The time is now 7:01. I'll call the meeting of the Leonia Board of Education to order. Um, adequate notice of tonight's meeting has been provided in accordance with the open public meetings act uh through distribution of notice to the record. posting of the
>> Okay, that brings us to item 1.3, public presentations. Um, we do have a presentation tonight. >> Well, thanks. Excuse me, Mr. Mr. Nisenov. Can we or Dr. Nisenoff, can we have a roll call, please? >> Dr. Meester,
>> Mr. Park, Mr. Zepka >> here, >> Mr. Sagal >> here, >> Miss Thompson, Vice President Thompson >> here, >> President Lee >> here, >> and uh Mr. Busenich
>> here. >> We have a quorum. U please let the record reflect that uh Miss Choy and Mr. Grow and Miss Melman all had personal conflicts tonight and they did contact myself regarding their attendance.
Now that brings us to item 1.3, public presentations. Hello. Okay, great. Um, so welcome today. Uh tonight we have our budget hearing for the 2627 school year. So next year's uh budget presentation. Um we will similar to how we uh presented
last time, you know, I'll I'll kick off our presentation and then hand it over to Dr. Nissenoff to get into the numbers. So um like I said, I'll kick it off and then I'll uh hand it over to Dr. Nissan for the numbers. So we'll take a
quick look into inside our schools. So, you know, we we when we think about our schools and when we think about um what we do here in Leonia, we always come back to our mission. And our mission is to inspire individual talents and foster educated citizens to think
clearly, critically, and creatively. And that drives all of the decisions we make, including when we um when we're planning our budget for the next school year. So, oh, to start off, we have
our presentation has gone off. So, to but I'll, you know, I'll keep going while we we are here. Um, to start off, uh, to share a little bit of background about our school. Um, we have three school buildings in the district. uh uh ACS elementary school which serves
uh prek to grades four and we have about 480 students in in the ACS building. Leonia Middle School which is grades 5 to 8 and we have about 680 students. And then Leonia High School which is our high school grades 9 to 12 and we have
about 760 students. We also have a annex building which supports our special ed uh department and we also have our board office which is where um my office and Dr. Niss his department um where we are uh in within our schools we have we we
are proud to offer a lot of different programs um that support our variety of needs that we have in the district. Um we including our uh diverse learning experiences. Um we our our programs range from remedial supports to gifted
education. We have strong multilingual programs for our students. Um and then we have our strong special ed uh programs across the district. We also are proud to offer six differentmies at Leonia High School. And within our athletic programs and clubs, we have
over 23 NJIC programs, 10 NJC at the middle school, and over we have over 700 student athletes and 50 co-curricular clubs that we offer uh within our buildings. So now looking at our students,
so our total enrollment for uh through for over time, so this graph here takes you from 2016 to present. Um when you look, you'll see we, you know, 2016 we were at 1,800 and then we kind of skyrocketed up to a little bit over uh
2100 in 2023. Um and then we've seen a slight decrease since. So 20 um from 23 to 24 and then uh 24 to 25, but then we took a dip between 25 and 26. So in 25
we had u 2064 264 students um and then this school year we have 1924 and then we're projecting somewhere around 1900 for next year. um you know since 2022 you know this this there's a lot of reasons why that attributes uh
attribute to our uh decreasing of enrollment and part of that is you know the housing market right when there's a um no houses on the market for sale right there's less families moving in less families moving out um and then on top of the volume we also have the high
increase in the housing costs and the housing prices and the mortgage rates. Um, so all of that kind of contributes to a little bit of our enrollment decrease that we see that we've been seeing. Now, focusing specifically on our our Leonia residents. So, these are the students that live in Leonia. Um, you'll
see similar to our total enrollment, you'll see a slight uh decrease here uh over time. So you know we had in 2425 we were at about 1525 in 2025 and then we now are at 1422 is what we have this
year. Then when you look at our Edgewater residents um Edgewater has been over the past few years has been fluctuating between that 500 and that 550 range. Um, so you'll see that kind of go up and down from 2020, sorry, starting in 2022,
then we kind of go up and down with Edgewater a little bit. Um, currently, uh, 34% of our population is, uh, in grades 7 to 12 are students that live in Edgewater. So that's 34%. I I get that
question often. People always ask and, you know, there's some misconceptions that, you know, Edgewater is bigger than us or Edgewater is really small. you know, I I hear both sides, you know, from from when I get those questions. Um, but to debunk the myths, we're at 34% of our of our population in grades 7
to 12. Our total population, Edgewater students are 25%. But in 7 to 12, they're 34% of our population. Now, last year, as a board knows, we passed a strategic plan, and we are in
our first year of the of uh executing our strategic plan. The plan has five goals. Um, and these five goals have been really the pillars that we've been focusing on this past school year and as we've been planning for next year's budget and next year's programming.
These are the five areas that we've been really focusing on and some of the great things that we've been doing in 2526. So, we've been doing a lot even though it's been the year is almost there, but we've we've gotten through a lot this year. Uh we've spent a lot of time
evaluating our programs, specifically our special education offerings and our gifted and talented. Um this time last year, we were actually presenting the audit findings of our gifted and talented audit. Um and since then, we've been working with our consultant and our our committees to focus on um
implementing those audit findings. We've also invested a lot of time in professional development, whether that was professional development in gifted and talented, multiensory reading. Um, and we've been using and leveraging our professional development days to share best practices and to get teachers um,
and all staff growing in their various. This year we also implemented mental health clinicians at both the middle school and the high school. We also are in the process of working on a digital learning vision and plan
working on right now. Um, thinking about what does digital learning look like? What does the future of teaching and learning really look like? And how can we focus more on just having tech in our classrooms? We earlier this year or at towards the
end of last year uh we deployed seven EV buses and completed the installation of our EV chargers. Um this summer we will spend some time evaluating the impact of those EV chargers and buses um and the differences that we've seen um in our fleets, also the financial differences
that we've seen, any benefits and any negatives. And we've also did a lot of renovations to the high school over the last summer that the students are experiencing this year, including the media center, the art room, the wait room at the the high school, and then the evergreen wing.
We are continuing with our Leonia uh green initiatives and our sustainable Jersey work. Um we recently found out this week that LMS has uh was awarded the tree campus school for the third year in award third year in a row from
the Arbor Day Foundation. Um we found that out this week. That was exciting. Um you know we love our trees here. So the being part and being able to continue that work is has been great for our schools and our students. We also spent a lot of time um really
thinking about our communication. We've made upgrades to our district website, our registration uh process, our registration forms, and then also the way we communicate, including our newsletters. Uh we have our weekly newsletters from the buildings and then our monthly newsletter at the district
level. We also have a lot of insurance projects that we completed this year and are still, as you know, the science wing is still one with an asterisk. Um, that's why it's pending. Uh, we hope to get that going and get that moving as soon as possible. And then finally, we've um
spent a lot of time strengthening our relationship with our Edgewater colleagues. uh we've started our monthly superintendent meetings and our quarterly uh admin meetings where we've brought together our both of our admin teams to collaborate and focus on um how
we can better connect our districts and our students. So that's all what we did this year. Now going into what we are looking to do for next year. So some very high level uh uh priorities
that we're focusing on and that are were evident throughout the budget build process. Uh executing our profile of a graduate and the vision for learning including our digital learning. Um upgrading our public curriculum platform to be more transparent and have curriculum um more readily available for
families. uh the our digital learning vision and plan, thinking about what we prioritize and what does innovation look like in our district and how you know devices and how that all should be used uh based on the research and the work that we've been doing uh this year
making plans for what our indist programming looks like particularly for our uh special populations thinking about how we can uh maximize what we have here in the district and create stronger programs for those students. We are also looking to expand our mental health services by adding another
clinician into the district. Um we have one at LMS and one at LHS right now. So the hope is that we can add one at ACS as well. Um one of my one of my favorite ones is the alumni network and partnerships. Thinking about how we can
leverage that alumni network, building out there. different areas that focused on bringing back together the ad hoc committee that we started earlier in the school year. And then finally, we're we've been really looking for additional
revenue sources. Um, you know, we changed our health benefits over to be able to support uh the budget, but then also looking at other revenue opportunities um including grants, um you know, uh facilities, rentals, how we
can leverage that more, uh energy savings initiatives, etc. So 26 27 we've got a lot of work ahead of us and um I'm going to pass it off to Dr. Nissenoff who's going to tell us how all of that is going to come to life. >> I get the the uh the fun part of the
presentation I guess. Um well be before I before I do get started just want to uh say th this is approximately my second month only in Leonia. Two months and in two months it feels like I've been here forever. I got to tell you I I
love it here. I love Leonia. I love the schools, the town, the shops, the coffee shops. I've been to the You guys have crosswalks that cross diagonally across the street. I thought that's uh pretty unique. It's just a great little town
and I just want to say publicly how much I I really enjoy being here u and how welcoming everyone uh has been. So this is the the second goound of the budget presentation. Thank you. Uh it's obviously a success. I think we've
increased our uh audience participation by 100%. Um so I could tell it's uh going to be going to be really really popular. This is a little bit of new and improved, little bit of revised. And spoiler alert, the uh end the uh ending
is a little bit better than the ending from the last one. So, uh so let's uh get started. Is it me? Oh. There we go. Okay. So, at the the highest level, um we look all the way to
the right. We're looking at a budget of approximately $48 million. Um of that, we have $20 million of uh other revenue other than taxes. And we're looking at a tax levy increase of about 20 or tax levies to be raised of
about $27 million. You can see that the budget is comprised of three different sections. Our general fund, our special revenue fund, and our debt service fund. The debt service deals with um referendum that the district had passed years ago. So
there's no change to that schedule. And the special revenue fund represents all of our grants and internal programs. So there's no taxes for that. No secret. We've had challenges as every school district across the state of New
Jersey has had this year with regards to our budget. And this just sort of highlights um the the major points of that. The overall budget increase is about $2.3 million. And the lion share of that is our employee health benefits.
And that even as large as it is, that comes after the board successfully made a transition to a private health insurance plan, saving uh a lot of money, but still the increase is $1.3 million. We've also experienced over the
past couple of years an increase in our out of district tuition placements and uh our insurance premiums. Of course, we know we were the beneficiaries of having very very good insurance. That insurance is expensive. If we're going to use that insurance,
our premiums are going to increase as well. and uh understand that when this our utility budget was struck for the 2627 school year know that that was struck before the current war that's in
place in the Middle East. So we plan for a little increase. I'm not sure anybody has planned for what exactly uh could be coming in the future. Let me go
back to that real quick. So, those four items alone comprise almost the entirety of what that budget increase is. Now, there's other items that are going up and down throughout the budget, but these are the main highlights.
We've had some impact on our revenue. State aid has continually been decreasing. So that has not helped us. Um some of our other revenue projections, things like interest on investments and things of that sort are
also reducing. The decrease in capital reserve is not really an impact on the tax levy. So we just we have $500,000 less budgeted from capital reserve to support capital
projects, but we have $500,000 less in capital projects. So there's that really had no impact and the same the same thing with the maintenance reserve. So those two items really had no impact on taxes. Uh we're going to continue to budget
from our surplus $850,000. And what helped us very much so in this budget was an increase in the tuition revenue. Um and that tuition revenue does come from Edgewater. And um that
it's a That's a that's a very big number and it's a function really of the student student population and the certified tuition rates. The uh and that leaves the increase in the total l tax levy about $1.4 million.
I mentioned a little bit about state aid and this kind of shows the picture that for years state aid was flat in Leonia. We had a large increase and now what we're seeing is a steady decrease. Uh I was asked at the last meeting what can we project going forward and I think we
can we can continue to see that line going down for several years uh at least the next two to three years. Another graph we showed at the at the last meeting really just shows the proportion
uh of our revenue that um the greatest source of course being taxes. The second to uh second component being tuition and what was pointed out the last meeting is that while that says tuition to the community of Edgewater that's really
their taxes. So put the two together is uh uh is really taxes for the uh combined communities. One of the largest components of our budget of course is our salaries. But if you noted on that the the one of the
initial slides, we didn't talk about salaries as being a driver of the increase in the budget. And you if you look here at the first line at salaries, you see that our total salaries. That's everyone who's employed in a district. Add them all together, it's actually a decrease. Now, nobody took decreases in
pay. Their salaries went up. The reason there's a decrease is because of reduction in uh reductions in staff. most of which were through attrition and um so not from major layoffs or things of that sort, but most were from
attrition. And then we talked about the benefits and there's the the total increase and you can see the com the portion of the budget that the salaries and benefits that's 80% of our budget. Our school is 85 is our our people represent 80% of
what we spend. check the math uh on this one. Uh but it's uh pretty accurate. Uh what we'll get right to the bottom of well, what's the impact? How does that impact uh our taxpayers? You go down to the bottom uh
on the right, you'll see that our taxes, our overall taxes are going to increase 5.6%. Uh, and the impact to the average homeowner is $524. And
we'll leave it. We're going to end sort of on that note. And if you were here at the last presentation, you would know that it's a little bit better picture than what was presented at that time. So, uh, with that, I'll
end and leave it open for questions. really nice job uh walking through the presentation. I just had one question. When it came to the year-over-year budget increases, it looks like almost 40% of that increase is based on the out of district tuition, right? So, I'm
assuming that's sending people outside of the district for certain needs. But one question was, I know we work hard to make sure that we can obviously see if we can address those needs within the district. In fact, other districts have often sent their students to our
district. But um I how manageable is this to try to find the right balance of you know meeting the obligations of the district as well as just managing that tuition increase and how do we approach projecting that going forward? Like are
we going to expect another 40% of our budget increase next year being these this thing? Is it expanding over time? Just curious. So that's um that's a great question. Um what we've been doing this past year is looking two, three, four, five years
ahead, right? So we are looking we took a deep dive into our current special ed programs that we offer. Looking at where our current our students are and thinking about, okay, we have gaps here, where how are we going to because these are the this is the time where we send a lot of kids out of district because we
don't have the placement for them here, right? So, um, and then building. So, now we know we have two years to build this type of program or we're going to have to send this many kids out of district. So, it really takes a lot of planning on our end and a lot of analysis. Um, you know, it's hard to
once students are out, it's hard to bring them in, but and you know, that takes a lot of work, not impossible, but does take a lot of work to do. Um, which we are focusing in doing. Um, but the important thing is keeping the kids that we have. Um, we're also, you know,
developing a special ed a philosophy around special ed, making sure that, you know, there's that we are all on the same page about how, when, where, and all of that um, in terms of where we place our students and and thinking about their best interests, but also
what can we do in the district um, to keep them here because we want to keep them here, not for cost savings, right? There's so much research about building community and making sure kids are growing within their community to be able to have these connections uh to each other uh for their future benefits. Um so outside of the budget, there's
also that that human piece that we're looking at. But yeah, it's the the the biggest thing is making sure that we're looking ahead versus looking in the moment. >> Um I just went so thank you. Great presentation. Um, as far as the
Edgewater increase, that $2 million, that just keeps popping out to me because I I just think, what if we didn't have that? Um, is that something where the cost that they're paying now, is that going to stay pretty flat or could that decrease? I know everything
could go up. I'm just more concerned on the decrease side next year and the following year. Not with the not the student count. I know it's dictated. I'm talking about the price per student. >> Yeah. And I had this conversation with the Edgewater business administrator and
we both feel the same way about this. The answer to your the answer to your direct question is what would you see? Well, the trend is this is a sign curve up and down um where it it it's it's
variable and it's based on the formula that's in the statute. And um we've agreed to begin conversations. Uh Dr. Carammanos is going to also bring the Edgewater Superintendent in for us to start having some conversations
um to see what type of flexibility there is within the the formula that's prescribed by law. If we can have come up with a better model um that's just consistent. I think both districts need consistency. Um, and it
it it's going to take a little bit of research and we're going to kind of work on that. Our contract is up for renewal next year. So, the time is is now to actually do that. Um, but I I think it benefits both districts to come up with
a um a formula that's going to be that's going to give some sort of consistency from year to year. >> Yeah. I just my concern is like you said if it swings the other way for us but even like at Edgewater if we're sitting in Edgewater's shoes right now that's 2
million less for them to spend on their school or whatever else they had to. So kind of having you know more visibility and predictability into this number would help both of us. Uh thank you for the presentation. That
was very good. Um I do want to emphasize one point which I mean you know we're we're talking about a lot of the positives but um I mean through conversations and being on the finan finance and planning committee I mean it wasn't easy to create this budget and um
the fact that we are able to do what we can do um is attributed to uh many prior years of appropriate budgeting appropriately making cuts that's um to Dr. K Carmonus' point looking to the
future what could be coming up um you know not overextending ourselves where we need to be um so that the ask that we're making of the public in terms of the tax levy um I mean there are many communities that are asking for far more um but the budget's still tight and
we're able to be as successful as we are and we're not in situations like many other districts that are facing really drastic issues um right now because of all the planning the prior year's planning. Um and and it's just to say the great things
that are happening are happening because of a lot of smart decision- making um and shifting of various roles to make everything work uh to the best of the of our ability. And my concerns are really for the are still
for the future. you know, the current economy and where the where the the district and and our our population is heading, population trends for Leonia, especially for the student body. Um, I looked up some statistics and up to up
to COVID, um, we had our spike and home prices and interest rates were were historically amazingly low, under 3%. Um, since COVID, the home prices have skyrocketed. Um, and interest rates have
also skyrocketed. So, families that were able to lock in extremely low interest rates during COVID and whose kids have aged out, there's nowhere for them to move to right now if they're looking to get into another mortgage. So, like in general, you know, where we're headed
and and Dr. Carmano had it in her portion of the presentation. The student body the trend is going to continue to go down for a bit which means our state aid will continue to go down. But what that means is that we'll continue to look at the budgets and plan appropriately. So um that's why we've
been able to keep relatively modest increases um in the budget and that's the plan for the future to keep doing that um at the same time providing the level of excellence in education that we are in the community. So thank you. Thank you for the hard work. I know it's
not easy just thank you. Okay, so that brings us to item 1.4 for a public hearing on um from the public. 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. Arthur's 125 Reies I have questions regarding the budget presentation first then I have other other questions um off the web off the borrow uh the district website show it was the last the
proposed and that may be the problem that maybe that number is not right on the website for 2526 the total operating budget shows was 44 million uh and change. The total operating budget that we just heard was 48 million460. That's
4 million $4.5 million difference. 2.5 million was explained about 2.3. These are round numbers uh with all the increases that were explained in the presentation. That still leaves $2 million unexplained. So it may be the number wasn't wrong was not updated on the website or there may be other
things. So, I'd like to know about where about those other two million unless they're little, you know, 500,000 here, 20,000 here, but I'd like to know if you if you have an answer for that. Um, and um,
uh, that is what I had for the most part. I'd like to point out that the cost per pupil has gone up 25% in the past five years from about 16,000 per student to $20,000 per student right now. on that if that's the trend you were talking about that is not that's untenable to continue going on at that
rate and something's got to get done about it but that's 25% in the past five years and uh and Edgewater picks up part of that I don't know if they they all do but that's they're they're subject to the formula and they're going to work on that um I'd like to know who has the
drone license for the for the district who flies the drone for the pictures you have you No I'll just ask why you don't you don't have answer right now. I'd also like to know in the on the minutes for the executive session, uh, it notes item C, discussion of
science wing renovations. I'd like to know why that was in executive session, why something like that couldn't have been discussed in public because it's a cost. Renovations cost money. You're spending money. What was the issue? If it was litigation, then okay, then that explains it, I guess. But, uh, you know,
it's something I would have liked to have seen. Also under bills there's are um just a minor minor issue um in some of the things when you're saying HBHC parts if there's inconsistency sometimes you'll list exactly what the part or the
unit and that's good in some cases you don't and to me that's a flag where those parts going why are we getting them and what what's the use for them so just a little more consistency uh and I can give you examples but um I'm not going to take the time up to do that
I've got them highlighted here. And finally, the um uh HIP HIB investigations. This is just a a gut feel. And I haven't charted it out and I'm not going to, but it seems like the middle
school kids crank out more. It seems like we're getting more HIB reports, you know, certified or approved or whatever and not, you know, not whatever it is, but they pop up more than ACS and the high
school with a few variations. Do you have numbers on that charts on that? Is that accurate feeling that I'm going that there's something in the middle? Is it just the kids growing up feeling their hormones and going wild or doing stuff? But it's it's it sticks out when you go over when you see these things and you read them month after month after month and you look at them, you
get a feeling for a trend. gut feeling for a trend. And um that's all for now. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else from the public? >> Thank you. >> Hi, Lori Molino, 104 Nelson Court. Um
question on the impact of the community. You said it was a 5.6% increase, which is $524. Um I'm assuming that there's waiverss involved in that 5.6%. um and therefore it's not going to need an a vote from the community to get the
um the 5.6 because it's higher than um what you can do against the state. Um also in regards to the better model for the tuition for Edgewater, I'm totally excited to you know be seeing that and working on it because the send and receive agreement is going to be up at
the end of next year. Um, and I think it's important for the both boards to work together to come up with that so that it's equivalent for both. Um, because we have seen like this downward where some years we owe and some years we pay back and it's it's a puzzle piece
that nobody's been able to manage. Um, I also have a question because I know that this is going wild through Edgewater right now. Um, Edgewater just recently increased their prek tuition rates which is sending a lot of prek students to Leonia. Um, I'm wondering what you're
seeing in enrollment right now. Um, and if it's been up, um, because that would be a significant increase to the budget that you might not necessarily be expecting. Um, but basically look what the numbers are and where you stand with that.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else from the public? Okay, seeing none, um we'll move into board comment. Um prek tuition, I actually looked at enrollment numbers today. Um we have not
seen. So if Edgewater is increasing their prek tuition and kids are looking to go somewhere, send them on over. Um, we still have uh our enrollment is still less than we've had in the past. Um, so we have room there's room at the inn if
there's any students that want to come on over. Um, but yeah, we haven't seen we're at we're at we're at about 29 students right now, which is lower than normal. Uh, hip investigations, I agree with you. Uh, they're there. You're you're right. You spot on. There's more
at the middle school. Um, and that is part of natural life, right? We know that students brains develop in that middle school time and a lot of times there's just a lot going on in their brains and in their bodies. Um so they make some decisions, right, that they later realize was not the best choice
that they could have made. Um so we do see more HIPS at the middle school. I will say that the middle school the the HIB uh last board meeting I presented the HIP grades uh from the last school year and we over time have been seeing a decrease in the amount of HIPS because of the preventative programs we've been
doing. Um, and you know, just because these hibs get approved doesn't mean we're not doing an analysis on our end. So, every time a HI comes in, we're looking for patterns. We're looking for uh threads between um between grade levels, between the type of HIB um and then figuring out what programs we need
to put into place, what tiered interventions, right? We have our general programs and then really thinking about uh our clinician has started taking groups of students that have um uh based on their code of conduct uh and the and the hibs like taking small groups to to really dive deep into these
behaviors that they're exhibiting. um the bills list. Uh yeah, so that's something uh that over the summer um we are looking to be more consistent with how we are naming and describing our
bills on our bills list. Um consistency is key as we were saying uh before the meeting got started. Um so over the summer we're going to uh work with the administrative assistants to make sure that there's consistency in how we are naming so there's less confusion, right?
there's less confusion for the public, more transparency, but then also internally, right? It's helpful when we're a little bit more specific on our end, when we're paying bills and when we're going through all of that and when we're approving um Phil, you have I'll try and fill in a few more other
questions. Yeah, I um I I do think you may have uh conflated general fund total budget. The numbers are right as you said them, but the uh general fund budget for next year is 46 million, not
48 million. Um or give or >> somewhere? Yep. Okay. Um the cost per pupil, as you know, it's a it's a cost per pupil. It's what we spend and it's going to be divided by that
enrollment. And if that enrollment number continues to get smaller, that drives the cost that's going to drive those costs per pupil up. I will say that relatively though, Leonia has traditionally had very very low cost per
pupil compared to um the rest really the rest of Bergen County. It's one of the lowest has always had one of the lowest cost per um in the county. the uh minutes they're they're they're
accurate. The the uh the situation that was discussed was discussed both publicly and the portion that was discussed privately was with council and dealt with the the potential uh litigation and the mechanics of
separating through a contractual issue. But the matter was the full matter was discussed publicly. >> And that's all I have. >> So the drone footage is actually from a professional company that came in to
take footage uh for these purposes for our website, you know, for that PR side. Um, and they got they followed the permit process through the police department all up to I wish somebody had a drone license in the district. I got I need new pictures. I need to refresh.
>> Yeah. I'm going to contact the police department, see if they can do uh proono uh district work. Yeah. Services. I don't I'm not sure if it was a was a question, but it's whether it was a question or a statement, but definitely
the um 5.6% does represent what's permissible with the uh adjustments allowed. And no secret what the adjustment was. It was the adjustment for health benefits because of the increase in health benefits. Thank you. Um, any other comments from
any board members? Okay, seeing none That brings us to item 2.1, approval of the consent agenda item. Can I have a motion and a second? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Motion, Dr. Mester. Second, Mr. Park.
Um, can we have a roll call, please? Dr. Mester. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zepka. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sagal. Vice President Thompson. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Busenich. >> Abstain. >> Oh, Mr. Park. Yes. >> And President Lee >> and Miss Melman is here. >> Yes.
>> And yes. Okay. So that >> motion pass. >> Thank you. Oh, and um sorry. Can you please let the record reflect that uh Mr. Park arrived at 7:07 and Miss Melman arrived at 7:13.
That brings us to item 4.1. Dr. Caramanos. Right. >> I have a few short updates today. Um this week we are NJSLA testing at the middle school and the elementary school. Um we have a lot of AP testing going on
as I'm sure AR can attest to. Um it's a lot of testing happening uh this week in the next few weeks. Um but we're going through it. Um the kids are doing great, the staff's doing great. Um you know, we couldn't ask for a smoother well process other than last week's high school hiccup. We've been smooth sailing with
this new uh state assessment. Um the state assessment is brand new, so first time, you know, we're taking it in the two buildings. Um so it's a lot of scariness, but they're they're doing great. Everyone's doing really well with it. Um this week is also the ACS art
show. So, if you are in the building or around the building, um you know, when you stroll around, you'll see the different artwork that our students have produced over the years over the year. Um the NJSCI, so our New Jersey school climate improvement survey is now live.
Um it's open from now until May 15th. Uh reminders will be sent out periodically. Um the information was also listed in my last in Monday's district update. Um so you'll be able to get the links and all of that information. And um there is a link for parents, there's a link for
students, and there's also a link for staff. Uh next meeting we are going to be honoring our teachers of the year and our educational service professionals of the year. So we will have our staff here and we're excited to honor them um and to celebrate them. Uh and then the next
day we head to the Bergen County uh teachers and educational professionals lunchon. So then we'll get to celebrate them there as well. Um, and this week, for those of you that, um, may not have seen, um, this week is teacher appreciation week. So, I
did want to take a minute to thank every single one of our teachers and all of our staff, uh, for the incredible work that they do for our students and for our families and our community. Um, they put in effort. The effort that they put in every single day is what really gets us to where we want to be and to what
we're doing. Um, they are a stable force. They foster the growth that we want to see and they bring hope to our kids and that's really important. Um I can't thank them enough for the dedication, the countless hours that they pour into it. Um and all that they
do to uh to just be here for our students and to make Leonia a great place for the Leonia for the the children of Leonia and Edgewater. And we sincerely thank them um and look forward to many many years together here in our district.
Thank you. Yeah, I didn't want to steal your thunder because I knew you were going to say that, but definitely a big big big um word of appreciation to all of our teachers. Um this week always seems like a fun week for the kids to do things with the teachers. So, um I'm remiss that I didn't get to take part in
that in the school district, but thank you. Uh >> real quick, I did also want to thank the home and school associations for what they're doing for our teachers this week. um they've got tons of goodies and treats and uh baskets at the middle school, all of that. So, we appreciate
the home and school and the effort they're putting in to make this week special for our teachers and our staff and we appreciate that. >> Thank you. Okay. Um that brings us to our next item, Dr. Nissenoff. >> Sure. Just just a few items. First,
thank you for approving the budget this evening. enable us to um finalize that process and begin our planning for next year. And we're actually uh pretty excited to get get started. Um closing out the current school year will happen over the next couple of months and we'll
roll uh roll over into the next school year ready to go. Um we are uh we talked about the uh the science wing project. We're looking to go uh collect bids in the next week or so. I forget the exact date, but it's coming up probably next
week. Um, so we're pretty excited and hopeful that we're going to get um some capable uh contractors uh to bid on that project so we can get that underway. And that's all I have for tonight. >> Thank you.
>> Okay, that brings us to our student representatives. Four days ago was May 1st, which was National College Decision Day. Um, the LHS seniors have officially made their college commitments, and we've all worked so hard for this moment, and it was a wonderful opportunity to share our
future plans with each other and our teachers. Um, this week, as Dr. Karammanos mentioned, is also teacher appreciation week. And at LHS, the National Honor Society undertook a project in which students wrote uh handwritten cards to their teachers. Um, and that was a really meaningful experience as well to just thank our
teachers for being so wonderful to us. Um, and then finally, the LHS music program attended the World Strides Heritage Music Festival in Virginia and the orchestra course and band program all won several awards and did really great. Um, they'll also be having a free
spring concert on May 21st. I forgot to share that our board rep, Ara, has officially been accepted to college and she's deciding, I don't know if you've fully decided yet, if you want to share it. Um, but she did get into Harvard and Yale and is now deciding between the two. Um, and we're, you
know, last last week I shared that you were at or last board meeting we shared that you were at the student acceptance day. Um, so I don't know if you've officially decided and you want to share it. Um, that's up to you. I committed to Harvard and I'll be studying government on a public policy
track. >> Congratulations. They'll be lucky to have you and too bad for Yale. >> That is an awesome achievement. Um, okay. Thank you so much for the updates. And what time is the concert? Do you know? >> 6 o'clock. 6 p.m. I believe.
>> Thank you. 6 p.m. Okay. >> All high school evening events have now moved to start a 6 pm start date start time for consistency. >> Thank you. All right. Um that brings us to our committee reports. Uh item 5.1
education. >> So we met right before the last board meeting. So we're I think we're meeting next week for TBD. Okay, thank you. That's perfectly fine. Um, item 5.2 is
finance and planning. Uh, the chair is Miss Choy. She's actually she's not here tonight. She asked uh me to fill in with the report. We actually met yesterday yesterday. Um and uh obviously a part of the discussion was regarding the final
budget presentation that um the P that was presented to the public today. Um we also discussed potential upcoming tech purchases. um a few parameters regarding the food service contract and then some of the operational changes in the finance
department for um the admin office. Um and our next meeting is not scheduled yet. And that brings us to 5.3 policy which is myself we are meeting tomorrow right tomorrow. TBD okay we are tenatively
scheduled to meet tomorrow. We're still actually waiting for the state's guidance on the um the cell phones policy which is going to drive a lot of the discussion that we're going to have in concert with the discussions that are already happening at the school with the committees. And that brings us to item 5.4
governance. >> So we haven't met yet, but u up on the docket for the next time we do meet will be the reviewing the results of the security audit that Dr. Carmonus previously referred to. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um, looking
at the agenda, the next discussion item is item 10.1, public comment on non-aggenda items. 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. >> No. Um,
okay. Going once, going twice. Okay. Okay, seeing no one from the public, we will move on to board comment. Board com, any board members with any comments on non-aggenda items? >> I have one comment. Um, I know it's relative for me. Um, so in basketball,
there's been new news yesterday that they implemented a 35 second shot clock. It was just approved. Um, ve very thin margin. So, why I'm mentioning that to everyone is that we're going to have to install those shot clocks at our gyms.
Um, we have a year to do that, but just so you know. >> Thank you. I also just wanted to mention we had a a very nice Leonia day this past Saturday and uh really a great example of the community coming together, you know, different groups,
great attendance. I think it was the largest attendance we've had in quite quite some time. And special thanks to Dr. Carmen for making the trip out there and, you know, meeting with a number of people within the community as well. Thank you. There's nowhere I'd rather be than Leon Day. It is really a great community day.
I wish they had something more like that where I live. It's It's really It's nice to see It was nice to see everyone. You know, you talk to all these people maybe once a year, but it's nice to just be in a casual setting where you can kind of laugh, smile, and have a good time together. >> Yes. Yes, he definitely joined me. He
also loves Leona Day. I had a brief comment. Um yeah, I Leonia day was fantastic. Um just a comment about the snacks at um ACS and I'm not sure about at the middle school. Um apparently the junk food has
been creeping back in. The food committee worked very hard over a number of years, about 15 years I think to um really make some healthy snack choices in the cafeterias. Um our former BA Eric
Tomasovich was really a great partner with talking to Lauren at Mashios. Um but apparently the Cheetos are back. Um so just something to look into. Thank you. Cheetos always find a way. Um, thank you.
>> Yeah, we've been meeting with Mashios throughout the year um and also some of the parent representatives at ACS from the home and school committee um specifically the food part of the ACS committees um specifically talking about this and they have been great. So, I think maybe we just need to remind them.
Um, they've been really they've added more healthy options. They've cleaned up a lot. Um, they've added like especially here at the elementary school, salad is available more is available every day now. Um, we've expanded the middle school salad bar. So, the options are
coming. We just sometimes need to just sit down with them and have those conversations. But, we've met with them frequently throughout the year and I've seen them in and out of Phil's office multiple times. So, um, we appreciate that feedback and we'll talk to them about it for sure. >> It's funny. They actually complain about the unhealthy food that's coming in from
all everybody else, but they're not they they didn't bring up that they're they have healthy food, but we'll look for it. >> Um, yeah, and definitely thank you to the burrow for sponsoring the Leona day on Saturday. I mean, it was a little gloomy in the beginning of the day, but it ended up being absolutely beautiful.
It is amazing to see um I mean how many organizations there are just in the community and how many people are like it it we're not the only ones here at this board there you know there are so many people in this community serving for so many different like different
causes and agencies and um it is encouraging to to be with like other fellow members that that that work and and provide and help in the district. Um, I would love to have talked to more people from the public. Um, it was kind of slow at at the board of ed table. I
think next year we're going to have to come up with with more more fun ways or flashing lights or bigger signs um to get people to come talk to us. But I I do take that as a sign that that the the way the schools are being run is generally acceptable. Um, so we
definitely appreciate that. But we always always welcome comments, questions, criticism because we'll only get better when people tell us, you know, what what they want to see more of or less of. So, um, the and at any time, you know, our emails are on our website
and you can always contact and reach to board members when when you see us out and about town. You know, we'd love to hear from from people whether it's things that we're doing well or bad. Um, and I just wanted, um, Owen Sheridan had shared with me by email, and I'll I'll send it out to the board. It was just
late last night. Um, it was they had brought they had put up a a poster board and people could put post-its on it with what they love about the community. And I was working late, um, reviewing agendas, other other schoolboard stuff,
and was kind of like tired. and I checked my email and I saw that and it was there were there were a couple on there that said they love the schools. So that gave me a little bit more energy, but it's amongst that there are many other awesome things about this
community and I mean it really is a special place that we have here. Um so I do thank I believe that was maybe through Mayor that put that up. Um but I'll send that around. I'd love to see that maybe on our website >> if we can steal that. But um yeah, Leon
Day is a great day. Love the days when we have events at Wood Park with the whole community. So if you can all make it out, I'm sure you've all been to at least one, but but they're all great. So that's it for me. Any other board member comments?
Okay, so that brings us to item 12, executive session. Um we do need to go into exe executive. Um it's only going to be about five or 10 minutes. Um, after that we will come back out and vote. Well, actually, does anyone have
any questions or comments that they'd like to discuss in closed about personnel? Okay. If there are no then then I do expect executive to be about 10 minutes. So, for those members of the public that are here and those that are watching on YouTube, um, we'll go into executive
session for about 10 minutes. Um upon return we will go take a vote on personnel and then a vote on adjournment. Um can I have a motion to go into executive session? >> Motion second. >> Mr. Park second. Mr. Seagel. All in favor?
>> Any I >> any opposed or abstensions? >> Okay. Seeing none, we are in close session at 8:01 p.m. So thank you members from the All in favor? >> Any opposed or abstensions? Okay, we are
back in in um open or public at 8:51 p.m. Uh can I have a motion on personnel? >> Motion. >> Second, >> Thompson in a second. Dr. Mester. Uh, can I have roll call, please? >> Dr. Meester. >> Yes. >> Miss Bellman.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Park. >> Hi. >> Mr. Busenich. >> Abstain. >> Mr. Zepka. >> Yes. >> Mr. Seagal. >> Yes. >> Vice President Thompson. >> Yes. >> President Lee. >> Yes. All right. So, that motion carries. Can I
have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion. >> Second, >> Mr. Zepka. Second, Mr. Park. All in favor? >> Okay. We are adjourned at 8:51