of like um so a lot of professional
development like all of those areas we we cut kind of from every bucket Uh so with this we're allowed to add some we were able to add some more to help especially in the areas that we know are going to like we added you'll um one of the things that in the finance and planning committee we added a good chunk
back to our curriculum programs and instructional technology So students will now have a lot more programs than we anticipated for next year pending approval Um but we and then we took like any of the
um new initiatives and programs that the principles wanted new staff you know there's a lot there was a lot of new staff that we wanted Um but still keeping in mind our strategic plan and our strategic goals that's was that was the priority Um but we we took out a lot of like the maintenance projects Um a
lot of the uh you know Mr Woods is fingers are crossed that none of the buses break down ne next year because you know now with these new EV buses that hopefully those maintenance costs go down Yeah I hope that like next year's budget uh the state budget has hopefully
increases you know fingers crossed and then I would do appreciate that you guys are really hard to work out you know the cutes and all that like work on the this year's budget Thank you Just just President Lee just to add so when when the state says like we're under adequate they don't they're not looking at the
big picture So what happens is you know just to put into context so they said they're basically um determine our adequate budget is 31 million but the overall district budget is not 31 million what they're identifying 31 million is is strictly tied to student enrollment
um student enrollment based on the needs and they're basically calculating you know they have rates you know genered student is is 15,000 to to educate a student special ed is x amount of dollars so they say okay based on all this it's roughly almost 31 million then
what happens is they compare it to uh state aid in various categories and the state basically says you we're going to support special ed you need x amount of dollars you need x amount in security aid They look at the other big bucket is the equalized aid They kind of compare your income and they basically say okay
you don't need support from from the state because in essence your community could fund it through taxes right but what happens is is um and this is you know previous budgets you know um trying to minimize you know um tax levy
increases and all that you can't go back So like if if let's say previous administrations eight years ago five years they did 0% increase 1% increase Now what happens is that floor is kind of at a lower level after a couple of years any unused tax levy kind of gets
eliminated So so the the the district had no way to kind of go back to the taxpayer to say you know we didn't need it two years ago but it kind of is catching up um you know to the community to the district to meet that you know what they're saying you know adequate
level for you know really tied to instruction So that's in a way where like President Lee said is the state kind of allowing districts to go over the 2% and go back to the taxpayers uh to get you know a tax relief basically
um or tax support in the you know in the form of tax levy to kind of you know close that gap But that's not covering maintenance It's not covering you know all the various buckets that we identified as a need of the district to support students whether it's indirect
not tied to directly in the classroom It might be tied to providing you know um a safe facility a facility that supports you know the overall needs which is tied to you know efficient efficient thorough and efficient standards But when they say the budget they they're not looking
at all our lines So that's just you know something to just keep in mind that they're just identifying strictly enrollment certified you know um enrollment uh levels Thank you Any other questions or comments from the
board okay Can I have a motion and a second please on item 3.1 Mr Growl Motion and a second Mr Park Uh that's we don't need roll call That's all Roll call Okay We'll
call Miss Troy Mr Grow Yes Dr Mester Miss Molina yes Mr Park yes Mr Seel and President Lee
yes Motion carries on finance 3.1 Thank you Okay that brings us to public comment item 4.1 Anyone wishing to speak on any non-aggenda items please step up to the podium You'll have two minutes to speak Okay Seeing none uh any board
comments on non-aggenda items Okay Um okay U item 6.1 is close session Um I would like to go to close just to talk about the superintendent search just for for maybe about 10 15 minutes Um so
members from the public and our members watching on YouTube um we do appreciate you being here We will be in close session for approximately 15 minutes following a motion and a second Um and at which point we will return simply to adjourn Um
actually actually for those watching on YouTube at home because after close session we'll simply be coming back uh to close the meeting there We will not be coming back after closed session So can I have a motion and a second please to go into closed motion Mr Seagel Second Mr Park All in favor any
opposentions okay we are enclosed at 7:28 p.m