here. >> Mrs. Gandhi, Mr. Hyatt, Mrs. Jenowski, >> here. >> Mr. Lansonski, >> Dr. M. Oh, jeez. I'm here. Mr. Smith, >> here. >> Okay, we have a quorum.
>> Thank you. If you could take a look at the agenda this evening, we'll get started. Um, so the sunshine law and videotaping. This meeting is held in accordance with the open public's meeting act. The meeting is being recorded and streamed. All comment for uh public comment. All
comments should be directed through the chair. Um you have three minutes uh to say your comment and we ask everyone to remain respectful. Um there's no smoking or vaping on school grounds. Uh thank you for that. And Mr. Shatz, I understand that uh the students will be
leading the pledge. So please ride for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Excellent job. Thank you. Okay, so we are going to start out with the student impact recognition for Marorrow Elementary School. So I will turn it over to Mr. Bologone. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh we
actually have two schools that are representing for student impact and recognition. Um really because we had a cancellation of the meeting uh believe it or not when snow was on the ground. Uh looks a little different tonight. Um so our first school up um I'll introduce
uh Mr. Shatz. Are you ready to come up? And you're not ready yet. >> Okay. Um, we'll do a little audible. Marbor Memorial Middle School is is um ready. So, uh, please welcome uh, Mr. John Pacificico. John, do you want to
tell us about your group? It's my microphone. You think I would know how to use it? Um, okay. Good evening and thank you for having us here tonight. I'm joined by our two vice principles, Mrs. Tardio and Mr. Styler. our activities coordinator, Mr. Osborne, Mr. Anona, who runs our podcasting club,
the film making team of Mr. Buchcci and Sun, along with members of our audio, visual and podcasting clubs. To get started, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. An Cona. I'll hold it. I'm Mr. Ankona. I teach here at Memorial. When I went to school,
my perspective was that it was a place of learning and our voice, not so much as a student, but as a teenager, was not entirely encouraged. Don't get me wrong, I received a great education, but I never really got the impression that our voice was really something valued
outside of supporting school sanctioned functions. I guess this is a bad time to mention that I went to Old Middle. All jokes aside, I'd like to think that after 16 years of teaching, I can be the teacher that I never had. Someone who
didn't take learning too seriously, but was still academically challenging. Someone who could be seen as more than a teacher that gives out rigorous work, but a person with interests, hobbies, a life, and a passion outside of school. And in return, that's how I see my
students. But there's only so much that you can pull into class time. And that's really what the catalyst for the Monarch Experience podcast was. I wanted to give my students a place, a platform to showcase their hobbies, their passions, their insight on things that matter. And
because when I went to our administration here with a vague plan for hosting a studentled podcast, Mr. Pacificico, Mrs. Tardio, and at the time, Miss Labuza simply said yes. And that freedom and trust is what has helped me encourage students to appear on the podcast with that very same
mentality. They come to me with a vague plan for a topic and I say yes. From episodes ranging on the more serious about caring for one's mental health and stress for middle schoolers to pop culture reviews like previewing each year's Super Bowl talking about Stranger
Things, Harry Potter to highlighting the wonderfully unique aspects of Memorial that create this incredible culture that we have like our episodes on Battle of the Quads, the boys championship basketball team from 2019, or former NCAA sportsman of the year Jagen Mosley.
all the way to celebrating the diverse culture of Marorrow discussing Indian culture and traditions or ranking our favorite Christmas movies. There's not just an episode for every listener. There's a student voice driving every story. Our logo that you see behind us,
100% student created. Our theme song at the top of every episode, what a story that was written and arranged and created and performed all by students during the height of COVID lockdown. our Snapchat account graphic for new episodes created by students, Dar
specifically, a great addition to the podcast club. And with the advent of that podcast club, it's continued to allow me to highlight student voice and creation as we are just about to launch a schoolwide March Madness style bracket, but instead of basketball, we're pitting Marvel against DC.
I've seen students gain confidence in skills that they never knew that they had. One particular student and I for five years straight previewed the upcoming MLB se MLB season. He was an avid baseball fan and so well spoken that I told his parents repeatedly he can easily go into broadcasting if he
wanted. Since then he's created his own baseball podcast, Stroll onto the field and last time we spoke he was minoring in broadcasting. The first year of the podcast a parent told me, "Thank you for doing this. It's allowed me to see my daughter in a whole new light. I've
never heard her speak so passionately, so eloquently about on something I didn't know mattered to her. And eight years later, 96 episodes being downloaded in over 45 countries, over 40 states, it's been amazing to have created something that allows parents to
see their children in a new light, that allows students to see themselves in a new light, and allows students to be and that allows students at Memorial to be the voice of so many teenagers. Thank you. I created the podcast originally.
because I felt that I have a great rapport with my students. Uh I believe that like that kind of engagement with them in the classroom is really important, but there's only so much you can talk about side interest within the content of what we're doing. Um but I I
just wanted to give them this place to be able to talk about the things that they care about and and to be able to do it in long form. uh to be able to explore literally anything that they care about, whether it's things that are pop culture, things that are regarding school and academics, uh social life,
peer pressure, uh talk about the pop culture stuff that they like, whether it's Super Bowl previews or talking about shows and books, Harry Potter, Star Wars. >> Hi, I'm Kendall and I was on the BQ Battle of the Quads episode for 2025 to
2026. Um, this podcast is like very different because Mr. Anona who does it like lets lets everyone like share what they think like with no limits. >> Um, being on the episode I got out of
like my comfort zone like speaking on a microphone that was like going out schoolwide and like kind of worldwide. >> Well, most other podcasts aren't run by students and Mr. and Kona gives all the students on the podcast like unique opportunities to like share what they
think. >> So in order to make like a good essay, you have to like be really organized and you have to have a clear focus like with a thesis and then with your paragraphs. So basically with both paragraphs it was like not paragraph um podcast sorry you
have to like have a clear focus for both of them almost like a thesis just not really stated. Then you have to like stay on those without getting off track. It just helps me learn more about myself and my friends as well as helping me
like it gives me a platform to learn more about a topic I'm interested in while also teaching others about it. Our podcast is different because we have the chance to talk and it's like the students literally get the microphone
and they can share their experience. I think the podcast has positively influenced students in the sense that it gives them a place to be able to talk about things that they care about. Um, you know, it's not a tagline when I say giving students the platform to be able to voice their opinions about what matters to them. It really is the
embodiment of what the podcast is. And when I get to hear students talk about how their friends never listened to an episode, but because they were on it, peer supporting uh other peers, or because the content was really interesting and really cool, that's been one of the most gratifying aspects of
this is being able to see passionate students talk about things that they care about and have that forum to be able to do that. That was excellent work. Thank you so much for all the dedicated educators and students for all the work you put in. Um
that's amazing. Um, so for the Are we moving on to Marbor Elementary? >> Mr. Shass is ready. Awesome. So, the student impact recognition for Marorrow Elementary School. >> So, thank you. I think um we're actually
going to combine a few items from our agenda tonight. Um, thank you for having us all here tonight. I'm proud because I'm here to introduce several groups from our school um that really they have synergy and that synergy works to enhance our school and um makes brings
us together. So the first person who you're going to hear from is our PTO report out. Our president Mrs. Dana Vera is going to come up and she's going to provide you an update from the moral PTO highlighting the work of our dedicated parents. Um then we're going to transition into our student impact and
um we're going to talk about we're going to highlight some of the preparations that we have for our upcoming visit for Piglet the pink pup and his pack. We've been working on that all day. Um and then after that student presentation, we're going to present certificates both to the students and staff who played a
key role in this initiative and many others in our school uh working together. Um and that's our culture and climate committee. So I have the members of that here who will be presenting um recognition of kindness awards as well too. So um I'll hand it over first to
Miss Vera and thank you so much for everybody because you guys make my job enjoyable and wonderful and our school a wonderful place to grow and learn together. So thank you guys. Okay. Hi. Um, my name is Dana Verga and I am
the president at the Marorrow ENT Elementary PTO. Um, just starting off with the school year. I'm going to tell you a little bit about what we do, what we did over the past year. Um, and some fun stuff we have going coming up. Um, so we started off the school year like
many others with a staff breakfast and an ice cream social for parents. Something that was exciting this year is we had a orientation for the kindergarten. We paired it with a play date where they got to meet Marty the Mustang, take pictures, and everybody got to paint their little hands on a
piece of paper so that all incoming kindergarten can leave their mark on the school. Um, we've had lots of fun fundraising events in the fall and the winter like our fitathon which brings in our most money so that we could keep our cost down for all of our events
including pie sales, wrapping paper sales, root nine cards, pizza kits for Valentine's Day, all that fun stuff. Um, one of the biggest things that we did this year is something called Goat. And I'm not sure if you're all familiar with the brand Goat because I was not.
I'm a girl mom. Um, but apparently it's like a really cool brand and so one of our moms brought this fundraising idea to sell these goat sweatshirts and somehow that spiraled into being like the theme of the school this year. So we were able to do um with the help of the
school the goat of the month which was the kind kid of the month where we provide keychains for all the the kids who were kind to other kids in the school. And during our read across Morell, we happened to find thanks to Miss Julian a wonderful author called Be
Bird Song. And she actually presented one of the things was called the goat and she was amazing. She got the attention from kindergarten to fifth grade by simply saying who's the goat? >> I am. >> Weak. Who's the goat?
>> I am. >> Like many other schools, we've had our holiday boutique and our book fair. our boo bash, our winter dance, our we had child and parent dances over at ORM. We had a yearly talent show. We had a new assembly come in this year thanks to
Mrs. York that had it was an anti-bullying assembly that had dancing and laser lights and they had every kid up dancing which I loved. Um, some of the things that we do as a PTO, we give monthly donations to the teachers like
little treats that we do. um going to be corny here, but some of them included do not donut know what you would do without what we would do without you with donuts. Popping into the new year with some popcorn and any way you slice it, we're grateful for you with some pieces
of pie. Um some other things we donated were some black top games, new basketball hoops over the past year, some uplifting sayings for the bathroom, supporting materials for assemblies, and bringing in special program incentives for teachers. And the biggest one which
hopefully gets approved tonight is our AV system. Um philanthropywise we have done our food drive with fulfill and we did our coat drive which collected over 120 coats, hats, scarves and gloves um
to an organization called one warm coat. Um, segueing into what our students are now going to talk about is one of our assemblies that we have coming up actually on Thursday is our piglet assembly and it is about a deaf and blind dog and it talks about how
everybody has different abilities and disabilities and it great gives a great message of positively positivity I can't speak kindness and inclusion and with that I'm going to turn it over to Miss Manduro. Good evening. My name is Katie Lou and I
am a fifth grade student council representative at Marbor Elementary School. My fellow student council members will now introduce themselves before we get started. >> I'm Would Coach Chanic. >> I'm Lucasaki. >> I'm Raina Parmar.
I'm Bianca Tega Otova. >> I'm Ariana Parson. >> I'm Scarlet. I'm Scarlett Smith. I'm Elizabeth. I'm Elizabeth Yu. To start our presentation, let's take a look back. Last year, students and staff were lucky enough to be visited by
Piglet and his pup friends. Piglet was rescued in 2017 after which it became clear he was both blind and deaf. Now Piglet and his mom Dr. Melissa Shapiro have found a way to turn adversity into positivity to together with his pack.
Piglet visits schools all across the country sharing his message of positivity, resilience, compassion, and kindness. Students work diligently preparing for Piglet's arrival, reading his reading his book, and completing lessons to understand the central idea
of Piglet's purpose, the Piglet mindset. Now, we can proudly say that the Mara Mustangs have a piglet mindset. This means facing challenges with a positive attitude, building on current skills with determination, resilience, and
perseverance, accepting individuals for who they are and including them despite their differences. Having empathy and understanding towards others and following up with positive actions and being kind to all people and animals.
Pick quickly became a centerpiece of so many events throughout the school year. For example, Picker's positive mindset message method that sparked conversation at each of the tables during a walk for change event during disability disabilities
affectment month last year. Fast forward to this school year and Piglet will be returning for round two of visits. In preparation, Mororrow was proud to join all schools across the district this month to celebrate kindness. Our month kicked off with a
variety of spirit days to reinforce messages of kindness. Students also enjoyed themed music as they entered the school each day. Morning announcement throughout the month of February included responses to kindness related questions from students across the district. It was really cool to see what
students across Marorrow had to say about kindness. In addition to the district-wide activities, Marl students were invited to complete a winter bingo board. First by adding two tasks of their choosing that promote good character and then checking off each box as they completed
each challenge. Students then submitted their completed bingo boards to the office to be entered into a Piglet VIP experience drawings. Five students from each grade level were selected by random job for this unique and special experience. In addition to the
assemblies every student will attend, our VIPs will have special time with Piglet, his friends, and his mom for a Q&A and cuddle session. As a student council, we read and recorded the book Can I Join Your Club by John Kelly. This book is about a duck
who wants to join clubs but is rejected for not being able to roar, trumpet, or hiss like the other members. The duck decides to start his own club with one rule. Everyone is welcome. This was the perfect book to lead into Piglet's visit as is as it is a celebration of
diversity, friendship, inclusion, and of course, kindness. Students students listen to this story for their Mustang matchups. A time when all of our fifth grade students visit the K to4 classrooms to not only complete projects, but also develop relationships
and practice leadership skills. Using the story as a guide, students work together to create welcome posters for Piglet and his friends. At Marel, everyone's welcome in our club. Here are some pictures of positive projects students created ahead of
Piglet Survival to reinforce the Piglet mindset messages. We hope you enjoyed hearing about kindness at Marl. As you can see, we are so excited for the Piglet visit on Thursday. We look forward to coming back and sharing more good news soon. Thank
you. Our student council members have stickers they would like to share with you uh that promote Piglet and his message of positive a positive mindset and kindness. So, they're going to share those now.
He's too cute. And we're really excited for him to come. And before we conclude, we would just like to give uh certificates out to our student council kids. Elizabeth Yu, Scarlett Smith, Ariana Parson, Raina Parmar,
Bianca Ortega, Octavova, Lucas Giaki, Oh, Katie Lou, Walter Kachanic, and lastly, but not least, Lucas Giaki. Thank you so much. And would all the students like to come
up and take a picture like right in the center? The parents can take pictures. Yeah. >> Mhm. and we have some recognitions for memorial. Thank you so much. We um are so lucky that we chose some representatives who
are both in our AV club and podcast club. So they have we're on both sides of our presentation. So Angelina Barry, Dar Sha, and Arab Sha, please come on up and get your certificates.
And if you'd like to come up and take pictures as well. And just before we move on to our staff kindness certificates, um I wanted to thank the PTO uh for everything you do for the students, the schools. Um,
Marell is exceptional and I wanted to say um, stay kind and be the goats. Um, and then for Memorial and Marl, you're both uh, amazing examples of Marorrow excellence and we're very proud and the community is very proud of all that you
do in our schools. So, thank you. Okay. And with that, we will move on to staff kindness certificates. >> Great. Um, so this evening, uh, we do this every month. Um, just so you if you're not sure, um, our staff are
recognized, um, each month. It could be, uh, a community member, a parent, a staff member. Um, they send in some, uh, recognition where a staff member goes above and beyond in some way, shape, or form. Um, and is is recognized here monthly at our regular board meetings.
Um, we have quite a few this evening, so bear with me. But I I like this kind of problem because that means we just have uh staff across the district who are going above and beyond and are recognized in multiple ways. Um so
I'll read them individually. We do have certificates up here. Um so um when I call your name, I know this might feel you might feel a little embarrassed, but if you could rise and then just stand over here. Um, and then
we'll I'll read a little something about you. First one, Jessica Sea from Asher Holmes Elementary School. Come on up, Jessica. This is a nomination from one of her colleagues, Christy Silva. I would like to nominate Jess for the exceptional
dedication she shows to her students. She designs lessons that intentionally build the social skills her students need, and she is deeply attentive to each child's individual needs. She willingly gives her own time to have lunch with students, whether they're having a tough day or simply want to
connect. Through thoughtful behavior plans and the genuine care and love she shows, she has helped students with significant behavior challenges growing into thriving, successful learners. Her students are truly fortunate to have her
as their teacher. Congratulations, Jessica. Also from Asher Holmes, Danielle Neri, the nurse. Come on up, Danielle. This is an email from a parent recognizing Danielle. I'd like to recognize Mrs. Danielle Neri, school
nurse at Asher Holmes, for the care and dedication she shows to the entire school community. When my son was diagnosed, Miss Neri truly stepped in and has been like a second mother to him. She has been an incredible support not only to our family but also a consistent and caring presence for so
many students at the school. It's not an easy role to take on and I'm so grateful that the school has such an amazing, reliable and loyal nurse looking after the children every day. She's truly remarkable and just an amazing human
being. Thank you, Mrs. Neri. So maybe we'll do this in Okay, taking some pictures. We'll do this in group. So that that takes care of Asher home. So thank you so much. This one comes out of the board office. Uh this is an email from uh from uh Dr.
Stratic at Defino Central. Um and he is recognizing uh Miss Jacqueline Caliente. Jacqueline, come on up here, please. Due to circumstances beyond our control, DeFino Central needed an administrator uh administrator coverage two days for
two days a few weeks ago. Jackie Caliiente graciously offered to cover the building and moved her math meeting to our conference room so she could be here to support Deino those two days. Our front office staff said she was fantastic, checking in regularly to see
if she was needed. We had a mixup or confusion with TNT, TNT Sports, and ended up with a few students who were here until 4 p.m. in the main office awaiting parent pickup. Jackie stayed the entire time to ensure everyone got home safely. It was a comfort to know
she was here holding down the fort. She really did go above and beyond to make sure our building felt supported and is greatly appreciated. Thank you, Miss Caliente. Moving on to Defino. This is an anonymous parent nomination.
Um the first one is for uh Mrs. Jacquellyn Dgillio. Come on up, Jackie. Jackie is one of the most innovative educators I have ever encountered. Mrs. D. Vergillio has an extraordinary ability to connect with each student as
an individual, helping them grow not only into strong learners, but into kind, thoughtful people. Her classroom is a place where academic skills and character development go hand in hand. She creates whole class challenges to
students for students to make a new friend, try a new game, introduce themselves to someone new. This fosters empathy, confidence, and inclusion, building a true community. Her creativity in making learning exciting is just as remarkable. Moments like
these turn everyday lessons into unforgettable experiences that make children eager to learn. It is inspiring to watch Mrs. D. Vergillio teach with her whole heart. The confidence, joy, and growth I have seen in my child this
year are a direct reflection of her dedication and care. Congratulations, Mrs. D. Rogillio. And you don't get to sit yet because um another one coming out of DeFino. Uh an email from from a parent as well.
Antonet Hines, come on up here, Tony. Miss Hines is being recognized for the exceptional dedication and care she demonstrates every day in her work with students. She has consistently gone above and beyond in supporting our child by tailoring instruction to meet specific learning needs and strategies.
Miss Hines shows remarkable patience and always reinforces effort and hard work with positive encouragement. Her students clearly trust and genuinely love her, which speaks volumes about the safe and supportive environment she
creates in her classroom. Miss Hines makes time to communicate consistently and thoughtfully with parents, ensuring collaboration and understanding. Through her commitment, compassion, and skill, she has helped our child make
meaningful progress and achieve growth despite learning delays. Congratulations to you both from Defino. >> Do you want me to take a picture? Can I? >> Okay. Uh, next up from Dugan Elementary School.
This is an email from uh Dugan's school nurse, uh, Mrs. Carrie Marcus for Tina Russo. Tina, come on up. So, appropriately from the school nurse, um, a student was choking in the cafeteria.
Tina Russo immediately ran over and performed the Heimlick maneuver. She performed these abdominal thrusts. Yeah, that's that's a hand. She performed three abdominal thrusts and cleared the students airway. As I
arrived on the scene, I noticed that the child was breathing and back to baseline. Tina had done a phenomenal job of controlling this unfortunate situation. Thank you and congratulations. Okay, we have several staff members uh
who should come up and stand right over here from Marbor Elementary School. This is an email from their principal, Mr. Shatz. Uh Marcy Bayer, Suzanne Ford,
Amanda Hegel, Sharon Julian, Nancy Luental, Mia Landra, Michelle Manduro, Lisa Nabolski,
and Jamie Warwick. These individuals are being recognized for their leadership on the Marbor Elementary School climate and culture committee. They consistently go above and beyond the responsibilities of their roles to help create a school environment where all students feel
valued, included, and connected. Through their leadership, they coordinated activities that engaged students across the school in preparation for the visit from Piglet that we just heard about, creating a meaningful and positive experience for
our entire Marbor school community. Their dedication to fostering a supportive and joyful school culture is deeply appreciated and their service to our students and school deserves such recognition. Congratulations Thank you.
>> Okay, next up is Memorial Middle School. We have uh Kim Brashier. Come on up, please. An email from a parent. Mrs. Kim Brashier is my son's sixth grade science teacher at Marbor Memorial Middle School. She makes every day exciting for him. He comes home and
tells me all about what he learned in science. Mrs. Brashier helped my son figure out that one day he wants to be a physicist. Thank you, Mrs. Brashier, for making this the best school year ever in science for my son. Congratulations.
And you can stay up here because your colleagues are on their way up as well. Um, this is coming an email from Mr. John Pacificico, the principal, uh, about Michael Anona, come on up. Andrew Buchcci
and Scott Osborne. As the leaders of the audiovisisual podcast clubs, Mr. Andrew Buchcci and Mr. Michael Anona go above and beyond to provide opportunities for their students and improve the culture at MMMS. And I think we all saw that this evening.
Their efforts are overseen by our activities coordinator, Mr. Scott Osborne. Congratulations to you. Thank you. Thank you, Memorial. Uh the next uh kind of certificate goes out to I believe she's not here. Um Erin
Corsy, are you out there? I don't think you are, but I'll still read about Mrs. Corsy and then we can give her a nice round of applause. Um this also comes from uh parents who are recognizing her. Our daughter told us what happened in the stairway and showed how you swiftly went into action to stand up for what is
right. It comforts comforts us to know adults such as you are around our children. Thank you for reinforcing the point that acts such as you as using racial slurs is not acceptable in the school or anywhere it must be handled. Your support helped mitigate the impact
that another racially charged hateful act by a peer had on our daughter. Congratulations on your acknowledgement as the soccer coach as well. Just, you know, another point. Uh it sounds like you're making a positive impact on your students in many ways. Congratulations,
Mrs. Corsy. And finally, out of Robertsville, Lee Brunis and Gina Nelson. Come on up. This is from a colleague, uh, Mrs. Waldman. Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Brunis truly embody the spirit of compassion and
selflessness here at Robertsville. Known for their infectious smiles and unwavering positivity, they constantly go above and beyond to ensure that every student and colleague feel seen, supported, and valued. Mrs. Brunis and Mrs. Nelson lead with their hearts,
creating a culture of warmth and inclusion. Their unwavering dedication to the well-being of others is not just a part of their job, it is a testament to their character. Thank you and congratulations to you both.
That's it. >> Excellent. I cannot thank all the educators, everybody enough. Um I have the we have the utmost respect for everything you do uh for our schools and our students. Um with that, with the
conclusion of the uh kindness certificates, we're going to take about a 10-minute recess. So, you can take some pictures, get up, walk around, chat. Um and then we'll come back in about 10 minutes. Great. Very good. Keep them on.
>> Oh, that's a good idea. >> Good idea. I know, but I just can't get >> Miss Jalinsky, may we have a roll call, please? Oh, much easier. >> Okay. >> I want to use something. >> Miss Palomo >> here.
>> Mrs. Gandhi >> here. >> Mr. Hyatt >> here. >> Mrs. Jenowski >> here. >> Mr. Lansonsky >> here. >> Mr. Smith >> here. >> And Mrs. Carrerero >> here. >> Thank you.
>> Okay. So, we're going to start off with announcements. Uh, Mr. Bologn, do you have any for us? I do. I have uh two announcements. Uh the first one comes out of Marorrow Middle School. Uh Mrs. Fington, art teacher at MMS, announced that a seventh grader won the New Jersey Youth Art uh
month flag and poster contest. Her work will be made into a flag and then used to represent the state of New Jersey at the National Art Education Conference. Additionally, her work was used for the invitation for the state youth art month uh month show. Congratulations to Marbor
Middle School. Uh, another announcement. Congratulations to the Marbor Middle School math team who placed first in the annual CBA math competition. Congratulations to coach uh, Mr. Akasano and the team. Yeah, we can give them a hand.
And then um as far as another announcement, I would like to I know on this agenda this evening um we have a budget item uh um on on for resolution. Um so of course you know we will have discussion at that point, but I do want
to give the public now that we really have our our numbers since even our last meeting. I want to give everyone an overview of uh where we are. Thank you to all board members. I know in some way, shape, or form you either met with
both Mrs. Jalinsky and me or you met with just me or just her. Um, but either way, I I think we got to everyone and we had um great discussions about where we are and uh where our school district is for the upcoming budget.
So, just so everyone understands, um, and again for board members, this may be a little bit of a repeat, but I think it's, um, it's worthy of noting for for our our public, um, in November each year, we begin internally, um, building
our budget for the following year. So, it's it it's interesting because school starts in September and then a few months later, we're already building the budget for the next year. So, our brains are already well into the next year, only a few months into school. We begin building the budget by department. And
as you know, uh we come to the board with multiple meetings uh by department, transportation, curriculum, special ed, buildings and grounds, technology. Um and we we start that process. All of the departments turn their budgets in around
December, right before winter break. And then, uh Mrs. Jalinsky reviews all of them and we start sort of kind of pulling the budget together in terms of what we look like. Um we know um that we
there's a tax levy cap of 2% right on our on our base budget from that prior year and we start looking at what that number actually means and looks like in terms of each department's budget. So between December or or really January
when we come back until about this point data points start coming in right state aid starts coming in. Um as you know we just received our state aid numbers. Um we don't have our extraordinary aid numbers yet. U but we start we start pulling other data points in that help
inform our budget and then uh that allows us to really hone in on where we actually stand. We also recently received our um health benefit adjustment which uh helps offset the uh astronomical health benefit costs
that we're all experiencing across the state of New Jersey. Um, so if we look at those two pieces, the 2% cap and the health benefit adjustment, those really are the two components that make
up um, we'll call it the tax levy increase of what was discussed at the last meeting of 7.77%. 5.77% of that is the health benefit adjustment. So that's on one side of the coin. And then obviously the the allowable 2% is on the other side. That
together makes the 7.77% increase. Um that is our recommendation. We've we've had those discussions. Uh we've had multiple discussions regarding that. It's very important that we separate the
two and think of them uh essentially in two separate ways. 2% is any financial any business administrator any any um finance mind will tell you um
to go up 2% each year is a must the way we live right now. So knowing that if we don't do that and this is not doom and gloom it's just it's it's the facts right? If you don't take that 2%, our school district will not look like
the way it does currently. So, it is our job to get to that 2% number because we don't have to go out to the community for permission. Right? If you go above that 2%, then you go out to the community by way of a referendum. If you need generally, you know,
one-time big projects, um, you can do that. But in this case, in our head, our recommendation is to take the 2%. Remember, I'm I'm holding the other the health benefit adjustment on the other side of the coin. Just talking about the 2%. When we looked at our at our budgets, at
our department budgets, we were above the 2%. So, that prompted us before state aid numbers came in, that prompted Mrs. Jillinsky and I to meet with every department and say we need to bring that
budget number down. So, I'll give you an example. Curriculum. We found $400,000 in curriculum that we were able to cut for this upcoming budget. And and quite frankly, it was it was textbooks.
We still need textbooks. However, we can get one more year out of our middle school math textbooks, which is I'm rounding. It was like 395,000, something like that, but it's essentially $400,000. And we're actually projecting next year
we have a textbook uh multi-year contract falling off of our books. So, it makes sense to take that 400,000 and move it to not next year's budget, but the year the budget after that. So it creates space for us to purchase
those textbooks down the road. So curriculum 400,000. You've heard me say this before, staffing reallocations. We look proactively at our staff when we when we have retirements and
resignations come in. Every single retirement or resignation that that hits an agenda or hits my desk, I ask myself one very simple question. Can we do this job differently? And and sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is
nope. This is a special ed uh you know special ed teacher and we have special ed needs. We have to rehire that person. But there are positions where we can do differently and we have done differently. What it means is when you have the right people in the right place, they can do more,
right? The good people can do more than a lot of mediocre people. So we have powerhouse people that we hire who can then take on the jobs of other people and we don't replace them effectively going down FTEEs.
We found $900,000 in doing that. That's a big number. And we don't we're not sending people home. We're not telling good teachers they can't be here. We're not we're not sending them to another school district. They're
really good here. And we're not sending them to another school district to to be in their school district. We are doing this with people who don't want to be here. They either retire or resign. And when you do that proactively, you
don't have to cut good people. I am already making cuts for two years from now that I'm thinking of anticipating who might be leaving what this could look like. So we we are constantly putting uh people in our back pocket. We
are not just looking at this year's budget. This year's budget to me well next year's budget it it's done in terms of my head. It's over, right? Um so so those are the types of things that we do. $900,000 that's real money.
facilities cut 200,000. Special ed 140,000. We are not taking special services away from from students at all. We actually looked at our idea grant, our federal grant, and we're actually that grant is taking on more
funding that our local budget typically funded. Um, so it's just kind of reallocated, right? It's not it's not our local local budget. Um technology, we've reduced the number of Chromebooks
um originally planned transportation. Uh we are we cut the number of buses that we were um going to replace. So uh we took down one took off one regular size 54 passenger bus and one van which
is which are the smaller buses. Um that was about almost $70,000. So overall, oh one last thing, schoolwide allocations, every principal gets a per student cost um allocation and we found almost
$80,000 by cutting them by 10%. And we've done that in the past. Um it's not great to do that, but it was something that we felt like we needed to do here. Out of all of those reductions, remember before state aid even came in, that
equates to $2.1 million. That got us to the 2%. If we do anything further than that, you have two problems. One, we will start looking differently.
Um, and I I I've mentioned this before. I operate on three principles. My first principle is when when devising a budget, I do not want to adversely increase class sizes. People move to this town for good class sizes. I don't want to cut programming.
That's why people move here. And I don't want to send good people packing for another school district or unemployment. The this $2.1 million achieved all three of those guiding principles.
But that's just one reason that we have to do that. The second reason is is a little more complicated and if you have a financial mind you'll understand this and I'd be happy to explain this to anyone um out there in the public who
needs further explanation on this. But essentially, if you take, for example, a 10-year time frame and you take our we have essentially a $100 million budget. If you raise the tax base every
year by 2%, which is your allowable use, that compounds over year over year over year. So by the end of 10 years you'll be at about 119 million something like that. If you don't take the 2% each year. So
that scenario A was taking the 2% each year. If you don't do that, maybe you sporadically take, you know, you do a 1% one year, you take a few 0% and then maybe the rest are 2%. And you could, you know, plug that into a spreadsheet
and really take a look at it. At the end of 10 years, you could dig yourself a hole of five, five, $6 million. So, you know, you you could say, look, this
year, let's let's let's not take the full 2%. Let's start cutting more. That is a temporary fix that will not only change the face of our school district, but it will change the face of our school district for years to come. And
and at that 10ear mark, the 15ear mark, the 20-year mark, you will have you'll be in a situation where you will have multi-millions of dollars that you're trying to fill. And it's, you know, in our current situation, it's just it's just not doable.
some of the um um when I met with some of the board members, I'm just going to highlight some of some questions that were raised in terms of looking at the budget. could we do something because all of every single board member cares about raising our taxes to our
community and um I will tell you community out there every board member asked really good questions and and and it was very important to them that the taxpayer knows that we are being fiscally responsible which was which is a board goal right that's one of your
goals one question uh surrounded the referendum Right. So, the referendum, and I will still say it, um, as of today and and moving forward, the referendum, we are incurring zero debt for that
project, right? No sweat, no debt. Still stands. There is we're not incurring long-term debt for that like you would for like we did for building the school and and the Abbott Center. And I Mrs. Jolinsky can kind do you want
to add to that because I I know we were >> Sure. >> Yeah, no problem. So the the referendum was going to be paid from two pieces
um debt service and capital reserve. We I mean I'll say it now, but you know, we had um a bid opening today for the referendum and we had 10 biders and
there are at least two that are under the amount. So that's good news. So I'm confident that what we have budgeted and what we have is is going to, you know, we're not going to exceed it. we'll probably be under it, but until we're done reviewing everything, I can't give
you details, but that's really positive um you know, for the district. So hopefully, you know, once we go through um and the attorneys go through everything, it'll be positive. But that was good news.
Thank you. And that is great news. So, knowing that we we have a few bids that actually came in under, we're we're in great shape. Um, now the attorneys have to look at all the paperwork and, you know, finalize everything and we'll come back to you with with an update on that, but we are in a very good spot in terms
of still maintaining that no sweat, no debt tagline. Um, and that stands. So, I talked about the 2% over here. Let's transition over to the other 5.77%. 5.77%
and I will round right I'll use I'll round numbers equates to $5.1 million that is the health benefit adjustment what is called that the state is giving us because they realize that our health
care costs have skyrocketed and they know health care costs around the state have skyrocketed. It's just not here. It's it's everywhere. Um, so the state looks at our health care
increase, the number of employees, what it costs us. It does not cover the full amount. Let me be clear. It's about 300,000 shy, right? Something like that. >> Yeah, it's going up 5.5 and
Yeah. So, we're about 400,000. It does it doesn't cover the full amount, but we're close. What we all need to understand is these astronomical costs have been somewhat recent
starting in 2025. Before that, our cost some some years our costs actually went down. Our health care costs went down the year the the immediate years prior to that. So you're looking in, you know, like um I have the numbers here in 2020
down 4%. 2021 down 4% again and four four and change. 2022 down very slightly almost flat. 2023 they went up to 15 and that scared
us. We were like, "Wow, that that's that's a big jump. And it only uh actually 2024 it went down to 11 in change. So it it kind of was hovering around that area. 2025 22%.
So our it basically doubled almost doubled from the prior year. That really scared us. Then it went to 37%. In 2026 and now we're faced with the 33%. So it's really within the last three years.
you know, this this this is why this is somewhat of a new problem. Um, that $5 million 5.1 is the problem, right? This school district for I've been here 22 years.
We've there are some years we didn't take 2%. Um, but we essentially, you know, the recommendation I think has always been 2%. Uh, Mr. Lansonsky, you've been on the board for a long time. I know that conversation's been a constant on this board. Um, and that is
my recommendation. My recommendation would always be to go for to the 2% and that that one's over here. So 2% you should always do. And again, hearken back to my my compounding example. If you don't do that, you're hurting yourself. It's the health care
cost that is adding to that 2% which is the 5.77 which which equals that 7.77. That is the problem. That is not something that we've done that this
board has done that prior boards have done. This is a health care problem with astronomical costs and that's where we are. >> Yeah. I mean, you kind of said it all. I I was kind of waiting to jump in, but
you said it all, Michael. >> So, so there that's your budget announcement. And again, I know we're going to have a um an agenda item by resolution. We can certainly have a nice discussion there. But, uh, I thought that was worth sharing with everyone, the public, and, you know, the board. I know it was a little repeated for you,
but thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Miss Roland. Um, all right. Up next, the school bus driver and building maintenance personnel motor vehicle abstracts. M. >> Yes, I received the printouts and everybody has privileges and good standings. So, thank you.
>> All right. Next up, um, we have public comments. Do we have a list? >> Yes. Okay. First, right, Leah Brunis, I think, was just a sign in. Valentina Mendes, >> you can't hear me. Oh, sorry.
Okay. So, thank you. >> Bel Mendes, Morganville, New Jersey. Good evening. I just have a few questions regarding agenda item number two, which is the NJQAC district improvement plan. So the agenda item states the district identified areas of
deficiency across key components and scored below 80% on the district performance review. It also references strategies, resources, and timelines to address those areas. So my questions are really about clarity on what is included in this plan and how it will be
communicated. Can you specify which components fell below 80% beyond the brief reference to grade 2 health standards? What specific strategies are being implemented to address those deficiencies? And what are the timelines associated with those strategies? And when should the community expect to see
measurable improvement? What resources or support are being allocated to ensure these changes are successful? And importantly, how will progress be publicly reported? Will there be regular updates at board meetings? Will progress data be shared in a way that is accessible and easy for
the community to understand? And will will there be defined benchmarks or checkpoints so the public can see whether the district is on track. Since it's a required review that occurs every 3 years, it would also be helpful to understand how this plan builds on prior cycles and what has changed in approach.
The plan is intended to improve student outcomes potentially in district compliance. So having any other visibility into both the plan itself and the progress being made is important for the community. We should have not have to wait three years for the next review. I did look at the agenda items posted on
the district website. I even went back to March 10th. Maybe I missed where it was, but was any of that report published or you going to talk about like that today? I just was curious where that would fall. I just looked and maybe I didn't see it. Thank you.
Mr. Balone, do you thank you for your comment? Sure. The district improvement uh plan uh under CUSAC, I think many of us remember, those of who who've been following this uh issue for
it's been over a year now. Um this was uh standard 2.1.2 to PGD5 uh grade two health standards. Um we were we had a finding that we weren't
teaching the entire standard. Um I went back and forth with uh the DOE on uh basically saying we we did teach the standard um back in August. We provided an opt-in opt out for this standard
because we identified it at the time well after the CUSAC visit at the time as a concerning standard like we have with some of our other standards in grade five grade 8. Um so we actually got ahead of the issue. We provided an opt-in opt out. I interfaced with the
county and told them that we had already basically um remediated the issue, I guess, in their eyes, by way of an opt-in, opt out. And um they said, "Well, that's that's great, but
we you still need to have a district improvement plan approved by the board even though you've already addressed it." Didn't make much sense to me, but we did. Um, so this has to be memorialized on an agenda. Tomorrow we will send it to the
county. The county will then come in and do um a review of our remediation or our our our DIP is what they call it, the district improvement plan. And they'll see that we've implemented this already in August. We got ahead of it. And they
will then uh deem us, you know, a passing school district. Um, so that's essentially and and I I've shared this with the board. I know the curriculum committee's been heavily involved with this. Um, we have no issues. We are teaching the standard. We actually, you
know, with this opt-in, opt out is basically a 65 in, opt in, and a 35 opt out. So, uh, in my opinion, we're giving our community 100% of what they want. 65% get it and 35% don't. Um, so we're
we're in full compliance and uh we'll do that moving forward so we shouldn't have any issues. >> I just have my uh follow-up question. Thank you because I know that part from last year just um and thank you for that you're going to submit it tomorrow. My next question is regarding opt-in opt
out. So I know when you said that was implemented I think that has been implemented in place for years, right? Parents had the ability to opt in or opt out. Is there anything different with opting in and out of this versus their options before to opt in or out?
>> I I missed the last portion of that question. So, was there any >> issues with what was different with opting in and out of grade two health standard that was any different from before, right? Because they parents had the ability to opt in and opt out before. Was there what made this one
different is really just my question. uh this just wasn't an identified uh concerning standard at the time. >> Thank you. But parents have had the opportunity to opt in and opt out. Absolutely. Always. Thank you. >> Okay. Next is Amara Gandhi. Hi, I'm Amara Gandhi from
Hi, I'm Amara Gandhi from Marorrow, New Jersey. I'm here today to recognize my two extraordinary teachers that have made a significant impact in my life academically and personally. Mr. Hatter was the best fifth grade
teacher that any student could ask for. He always helped me when I needed help or if I didn't do well on a test. But the most important thing he helped me with was turning my learning of math around, which has dramatically improved my math performance in sixth grade. My
grades fluctuated in fifth grade as I struggled, but he took the time to help me and kept my dad in the lip. He also took time during his summer break to complete some medical forms to get me the extra help I needed in
school. He and my dad worked together to help me turn my fear of math into loving it. Thank you again, Mr. Hatter. Next up, we have my best sixth grade ELA teacher, Miss Bodford. She helped she has helped me in my writing and
understanding what I am reading. That is why I am writing today way better than I have ever ran before. She always helps her students try their best. She always teaches us in really fun ways like making us do blue kits but with
vocabulary words or making us write our own stories based on like four or five emojis using our imagination. Thank you again, Miss Bloxburg. Bye. >> Thank you. There's nobody else on the list. So,
would anyone else like to speak? Come up to the mic. Good evening. My name is Angela Colby Potski and I'm speaking on behalf of myself as a parent within the district. I had some questions and um concerns regarding the district costs
specifically regarded to the employee insurance, the budget process and transportation that we had been talking about um earlier today. I was trying to listen on my way in. So I apologize if the questions that I have were already answered. First related to employee insurance costs. Last year I had spoke
about how Mr. cap from the township successfully reduced employee insurance premiums and overall costs for the township employees by persistently pursuing new carriers despite multiple denials. Simply accepting a no from a company was
not an option for the township with the increasing budget and overall costs which also happened here. His determination and repeated negotiations ultimately secured a more affordable plan for the township. Given that our district's employee
benefits account for roughly 25% of our total do budgets, our total district's budget, have similar aggress aggressive efforts and strategies been explored by our district? Second, the budget process. Recent
budget presentations at the BOE meetings have heard that departmental budgets are based largely on prior year spending. Has the district considered a zerobased budgeting approach? This method evaluates every expense from the ground
up, removes outdated costs, and ensure resources are aligned with current needs, starting from the ground up to build on what is needed and not historical patterns. For example, if $10,000 was budgeted for small maintenance equipment parts that went
unused last year, doubling that amount to 20,000 is just um it's just not evaluating the needs that are needed for the school. this upcoming year. Zerobased budgeting promotes accountability, efficiency, and
thoughtful investment in student progress. In adopting a zerobased budgeting lens, you are not simply tightening tightening the belt. You ensuring that our financial decisions are intentional, thoughtful, and aligned with what makes matters which what
matters most. providing high quality education while supporting the teachers, the staff with an equ adequate environment and building space. Third, transportation costs. Has the district reviewed the bus capacity on each bus route to reduce the re reliance
on contracted bus services? In my neighborhood, four buses go to the same elementary school. Two buses are district and two buses are contracted. Many of those buses appear under capacity. Could routes be combined or adjusted to ensure buses are at full
capacity to reduce the number of contracted routes. This would maximize the use of district buses and eliminate some contracted routes. And if needed, would adding a second aid to a fuller bus be more effective than
paying a contracted bus and a company? And lastly, regarding the board minutes, the last agenda minutes are that are posted on the MTPS website are from June of 2025. And the board today is approving minutes
from March of 2026. What is the process to have these updated on the MTPS website for everyone to see? Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Okay. So, thank you for
your comments. Um, first regarding medical insurance, you wanted me to answer? Yeah. Okay. Medical insurance, we do provide um we do go out for for quotes. My broker has been in touch with with
Mr. cap and their insurance and many other ones throughout the state. We do try to do this every year. We've not been successful. Um but we do try to do that. That's a major part of of what we do every year in for medical insurance.
Regards to the budget process, Marorrow does do a zerobased budget. That's our process for every department. Um, in regards to transportation, we we have contract we have contracted
routes. Um, some of them are through Colts and some of them are through MOAC. They're contractors. We have those because of the lack of bus drivers that we have in district. Um, we have been trying to get more. Um, eventually I would love to get to a point where we
don't need to have the contracted drivers, but until I can retain more drivers, that's not it's going to be it's not going to happen. We look at our routes every year. We look at consolidation and we will continue to do that. And the last one, the minutes are
on the website. I'm not really sure. I will check into that and I will I'll send you an email, but they are up to date. So, I'm not really sure, but I will check in. I will let you know where they are. Thank you. >> You're welcome.
Anybody else want to >> an agenda item? >> Yes. Oh, yes. Sorry. >> We have to vote. >> Yes. My name is Jennifer Woodruff and I am a resident of Marboro.
Thank you for all you do. you have a lot on your plate on a regular basis and now with this budget and 33% increase or whatever it is 33 34% with the health insurance and reduced funding from the state I feel your pain.
I want to talk about a concern I have. Um in the past few years Trenton has been putting together a lot of bills that are taking away parental rights. And I could start naming them. That's going to take up my three minutes.
I don't know if this has been proposed yet, but I would like to suggest the implementation of a parental bill of rights. A Colts Neck, our neighbor, also a K8 district,
has passed a parental school of rights bill and it really is a summary of federal and state laws in a document so parents know the rights and have easy access to the portal.
It doesn't impose any ideologies. It doesn't harm vulnerable students. What it does, it builds trust and confidence and a partnership between parents and the school which can only be a positive which can only be
positive. When parents are respected are assured they have a say in their children's education and have a right they have a right to what is going on and what is being taught and how to get that information. It
could only be a great cooperation with both sides. And I have a copy of the Bill of Rights or the parental bill of rights, which I only have one copy. So, I'll be more than happy to send all of you one through email to just look at
and talk about it and consider it. Um I know of many people that are leaving this state because of what is going on with the education and parental rights. One of them being my daughter and her husband and my only grandchild. And this is a big concern of mine and concern of
a lot of parents here. And the only way we can quote unquote fight it is to do something that will protect us while the state is taking our rights away. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Miss Woodruff. >> Anyone else for public comment? >> I would like to respond to Mrs. Woodruff if that's okay. >> Um, I am currently working on drafting a parental bill of rights. Um, the one
town that has done it in our state um uses NJSBA as their service provider. So, we need to get the policy parallels for Strauss Esme um and then look into some things that are more district specific. So, that basically, you know,
I I've had many conversations about uh what this is trying to achieve, but it basically is putting every piece of information that a parent needs to be able to uh walk alongside their kid in their educational journey um in one place. So, if there's any concerns, they know how they can be addressed. If
there's any questions, they know who to address them to. So, I really thank you for bringing that um to the attention of the whole board and I want you to rest assured that I am working on something and we'll bring it to the whole board when it is complete. >> Thank you. Anyone else for public
comment? >> Ashley McCormack 16 Riley Road. This is my sixth budget presentation. Sixth budget that I've sat here through and for the most part it's almost the same presentation year after year. our BA
does a fantastic job, whether it's Chris or Vinnie or Cindy Prior. Um, and I appreciate all the work that everyone puts into it. Um, but I just want to point out that in previous years, we always tried to stay at the 2% cap,
which Mr. Balone did explain is usually fiscally responsible, and I completely agree. But then once our healthc care started, our state healthcare started getting out of control that first year we did not take the waiver. We worked it in the budget. We figured it out. We cut Yes,
we cut coaches that year. It was terrible, but we figured it out so that the cost would not go back to our taxpayers again. It's like getting hit twice. And then last year we went up again and now this year we're facing it
again. But my question is all the work that you guys put in that the BA put in that Mr. blown you put in. I have never heard once that administration is going to not take a raise this year or not last year or the year prior. It's always let's cut the coaches, let's rearrange
the the staff, which I appreciate. I don't I think everybody should be entitled to a raise. You all do a fantastic job, but it's constantly going back to the taxpayers. and our town, 41,000 people, we have, I think it's 27%
seniors, so who are on a fixed income. So, I just think that before you vote on this budget, maybe going back and asking maybe this year we don't give a raise to administration, maybe we renegotiate with the union and and try to stay a
little lower than that three and a half%. I mean, it's always other ways. It's never cutting administration. And I love our administration. I'm probably going to get so much backlash from this. I love our principles. I love all of you guys do a fantastic job. It's the last thing we want to do as parents. It's the
last thing as a taxpayer that I want to do is stand up here and say that. But 7.77% on top of freehold, on top of township, it's crazy. And it's just going to keep compounding. And the state that we live in, this is what's happening. We have to do something. We have to stand together
as a town and somehow push back because it's out of control. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. McCormack. I would be remiss if I didn't share um those are small items. You know, if you
you talked about administration, so I don't know, 25 people at three and a half% raise. That's not a lot of money when when it comes to a hundred million dollar budget. Um, where we find money is bodies,
right? So, you cut people, cut an actual FTE, that's the real money. You know, the little raise that an administrator gets and I don't even want to talk about uh our teachers because I would never support that. Uh, for our teachers out
there, I support your raises. I support your contract. That's actually a contractual obligation that we cannot break. Um administration, if you're listening, I do not support a 0% raise
for you either. Um that is not where we find money. That is very little money in the grand scheme of of a $100 million budget. And I wouldn't want anyone, you know, we
give 0% raises to people who are on corrective action plans and are not doing their job. Our staff members everywhere, right? Including the people in this room, right? our technology group in the back, security,
um, teachers, secretaries, IAS, bus attendants, bus drivers, custodians, everyone from B&G. Um, everyone is doing more with less. So to I I cannot support that, right? So, I I would look every board member in
the eye and say I wholeheartedly do not support a 0% raise or a raise that is less than what we are contractually obligated to give these people, these deserving people who work in our school district.
98 employees, they are all very good people and they all deserve um you know their I'll call it small raise each year for going above and beyond. We just saw all of our staff members here getting those kindness certificates. You know, that's how you kill culture
and I refuse to do that. So, that is not my recommendation. Um, we find money with FTEES, full-time employees, and we've done that proactively. We found you $900,000
and did not send a single soul home. That's a big number. Now we can find you know th those are what I would call our obligated costs right we have all of the contracts um collective
bargaining agreements um there are discretionary costs like the $400,000 textbooks that is at our discretion and we looked at that reflectively and said can we push this off a year and
when we looked deeper and noticed that we had a textbook series coming off the books for the following year and that was our window to then now insert that $400,000. That's what we did. Again, part of the two 2.1 million that we
quote unquote found. Um, and it was not an easy find. It was a lot of sleepless nights. Uh, Mrs. is Jalinsky and I, you know, calling each other um all the time, uh losing sleep over it, talking to the
departments. That's where you find real money. Not in not in a 3 and 12% raise for 20 people, 25 people. >> Thank you. Anybody else? >> Please come up. Adam Pollock, uh, Marbor, New Jersey.
Um, I was I came in a little conflicted on the budget for obvious reasons because the the increase the seemed like it was more than other years. Um, Mr. Balone's explanation seemed credible to me, makes
sense with the healthc care issue um of that exploding. It makes sense. Um, I also thought what you said about it being the cutting that you did and kind of thinking about it and getting the um, you know, different, you know, administrators and perspective and the
textbook thing. It makes it makes sense. Um, but like I think the administr the administration is doing like a credible job of trying to explain what's going on to the community and like say that they're fiscally conservative and and help the
district. I agree like don't cut the pay of the teachers or the administrators because we want this talent in this district to be competitive. We want to bring in good talent and that's definitely one of the tactics of of doing it. I think that like just
the thing that's frustrating for me about these meetings and about the board is that like this is probably the most important thing that you guys are like responsible for which is like the budget, right? It's like $96 million like the taxpayers like that's like the money that the town is giving you guys
to figure it all out. And we hire Mr. Balone. We hired the administration and the business administrator like help us figure all this out and they're being hired for their expertise. But like there's a responsibility for the board to like speak truth to power and to ask questions and to like hold people accountable. And if we have debate in
public about these things, then like everybody understands it. So if the entire community was here talking through this and like hearing this like this response from Mr. Blown and people were like paying attention, it was it was like I I I I'm here for that debate. I'm not here for the debates on all the
other things you guys are talking about and more passionate about. And to me, it's starting to feel like that this board is a little like performative and how they're acting instead of like actually focusing on the issues. The most important thing is the $96 million taxpayer budget. That should there should be a vigorous debate from this
board about what we're spending our money on and all that. And ultimately, if we have that debate and everyone agrees with what uh the the people that we hired from the district to to do it, then yeah, let fine. let's support it. But I'm expecting the board to like
discuss it and have dialogue about it and call and call it truth to power and ask questions and all that. It just seems like a lot of times that the board is is okay, but we're voting to but we're v we're it's vote we're voting today,
right? Okay, but I hope I'm getting more time when they're talking back to me. Uh, >> thank you. It's coming up on the agenda. >> I hear you. But what I'm just saying is that there's been multiple board
president. All I'm trying to say is we I call on this board to focus on what we elected everybody to do and to focus on the issues that are important to the community instead of being passionate
about uh and and vocal about things that are only affecting a very small amount of community members and those people's issues. this thing affects everybody and and I don't think that having I haven't seen a vigorous debate about this and we're voting on it now.
>> I thank you. Can I answer you real quick? Cuz I could confidently say that we I I think all of us from what I've been told have worked hours and this is the one thing we probably can all agree on is that everybody sitting here has
worked for hours the last several months with Malinsky, Mr. Balone, private meetings. I know that I've been out in the community, you know, on social media, in person, talking about the issues over and over, answering emails, answering phone calls,
answering text messages. And we've sat here at the day is now for like, I don't know, many, many meetings and drilled Chris with questions and then the minute she gets home, I'm sure she sees more questions come in. So, I think those conversations are happening. I know
they're happening with me. I not in everybody else's inbox, but I know I'm getting swarmed with questions. Um, so I don't know if it's just the perception. Um, but those conversations are definitely happening and our meetings have lasted well into the next day for
the last couple of months. Uh, I think a lot around the board. So, um, I don't want you to think as a community member we're not doing the work because budget season for a bunch of volunteer public servants is it's tedious. It really is. the that the packet used to be a paper
packet this thick. Now it's a digital file that's quite large. >> Thank you. >> I thank you for speaking. I think you make um an excellent you make an excellent point. I just wanted to share
that um I have sat with Miss Jillinsky I would say like 3 hours in total and Mr. for balone and I truly appreciate their time especially since two of those hours were on a Friday afternoon on the half day. So I deeply appreciate all the hard
work they have and it was a robust conversation that I think you were describing that you would like to see in public but knowing we had this meeting I wanted to have it beforehand to have questions ready that I still was mulling over my head and even though Mr. Bone
spoke earlier. We're still having that discussion. It's on the agenda. So, I do have a list of questions that I still don't understand. I would like more clarity on. So, I'm hoping to have that same type of dialogue that you are looking to see as a community member who voted. So, thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Yeah. I've said this before in other meetings. I think you guys have a communication problem like an optics problem also about like if you guys are in agreement what the feelings are around like based off of what Danielle
just said, Miss Bulma just said like okay I I think she's going to vote yes on the budget, right? Like that that's what it feels like. You guys are aligned that like this is a plan for Okay, I guess not. But um it it just Okay, so but
I We got to handle it a little differently then if the way that the only way that you know Miss Jenowski can have questions is the day that we're voting and like there's no discussion. It just seems very strange to me. It seems outdated. It seems antiquated. Doesn't
seem like the way that things should be working for our town and how we should be deciding on $96 million budget. That's my >> I appreciate your perspective. >> Um can I get a motion to close public comment? Oh, >> just just real quick, Mr. Pollock.
Also, the public should know we also got our final figures last Thursday night, right? Last Thursday is when you got the state aid figures and and the amount we're getting funded for referendum. So, >> we got the numbers of what I want to talk about later when we have our budget discussion during the agenda is going to
be around that and we couldn't have talked about it before we had the information. So, you know, that's part of it. We didn't get a state till last Thursday, our numbers and and our referendum numbers. So, Oh, it's fine. Okay. Can I get a motion to close public
comment? Thank you, Miss Jenowski. Can I get a second? Thank you, Miss Gandhi. Sorry. So, moving on to communications. Mr. Balone. >> I don't have anything. >> Thank you. Um, Miss Jillinsky, I know you have a referendum update for us.
Okay. So, okay. As I said before, so we opened bids today for the HVAC project. There were 10 biders, so that was um encouraging. Mr. Balloon sent in on his first bid opening. So, um, we had a
packed house. Um, as I said, two of the bids were submitted under the budget um, amount that we had for the project. So, that's exciting. And we're going to be having everything evaluated. Our plan is to award on the April 21st board
meeting. And, um, once I have all the details, I will be sending it home. >> And just for clarification for the public, um, we are required to take the lowest responsible. >> Yes. Sorry. Yep. So, you know, we has
nothing to do with anything but price. So, and and as long as they've filled out the uh the paperwork appropriately, the attorneys are going to look at that. >> Um we're hoping, >> you know, we'll come in under under budget and we'll be in good shape. >> Exactly. >> I just have a question about the bid
process. I'm not sure. So, and again, I'm equating this to low-level contracting you see in your everyday house, so forgive me, but you like two bids came lower than we expected, which is great news. Um,
are contractors allowed during the process, let's say they rip down on the wall, like in your own house, and they're like, "Oh, all this black mold, water damage in here, it's going to run you another 50 grand. I'm sorry to tell you, there's nothing we can do about that." >> There's a Can they do that? There's a
contingency built into all the bids for unexpected items. So >> like a percentage with each bid that your bid is this and there you can't go higher than 10% no matter what they see, find or encounter >> contingency.
All right. Thank you. Uh superintendent report harassment, intimidation, bullying. >> This is for the period March 6th, 2026 through March 19th, 2026. There were zero incidents reported. >> Thank you. Um the meeting dates, uh
Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 is our regular meeting. Tuesday, May 5th is, uh 2026 is our reorganization meeting. Um and then the approval of minutes resolution. Uh approval of minutes for March 10th, 2026 uh for workshop and executive session.
Um I so move. Can I get a second? Thank you. And roll call, please. Yes. Okay. Mrs. Palommo. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gandhi. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hyatt. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Jenowski. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lolonsky. >> Yes. >> Mr. Smith. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Carrera. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, acting board secretaries
monthly certification, Mr. >> Yes. Um, yeah, I'm certifying that everything we are not in violation of the code. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, moving on to committee reports. Um, we have the communications
committee. Um, I know that I I will Do you mind if I talk about it, Chad? because on Monday um we met briefly um and we talked about um communicating with the the town again, right? Sending over like board briefs and things like
that. Um and we're also taking a look into different formats like podcasts. Um so if somebody can't attend a board meeting, we can have a nice quick clip for them to listen to uh what happened, what was voted on, like all the major key points. Um so we should probably
call Mr. Granona and the Monarchs to help us with that one. Um, but we're looking into formats like that and if like something even notebook LM can help us create that podcast. Um, so we're we're exploring all the different types of prompts and those types of things.
Um, and then the next up is policy committee. Uh and and Adidi if you can help me on this but we we met once since our our last meeting and we discussed um at our last board meeting. I know Mr.
Lolonsky you had comments um on a clause in one of the policies that's up for second read that was adjusted. Um and that that's really the main thing that sticks out in my head unless if you have something else to add. No. Okay.
So that was the committees. Um all right and we are up to Oh sure Mr. Boom. >> So just one one other um item for for policy um the regulation for policy 2535 um
library material has been amended and I shared that with the board. My days are I think it was yesterday. Um I shared that with the board. So we reverted back to um having the community they have the ability to challenge u
each year instead of three years time. So I know we discussed that at the last meeting um and I had mentioned you know even in even at that meeting um I'm certainly willing to do that and then we can live it and and if it's if it's too
much then I'll come back to the board um and um and we'll revisit it. I don't think we'll have to because again, you know, we haven't had that many challenges, but um who knows what the future will hold, but I will come back to you if it if it becomes too much, but
at this point it's back to one year. >> Thank you for that. That will mean a lot to a lot of members of the community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um okay, we're up to financial and business operations matters. Um Mr. Smith, would you mind?
Uh the superintendent of schools submits the following resolutions for approval. Number one, adoption of tenative 2026 and 2027 school year budget. Number two, adjustment for healthc care costs. Number three, capital reserve withdrawal or other capital projects. Number four,
maintenance reserves withdrawal. Number five, travel and related expense reimbursement for 2026 2027. Number six, receipt and acceptance of board secretaries report. Number seven, treasurer's report. Number eight, transfers. Number nine, list of bills.
Number 10, travel. Number 11, harassment, intimidation, bullying, HIP report. Number 12, approval of shared services agreement. Number 13, application for participant in SEMI semi for the 2026 2027 school year. Number
14, home instruction. Number 15, donations. Number 16, donation. and number 17, state contract purchases. I so move. >> Can I get a second? >> Thank you, Miss Gandhi.
Um, any discussion? I'm going to start off on the budget. Um, I understand the base. I understand. I've been doing this a long time, but you also have to look at the as the side of it on the taxpayers. As the base
grows, it grows on their backs as well. We're doing 2%. I get it. We had to go a little bit on on um the health insurance waiver. I got it. The part where I'm getting stuck on on this budget is when we finally got our figures on the state
aid um reimbursement for the for the um uh air conditioning project. All right. We were supposed to get 40%, we got 34%. Right. Correct. >> Well, 40% was the max, but the >> thought we would get >> the architect said during all the
referendum discussions that it would be it would be between 35 and 40%. >> So, the difference between the 40% and the 34% is $327,900. We talked about that. I want to also thank Mr. Bologn and and Mr. Linsky. We
sat sat down with Kerry. We had a we had a great discussion. We asked we asked to cut more buses. We asked to cut more curriculum. We asked for ESS. You want to >> uh we questioned ESS because it took it was like a big piece of that pie chart. Um we talked about online programs. We
talked about Chromebooks technology. We we tried we turned over all the rocks. Looked in all the nook and crannies as I said. >> We we pushed hard. We we try we really try hard and you know I I was hoping that we can at least get knock off the buses and being that we're using
contracted carriers we're not using all our buses this would have been a good time to maybe say we can put off hold on the buses but we were told we can't. My problem is even though it's not debt I'm going to agree the word debt we're not using. We're still putting the $327, $900
somewhere in the back of the taxpayers because we have to make that up in our capital reserve that we're using that extra money between the 34% and the 40%. It's in my mind. It It's there. That's how I look at it. I I'm asking us to find another 370. I know you found
money, but we need to find another 327,000. It's not 900,000. It's not 4%. It'll be it'll take off the top of the 7.77 if we if we find it extra money and bring it down a little bit. I just having a hard time after going to the
taxpayers being in two schools putting out those brochures and saying, you know, the state is helping us through our capital reserves and the money we're going to cover. Yeah, we're going to cover it, but our capital reserves are going down and we have to and we're going to have to re replenish them because it's low. We know we have a low
capital reserve now when we're done with this, right? We know that >> we have enough cap reserve to cover this. That was >> But it's it's historically low than what we normally have. Wouldn't you say that? >> But we made sure we put enough in to cover the project, >> but it's still historically low. And and
and I know you're going to do a good job. And you're you're going to try to get that back to where it has supposed to be, right? That's your job. And I know you're going to do it. And doing that is on the back of the taxpayers. So I'm looking to help ask you guys to try to find another 327 900
somewhere somehow. And I know you're going to say it will look different, but I I know you can't tell me tonight either because you got to look at it. This just takes time. It's not you snap your fingers and figure it out. But I think the board needs to know how it looks different. And what just saying it looks different is different than
telling us exactly what different looks like. And that's my ask. >> So I just want to piggy back on that. I had said before the referendum that this was not as pretty packaged with a bow as we were making it look. It's a big
problem that I had had. Um and here we are. And just to echo Michael's sentiment, um that 300 and almost $30,000 will come and deplete our capital reserves lower than it's ever been. Um and we will be just like I had
said if you go back to the meeting where the referendum was presented, it is our responsibility to kind of make that up. Um just to expand on my uh budget um kind of wrapping up the budget discussion. Um I've been on the board
now a little over two years and since leadership has changed on this board, I have watched a two-year spending bender. um when we have our children and they go to their piggy bank and they say it's empty but I didn't buy anything um that's kind of what I equate it to. So
we've spent money on PR firms we've spent money on um consultants we've gone actually back changed the decisions of old boards not only honored new raises but retroactively repaid old raises that
were denied by previous sitting board members. Um, we have also done a ton of spending on programming and apps for our students. And then I want to thank Miss Jalinsky because we actually cut back, but there is a proposed um amount of money for
additional Chromebooks for our youngest learners between the ages of four and six years old, which is just not necessary. Um, but we did change that and we did have a great conversation about that. I don't believe that this is on the backs of our administrators or our business administrators. Um, every
expenditure gets approved right here by us board members. Um, and if you go back and look at voting history, you'll see exactly where those expenditures came from. Now, one of those $110,000, $140,000, $120,000, one, you know, $200,000. That doesn't all add up. That
doesn't all individually make up spends that would affect a, you know, 90 whatever million dollar budget. However, $100 million budget. However, when you add them all up year after year for the last two years, this irresponsible spending has gotten us to
a place where yes, we know S2 funding is just throwing spitballs at the wall and hoping something sticks. Yes, we know that uh you know, insurance rates are healthcare rates are through the roof. We knew knew all that stuff when we were spending money blindly. So where I sit
today is that I can never approve a budget that's going to put 7 a 7.7% tax levy on the backs of the taxpayers when it was decisions made here at the deis that are causing this to happen. So I appreciate the work. There's nothing you
can do about it. I've watched every we had a great conversation. I left there feeling more confident. However, this is not a budget. coming from someone who really prioritizes fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, it's one vote. There's nothing that we can do about it, but this is not a fiscally
responsible ask for the taxpayers who trusted me to make the decisions that best benefit Marorrow. So, that's my take on the budget. I just wanted to add it in there. So, thank you. >> Um, so just one uh one thing I'd like to say, Mr. Lansonsky.
We did run different scenarios and and I'm I'm going to use round numbers again. Mrs. Julinsky can can look at the actual numbers, but at at the at the recommended uh tax increase of 7.77% on an average assessed home, as we
mentioned, it's a $390 payment for the year. Um, if we were to cut $300,000 off of that, you're looking at like a $20 savings. So, you know, you'd pay probably 370. Um, so for $20,
you would change the face of our school district and um raise class sizes. Absolutely. For for students at 300,000 um and possibly send good people home. So, just it that's just a fact. I'm not
weighing in on, you know, that is not my recommendation, but that is essentially for $20, you're going to change the face of the school district and and you can make the decision if that's if that's where you where you stand. >> I mean, we really just to get to the 2%
cap, we really struggled with our with our reductions um just to get to where we are. And I understand $300,000 is still a lot more money that we would have to reduce. And I I you
know I don't think that we could do that without changing whether it's a class size or a program. I don't think it could just be made. But that's and don't forget the 20 whatever tax statements it would be. It also
compounds. This becomes part of the base. So that also compounds every year too. And and pennies make dollars. So you can't live your life and like Danielle said, every everything adds up. You can't just say it's $20. It's $20 this year and there's $20 next year and it's the $40 a year after that because
it compounded. So you know, it's not just $20. >> I just had a question. If um we were to like say just as a scenario instead of increasing the budget by 7.7% um if it was only increased by 6.77%
do we know what that would look like for how many individuals would need to be cut or full-time like what is that equivalent to as far as class size goes or number of full-time employees? So, a 1% cut uh we have that's a $900,000
uh so so 6.77% is is $900,000. So that would be cutting nine or 10 staff members. Um and putting class sizes, you know, I I actually looked at our first and second
grade. We actually have, let's see, I have it here. um you know, grades one through three, we actually try to keep numbers between 20 and 24. I know there are pockets of um you know, you can move either way, but that that's essentially
kind of where we like to keep it. Um you would see class sizes of 28 close to 30 um in in grade one if you did something like that. Um, so a 1% cut would be a $900,000
uh, sorry, a 1% levy cut would equate to $900,000 cut out of the budget. If >> Thank you. >> What about if we move away from teachers? I know that is something that
a lot of parents would not want is class sizes to increase and we move to apps and programs. Um, how much does one of those apps that we run districtwide, and I know there's multiple in each subject area, we all know what those cost. It's the same as cutting several teachers.
Correct. Maybe we can scale back on some of the technology, some of the Chromebook, uh, reurbishing or replacements that we're doing. Um, some of the actual technology aspect of this budget. I know that we have a couple of line items in the budget that are priced
higher. I know that we were speaking about it. Um, what what about some of that? If we can do something with Chromebooks, iPads, fixing, repurchasing, we could. Um, I'm not going to sit here and tell you, you know, we can't do that. You absolutely
could. Um, there are adverse consequences there. Um, the board here did that. I can't remember the exact year. I want to say it was maybe 8 to 10 years ago. Um there was a pause in the Chromebook refresh, right? We
have a we have a whole um system. We have a cycle of refreshing Chromebooks, right? They start at sixth grade, they go seventh grade, 8th grade, then move down to grade two, and it's sort of like this this refreshing cycle. Um
that was detrimental to our school district, just even that one year of breaking that cycle. um because and and we don't buy devices just for state testing, but this was just one issue where um about four years
into the break of that cycle, the old the old Chromebooks were not updating and they were not being supported by the statewide testing system, which is now all online. Obviously, unless you're a special ed and you have special accommodations, but most of our students
take um state testing online. those devices were unable to be used because of that break in the cycle and it disrupted mainly at the elementary level. They they had to share Chromebooks during state testing. There was a year it was
probably three or four years ago where we had an entire month of NJSLA testing which is very disruptive. So yes, there was a savings that budget year, but there were negative
ramifications that happened years later. So, so we could, but the the the riskreward on that is we actually know we lived it once already is is damaging to students, to
continuity of education. um state testing I I'd like to get done in a week and this was four weeks because they had to share devices >> and we ended up having to buy more Chromebooks for the lower grades anyway to solve that problem. So >> yeah. So so just circling back I don't
want to take up too much time on this so it's not super long meeting but if so we all know that state testing doesn't start until the later grades preschool kindergarten and first grade they're not state testing. So why are we even talking about putting these devices in
the hands of our littlest learners when I I completely am not from the mindset that we only need paper and pencil. So I'll just get that out of the way real quick. The kids need to learn how to use Chromebooks. They need to learn how to type and navigate on a device. It's the way of the future. And there's really no
fight in that. But an everyday interaction with a Chromebook for a kindergartener is going to be a lot more wear and tear on a device than it is going to be for a fourth grader. Um, I know I have three kids. We see all kinds of things with the Chromebook. You know, my kid came home one day and said, "Someone's sticking their pencil in the
Chromebook socket. This that, you know, there's all different things." So, I get it. But the littlest kids um that they don't have that uh obstacle of state testing um maybe it's time to reook at where we put the money for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade
with Chromebooks and iPads and how often we've replenished those devices and maybe if there could be sharing of those devices or maybe they don't have those devices every single day. just little creative things that could take some of the burden off of our taxpayer and not disrupt like headcount because I came
from a city I don't want 35 kids in a class for my children. I don't think it's a good way to learn but not having a a iPad every day when they're in kindergarten like I could get on board with that. >> So yes, we did do that. Uh we did cut the number of devices at the
kindergarten level in half. Um so we did do that. I I just want to be clear. Um, you know, kindergarteners are not and and I'm not suggesting you said this, but I just want the public to know kindergarteners are not on a device seven hours a day in school. Um, generally they're you they are they will
be shared. We'll have one cart for three classes essentially or four classes depending on um you know if we have um three sections in in an elementary school, they'll have one cart. So they're generally used in stations
um and they are used to um supercharge learning whether it be um you know pulling reading levels or having students listen to uh text or letters so so they can um uh learn how to read and
then read to learn. Right? That's kind of the the the trajectory that you know in kindergarten in the younger grades they're learning how to read. Um and then uh in the older grades they're reading to learn. So um those devices do help them um in that sort of continuum.
Um but make no mistake about it, we are not uh putting devices in front of kids for seven hours uh any kids I should say and any grade level. Um so we're judicious about that. Um and we we did actually we did cut the number in half
um especially at the lower level because we don't need them for state testing. Um the other thing that's notable is iPads are double the price of a Chromebook. So we're we're starting to transition our
GenEd kids, the younger kids into uh touchscreen Chromebooks. So So they can still touch them and um you know they don't have to manipulate the mouse. um uh as much if if they don't want to. Um special ed, of course, if they still need um some certain special ed apps or
or the iPads, they'll they'll have them, but we're really transitioning our younger students to um less expensive devices and um sharing those devices. So, yes, we are doing that. >> Minowski,
>> thank you. Um, I just want to thank both of you and Chris. We met privately one time, too. So, um, I really thank you for all the work that you put into this, the the math, the presentations, the time at the office. I know you're there.
So, I appreciate that. Um, and I think that when we were together, I did express my overall frustration with um, what we're dealing with because of the state. So, I just think that it is very
fair to say that um we're dealing with a funding formula and uh you know, I feel like sitting here the state is um basically choosing uh winners and losers for who gets money and who doesn't get money and that's completely out of all
of our control as board members, as administration. So, I fully recognize that. So my frustration is not with how the budget was comprised per se, but that we are in that position. I I just want to, you know, remind the public in case they don't know that we have school
districts in our own backyard that are closing schools, um that are selling schools to make up money. And the state is watching it. They're not there. They're not at the bids. They're not, you know, sending like, "I'm so sorry your school of hundred years is closing." And it's it's really sad to to
see. I mean, good schools, not like decrepit old schools that don't have plumbing. These are schools being sold to make up pockets of money. And I'm grateful we're not there, but I'm worried about the sustainability of this level of a tax increase,
particularly given that it stems from an inequitable funding structure. So, I have a great concern for that. We've had many emails come in from taxpayers concerned about the level of their tax increase. And I really am very cautious
about saying I understand we're telling the public how much based on an assessed value of the house, but I would never and I would cautiously advise to not say it's only a $400 increase or it's only $20 because we don't know what people
can afford or not afford. We've spoken um many time and I'm sorry if I'm going long but I have a lot of feelings about this. Um we've spoken many times today about this is why people move to Marorrow. That's why I moved to Marorrow. I recognized that people came to Marorrow to live in a diverse
community with excellent schools and their choice of religious institutions and a safe environment and an amazing police department and a real overall sense of community. And we have new young families that are like firsttime starter home buyers who are having their
first baby to retired citizens in wonderful retirement communities who live on a fixed income. And that's great. I think we all recognize why people move to Marro but as a board member not only being concerned for this school. I'm wondering how to keep them here because if we continually raise
taxes, are they going to be able to thrive in this town? are starter families who are in their firsttime homes going to make their forever home here in Marorrow. I have talked to many community members person face to face
and they've said, "Cara, I've looked at my last 10 years tax bills and my taxes have risen dramatically." And this is not the state chipping away at our pockets. They're taking. I feel like we
are having our money taken from us. I am 100% for supporting our schools. 100%. I think every citizen you ask, whether they have kids in the district or not, because it goes towards their sense of community, that they are willing and
able without any gripe to come up out of their pocket to support the children of Marorrow. But this is not what we're asking. We gave a large tax increase last year because of the freehold regional tax increase, which was more than ours.
This is not an assessed value of 500,000 at 390. That's the minimum we're asking from these taxpayers. We're going to factor in Freehold Regional and we're going to factor in the township. So, the only thing we can promise them is at the very least it's $390 on a $500,000
assessed home in Marorrow. And I am never going to judge whether somebody is being cheap and they can afford it or can't afford it. If people are saying it's high for them, you take them at their face value. So that that is my concern. Keeping people in Marboro
and letting them know, hey, look, you can afford this amazing school system. I also don't know what a different school district looks like. I don't like I haven't seen like a compare contrast. You know what? If the if the budget was this much, this is what the school district would look like. If the budget
was this much, this was was would be what the school district would look like. So, I understand like we're saying we're going to change the face of the school district. I just don't have a clear picture of what that is. Um,
I also I also think that going forward and and I I think that I echo you, Mr. Pollock, that you start planning the budget in November, but I don't think again this is the first time I'm on it during budget season. We start talking about it in February. I think that these need to be
>> December actually was the first presentation. December. Okay. So, for Okay, cuz I wasn't on in December yet. I think that these need to be ongoing discussions um that are brought out in the public. So, we're starting to think about our budget. We have a you know,
just in just in the public so we can all talk about it so it doesn't feel like a surprise moment for board members or the community. It has to just be an ongoing dialogue. And just two more things, other things that we can do. Um, like I
said, I think our frustration is directed um towards more than just us. I think that we really need to advocate for more equitable funding model um with the state. And I think that also can include building coalitions and engaging
our legislature and um and I know you said you've reached out to other superintendents and continue maybe reaching out to other board members to talk to them about how they feel like their financial. So, if we have more numbers and we engage our legislators and senators and the state and we give a
face to what they're doing, maybe that will be helpful as well. Besides looking under all the the nooks and crannies, we can say to the public, "We met with our senator. We did this. We wrote a letter." I think that's that's kind of what they want. They want to feel like we're advocating for them to the ears
that really can make a difference. So, and you okay response? Any other discussion? All right, we're going to vote. Can I get a second?
Mr. Hyatt. All right, roll call. Okay, Mrs. Gandhi. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hyatt? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Jenowski. >> Yes to everything except one.
>> How are we voting? Sorry. Are you voting yes, no, or abstain? >> Um I'm voting um Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. I'm voting yes to everything, but I am voting no to number one, which is the budget. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Lansonsky. Uh >> no to number one, yes to everything
else, >> Mr. Smith. >> Yes. Mrs. Balomo, >> no to number one. No to number three, yes to everything else. >> Mrs. Carrerero, >> yes.
>> Okay, thank you. Budget um the financial and business passes. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um sorry, I'm trying to find my spot. Just an additional note, number 16, we heard um from the PTO and that's a
really awesome gift with a a really nice value that they raised for the um AV system at Marorrow Elementary School. I think we all know how much work goes into raising that kind of money. Absolutely. >> So kudos kudos to them on a job well done for that. >> Yes, great point.
>> Page 12. Thank you. Okay, moving on. Curriculum matters. Uh Miss Shankowski, Carrie, would you mind? Sorry. page 12. I was lost. >> Okay. Um, the super the superintendent of school submits the following resolution
for approval. Number one, inter interscolastic athletic competition spring sports 2025 2026 school year. Number two, New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum NJQs District Improvement Plan DIP.
I so move. >> Thank you. Any discussion? >> Oh, sorry. Need a second. Mr. Lansonski, thank you. Any discussion? >> I want to just add a comment for number two. Um, it's not really a debate anymore. I think this ship kind of came
and went and it is what it is. Um but at this point um modifying what we believed was the correct curriculum for our second graders was obviously something that I felt strongly about um and expressed those views as it came many uh at
several meetings. Um as we say the state doesn't give us much money anyway. Um and I I don't like to acquies to the demands of the state when we you know when there is feedback that it's not in the best interest of the district. Um
I've heard now several um times even from Mr. Volone that you know this was not exactly what we had planned but they came in they marked us and now this is what we were going to do. Um so I just asked like I said it's water under the
bridge. However, I just ask that as the new year um you know comes upon us in September that we make it clear to parents what they're opting in and out of. I think that it was a little haphazard this year if I'm being honest. I think that many parents had no idea um
just from talking. They thought that it was the same thing as fifth grade and you know what am I doing and they they look at this stuff but not really. So if we could just make sure that that's clear when it's written up um I guess on Genesis it will be this year um that they know exactly what that standard is
that they're opting in and out of and that it is for second grade. And that's it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other discussion? All right. Roll call. >> Okay. Mr. Hyatt.
>> Uh, yes. >> Mrs. Jenowski. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lansonsky. >> Yes. >> Mr. Smith. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Balomo. >> Yes. To one not to. >> Mrs. Gandhi.
>> Yes. >> And Mrs. Carrera. Yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um, on to personnel matters. Uh, D, Miss Baloma, would you mind reading that? >> Sure. The superintendent of schools submits the following resolutions for
approval. One, retirements. Two, resignations. Three, employment school aid. Four, curriculum technology coordinators additional hours. Five, curriculum station facilitators for power program parent academy. Six,
stipen mentor teacher. Seven, OBS, student observation. Eight, substitute teacher. Nine, substitute bus driver. 10, substitute bus attendant. 11, substitute secretary transportation. 12, substitute school monitor. 13, paid
medical disability leaves. 14, unpaid leaves of absence. 15, amended resolution leave dates. 16 job description. I so move. >> Oh, can I get a second? Oh, thank you,
Mr. Smith. Uh, any discussion? >> All right, let's get a roll call. >> Mrs. Jenowski, >> yes. >> Mr. Lansonsky, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. Balomo, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gandhi,
>> yes. Mr. Hyatt. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Carrero. >> Yes. And before we move on to the next section, um I know Mr. Bologn had uh an announcement for this part. >> Thank you. As we always uh recognize our
retirees, our first one is Alish Culanic. Alish Kulanic's journey in education began in Spring Lake, but we are so fortunate that her path led her to Marorrow in 2003. After making her mark at Marbor Elementary and Dugan, she
found her true home here at Memorial in 2006. For nearly two decades, she's been a key member of our special education department, providing a steady hand and a kind heart to students who need it most. Beyond the classroom, her impact was felt as a rise coach and her
tireless work, assisting with the school musical. When she wasn't shaping young minds, she was likely perfecting her crochet project or planning her next dinner out with friends. As she begins this new chapter, Alish is trading the classroom for the soccer sidelines to
cheer on her son Ryan and stepping into a mentor role for her daughter Caitlyn, who is following her mother's footsteps as a teacher. We wish Alish, her husband, Bobby, and her entire family nothing but the best. We hope your retirement is filled with plenty of time
for your nephews, great meals, and of course, no morning bells. Congratulations. This is Cold Danic. >> Congratulations and good luck on your journey ahead. Um, okay. And sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
>> Um, so the next retirement comment is for uh Barbara Frenzy. Congratulations to Mrs. Barbara Frrenzy on her retirement. She's been a valued employee of the transportation department for the past 23 years. Barbara was always very caring and committed to ensuring the
safety of the students placed in her care daily. She's been a pleasure to work with and will be missed dearly. Everyone at the transportation department wishes her the best in her welldeserved retirement. Congratulations. Next up is for Christine Marchesano.
Christine Marchesano has announced her plan to retire from the Marbor Township Schools after 31 and a half years of service in education. Over those years, she held positions in Brooklyn, New York, spent one year at Robertsville, and then found her home
for the next 26 years at Asher Holmes. She has worked closely with hundreds of Asher students and staff members, and has had a lasting impression on each one. She prides herself on her flexibility and understanding on a special ed as a special education teacher as she strives to provide all
students a chance to learn and do their best. She always has high expectations for her students and supports them along the way, getting to know them as individuals. She has participated in numerous district and and school committees which
have helped shape the educational program for students in Marro. Known to her colleagues at Asher as a conscientious colleague and dedicated educator, Christine will certainly be missed. While her time working at Asher has come
to an end, her imprint on our school and the friendships created are timeless. The Asher community wishes her well in this new chapter of her life and hopes that she enjoys her time with her family, friends, and dogs, especially
and especially her beautiful grandson. Congratulations, Mrs. Marchano. Next up are retirement comments for Susan Morris. Susan Morris began her career in the transportation department in 2007. After 19 years, she will be
retiring in June to enjoy time with her friends and family. Mrs. Morris will be missed by her colleagues and students and her driver with whom she has worked year after year. They made an excellent team and we now wish Mrs. Morris the
best of luck in this next chapter of her life. Congratulations, Mrs. Morris. And last but not least, uh my own secretary, Karen Sanford. Tonight, we recognize and thank Karen Sanford, who has played an essential role in keeping
our district running smoothly from the office of the superintendent. Since joining MTPS on February 21st, 2023, Karen has been a steady, reliable, and welcoming presence. In a role that requires discretion, organization, and
constant adaptability, she consistently delivered with professionalism and grace. Whether coordinating complex schedules, supporting district initiatives, or serving as a first point of contact for staff and community members, she handled each responsibility
with care and attention to detail it deserved. Her ability to anticipate needs, manage competing priorities, and her ability to catch typos and grammatical errors has not gone unnoticed from this former English
teacher. She catches everything. Karen, while your time with us may not have been very long, the value you brought to the role and to our team has been significant. We are grateful for your service and the support you provided to the district's leadership
and community. On behalf of the entire MTPS community, we wish you all the best in your retirement. May it be filled with good health, happiness, no snow day calls, and time to enjoy all the things you love to do.
Congratulations, Karen. >> Congratulations to all on their retirement. Did anybody do the calculation? All right. Well, I'm going to defer that one to Brian since he loves to do it and I'm an English teacher and I am not good at math. So, when he gets back, Brian,
that's your task. Um, all right. Well, thank you. Um, next up is policy development and community relation matters. Adidi I mean Miss Gandhi would you mind >> policy development and community relations matters one second readings um
policy 2530 policy 2535 policy 5112 and policy 9130 approval of the amended 2026 2027 school year calendar I so move >> Can I get a I can't do it.
>> You can't. >> Thank you, Mr. Smith. Uh, any discussion? >> I want to thank the policy committee for adding um the policy, the electronic access in the policy. However, I did also express I wanted to be make sure it
was searchable. Uh, I did check with the superintendent and it is easy easily searchable. So, I'm going to ask the board if they wouldn't mind reading in that word searchable into the sentence and uh before you vote on it, reading that in uh change the sentence to the district will it's uh page three or five
letter C. The district will provide searchable electronic access for parents to review the current catalog and offerings. That's the part that was changed. So, between the word provide electronic, just insert the word searchable. I'm going to ask the board to please consider that and vote on it
in that form. Thank you. >> Are you going to make a >> motion? >> Sure, if you want to. >> So, I'll make I'm making a motion then to add the word searchable on page 305 of policy 2535 into the sentence of the district will
provide searchable electronic access for parents to review the current catalog and offerings in accordance with policy 9130. >> So, the only addition is the word addition is the word searchable. >> Searchable. Correct. Only addition is the word searchable. >> You need a second for that. All
right. Can I get a second? All right, Miss Jenowski. Um, and any discussion? >> We'll vote first on the unless you have other other discussion, but we should vote first on the amendment to the uh resolution and the one-word amendment to
the policy first and then we'll vote on the other two items later. >> I do have a discussion about the motion discussion first. >> Um, so Mr. Oski when the policy committee met the word searchable right um I know that the last time we spoke
about it it was in regards to like database um and the word I know talking to Mr. Cohen also the word access the the searchable is in embedded in that right like we might not have a database
in the next year two years five years technology changes all the time right and the in the platforms that we use so I I'm just saying I thought we all agreed on that clause the last time um that I don't know
really what it's embedded in the access of the digital platform or whatever it may be. >> I appreciate that. I just respectfully don't disagree with you. I I don't believe it is. I believe we need the word searchable there. Make it clear that it'll be searchable and there'll be
other boards down the road down the years that'll change it. If we need to change it because the way we access it changes, that board will change the policy. Right now, it is what it is and that's how we look at it. So yeah, if down you down the road it changes and the word searchable is not somehow
doesn't apply, then amend the policy at that point. That that's what that board does. But right now it can apply and it will apply and it doesn't hurt by putting it there. >> I'm not sure what you mean that the catalog won't be for another year, 3 years, 5 years. Isn't this going to happen immediately since the policy is
in the policy? >> Wait, the what? The what? >> The that the catalog will be available kind of >> No, no, no. I just meant the actual tool, right, of or whatever cuz I was specifically referring to when Mr. Lowki was bringing up databases last time and
those tools, you know, to check it. It could be a repository. It could be I mean, give it whatever name you want, right? So I didn't think in the access of whatever was whatever platform tool whatever is available the searchable is
in that is embedded in the access of whatever that tool platform whatever may be >> I I take in my in my opinion when I hear access I think like oh I have a list of
the 10,000 books that are in Robertsville library or Defino library. But when I hear searchable like I I think oh my my daughter's like I have library tomorrow and I'm thinking of picking out this book and I can quickly go to like a destiny and put can I like
can I join a club and put that book in and I can see if it's in or out. What's it about? What's the author's name and what the like the reading is of it. That's what I when I hear searchable, I think that when I have when I hear access, I just think I have like a card
catalog that doesn't really give me a lot of information, just that the book exists. >> Okay. Were you going to say something? >> No. Yeah, I I agree with you, Jenna. I think stating that you the parents have access to it and it's electronically
that precisely what it means that you can go in search and put you know whether it is it's not like an actual physical catalog it just means you can go in and search for it so access means you have access to the books I don't think it makes a difference but I I it's just repetitive
it access means you have access to the books >> I I'm just going to still say electron IC access could some board could assume that means a click and download a a document that's not not OCR not
searchable it could just be a a straight document means you have access to it doesn't mean you can search it unless it's OCR and unless it's you know in their property or it's a database however we decide to do it long as it's searchable I don't care but for me it needs to have the word there so make
sure that parents can like Kerry said I want to know books there I have a way of putting the came in and comes right up. I don't have to look through the whole list to find it. >> Yeah, I understand. Oh, I'm just going to say one thing. I I don't think it makes a difference to add it because that's precisely what we're doing. So, if it
>> it sort of ends this conversation now and we can go to vote, then let's add searchable. I don't think again either way it makes a difference. Access does mean you have access to all the books and you can search what is in the libraries. That's the purpose of the policy. >> Thank you. All right. Roll call
>> on the amendment only. Oh, this is for the amendment >> to add the word and then we'll vote on >> and this is for policy 2535. That's correct. >> Okay. Yes. Thank you. Okay. Mr. Lansonsky. >> Yes. >> Mr. Smith. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Balomo. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gandhi. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hyatt. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Jenowski. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Carrerero. >> Yes. We're back to the original motion one and two
>> as amended. >> Okay. So, back to the original motion one and two as amended. All right. Roll call. >> Okay. >> Mrs. Mr. Smith, sorry. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Balomo. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Gandhi. >> I just wanted to say to um Mr. Balone, thank you for taking the feedback from the board. Um, again, I didn't want to overstep at the last board meeting. I really wanted the decision to, you know, be on you because I, as you explained,
there is a very rigorous process that the school and and and the district follows before a book is even adapted into our school libraries. And so to immediately after that have you guys go through, you know, a book that is being
challenged, it is burdensome, right? But I'm glad that you're working with it. And you know, I really will I'm not going to be here next year, but that you know, if you do come across that it's a heavier burden than you had anticipated that you should feel comfortable to come to the board um and
bring that forward. But I appreciate you working with you know working with all of us and um I'm all for parental rights. So absolutely I vote yes. >> Mr. Hyatt, >> yes. >> Mrs. Jenowski,
>> yes. And I just wanted to say thank you. I'm sorry, Mr. Caro. I just wanted to say thank you as well to Mr. Balone and to the policy committee as well for going back and making revisions based on the feedback given. So I appreciate you kind of listening with an open heart and
making those revisions. It's very much appreciated, >> Mr. Lansonsky and Mrs. Carrero. >> Yes. Thank you. Okay, we are up to liaison reports. Um, freehold regional.
Nope. Okay, no report. The Marbor Educational Foundation. >> No update. It's just the Wizards game. I can't remember the the April 13th is the Wizards game. It was a roaring success
last year and I mean really you get to see Mr. Balone come out and play. So I really think that um everybody should go out there, support um the foundation, purchase tickets, bring your kids, bring your families, and um again whatever you
put in comes right back to our students. So um April 13th is the Wizards game. Thank you. Uh Marbor Township. Yep. >> Okay. So, back to the scrambled extravaganza. March 28th is the annual egg hunt for children's age 2 to 10.
There'll be inflatable petting zoo, special photo ops, and the event is bring your own basket. The Marbor Swim Club. Registration is now open for all memberships and swimming lessons. To get more information, deadlines for registration, visit the township website. Marbor Library book donations. The library is accepting donations of
books and jigsaw puzzles. No textbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries um accepted. Children's books and classics are particularly desired. Bring donations to the library during open hours. Fire hydrant flushing. The annual spring 2026 hydrant flushing will begin about
Monday, March 23rd with anticipated completion of of May 8th, 2026. Typically between the hours of 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., brush and leaf bags must be placed behind the curb, and fire hydrants should not be blocked to allow access to avoid obstructing drainage.
Brush collection update. Please review the email the township sent out on March 12th. Pacific collection dates and guidelines for the bag leaf and emergency brush collection updates and reminders also sent via the recycle coach app. For any questions, visit the township's website.
>> Thank you. Um, this is the Mama County School Boards. Um, I'm the liaison and I don't have an update. Um, New Jersey School Boards Association. >> No update. >> Okay. Scope. I actually Sue is not here. I have the update. Um, so Scope received
an overwhelming number of grant submissions this year. We have recently finalized the grant selections with administration and are currently in the process of notifying teachers. Final approval will take place with the board of education soon. We are also looking forward to the districtwide walk for
change on April 15th. This year's theme is be kind uh and CPAG. Thank you to Robin and Angie. CPAG's next meeting of the school year will be virtual on Thursday, March 26th at 7:30 p.m. The agenda and link will be sent
out through special services and will also be posted to our CPAGs Facebook page. If you haven't attended a meeting yet, CPAG's next meeting would be the perfect time to start getting involved. If you need additional resources and advice from other parents and guardians, please check out CPAG's website and
Facebook pages as there is a lot of information on both. >> Thank you. Um, moving on. Old business. >> Seeing none, um, do I have >> new business? Oh, new business. All right. Any new business?
>> None. Okay, we're up to public comment. Is there anyone on the list? >> Yes, Valentina Mendes. >> Sorry. Um I meant to bring this up last time, too. Sorry. Um I know that afterare
um for our students and stuff have been sort of a point of conversation, you know, like last year especially and stuff and I just wanted to bring it up to the board to see if we can are we looking to go out to bids to see if we can find other providers um for after
school care like what is the plan for that? So from what I remember from the last time we're you know for next year we're late to do that if you know I think they they have about a six-month lead time right something like that so you know
you'd have to go out for bid >> and then um you know we're we're essentially in April at this point by the time our next board meeting comes >> um that's not enough time. >> How long does it normally take to get the bids? So when would be the right
time like January, February to go in and to look into it. >> So you know when the new board gets seated? I would say um probably start talking about it in December if if that's the direction you know the board wants to take and then you know probably bring it up in January when the new board is seated and move pretty swiftly
from there because um if you recall when we changed from champions to the YMCA this most recent time um one of the unintended uh consequences was they you know they were running our summer
program as Well, so you know, it's not just for September. It's really for >> even before September. So, if if we want to engage in that in that conversation, if the board wants to engage in that conversation, um I would say December, maybe start talking about it as you
know, as the board at that time and then when the new board is seated, um if that's a direction that the new board wants to take, that's probably the appropriate time to do that. >> Okay. And then I know in initially we had some growing pains right when we switched over and stuff and I know that we kind of worked very closely with the
Y to make sure we make accommodations and amendments to whatever we needed to kind of help our community. Um since then I haven't heard anything and I just want to confirm that we're going down the same like there's there hasn't been anything else. I mean I'm sure we would
bring it to our attention if there were but it seems like it's okay. So the initial stuff was really just growing pains from going from one, you know, company to another, which is expected. Um, but we're in a good spot. And so if we wanted to do something, it would have
to be >> next year in January. And in general, um, how often do you guys go out to go to bid for these types of services? Because obviously we don't want to do it every year because you don't want to change vendors every year with, you know, on our parents. But I'm just curious like what is is it the norm like
every three years? >> I would say five. >> Five years. Five would be the norm. >> Okay. >> This way you give people a chance to, you know, you give the program a chance to to build. I mean, you can't do every year because >> I mean, you can, but it it's it it's
hard continuity wise. >> I would say five is average. >> Okay. And just one other thing, I think you have sent out surveys before. I know just to kind of check. I don't know if it makes sense to do it or not. I want to put more work on administration, but if it makes sense to for the new board,
right, to kind of make a um educated decision on if we need to go out to bid or not, does it make sense at some point, you know, before the school year ends or maybe over the summer, we send out another survey just to kind of find out like how, you know, what their thought like the parents thoughts are on
um the why and if there's anything that they want to see change. even if we don't go out to bid, if they would like to see some changes sort of take um effect, then maybe that's something that we can bring to the Y, you know, even before the new school year starts. So, >> yeah, I think that's a good idea. The Y
does send out a survey survey each year. Um what what I've noticed is they don't get a very good response rate and I have talked to them about incentivizing that to you know, we have about I think it's about 400 students that that use this service. Um, I would like to get a a
much larger response rate. You know, they have a very small percentage of people who respond. Um, and you know how that works, right? You know, people generally don't respond when they're happy. They generally answer when they're unhappy. So, it seems skewed a
little bit. Um, but I I I will engage uh a conversation with the YMCA and talk about creative ways to get a better response rate so we can at least um listen to our community, the the the parents who are using the service and and yes, maybe improve it for next year
or what I will say is the YMCA has been very receptive to feedback. >> That's great. The only thing I would say, I mean, you know, if the Y sent a survey out to me, right, as a parent, I may hesitate to be completely brutally honest. I wonder cuz, you know, they're
servicing my ch my child, right? So, would it make more sense that if that survey came from the district that parents would be a little bit more open to saying like what they truly may want? I mean, I'm not saying that they're not happy cuz believe me, we would have heard by now like we would have heard on
social media sites or you would have heard, you know, people would have called you. So, no noise is is great, right? Nothing's been out there. But I think that we can as you know, new parents come in and stuff, just giving everybody an opportunity to kind of voice like, hey, what are their needs? Especially, you know, now a lot of um
jobs are expecting people to go back into the offices. So, right, that impact um has we've seen a lot more of that recently, right? Um, so it wouldn't hurt, but I really think that sending out the surveys from the district may garner a little bit more of a response
than if it was coming directly from the Y. So just something to think about. >> Thank you. Public comments. >> Yes, Valentina Mendes. just not about this but first thing is is just to go back to the YMCA verse
champions. Champions was actually in the district for about 20 years with no bids that had happened over that 20-year process until the former board majority came in and requested bids got crucified because we actually asked to look at another provider which some board
members actually Mr. Hi, Miss Gandhi, myself, Miss Olanski, I think uh Miss Bomo, or whoever was on the board at time voted yes. Actually, it was unanimous. Yes. Just putting that out there as the reminder on the YMCA verse champions uh conversation.
But back to actually my initial public comments. Thank you for Mr. Blommo, Mr. Leonsky, Mr. Jen, Mrs. Jenowski for voting no on that for the taxpayer because $20 is $20 and it's not just $20 to some families. So, thank you for
that. Uh what I have here is what I'd like to talk about. What has come to light through uh OPER requested emails is deeply concerning and raises some serious questions about judgment, transparency, and appropriate use of board resources. The OPER request sought emails between Miss Gandhi and other
board members, administrators, and the board attorney over a defined period of time. These records show that she was seeking legal guidance through the board attorney on matters that may be deemed personal in nature, including issues related to social media activity and
interpersonal disputes. That alone should make you all think. Under New Jersey standards, the board attorney represents the district, not individual members, for personal matters. Board members are expected to act within the scope of district business, and using
district resources for personal issues can raise ethical concerns under the New Jersey School Board Ethics Act. That law requires board members to avoid not only actual improprietary impropriy, but even the appearance of it. layer onto that the communication
practices reflected in those same emails. There is evidence of blind copying a personal email account which is Miss Gandhi's and Dr. Mskowitz. That raises a very simple question in all of these board related
conversations. Why is the sitting board member routing communications outside of official channels while conducting public business or board business? Board communications are government records under the Open Public Records Act and
transparency is not optional. Moving communications to personal accounts, even indirectly, raises serious concerns about recordkeeping and public access. And then there is the handling of the Oprah request itself. The district is
now seeking to charge this uh p this community member $365.66 66 cents for that initial request because there were that many emails that Miss Gandhi sent to her personal email as well as Dr. Mskowitz.
That alone raises concern. Now I understand that there is work that goes into it and I understand that there are costs association associated with it. The explanation of the charge references different hourly estimates. For example,
approximately 2.5 hours for one portion and 1 and a half hours for another is how the charge was put together. Yet, the associated dollar amounts do not align in a way that makes sense mathematically. If the hourly rate is consistent, then 2 and 1/2 hours should
scale proportionately against one and a half. Instead, the totals do not reconcile, which raises questions about how the actual figures were derived. I'm sure there's a formula. I just don't know it and I know I am running out of time so I'll end quickly but I ask for
an additional minute. I understand that under Oprah agency there you're permitted to charge which I completely understand. We just want to make sure it is applied consistently and transparently. So I have a question. When was the last time the district charged a member of the public for an
open request and for how much? because many of us I cannot recall a time when that happened but maybe I was not privy to that information which I completely understand cuz there were many many OPER requests that came for certain board members that were given very freely
which I understand had to happen. Um also my last note here as I close I know it's going over and I know you don't like it because it's about you but I need to finish. There is a local Facebook page where Miss Gandhi serves as an admin and a post was made
targeting a fellow board member, Mr. Lansonsky, which tidies to my civility piece. It talked about commentary including his appearance and his character. This was not a neutral discussion. It was personal and inappropriate. And instead
of shutting it down, she engaged with it. She liked the post and continued participating in the convers conversation. I don't mean to interrupt you, but can would you be able to wrap it up soon? >> I'm wrapping up. One second. Thank you, Miss Guerrero. >> This has happened on numerous occasions.
Personal attacks against not only myself, former B board members, Miss Balomo, Miss Jenowski questioning her religion, Mr. Lansonsky, Miss Seawart. I can go on and on. And so I want to say at the end of all of this, the civility
resolution is actually a joke at this point because it took since September until now. And there's zero civility and it comes mostly from one board member sitting right there. And so I just want to say, Miss Curaro, Mr. Cohen's not here, but I'm assuming you're watching.
What are you going to do to fix it? Because this is the first time that this person is even speaking for the whole year brings divisiveness, personal attacks, threats against people, and that's that. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Anybody else? public comment.
Please come up. >> Angela Colby from Marorrow. I just want to apologize that I misspoke regarding the minutes and the agenda that's posted online. The minutes are there, but the agendas are not there from 2025. So, if those could be updated, so we
don't have to go over the entire list of the minutes to find out what the meeting was about, it would be appreciated. The agendas don't after the minutes get placed, the agendas get removed. >> Okay. So, is there an easier way to be able to go through what the meetings
were about without having to sit through 20 pages of minutes? >> Podcast coming soon. No, but the the minutes actually follow the agenda. It's just the agenda and then just
so >> Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? Um, Mr. Lindsky, is it difficult to add the agenda back on because I like so that like if I wasn't at this meeting and I just read notes, it would have be
a it would be difficult for me even being here to remember what tied to what. >> So, at least the heading. So the reason that the agenda comes off after is because they might there might be changes or readins or or you know like
there might be amendments or there might be a salary that was not correct on the original agenda. Those things you know the original agenda then wouldn't be correct anymore. So that's why the minutes have the regular agenda in it and then with the comments
>> and the notes. Yeah. Okay. Okay, >> thank you. Um, okay. So, motion to close public comment, Miss Shankowski. Second. Thank you, Mr. Hyatt. All those in favor? I. Any opposed?
Okay. All right. So, we're going to move into executive session. Um, >> Miss Caro, because our names were referenced, are we allowed to speak on a public comment? Is that okay? >> Right. So, Miss Mend, I just wanted to thank you. I just want to reiterate that, you
know, sitting up here as a teacher. Um, the budget is very difficult because, you know, I love our school district, I love the students, but as a board member elected by the community, um, I know that I have to think about community members and what a tax increase would
mean to them. So, it it was, you know, taking everything into account. And um I listened to some community members and it it was a very very difficult decision and like I said it was more about the sustainability going forward not just
looking at this in isolation. So um it had not it was it's no reflection of the administration and what they did or didn't do and um the state funding formula is very difficult. Um and uh the other piece I would love to put the
civility policy back in one of the agendas >> resolution. >> Sorry, >> I'm sorry. You are right. The resolution to put back so we can have further discussion. Um because yeah, it's it's getting out of control and it's it's um it's hurtful when people's weight,
religion, things like that are being, you know, thrown around as if it reflects them as a board member. So, uh, I would really like to discuss that somewhere in an agenda down the line. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> And I I did want to just mentioned we
did vote to close public comment. So, and then No, I know, but we we all voted to close public comment. Nobody was opposed. But go ahead, Mr. Lanssky. >> Appreciate it. Thanks, Val, for bringing that up. I just want to uh set the
record straight to the only factual part of that post is it wasn't a few pounds. It was 130 lbs and that doesn't count the body parts that I've given to my two cancers. Okay. So, uh might want to
clear that up. 130 not a few. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, we're going to move into executive session. It's anticipated that the length of time is 60 minutes and that action will not be taken in public after executive session.
Need a motion. Thank you, Miss Gandhi. Second. Thank you, Miss Jenowski. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Awesome. Have a wonderful night, everyone.