20th board of education meeting. Roll call. >> Dr. Cordelino here. >> Mrs. Fano here. >> Dr. Modrech. >> Mr. Palma >> here. >> Mr. Petraino >> here. >> Mr. Rapaort >> here. >> Mrs. Smith
>> here. Mrs. Zuckerman >> here. Mr. Dri >> here. >> Mrs. Ammer >> here. >> Mr. Blumenthal is not here. If >> we could all stand for the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liy and justice for all. >> Open public meeting notice. The open p the New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the
public to have advanced notice of and to attend meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provision of the act, the Montville Township Board of Education provided a public notice of this meeting which included the time, date, and location that was posted at
the Montville Township Municipal Building, all Montville public schools, the Montville Public Library, the Montville Township Board of Education Administrative Office Building, the district website, and advertised in the daily record, and the Montville tap into the board's official newspapers on
January 8th, 2026. Thank you. Uh high school student represent report. >> Classes return in past times. Classes return from winter break on January 5th, 2026. The pep rally was rescheduled for January 9th. The events of the day
included faculty versus student basketball game where teachers face off against students in a friendly but competitive basketball matchup, a wig taking event, musical chairs, and a back box stacking competition. each school.
The National Federation of State High School Associations, NFHS, and the New Jersey State Interscolastic Athletic Association, the NJSIAA, emphasize the importance of sportsmanship as a key aspect in the development of our sports participants
and in the conduct of our competitive events. The Northwest Chapter 1 Field Hockey Official Association instituted an outstanding sportsmanship award to recognize coaches whose actions throughout the field hockey season
exemplified the highest standard of sportsmanship. They have taken the NFHS and NJSIA directives to heart and have incorporated the ideals of good sportsmanship into their coaching styles. The recipient of the outstanding sportsmanship award in Morris County is
the coach of Montville field hockey Amy Vizuzo. The tenor of the MTHS choir, Alex Turnoff, has won the two 2026 NJ MEA chorus NJ governor's award. Mr. Turnoff
was nominated for this prestigious honor after being ranked number two tenor second in the state last year. Following his nomination, he completed a rigorous application and auditioned process to be considered for the award. The science Olympia team placed eighth
in the re recent regional competition of the NJIT this week. A special congratulations go out to our first place winners Mike Jung and Sahed Sin for their build events. Last Thursday, January 15th, student of
the international business practice firm honors class went to Fairfield Dickinson University and presented their madeup companies that they have been spending the year building. They presented the business to plans. The judges both classes companies Temp and Hydrosync
received awards for their hard work thus far in the class. In sports, boys basketball has a current record of 9 to1 as they defeated Morris Nulls Thursday night. Senior guard Chris Ferrari reached 1,000 points, a milestone in the win. Girls basketball
is currently 4 to 10 with a game on Wednesday against Mountain Lakes. Boys ice hockey is currently 5 to8 with a game on Wednesday against Bernard's Wrestling. Wrestling is currently 13 to1 with wins against Clifton and Randolph over the weekend. Tonight they are
playing Morris Hills. Boys bowling have a game today versus Morris Hills as they are 11 to2. Boys swimming is 0 to6 with a meet today against Morristown and girls swim is 3 to three with a meet this Thursday versus St. Elizabeth.
In present and future times midterms will be held this weekend this week for select classes from Wednesday January 21st to Monday January 26th. These school days run from 7:25 to 11:55 and each day will only be made up of two
classes, one and five on Wednesday, two and periods 2 and six on Thursday, and so on and so forth. Makeup for midterms will take place on the 27th and 28th if needed. The school yearbook is currently on sale from now until January 23rd. The
price is $125. Starting on January 24th, the price will increase to $140. On January 27th, the second semester will begin the day after. There will be a Share the Keys event on February 2nd in the auditorium at 7 to 8:30. On
Wednesday, February 4th, MTHs will be hosting their annual eighth grade orientation. Student ambassadors of student council, PAL and SACE and more will act as tour guides to the eighth graders as they will be able to get their first glimpse into high school
life and the rich and varied programs that MTHs offers. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Gorman. Your report. >> Yes. Uh great job, J. I really appreciate that. A lot of great accomplishments by our students as well as our staff. And how else can we get so
many people out on such a cold evening, but this is one of the best evenings of the year. We're going to be celebrating all these educators uh that you know the wonderful things they do throughout the year. Um it's so wonderful to see friends, colleagues, peers, family members come out and and support us. Um
so we're going to start right off and go right into Cedar Hill. Mr. Raj, Dr. Raj. Good evening. >> Is that on first? >> Give it a sec. >> There we go. Good evening everyone.
Thank you for having us. I'd like to introduce first of all our teacher of the year, Miss Claire Choy, who's a kindergarten teacher at Cedar Hill School. And our educa that's still good. and our educational specialist, Pat Chzn, who is our physical therapist. Congratulations,
ladies. Clean up. New hair. You're throwing me for All right. You're throwing me for a curveball, Dr. Gorman. Uh, it's all right. I survive. Adapt, adjust. Isn't that the stuff you're trying to teach us
in these admin council meetings with this Jaco Willick or whoever he is? Anyway, so one month it's very proud to announce our teacher of the year, Miss Andrea Mitses. Andrea is one of two full-time ESL teachers at Woodmont. Um, in the case of
many of our students, not only when they come to Woodmont do they move from a new town, they're actually moving from a new country. And often they're blessed to have Andrea as their first teacher. And I can't think of a better experience than to work with Andrea. Her
sensitivity for her students, her understanding of what it's like to be a foreign student in a new country, learning new customs, very sensitive to that as she not only teaches them the English language, but the customs of our country. And she really does an amazing job integrating our students into the
Woodmont community, into the larger community. So again, kudos to Andrea. I think you're 13 13 years now. 14 years in our building. And our educational specialist of the year is par professional Daniellea Antonius. Daniela. Daniela joined us in COVID. It was quite
the show. She just showed up one day in November saying, "I'm here." And I said, "Oh, great. No one told me, but welcome aboard. Welcome to Woodmont." But she quickly integrated herself into our community. She's well known for her enthusiasm, for energy, her creativity. She's a driving force behind many of the
vid videos you see in our building, especially our end of the year lip dub. And uh Danielle is the one who comes up with the plan, the map, the special effects. So if you enjoy those, it's a large part due to Daniellea's creativity. So again, we congratulate
both of them for a job well done. And to the Woodmont staff, we missed the cowboy. So, we got to get that cowboy buck. Tonight we have Miss Mrs. Jenna Amadeo, our teacher of the year. Um, yeah,
Mrs. Amadeo started well at she was a second grade teacher for many years and then brought her love of science to fourth grade and um along with her class pets and um all her hands-on activities. Our students are lucky to have her. um
she brings and instills her love of science to them which we all know we need these days. So thank you for your calm and steady force in fourth grade science. So thank you Miss Amado
and our educational specialist Mrs. Virginia Grabbinsky Jenny as we call her. Um, Jenny is a par profofessional at Hilldale and has been there as long as I have. And um, every day she walks in
with a smile. Besides, um, her compassion, her love for her students, she walks in with a smile every single day. No matter what's happening, no matter what's happening at home, in school, she has a smile on her face. And that says so much to her students, so much to us as a staff. We are so lucky
to have you. So, thank you both. I leave you. >> Congratulations. >> You're good. >> You hear me? Okay. Congratulations to all the um winners tonight. uh teachers of the year and educational specialists.
I want to congratulate Gabrielle Caprio who is a 26-year veteran in the Montville Township Schools at Valley View. Gabby Gabby is an excellent paraprofessional. She works her magic. We call her the miracle worker. Um working and nurturing
with the most challenging students in our in our school. uh little children who need a lot of guidance and under her toutelage they gain confidence and uh develop coping skills and build skills and knowledge. Um she also bolsters them
in small group supplemental instruction and something that some people may not know our Valley View and all our district parah professionals are highly trained. Um, Miss Caprio has been trained in safety care, play-based
learning, building support, uh, building what? Supportive and inclusive environments, and in um, best practices to eliminate stereotypes. Um, Miss Caprio collaborates with the child study team, our BCBA, and related services to
ensure that the information provided will inform instruction and make these kits um, well served. Um she's dedicated to our students and our teachers and um she puts them on their journey and we're so proud to call her our colleague and
friend. Thank you Gabby. >> Mrs. Jessica Becker, a former soccer star um at Monontlair State University. Um she teaches our youngest students and has been 18 years at Valley View. uh few
less than me. But um when she came, we were so excited to have her come to the uh staff. She nurtures our young nurtures our youngest children. Um she greets them with um patience and warmth and high expectations every day. Um she
structures their in uh academics with um creativity and imagination. She makes learning fun and builds their curiosity. Um she communicates exceedingly well with parents over the years who depend on her for um information about their
children and and their growth. Miss Becker is also an integral part of our our school community. Most importantly, she works and she um got a certificate in behavior threat assessment and she's on our team. So her interest is not only
in the classroom but in the whole school community making our environment safe and nurturing. Um colleagues seek her out for as a resource. She's a mentor to new teachers and a team player at grade level meetings. Um she has the qualities
of an outstanding educator. Um she's builds a strong academic foundation and builds confidence, kindness, and develops a joy for learning. Miss Becker, your dream come true. God bless. Mason.
>> Thank you, Dr. Gorman. Congratulations once again to all of our award winners. William Mason School is very excited to announce Mr. Lishkevich as our teacher of the year. Mr. L has been at William Mason. Thank you, Doc.
Mr. L, as he's affectionately known, has been at William Mason for 11 years. Five as a par professional and six as a teacher. And I was reminded actually on the way here tonight, um Mr. L came to us 11 years ago for a student that um
came to the United States to receive several surgeries. And that student's name um was Boris. And we put an advertisement online and I'm sure in the papers and uh the student was from Russia. And the only applicant we had
was a Russian man named Boris. And so Mr. L came to us um 11 years ago to serve as a par professional for our student Boris. And he's been with us ever since. And he's just been an outstanding member of our faculty. And I guess it was fate that brought you to William Mason. So, thank you for
everything you do. Our educational services professional is Mrs. George. Mrs. George is a former parent of ours and she's been at William Mason for 11 years now and she's trembling because she thinks she has to speak. Um, Mrs. George is our speech
teacher and she is um one of the most thoughtful um enthusiastic individuals I've ever had the privilege of working with. And Mrs. George also serves as our resident comedian. Every Wednesday she does a joke on the loudspeaker. We call
it wacky Wednesday and um it's a way for her to connect with her students and help them to feel more comfortable speaking in public. So we appreciate you, Mrs. George. We appreciate your jokes and thank you for everything you do. science. >> So, um, first, congratulations everyone.
We are here to recognize our teacher of the year, Miss Eileen Lenerys. and our educator of the year, Miss Adriana Serno. So, as evident by the overwhelming support of the Lazar staff, I'm going to read um some brief things about each of
them, but what I'm going to read doesn't really measure everything they bring to our school, specifically the energy and enthusiasm and trying to bring everybody together, both students and staff. We'll start with Miss Lenerys. She's been in our building for 11 years. Um, those of you who are parents in the audience who
pull up in the morning, she's one of the people outside greeting the students typically, not typically, but sometimes wearing ridiculous costumes. Um, she also makes the Lazar happenings um, video montage that should go out to everybody, but also goes out to the
community. Um, she creates fun videos to boost staff morale, including uh, cartwheel Wednesdays, which I took some flak for. Um, she's a yearbook adviser, SOS adviser, she chaperones everything possible. She's also brought the Cubid project to our building and I can go on
and on and on and on. Um, and none of it would really match what she actually brings to our building. And that's Miss Eileen Lenerys. >> And the same can be said for Miss Seno. She's in her third year at Lazar. She um works in our counseling department. She
oversees our Spanish speakers group and organization group. She helped with um the collection of fidget spinners for the Gorb Children's Hospital. Um this year in particular, Miss Leno has a very difficult case load. Um in fact, just this afternoon, we were with the police
uh numerous times. She handles every one of those situations extraordinarily well, well beyond her years of only being in this position for three years. And like Miss Lener, she brings a tremendous amount of value to our building um in the things she does on a daily basis. And like one of the other
people mentioned before, both of these individuals come to work every day with a smile. So we are very grateful for the two of them. That's Miss Lenerys and Miss Lero. Good evening everyone. Um Doug Samford couldn't be with us tonight so um I have
the honor of introducing three folks from the high school. Um the first person I'd like to introduce is Rob Natural. Um, I've had the pleasure of working with him for 13 years, but he's been with the district for 18. He primarily works within the science
department as the special ed teacher. He started his educational career in 2003 at Hamilton Middle School in Elizabeth. He holds an elementary uh school teacher, teacher of the handicap and school counseling. One of his biggest
accolades is the lounge, which he formed 10 years ago. Rob Natural. The second person I'd like to introduce is the Princeton University distinguished secondary school teacher, Miss Kimman Dolce. Dolch, sorry.
She's a special education teacher who manages a diverse range of students from the LLD to the ASUS classes. She's been with Monville for more than 25 years beginning in 2001. She graduated from William Patterson with a bachelor's
degree in special education and counseling and has a master's as a reading specialist as a reading specialist. Um she began her career teaching in Lazar and then joined the high school in 21. Kima
and finally the educational service professional of the year, Miss Amanda Parah. Miss Parah is a speech pathologist at the high school. She's been with Montville for 11 years. Um began her career in 2015 with us. Um she
started in 2008 at Woodland Park Schools. She graduated with a bachelor of science and master's in arts, speech, and language pathology. Miss Amanda Parrot. We're going to ask all the recipients to come on up here with their certificates.
We're going to do one large picture, PLEASE. >> Uh here or here? >> Probably here. We're going to put you Yeah. In front of the board, please. Two lines. >> Where's Where's Miss Marinel?
Yeah, you're ready. >> Stay there. We got a lot of audience pictures. >> Congratulations. squeeze into any picture when you're watch. >> At this point, we'll take a fivem minute break.
Joe, you should announce that if you you're here, you have to stay for the whole meeting. >> Right. Right. Right. I know. I was a little surprised as well. >> Well, you know, we're trying to keep you on your toes. >> That's Oh, that's funny. His daughter won
something last year. >> She gave a presentation. >> She gave a presentation. >> What was Mrs. Amado's name? Janice? No. Janice Amado was her mom. Is her mom? >> I can't remember. She goes back to like
when Vanessa was >> my teacher's mom. >> She was finishing up her but I had both of them were here at the same >> same time. Yeah. I can't remember. >> I think it was Janice. >> I know she taught gifted and do we still
do gifted and talented? >> Yeah. But it's integrated with >> it's that is different. But I think that's what >> I want to see. >> And the work was her mom's name. >> I was just talking to
>> She left. She left in my mailbox an envelope. She a CD from when Alex dressed up in colonial clothes for the fourth grade. and he had two costume changes and dancing at the end. She sent me that whole video and then she sent me
a whole bunch of pictures. It was so sweet of her. She said she was I figured she was cleaning things out and she uh she didn't want to throw them away. >> Yeah. Now Lauren is at Lauren.
>> Oh, >> she looks just like her mom. How about um >> Sazelle and her niece >> drive safe. >> Moren at Cedar Hill does the veterans program.
Oh yeah. Um, >> I can see your face and I can't >> Clancy. Clancy, it's Moren Clancy. >> Question. >> Middle school mathematics. I ju I just found out that there is honors, then
gifted and talented, then regular. Oh, the gifted and talented that you're talking about is for those kids who accelerated. So, they're an entire year ahead of everybody else. So, they're doing sixth grade
math class with Danielle Barkley doing the online. Oh, so that >> Oh, because the way Miss McGloin explained to me, I thought like my kids are in fifth grade. Next year they'll
either get placed in probably not be in honors even though I'd love them to be, but honors >> and then and then I thought gifted and talented was like a middle ground and then >> gifted and talented is a completely different course. So if they did sixth
grade math as fifth grade students, when they get up to Lazar, they will will placed in algebra as seventh grade as >> so they'll be with seventh grade. >> I don't know where he went that way. I don't know where.
>> Got it. So gifted and talented is only for people in fifth grade that are doing sixth grade. >> So when you get to the math part here, >> how are you? Good. upper level math kid.
So they're doing a completely different curriculum. >> So when they get to eighth grade, they'll be doing geometry. So, so there's really just two levels then for most kids, honors and regular and gifts that you would have had to
start in fifth grade for the year before. >> Well, actually, >> we're going to resume the board meeting, please. >> Okay, so that was >> Yeah, it makes more sense to me. >> All right. Why would you call it
something? >> Okay. So >> all right, Rob, we're going to ask you to step to the podium, please, and grab the microphone. >> You just put that on the chair, you know. Thanks. >> I think it should still be on. So, uh,
just to continue with all the good news, we have Rob Heg here, our auditor, who will be talking to us about the wonderful, uh, world of accounting from last year, his report. Um, but the news does continue. So, you heard it with athletics, you heard it with our
educators, and now you hear it with our finances. Rob, >> thank you. >> Uh, thank you all for having me tonight. Um, >> you always come on the best night, you know. It's good stuff. >> Everyone couldn't wait for the audit, right? Hey,
>> um, thank you for having me. So, uh, just here to give you a brief summary of the recently filed uh, 2425 audit. So, this covers your July 1, 24 through June 30, 25 fiscal year. Um, report was due to the state January 15. So, we filed it uh, a month back or so before the
holidays. Um what you get from us and what we file with the state are two reports. One is your annual comprehensive financial report. That's the bigger report. Has all of your financial statements, your note disclosures. Our audit opinions are in there. Uh then you get a smaller report which is the audit management report which discusses the results of the audit
with any uh corrective action uh recommendations with corrective action. Um I can uh I could say that in the two reports both completely positive this year. uh in the annual comprehensive report in our three opinions uh you got what we call unmodified opinions uh
that's the highest level of assurance we can give. So you get one opinion on your financial statements in general to make sure they're uh materially accurate in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. There's a second opinion uh called government auditing standards that's required of any governmental entity. It's more of a uh internal control opinion on your
procedures and your processes uh less than so much the numbers on the uh other opinion. Then the third one is what we call the single audit opinion. and that's to make sure you're compliant with all of your state and federal grant regulations. So, as you receive state and federal grant money, uh we have to make sure for certain programs, you're compliant with all the requirements. Uh
so, in all three instances, you receive an unmodified opinion. Basically, the highest level of assurance we can give in those opinions. You start at that unmodified level. Uh if anything, uh necessitates us to reduce that level of insurance, we would do that. That didn't happen here. So, you have all three unmodified opinions. Uh from a financial
standpoint, just talk about the numbers a little bit. uh very similar to where you ended the year last year and in what we call fund balance. So as you collect all your revenues and you spend your budget uh you really end with what they call fund balance. Uh very similar number to last year was down around 500,000 in total. Uh but that's normal
as you see uh fluctuations as you use some of your fund balance during the year uh for capital projects for maintenance projects to fund your budget. Um, so the way the year ended, most of the money, not most of it, but uh some of the money is in what we call a capital reserve, about $7 million in a
capital reserve fund. Uh, that could be used any time during the year by board resolution to do any projects that are in your longrange facilities plan or it could also be used in your budget to do those same type of projects. So that money sitting in a separate account separate aside from your what they call surplus funds. Uh you also have a maintenance reserve fund about $2
million set aside. That's similar to capital reserve can be withdrawn by board resolution to be used for maintenance of your existing facilities. Uh so very same structure as capital. The only difference is capital is used for more long-term improvements to your uh facilities and maintenance is just uh upgrade uh up updating your existing
facilities. So maintenance versus capital. Uh then uh you were really left with around three million a little over $3 million in surplus funds. So, that's really um when all is said and done, when you, like I said, you collect your revenues, you spend your budget, you have your monies in reserve, you're left
with this $3 million, which then uh that would be available moving forward into the next budget. You do have around $2.7 million set aside for the current year budget. So, that 3 million is kind of after your current budget, uh 2526. You still have that 3 million that's going
to carry forward from the previous year. Um the 2.7 million that you have appropriated for this year, that is a little bit higher than you had in the previous years, uh we're kind of seeing that all over the place. Uh it really just means you're using a little bit more of your surplus to balance the budget. Uh but you are replenishing it every year. So it's not so much of a
concern, but you are, you know, you're not replenishing uh the full amount that you're taking out every year. So it's kind of just a good rule of thumb to watch that surplus every year. You don't want to see any big spikes or big decreases. So you're you're fairly level. you're using a little bit more than you had last year, but then uh like I said, you still have that 3 million
available for the current year budget. So, as you start putting your current year budget together, just important to look at how much of that surplus you're using versus how much you're keeping for future years. Um in the management report, uh very happy report, you have no audit recommendations that require corrective action. Uh so, we do find
some stuff as we uh progress through the audit. Uh but anything we found, we went through with administration. We either cleaned it up. Uh the issue was cleared or they were, you know, just minimal uh issues that didn't really rise to the level of a uh of an audit recommendation. Uh we did have one what we call not so much a finding, but a
comment in there. Doesn't necessarily require corrective action, but it uh really relates to um uh your unemployment fund. Uh you do have uh an outstanding balance due to the state for unemployment bills uh unemployment claims. uh there is some dispute on how much that money is the amount that's due
to the state. So there's some discrepancy I shouldn't say discrepancy dispute between how much the district uh believes they owe versus how much the state is asking for. Uh so there's no corrective action at this point because uh there has been some efforts between the district and the state to get it cleared up. But sometimes dealing with
the state takes a little bit longer than than it should. Um, so we just want to see hopefully as the corrective as the uh process continues that corrective action would be taken uh to necessitate any future audit problems. But you know as you get as you have uh the outstanding bill year after year you
know the longer it goes the you know the less comfort you have that it's going to be easy to resolve. So it gets a little harder to resolve year after year. But again no corrective action at this point on it just a note in the audit that we had that that that money is still out there. Uh the good news is there is there the money is set aside to pay those bills. So whatever amount does uh
ultimately become due to the state, there's certainly money set aside outside of your budget that's basically sitting there uh you know waiting to be paid. It's just a matter of uh resolving with the state on how much is owed. Uh but other than that uh very positive on both fronts. Uh financial financial very positive and on the audit opinion to
have a district of your size with with you know with no audit recommendations that's very positive and uh I think kudos to the business office and I thank the administration for their help throughout the audit. for uh pain in their neck for a couple of months around here, but uh always get uh always get the responses we need. So, I thank for
that. Happy to take any questions on our on our audit. >> Rob, how often do you see uh unmodified? >> Uh unmodified is is is fairly common. I think what's more uncommon is to see the no audit recommendations. U you know, because the unmodified basically means
that we didn't uh you know, there's really only four levels of opinions we can give. One is unmodified, one is modified, which means that there were some issues that made us reduce that level of assurance. Then you have what we call a disclaimer of opinion, which means we we couldn't even give an opinion. And then you have an adverse
opinion, which is the absolute negative opinion. Um, so every once in a while you see a modified, but an unmodified is pretty common. But, uh, I think what is more uncommon, especially for a district size, to have those no audit recommendations. That basically means we went through all of our process for the audit and nothing really came to
fruition that you know rose to the level of what we require corrective action for. >> So that's the positive. >> Um not for you Rob but for our business office just a huge congratulations on your competency and ability to manage
the finances of our district which are substantial. Um the level of integrity and ethics has to be noted. Um and just thank you from a taxpayer. >> Rob, if I I could be wrong on this, but
is this our second or third year in a row with no recommendations? >> Definitely second. Uh last year there were none. Was it? Well, so third year in a row with no autocom, right? Third year. Not that I'm counting >> right now. Um, yeah. Uh, so it'll be the third year in a row and I think the from the last
time I remember I guess it was four years there might have been one in there. So it's not like you've had an audit where there's, you know, you know, a slew of recommendations that you have to correct. So you know, Cine will tell you we kind of go through everything. So every once in a while we'll come up with something that, you know, we might have not looked at the last year because we can't look at everything every year. So something will pop up one year that, you
know, for whatever reason comes in there, but thankfully for the last three years, you haven't had that issue. >> Yeah, it's been a pleasure working with Kine. uh she keeps very tight books and does a tremendous job and you can see that and it proves out every single year. So, thank you for that. But also
Diane and Jamie and the whole business department doing a wonderful job that contributes to this whole thing. You know, it's a collective effort. They're constantly working on this and I should know because I'm constantly in their office bothering them every day. So, uh but it it uh it does come together and it's uh something to definitely be proud
of. >> Agreed. >> Thank you. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Have a good night. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good team, you want to go into your report? >> Uh just so that we kind of tie this up,
you have this on as a resolution for approval um and acceptance. So that is on the K section. We're going to transition from this report which is a report of last year 2425
into a discussion about 2627. So we're going to jump two years ahead and continue this conversation. Over the last few months, we have been having discussions about where we think we're going from a financial point of view in
terms of uh the budget for 2728 and beyond. As Rob mentioned, we have been maintaining our balances, our equity balances, fund balances over the last few years. But I do draw your attention
to page 16 in the audit. uh report in the uh annual comprehensive audit report. What that page is is a page it's a summary of the governmental funds. So there are a number of different funds that we manage. Basically think of it as
buckets. Take all the transactions and we put them into buckets. And the bucket that I'm going to focus on right now is the general fund. The general fund is one of the funds that is approved through the budget process that we're beginning to enter. And on that page, if you go to about the middle of the page,
there's a group of numbers called fund balance. And it lists a whole bunch of numbers. And as uh Rob had mentioned, you have about $7 million in your capital reserve and about a million dollars in your maintenance reserve. But when you look at those numbers of 7
million, $4.7 million is being taken out this year with the projects that we did last summer out of your capital reserve. and 392,000 is being taken out of your maintenance reserve. So, as a result, although that
number sounds great, we're we just keep holding the same balance and we've got, you know, $8 million to spend. You've already spent more than half of that just from the projects that we're currently in the process of doing. So that
position, not this position, is really the position from which we're having these discussions regarding the budget. That when you look at where those numbers would be as of June of 26, six months from now, um your balances would
be significantly lower than where we left them at June 30th of 25 due to those projects. And so that transitions us into a discussion on resources and the resources that are available to the
district as we begin to look towards building the 2627 budget. And what you have before you there should be a p piece of paper in that looks really pretty with different colors. Um, this is a trend analysis of the revenues that
you have had over the last 17 years. So, we went back 17 years ago and we looked at all of the budgets that were put together over those 17 years and we began to track them to see what kind of trend analysis existed in the revenue
area. The top line, the budget line, that the green line is your total budget. So that is how the way the budget grew over that 17-year period. And that is the total amount spent. So
what we're looking at is we're looking at what this is how much we spent. Where did we get the money to spend? So like most suburban districts, we got most of our money from taxes. That's um pretty common in suburban districts.
That total budget, the green line, increased over the course of those 17 years at about a little more than 3%. Which considering that during those 17 years the administration and the boards during those times had to deal with
double-digit increases in health benefits, double-digit increases in tuition costs, double-digit increases, especially during COVID, in transportation costs, plus managing a referendum in the middle
of that and the EIPS and then relying completely on your reserves at the back end that time frame to fund any kind of construction. The taxes, although increasing with the budgets, is increasing much slower.
That's going up by about two a little more than 2%. Keep in mind that the board during this period elected to go to cap, but it also at times used a bank cap if it was available to them. It also took waiverss at times. So there were years when their 2% was a little bit
more than 2%. But either way, the taxes are not growing at the same rate as the regular budget. So what happens is the space between the green and the blue is what we're constantly trying to close.
And that is where the pink, the orange, and the red come in. So the pink which is your state and federal aid is listed there. And what's interesting with that particular number is that in
2009 2010 you started at $3 million and basically went to zero. That was the year that the governor took all the money away. And if you look at that trend analysis, you don't get back to that $3 million point until you hit
somewhere in the 25, 26, 20, 20, the 2015, 16, 17 years is when you begin to make it up. So for that period of five or so years, you're running behind every single year until you start to catch up.
And the place where you started to make that up is in you having to lower the green line in order to meet the revenues that you had. So that was artificially depressing that green line to try to
keep it down because you only had so much state aid coming in. What you do notice is that state aid has been improving particularly since 2022. And that is a very positive thing that is tied to the students, the increase in
students. State aid is based on an average of five years. So the more children we have that we're servicing, the more state aid that we're getting. Additionally, if we have children in particular groups such as special ed or transportation, those students get
additional monies and so that also is affecting our state aid. What you do notice is since 2023, we kind of have hit a stable position. We don't really gain much. We don't really lose much. We just sort of stay. And if we had that
number for 206 27, I would call that a win. So that's what we're hoping for. The other uh number that you're watching is in the orange, and that is the amount that was in your reserves. So again, that's going to eb and flow
depending on what else is going on. What you notice in like 2017, 18,19, you have a very flat usage of reserve money. And that makes sense. We would have been in the middle of doing the referendum and the EIPS at that time. But as you start
looking at 22, 23, 24 where now all that EIP money and re referendum money from 2017 has now been used. We have to rely on the reserves more and more and more. And when you look at the variance
between the green and the blue line, particularly in 203, 24, 25, and it's spreading out, that's actually spreading out because you're putting more money into the budget from the reserves, creating those expenditures for construction. That's actually what's
pulling those two numbers apart. When we begin looking at the reserves, now go back to the beginning of the conversation, how we spent down our $8 million because of the projects that we're doing. We don't have any reserve money to put towards projects. And so,
as a result, we're going to have to bring the green line down. We can't spend because we don't have anything to spend. And those projects now hang out there undone. And so one of the discussions that we really want to make sure we keep separating is that when we
use the term question, we're going to go to the public with a question. There are two different types of questions we do that with. One is a budgetary question. It's closing this gap. It's when we can't get enough red, pink, and orange
to close the variance between the green and the blue. We need to go out for a question. The reason what that does is that pushes the blue line up because we ask the voters to take it upon themselves to add additional taxes in
order for us to maintain the program that we have. That's one type of question. A different type of question is a referendum question that relates to construction and improvements to facilities. That's a different question.
We're not talking about that question right now. We are only talking about discussions regarding the budgetary question, the ability to move the blue line up. Does anybody have any questions? >> Yes. EIP is an acronym. It stands for
energy savings improvement program. They were um opportunities that were uh we had available to us and we took took advantage of those in 2018 and 2019. And we did it in two different phases. It is a opportunity to
float a a borrowing by using the savings we're gaining by making improvements to our buildings from an energy point of view. And those savings pay off the borrowing that we
did. So what we had chosen to do was to put solar panels on almost all the schools. Hilldale is the only one that doesn't have any on it. And that was due to the type of roof it had as well as the coverage of the trees. We weren't going to get enough out of it. And the
savings we reap from having those solar panels is enough to pay off the value of the solar panels, the roofing work we had done. We had a number of different things done as part of those two programs. Could you uh just remind us then how much we
need to keep in reserves? Uh because that affects our bond rating, >> right? >> And so, you know, while you say we're going to still have a few million dollars in reserves, it's not really the case, is it? um we would if we would do not replenish
anything in terms of the reserves we would be bordering very close to that line that we become very concerned about it affecting our bond rating. Uh the story that I have told is this now goes back five seven years. Um Renee and I
received a phone call from standard and pores. they come out to the district and indicate to us that our reserves are so low that we are in a position where our bond rating will be dropped if we were to go back out for another referendum.
And so at that time what we did is we intentionally began to build up the reserves in order to get them above that imaginary line which was around the 5 million mark. and we brought them back
up to where they had been previous um to about 11 million. 11 million is the highest it's been since I've been here. As I mentioned, we're at about eight right now. Um so we can constantly are trying to push that up, but five is the number that we watch and we say we don't
want to drop below and if we don't replenish, we're going to be right about there. people see in the news. Oh, sorry, Michelle. Uh, you know, districts having holes in their budget, Hackinack, Montlair, other districts. How would you
compare us to them? Just >> Well, we don't have any holes in our budget. >> Thank you. >> Um, all that being said, as we begin to look, so this is a presentation on resources. Um, when we meet in February, we're going to be doing usages. And one
of the concerns that I have is we still don't have a increased number on the health insurance from our brokers yet. As a result, that's a number that I'm concerned about. I am concerned about where to state aid come out. You know,
we've heard a lot of different perspectives on where that's going to land. So, that's another number that I'm concerned about. And right now as we're building the budget, we're trying to keep the green and the blue in a place
where we can fill it and not have a section that's basically unfilled. So, um, as a member of the community, so as a board member, but also as a member of the community and as a taxpayer, I appreciate this so much. And I know that you and Tom had shared that you're going
to at each meeting give updates to different components of this. I I find so many times we read, you know, the numbers and um you've been very clear in explaining it. I found this visual very very helpful and I think it's something that a lot of people who um you know,
regardless of their level of understanding of the nuances of of the numbers can understand this. And so I know the plan is to, you know, there's not a huge amount of public hear today, but the the plan is to flush this information out at all these different
levels with this because um it's clear, you know, and this is not the first time we're hearing it that decisions are going to have to be made. You've done such a good job keeping us in the position that we're in, but we're at a precipice here, if you will, and and we're going to have to make different types of decisions. and this type of
information and education is very much appreciated and very important on all different levels. So, so thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you so much, Kim. We're moving on now to section G,
organization resolutions. This is regarding the board committees. >> Just so that everybody's clear on what you're voting on. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Just so everybody's clear on what you're voting on, you're voting on the uh
existence of these committees. Uh and you're voting on the delegate to the New Jersey School Boards Association. All other committee appointments are the prerogative of the president. Uh although this year, as in the past, uh
people did get to offer up what they thought they would like to be on. Thank you, Steve. If I could, could I get a roll call? >> Could I get a motion? >> A motion. Sorry. Motion. >> Second.
>> No. Can I get a roll call? >> Dr. Cordelino. >> Do I abstain on the uh delegate? >> Vote for yourself. >> I can vote for myself. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Vano. Yes, >> Dr. Modra. >> Yes, >> Mr. Palmer. >> Yes, >> Mr. Petraino. >> Yes, >> Mr. Rapaort. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Smith. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Zuckerman.
>> Yes, >> Mr. Dory. >> Yes. Now, we're going to committee reports. Let's start with finance. Dr. Corelino. Uh what did I do with my papers?
We discussed some items in finance that really Cine just went over now. Um our financial position um uh finishing up some of our summer projects. Um,
and she went uh in at in finance she went over the um the graph which I agree with Michelle is very helpful. Um and really she she did most of the work.
>> Thank you. Um Michael curriculum >> no report. Christine, policy, >> no report. >> Michael, communications, >> no report. >> John, safety and security,
>> no report. >> Dr. Corino, schoolboard association. >> So, um, this weekend, January 23rd, 24th, 25th, will be the new board member orientation. Um January 16th we had an executive
committee meeting and January 30th is the um uh board uh meeting board of directors meeting. >> Thank you. Uh Michael School board Mars County School Board Association.
>> The next meeting is February 4th um at 6:30 and it's a virtual meeting. >> Thank you. um ED services um they had their meeting last week. They approved their rates of services for the year 2627
and they also did their annual financial report for 2025. Caitlyn the uh mun alliance >> um they had their reorganization meeting and reelected Larry Pesaw as chair for 2026. Grant funding had been cut again
leaving about 7,800 in available funds to be spent among the five categories. They're going to look into additional fundraisers besides the graduation lawn law lawn signs and discussed hosting a program in the spring with a local community speaker to discuss the dangers
of substance abuse and self harm. Their next meeting is February 11th. >> Thank you so much, John. Atletic Athletic Boosters >> meeting schedule for last week was postponed. Uh due a new date has not
been set. Uh, but I will update the board when it is. Thank you. >> Thanks, Christine. Special Ed. >> So, thank you. So, for those that don't know, I'm the new delegate liaison to the special education parents advisory
group, otherwise known as CPAG. Um on February 14th they will be having an update from the special services department administration and also doing a virtual evening called screen time social media and student
well-being. And then on June 1st, they have planned um an update from the special services department administration and also hosting a program a virtual lunch and learn session creating a calm and connected
home. >> Thank you. Uh school leaison Cedar Hill. >> Uh they had a meeting uh on the 13th. It was virtual. Um, the only thing I wanted to mention to the board was they had a
concern about our class- size policy being eliminated and writing a new one. And I said that was I was not aware of anything happening like that. Although I did mention that if enrollment exceeds
our facility availability, uh, there may we may have to wave the policy. I understood that. Thank you, Hilldale. >> Thank you. Uh they had a meeting Thursday. It was a virtual meeting. Um
couple of the noteworthy things. Uh the Michelle Sullivan charity basketball game is Saturday, April 18th. Uh they need dads to sign up. This is going to be at all the elementarymentaries. They're all participating. So, uh dads are needed to sign up and join the fun
and support the the cause. Um, they're also having >> signed up. >> You've already signed up. Good for you, Joe. Okay. Um, they're also having a Super Bowl game day food fundraiser at Franklin Steakhouse. Uh, you can order
online at their PTC website and 15% of all the profits go back to Hillale and you have to get those orders in by February 5th. >> Thanks, Bradley Vio. Uh they had a
virtual meeting on the 15th um where they honored their teacher of the year and educators education specialist of the year. Um they're continuing with traps again and have over 50 fourth and fifth graders signed up and are continuing to support the food pantry
with another collection in February. Their next meeting is virtual on March 19th. >> Thank you William Mason. No report. >> Woodmont. >> Uh, we were supposed to have had a
remote meeting last Thursday. It was cancelled last minute and to my knowledge it has not yet been rescheduled. >> Thank you, Lizar. >> Next meeting is February 9th >> High School. >> Thank you. So, Jenna did an outstanding
job presenting. So much of what I was going to report on, she reported on. Um, so that was my first time coming and I really enjoyed I emailed the principal. It was great to see all the different representatives from the different uh
subjects, the administrators speak about what the kids were doing inside the classroom and also the clubs. Um, they had a wonderful student community liaison that spoke. Um, so it was really just wonderful. Um they talked about
student recommendations and course requests are now's the time. Um and of course the eighth grade and incoming student orientation. Um and that is on Wednesday, February the 4th at 6:30 p.m. at the high school.
Um midterms of course makeups share the keys on February 2nd. Um Chinese New Year showcase will be February 19th. Um, the high school spring musical will be
from March 5th through March 8th. Uh, the college fair will be March 6. Uh, the next PTC meeting will be March 9th and the Montville High School will be hosting um, SATs on March 14th. Um,
and also Mike was there and that was great. And Caitlyn was there as a mom and uh, they she joked about that. Three of us were there. >> That's it, Joe. Thank you. >> Thank you, Christine. Uh, we are now in the first part of public participation
for those items on the agenda only. So, if you would like to come up and speak, please come up now. Seeing none, we'll move now on to consent resolutions. Can I get a motion? >> Second. >> Second. >> Thank you very much. Uh going through
section I on the minutes section J administration >> Joe uh just real quick um section uh J1 the the grant from the American Nuclear Society. Uh I just want to give a shout
out to uh Mr. Rolf. Kudos to him for getting this grant. Um, again, they're going to take uh they're going to use this grant to go to Penn State University to tour a cold nuclear energy reactor as well as the Earth and
Mineral Science Museum. Uh, the reactor does not generate power, but it is useful for scientific research. And I just have to say this is yet another example of the outstanding efforts that our staff and administration
uh go to uh because these types of experiences are not common in high school. And so they are bringing a wealth of experience to our kids that a lot of other schools just don't have access to. So kudos to them. Congratulations. I hope they have a
great time. >> Thank you. Section K, finance, section L, personnel. >> Yes, I just have two things to add there. Uh, for under retirements, we
have Kim Stker. She previously served in the curriculum office and, uh, left the district for a short while, returned into the, uh, business office and served as the payroll supervisor. Um she spends a lot of time, you know, working on, you
know, the most important thing in the district, right, the pay payroll. But, uh, her attention to detail and her compassionate focus on each of the staff members has made her an invaluable asset to the district. Uh, she will be greatly missed, but we wish her well in her retirement.
That's Kim. She'll be retiring on, you know, July 1st. And then I just have another addition uh in the job descriptions L7 for we just uh revised both assistant superintendent jobs to make them more reflective of what the uh
both individuals do. And for the assistant superintendent of HR, there was a line missing under job goal. The last line will read u member of the superintendent's cabinet. That's it. >> Thank you.
Section M, curriculum. Section N, policy. Could I get a vote on the consent resolutions? >> Dr. Modrack? >> Yes. >> Mr. Palmer? >> Yes. >> Dr. Cordelino? >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Fano? >> Yes. Abstain on minutes. I believe it's I. Thank you. Thank you. Closed. Mr. Petraino. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rapaort.
>> Yes. >> Mrs. Smith. >> Yes. Abstain on section I meeting minutes from 12:16. >> Mrs. Zuckerman. >> Mr. Dory. >> Yes. Uh don't believe we have to go back into
close session. Um section Q, old business. Um section R gem board comments. >> I just want to say one thing about my favorite subject. I had the opportunity to be at the Lazar seventh and eighth grade concert last week was phenomenal.
And just to let everybody know about this I think we have we have fewer than 600 seventh and eighth graders at Lazar. I don't know the exact number, but if I recall correctly, there were, I believe, 130 in the band, 184, I think, in the
chorus and like 60 in the orchestra. So, you're talking about, and I know there's some overlap, but way over half the uh kids in Lazar are in one of the mu three music groups. And it's actually kind of overwhelming. It's a pleasant problem to have, but I don't know of any district
that has that kind of number. So my hats off to the uh instructors over there and the faculty for promoting the arts and uh it's just it it's it's such a phenomenal number. It's almost freakish. But that again that's that's a great problem to have. Thank you.
>> We have uh over 850 students at Lazar. So you're close. >> Even though that's only seventh and eighth grade though. >> Uh I was talking about but still but overall right correct we have about 250 per grade roughly. Thanks, Mike.
Um, last part is public participation for those any comments you want to make. Anyone want to come up? >> Nope. If I could get a motion for adjournment second.
All in favor?