I'd like to call to order the March 17th board of education meeting. If I could get a roll call, please. >> Dr. Cordelino. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fano >> here. >> Dr. Modrack >> here. >> Mr. Palma >> here.
>> Mr. Petraino. Mr. Rapaort >> here. >> Mrs. Smith >> here. >> Mrs. Zuckerman. Mr. Dorri >> here. >> Miss Ammer >> here. Mr. Blumenthal
>> here. If we could stand for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands one indivisible. >> The open public meeting notice. 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 Montfield tap into the board's official newspapers on January 8th, 2026. >> Thank you. if I could get the representative reports from the high school. >> So, in past times at MTHS, on March
14th, MTHS hosted SATs from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The 11th grader 11th graders took the NJGPA test on March 16th and the 17th, and they will continue into tomorrow. The Montville Theater Company had their production of Sweeney Todd, a musical which followed a barber
returning to London seeking revenge against a corrupt judge who destroyed his life. Performances were March 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th, and they went smoothly. Key Club's volleyball marathon fundraiser was March 13th. Last week, from March 9th to March 11th, FBLA had
their annual sectional leadership conference in Atlantic City. 81 of MHS's students were at this event and for 15 qualified for nationals in June as they were placed top four in New Jersey and 21 more were placed in top 10. NJGPS
testing for juniors has been taking place this week. In sports, boys basketball ended their season 23 to6 as conference and state champ sectional champions. Coach Medina was named Morris County Player of the Year and three players were named
allconerence. Chris Ferrari was named Morris County Player of the Year. Anthony Agnori and Gabriella Pelov of the winter track and field team competed at the meet of champions. Gabriella Pelov set a new school record in the girls 1600 meters with a time of 5 minutes flat and Anthony finished second
in the state in the boys shot put. On Monday, March 9th, spring sports began with boys and girls lacrosse. Boys tennis having their first scrimmage this week. This Thursday, March 19th, over 50 Hilldale alumni from the high school will be going to current classes at
Hilldale and teaching them basic concepts of business and business and economics. The students will be working with Junior Achievement who provided them lesson plans and it's going to be a great day. On Friday, March 20th, school will be closed due to Eid. Uh spirit
week is next week, March 23rd to the 27th. Monday will be alliteration day. Tuesday will be country verse uh country verse country club day. Wednesday will be pink day and Thursday will be a anything but a backpack day and then Friday's color wars for the pep rally.
The purpose of these events is to raise school spirit in honoring spring athletes. The journey begins which is a high school counseling event is from is on March 26th and spring break is from March 30th to April 6th and the end of the marking period is the
end is 13th of April and the fourth marking period begins the next day on the 14th. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Uh moving on to the superintendent report. >> Yes. Uh Mr. Snos, we have the principal of Hilldale here. Do you have special
guests visiting us tonight? >> Yeah, we're gonna move in a second. Let just let Jill talk and then we'll go. Good evening everyone. Tonight we have our fourth grade orchestra. Um we're excited to have them. I have two students who are going to introduce
themselves and what they will be playing for us. >> Good evening the honorable members of the board of education. Tonight we will we enjoy playing for you. We have 12 violin players, two viola players, two cello players, and
one double place player. We started our learning of playing this rig instruments back in September. Through the music, we are exploring the process of creativity, collaboration, and communication. We have been united in sound and got a deeper level of
understanding each other through playing. We are going to perform for you tonight the peace spine chillers. The spooky creatures will be created while we are playing and disappear as soon as we finish. Also, I want to give a big
thank you to the fourth grade drink players and Miss Basis. >> Excellent. We look forward to this. Board members, if you want to join the audience a little bit so you have a better seat. Thank you very much for joining us. Heat. Heat.
Please keep. So, so I want to just So, I want to thank the Hills Hill Hills Hill Hills Hilldale Orchestra for joining us tonight. I really appreciate that. And Miss Bases for all the work you do. But again, to all the parents for encouraging your children to partake in the orchestra. I know that's not
easy. I know you know that when they're practicing at home, it's not easy too sometimes, but uh you get to see what wonderful work they do. each grade has to keep on progressing and by the time they get to high school, it's just incredible the uh performances that they're doing. So, it all pays off in the end. So, thank you so much. I
appreciate that. And please encourage them in continuing with the uh with the music and the arts. Thank you. >> If I can just say one thing, >> Mike Balmer. >> Sure. Um just wanted to point out I noticed we had the base in that background. Now, obviously it's not a fulls size base. It's probably called
either a half size or a 3/4. But now see just as one of the forward thinking things we do in this district and I'll speak some for Mr. Fleman is that look at most of the school orchestras are going to have your violins vias maybe a cello or two jumps in there and where's
the bass and know that happens once they get to Lazar if in fact anybody wants to do it at Lazar and there's always the eternal problem of well who's going to play the string bass and several years ago Mr. Fleshman began an initiative to say, you know what, we're going to start recruiting the string bases at the
elementary schools. So now when you go to Lazar, instead of having this whole tener thing with no bass, we usually have a nice full um set of bases for balance. So you know, hats off to the music department for doing that. It's uh very forward thinking.
>> Thank you. All right. So, now we're going to jump to the high school level. Mr. Connelly is here. Dr. Schwarz, are you coming up or you just as a spectator? Okay. Mr. Connelly is becoming a frequent flyer here recently. He's he enjoys our board meeting so much. Uh he's going to introduce his
high school students about the special projects they're working on. >> Thank you. So, uh thank you again for having us back. Um this will be my fifth year teaching the course. I have two uh representatives from two two of the
companies from the international business practice firm um that are here tonight from Hydraync and and uh Tempestep to present their business plan to you. So this is a business plan that they presented a couple of months ago at Fairley Dickinson as part of a regional
competition um and to try to advance to the national competition. I'll talk a little bit about that later. Um, so they come into the class at the beginning of the year. It's unlike any other class. No tests, quizzes, or anything like that. They learn how to write a resume,
interview for a job, set up an organizational structure, and then they run a business through the whole year. They come up with an idea, run the business, uh, compete in different competitions, and, um, and basically just try to make some money during the year in a virtual business with other
high schools involved. So, that's kind of the um that's kind of the backdrop. What I'd like to do is call up the Tempstep team. They're going to present their a bridge version of their business plan. Good evening everybody and thank you
guys for being here. >> Hey, try this. >> It's temperates your body temperature so you can perform on the field and >> well we're super excited to introduce you guys to Tempestep. Before we get into that, we're going to give a quick introduction of ourselves. I'm Mohammed
Shrazzie and I'm the chief executive officer of Tempstep. >> I'm Aiden Blumenthal and I'm the chief financial officer of Temptep. >> I'm Isa Jane. I'm the chief operations officer at Temptep. >> I'm Xavier Villoo and I'm the chief marketing officer of Tempestep.
>> I'm Tyler Liverman and I'm the accounting vice president of Temptep. >> And I'm Amna Bkari, the design manager of Temptep. >> The problem starts with something simple. Our feet are constantly either too cold and too hot and both extremes cause major issues. When our feet are
too uh too hot, this leads to excessive sweating. But when our feet are too cold, it can lead to a loss of circulation. However, traditional insoles don't solve this as they're one-sizefits-all. Looking more into statistics, 81% of people in the United States report experiencing foot discomfort due to
temperature issues, and 33% of people in the United States report experiencing sweaty feet or odor at some time. And here are some statistics given to um actual high schoolers in our grade. So back in August after recognizing all these issues that people have, that's
what brought us to Tempestep and Temp is initially uh essentially an insole which you can slip into your shoe, adjust the temperature by connecting the insole to the app on our phone and you can control it to make it as hot or as cold as you'd like.
Um, our mission statement, Tempestep is dedicated to providing innovative heating and cooling insoles designed to keep your feet comfortable throughout the day. As for a quick company overview, um, obviously we are located at MTHS and we run as an EP corporation to help avoid
corporate taxes. Um, and our primary business is the business to consumer industry. For our organization chart, we're we're filled with 17 students with a CEO and then three departments underneath, finance, operations, and marketing.
>> So, more about the corporate social responsibility. Any unsold insoles at Temp are going to be donated to local communities to help out those in need. And we're also going to reduce our carbon footprint and waste. So our goal is by the end of this month we want to sur uh we want to solidify
our brand image more. Um by September we want to expand our social media presence with collaborating with some influencers and then by February next year we want to extend our product line with some temp stocks. So a quick run through our SWAT analysis. Some strengths include our innovative features and our high quality
in comparison to our competitors. Some weaknesses include our high price, which is from our superior quality, and also some possible Bluetooth malfunctions with our electronics. Some opportunities include uh the lack of competitors in the market, as well as sponsorships and collaborations with certain stores such
as Dick Sporting Goods and other celebrities and athletes. And some threats include the rise in unemployment, which would lower discretionary spending of our consumers, as well as a low market awareness because of a lack of competitors. So, this is a chart that compares Temp to all of its competitors. both in the
VE world and in real life. And you can see that we check all the boxes and none of our competitors even come close in terms of the different features we offer. So, our primary target market is of those ages 13 to 18 who live a comfortable and active lifestyle, especially those within the VE economy
where the majority of our sales traffic will be coming from. Our secondary target market is of those in Gen X and Gen Z driven by the younger generation's emphasis on comfort, athletic performance, and an odor-free and hygienic lifestyle. Also, our tertiary target market is of those who are up uh up on their feet and on the go, such as
blue collar workers and anybody looking to get out of the house. So, more about the insoles themselves. They're sold in black and white colors in multiple men's and women's sizes for everyone to wear with specialized layers that help with our key features such as ventilation, airflow, heating, cooling,
electronics to connect to the Bluetooth app, and much more. So, for our prices, we're selling our classic insoles with the main features at $134.99 with an elevated edition for athletes and max comfort for people who want more comfort in their step. both at
1549 154.99 and a height boosting add-on that can be attached for just 1750. >> As for our placement, since we're focusing on Jenz consumers, we're mainly selling our insoles online through our website as well as in stores as mentioned earlier with sponsor
sponsorships like Dick Sporting Goods at athletic wear and seasonal clothing stores. And this will help us not only boost sales but also bring us closer to our target market. So for promotion, social media is a great fit for our product as we've already seen an upwards increase of 800% in consumer traffic. This lowcost
targeted advertising through hashtags on Instagram and Tik Tok allow us to boost market awareness despite the low market potential, high market potential, sorry. And some VE opportunities include the VE hub banner and trade shows which will get us closer to the sales traffic and other people within the VE economy.
So at Temptep, we pay close attention to our current economic conditions because it can affect our sales and whatnot. For example, interest rates, inflation, and current events that may be going on. So now moving into our financials, starting with our break even analysis, um based on our average selling price and our cost of goods sold, we came up
with a profit margin of just under 61%. Um and our break even point would be at just under $1.4 million at approximately 10,000 units sold. So, for our balance sheet, uh, we just have our all of our assets equaling our,
um, expenses and liabilities at around $500,000. Um, and then for our profit and loss statement, looking at the actual totals for the month of November, uh, when we first started the company, you can see we had a high net loss due to high, um, startup expenses. But then moving to our
projected totals uh through the month of April, you can see our net loss lowered to um about $20,000. And um as we gain momentum through sales, uh we're bringing in more income. >> Tempt isn't just an insult, it's a first step towards a future of smart footwear.
Join us to bring innovation to every step and control your soul with Temp. Love it. You just you sold me. I'm sitting here thinking like I could use some right now. I I didn't I didn't realize there's a market for this. Um uh
you're all natural salesmen and I can see you going really far with this, you know, later on in life. I love it. I just love the whole concept, too. So, congratulations with that. >> Anybody else? >> See if they have any questions. I have a question too.
>> What's what's SWAT and what is VE? >> So what is SWAT? >> SO2. >> So SWAT is a SWAT analysis with the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of our company. Uh overall, just kind of a third person overview of what our company is and how it compares
to other people in the market and our competition. And VE is virtual enterprise international which is the uh virtual global economy that we reside our company in. >> Thank you. >> Of course. Any other questions? Anybody?
>> Yes. Right here. >> Oh, I can have our design manager answer that. It's a really good It's a really good question. >> All right, I'll take it away. So it's mainly kinetic charging which is like like we use like Peltier elements specifically and it uses a battery which
actually doesn't shatter as easily. So that also addresses a safety concern with our product. But we do have a USB option as well. So the insoles charge with every step you take. But in the case that let's say it hasn't stored enough energy, you can also use a USB
port as a backup solution. >> Any other questions? >> Sure. the uh the the height adjustment option there now. So, are we talking about like high heels or we talking about like something on the inside that like acts like an like an elevator shoe type thing?
>> So, it can be attached to any of the other insoles. It's like a Velcro um like attachment at the bottom of the insole. So, it adds a little height boost, >> but from the inside of the shoe. >> Yeah, inside the shoe. >> Excellent job. We look forward to see this on the market soon.
Congratulations. >> Now, I'd like to call up the Hydrosync team. >> I love the irony. Good evening, board members. By a quick show of hands, how many of you know exactly how much water you drank today? We got one. Honestly, I'm not too
shocked because right around 85% of people do not track their daily hydration. Along with that, roughly 80% of people use thirst as the sole indicator of when to rehydrate. And upwards of 90% of people feel the effects of dehydration daily. My name is
Gavin Bokeell. I'm CEO of Hydroync. >> My name is Brody Hammer. I'm the sales vice president. >> My name is Alexis Handler. I'm the chief marketing officer. >> I'm Chris Ferrari. I'm the accounting vice president. >> And I'm Monopri, the chief of operations.
And we're here to change that. >> At HydroSync, we sell a hydration tracking wearable band or ring that uses you personalized connection and also features a vibration and light up feature to inform our users when to rehydrate.
At Hydrosync, we conduct supplier audits and form partnerships with our manufacturers. This means that we maintain our products from manufacturers who utilize ethical labor practices, lowcarbon operations, and manufacturers who are environmentally responsible. As a company, we decided to create some goals to ensure that we are staying
productive and on track. Our short-term goal is to build credibility within two months. We plan on achieving this through posting on social media to mass advertise as well as networking at different trade shows to get in alignment with our target audience. Our long-term goal is to sell our bands in retail stores such as Dick Sporting Goods and Target within two years. We
plan on achieving this through pilot programs, online sales, customer reviews, and retail ready packaging. Hydrosync is a limited liability corporation located in Montro, New Jersey, and we started in September of 2025.
Here at Hydrosync, our mission is to empower students to be aware of their hydration goals through real-time tracking. Our strengths as Hydrosync is that we're an innovative and sleek product with a personalized hydration algorithm as well
as we are a strong missiondriven brand. Our weaknesses is that we are a new brand with limited awareness. There are high wholesale costs in the early stages as well as we depend on users consistency. Our opportunities are different partnerships or sponsorships with gyms and schools as well as the
expanding wearable health market. Our threats are competitors with similar target markets as well as shipping delays. Our primary target market is teens and young adults ages 14 to 20. This is the age group that's balancing school, extracurriculars, and jobs. And it is
extremely important to stay on track of hydration as they can often forget. This is also the age group that is using our VE market as well as um working in the trade shows. Our secondary market is athletes ages 20 to 30. When dedicating your life to a sport, it's extremely
important to stay on top of hydration in order to reach success. Our tertiary market is adults ages 30 and up. This is because while balancing home life and work life, it can be easy to forget to stay hydrated. This is also the group
that is using GLP1s and it is very important to stay on top of hydration when using this. As you can see, hydration is important for everyone, which is why everyone needs our product. >> Uh so, as mentioned, we sell both the band and the ring. So, the band will go
for $199.99 per unit. Uh, and the ring will go for $149.99 per unit. And so that's a profit margin of over 60% for both. >> Hydra can be found on V's firm directory as long as our as well as our website link below. >> As a company, some risks that we may
encounter is our heavy reliance on external suppliers which increases the risk of product product issues. Our solution to this is to create contracts with our manufacturer and monitor product quality. The second issue that we may run into is shipping delays that can disrupt operations and deliveries. Our solution to this is to implement
contracts with our suppliers that deal with delays such as discounted merchandise. The third issue that we may run into is the continuous need for innovation and marketing to stay competitive. We decided that we were going to allocate some money towards research and advertisings to stay competitive. >> Um so looking at more of the financials
here now. Uh first our profit and loss analysis. So for the fiscal year, we're expected to lose a little over 250,000. Uh we are a new business, so there's high startup costs. Our primary revenue is from sales to nonV entities. So this is includes our large ad network sale, which was over 1.1 million in revenue. And then our second source of revenue
primarily is trade shows like the one at FDU in January. And then so our expenses amount to a little over 1.1 million. And this is primarily from salaries and payroll taxes. Uh and then the break even analysis. So between the two products, the band and the ring, uh the average price per unit is $174.99, which
again is over 60% margin. And then to annual fixed costs are a little over 1.1 million. So we expect to break even uh at a little over 9,000 units sold, which is 1.6 million in revenue. So not this year, but two months into the next uh fiscal year. So a quick summary of our product. It is stylish no matter the occasion. It keeps
our users healthy and fit, and it's unique from any other product out on the market. So the next time someone asks you how much water you drank today, don't think, just sink. Thank you. Any questions? I did. >> Love it. First of all, >> yeah, go ahead.
>> Sorry. Great presentation. Um, I do have a question. Now, if I interpreted this correctly, you said the average cost is $174. >> Yes. Okay. And you said your target for all three of your target audiences, it said mid to high income.
So your primary audience, I think it said like teens 14 to 20 who probably have considerably less disposable income than people over 30. So why did you make the teenagers your target audience? I make the over 30 crowd tertiary. >> Um so when we look at the socioeconomic
factors of our target market, we're really looking at teens who are supported financially by their parents. Um it's not something that >> all of them. It's not something that they're necessarily going to be spending their own money on, but it could be a great gift um or something like that. And also
things that parents would want to buy for their teens to make sure that their teens are staying uh fit and healthy because parents especially know how forgetful teens can be uh when it comes to anything including drinking water.
>> Yes. >> Yeah. A couple things. one. First of all, teens are the demographic group with the highest ratio of disposable income. >> There you go. >> That's that's pretty >> uh but there actually a couple uh two
questions. One rather serious is that uh seniors are actually at very high risk of dehydration. They oftentimes forget to drink. Um you know I know people who have ended up in the hospital because of dehydration. And this would be something
very good for seniors, senior homes, things like that. So, it's not just a tertiary market way off in the distance. That might be a consideration for a primary market. >> Yes. Um the reason that teens are a part of our primary target market is because they're the ones who are on the VE
directory and that's where we're going to be gaining most of our sales. But if this was a company that was potentially going to be launched into the real world with real purchases, it would definitely be more of a focus and that could be a potential opportunity like we talked about with partnering with gyms and schools. Another one could certainly be
uh senior homes or retirement homes. >> Yeah. And the other question was is that um so many wearables also track your movement and sell that data, you know, to advertising houses. So, I didn't see anything in here about using those data
to create some revenue. >> No, we uh do not sell our users data. Uh we keep things confidential because we want to maintain trust with our consumers. >> Yeah. >> I have one question. So, you are running
this company for the entire year. Do you ever change your course as far as implementation or um product? >> Um while our main product has stayed the same throughout the year, we are
constantly making updates. This includes new bands. For example, uh we just rolled out the St. Patrick's Day band and March Madness bands. Along with that, we've included new products such as the charger, which is now sold separately. And we have had plans for a while to implement a water bottle that would allow for more accurate hydration
tracking. >> Great job. I think this is going to sell very well. Uh I wish you all the luck. All right. Congratulations. >> Thank you so much. >> Um so I just want to thank both teams for coming out tonight. Another round of
applause for the teams from Hydracyn. They did a great job and one of them actually did qualify for nationals next month in New York. Um, so it's hard to tell which one. They both did a great job. Actually, the other team got very
close. Anyone want to venture a guess of which one's going to nationals? >> Tempest step. >> All right. But Hydraync did a great job. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, and thanks again, Mr. Connelly for
leading the way working with these students. You can see how well the prepared they are for college and life after that. So congratulations to all of you. Appreciate that. Dr. Schwarz, thank you for your leadership with all them. I appreciate that. >> Right. Uh just want to say that you know
it's we were just mentioning they both teams handle the questions very well. Absolutely. You know the way they you know their poise and their composition here really shows quite a depth of character. So >> absolutely.
All right, Mario, we're going to switch over to the next presentation. Thank you. >> So, part of the agenda for tonight includes a resolution for the board to approve the tenative budget for the 2627
school year. That budget will be submitted to the county office for their review and approval. We will then advertise in the newspaper the budget and there will be a public hearing on that budget on April 21st.
So this presentation really is just a very cursory review of the process that we've just been through in creating the budget and what is included. We will go into a lot more detail after we've gone through the county's review and when we
do our presentation at the public hearing on the 21st of April. So, one of the things that we have been discussing over the last few years has been the reenrollment that has been
occurring in Montville Township due to new construction. And that conversation really started when in 2023 we decided to go out for a referendum. That original enrollment which we were at
about 3,400 students at that time we were projecting that we were going to start to see increases due to the construction. At that time we spoke about four different projects that were going to come online. Of those projects at this point only two have actually
come online. The third we expect to start seeing occupancy certificates issued now. So they'll start to impact 26th 27th and and then the last one we don't have a date yet as to when that one is going to begin its construction.
However, what you're noticing as you begin looking at the years going from 23 24 all the way through to 26 27 is that we are seeing growth even though we're not seeing all of the construction on our books. These numbers do not include
two, the one that hasn't been built or Duramistown um as part of their enrollment projections. So even with the two that we have and then just the natural progression of people selling their houses in town, we're seeing growth
occurring and that is resulting in more pressure in the schools due to more children being educated in in the programs. In addition to that stressor, we have the stressor of a cap that is placed on
the revenue stream to hold us to a 2% increase. Now 2% can be a little higher than that when waiverss are offered and an example of a waiver which does apply to the 2627 year and is part of the resolution
that's on the agenda relates to health insurance. So when the costs of health insurance are much higher, they're increasing faster than that 2%, we are able to apply and take a waiver for additional funding through taxes to help
pay for those additional costs. And it is a onetoone match. So the the only way you get that waiver to increase the revenue is if you have the expenditure that's going to that those dollars are going to be used to fund.
So this board has consistently over the time period this chart goes from 2010 to present has consistently gone to cap. Um, additionally it has taken its waiverss over that period of time and so
although the statutory li statutoal limit is 2% it actually has grown the tax base by about 2.57. So certainly not a huge increase above the 2% but there is a slight increase
above the 2%. And so you have that sloping up of the revenues while you have the pushing up against it of the expenditures that are growing significantly larger than that 2% amount. Um in the
case of salaries over the time of 2010 through 20 26 27 salaries have increased by 55%, health benefits by 64, transportation by 90% and special ed by
222%. those percentage increases over that time are eating up the funds that are available through those tax increases. And what's happening is there's kind of like a pinch point occurring as you move
through the years. It's getting closer and closer and closer. So now where we are is the revenues that are swooping up, the the costs are coming right in underneath. And what we've been finding over the last few years is that in order to absorb those costs, we have to be
making changes in other programs to either eliminate them or what we've been doing more of is making them more efficient. So we've been squeezing them down. And an example of that is the changes that we've made in transportation. So part of that 90%
would have included those more expensive runs that we were contracting out. Over the last few years, we've added a very small bus fleet, and those buses have been transporting some of our special needs students at a much lower cost than
what we were doing when we were contracting out. And we've been seeking those types of savings in all the different departments. So, it's not just transportation. We have been going to special services to help us try to keep those costs from growing more. We have been going to the schools to figure out
ways that we can still provide the same type of services to the students but at a lower price and a lower cost. The goal always is for the students not to realize that we actually made a change and it's all on the back end.
In terms of this particular budget, um what you will see is that there are not any new programs being added and that's a result of us trying to squeeze those costs down in order to meet the revenues that we can raise. So we will be
continuing a lot of programs um that those continued programs includes things like the action-based learning program that we had instituted last year and amplify that we had instituted the year before at the elementary level in the area of special
ed. It it results in the expansion of some programs like emotionally regulated and the multiply disabled programs. And the reason we're doing that is because it is more cost-effective and it's better for the students for us to keep the students in house. So if we can
expand the program in order to meet their needs so they don't go out to a out of district placement that's actually better for us. But that's not to say that we didn't make staffing adjustments throughout the district due to enrollment changes. So when we were in a situation where we noted that we
didn't have enough students to um have a particular position, we then eliminated that position in order to create savings. In addition to the instructional area, we have support services which we have
maintained in order to provide uh programs that are addressing social issues and stress management as well as additional services for behavioral, social and emotional support based on the students needs. We have been over
the last few years continuing to streamline the administration. So that process has continued in this budget. And then finally, I mentioned the bringing absorbing of the special ed routts in order to control costs. The
other advantage that that does is that our most needy children are being driven by our own drivers instead of by outside drivers. As we have done in other years, we are continuing to do capital improvements to the degree that we can through the
capital reserves and the maintenance reserves. The capital improvements are consistent with the long our long range facilities plan and the maintenance projects consistent with our comprehensive maintenance program. So when we meet on the 21st, we're going
to do a lot more of a deep dive in terms of the budget, but this kind of gives you a good overview of what is being submitted. And in terms of the resolution, all the resolution is doing is identifying the various elements that
are included in this budget as well as ultimately the tax impact that it would have from a total taxes being raised through the budget. Does anyone have any questions? >> Thank you. I I don't have a question, Katine, but um I do I would like to
thank you and your staff for working as hard as you have in putting together a very sound and efficient budget um under challenging circumstances. So, thank you.
>> I'd like also to say thank you to Kine. What would we do without you? I'm really serious about that. And since you're a resident, you care about taxes, too. And I hope all the residents in Montville Township understand that that
you do live here. So, it's important to you and your children went to our schools. I do have one question. The special education buses that we have, those do have cameras for safety >> process of getting the cameras, the and the GPS system. So, we're in the those
are things that we didn't budget for in 2627. So, as we are now beginning to close the system down, funds will be dedicated to getting those cameras and the tracking devices on the vehicles so that for the summer program, those will
already be in place. >> David. Yeah. So, um again, thank you so much for this. I know it's a a real effort to put this budget together and you've been doing a great job over the years and this looks to be another excellent budget. Um I just wanted to
emphasize that you showed that chart showing how salaries, health benefits, transportation, special ed are going up much quicker than our revenue. Uh I just want people to understand that a lot of those costs are completely out of our
control. We are at the mercy of some of these companies, you know, the health benefits, special ed, out of pl out of district placements, transportation, and we we need some relief from a higher authority, namely our our state
government on those. But thank you again so much for working on this budget. >> Yes. So, just to follow up on that, so for the health benefits, exactly what you just said. um those prices are out of our control. So last year we switched from the state benefits program. We went
to a private uh that saved us a considerable amount of money but you could only do that once you know you can't keep on doing that year after year after year. So when you find a little bit of that that cost savings that helps us but then we have to kind cons consistently try to find other revenue
sources. going with the buses. Yes, they do primarily do our bus uh special ed runs, but then when they're not being in in use, we're able to do field trip runs and then athletic runs after school again, saving some more money. So, it's multi-use there again. But once we've
done that, I have to now continue trying to find other ways to save some more money. Uh this budget is uh it puts us in the best light for the next year and for the year after when we have to start building the following year budget. So, we feel we've done the best we could do
uh under the circumstances and um we're we're we're very solid and we're able to continue the great programming that we offer our students on a daily basis. So, we're happy about that. But we'll be here next year and we'll be talking about tough times again probably. So, uh but thank you. I want to thank Miss Miss
Slunt and the whole business office and all the administrators who work so hard to help put this together. So, uh a lot of heads came together. We had a lot of meetings talking about personnel as well as the budget to make this all work. So I want to thank everybody on that.
>> Thank you again. Moving on to committee reports starting with finance. >> Uh I don't have much to add but I I do look forward to voting yes on this and ne next in April.
>> Thank you. uh curriculum. Michael, no report policy Christine. >> Thank you, Joe. We had a policy and personnel committee on February 24th. The committee reviewed several policies that are being introduced tonight for
the first reading. >> Thank you. Communications. Michael, >> no report. Delegate leaison news school boards. Karen. >> Um so March has been a very busy month. I have had the opportunity to visit
several uh county meetings in celebration of their unsung heroes program which we at Mulle Township High School participate in. The unsung heroes program um is to recognize students who aren't your star athletes, not your
validictorian. They're students who do their best oftentimes under very very adverse conditions. um and they're selected and and recognized. These are students who it is
often said about them make their school better just by being there. Um so those are going on right now. We had ours um on March 5th. Um
what else? On the 14th there was a legislative committee meeting. I believe Joe, you were there. Um there were many topics of interest. Um Chris Williams, the new chief of staff of the DOE, was there and probably spent about over an hour with us. A long a long time,
answered a lot of questions. Um and I'll have something to say under general board, but that completes my report for NJSBA. >> Thank you. Thank you, Karen. Um Morris County School Boards, Michael. Yes. Just
as uh Dr. Cordelino had just mentioned, the unsung hero award ceremony was March 5th at the Hanover Park High School and our own Connor Cargo was uh Montville's uh unsung hero at at the event.
That's it. Thank you. Um the uh educational service commission met last Wednesday and they approved the 2627 budget for next year. Um and then moving on to uh the Misual
Alliance. Caitlyn. >> Yeah. Um April 22nd from 6:00 to 7 at the Piacasta Auditorium. Uh will be the guest speaker D. Gillan from the Black Poster Project. um discussing personal loss of a family member due to substance abuse and how to understand what
addiction is, how to look for it, and how to get help. Um they al they'll send out a flyer about it along with a QR link and survey monkey for donations and questionnaire for general interest for the event and future events. >> Thank you. Um the special education
parents advisory group, >> no report. Chuck, >> school liaison, uh Cedar Hill, >> no report. Hilldale. Yeah, Hilldale will be having their uh next meeting this Thursday and they're
also very excited to hear that we're move making some progress on that construction. Hopefully some progress. Thank you. >> Thanks. Uh Valley View, >> next meeting is Thursday virtual.
>> Woodmont. Uh no report. Uh the high school Mike. >> Uh yes. Uh the meeting was held on uh March 9th and uh just to fill in the gaps uh that have not been talked about already um the high school principal
interviews are in progress and they're targeting a decision for our April 21st board of ed meeting if that's correct. Um and uh hopefully that that continues to go well. Um,
and uh, the PTC are getting car magnets for anyone who's interested. >> Um, they can get car magnets on the on the back of the cars and they might give them out to the kids. They're still trying to figure out exactly what to do. Um, teacher appreciation lunch is May
5th and the next meeting is May 4th at 6:30 p.m. and is virtual. >> Thank you. Uh we're going to go to our first public participation for items on the agenda. If you'd like to come up and ask any questions. Melissa Benno. Um this is regarding the
budget presentation. There are TVs here and here and unless you're superhuman, I can't I'm in the second row and I can't read it. So, I was hoping for the next presentation you could maybe have
your AV people put it there because I can't see. >> No problem. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, moving on to consent resolutions. Can I get a motion? >> A second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Moving on to section I.
Any questions? Section J. Section K, section L. Just uh remember sections L and M. We have the addendum in the back there,
section N. Seeing no questions, we'll move our section O, a vote on consent resolutions. Roll call, please. >> Dr. Modrack. on the minutes from February 17th meetings. Yes to everything else.
>> Mr. Rapaort, >> yes. >> Dr. Cordelino, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fano, >> yes. >> Mr. Palma, >> yes. >> Mrs. Smith, >> yes. >> Mr. Dorree, >> yes.
>> Moving on to old business. >> Anyone have any old business like to bring up? Seeing none, any general board comments? >> Um, yes. Thank you. Um, Joe, uh, on
March 12th, um, I along with Dr. Gorman and Mike Palama had the pleasure of attending the Chamber of Commerce dinner um, honoring among others our very own fellow board member Michelle Zuckerman.
So, I just wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate her on the a very um distinct honor and selection. >> Thank you, Karen. >> Anyone else?
>> Go ahead, Dave. >> Yeah. Um although I'll probably stealing a little bit of Mike's thunder, but Sweeney Todd, what a great show, right? I saw Mike there. Um just amazing performance. another in a long line of amazing performances uh from the
students and what what what more can you say except you know those towns folk that don't attend these uh performances really are missing out something so I encourage people to show up tickets are cheap it's a great place to see a show
and great energy from the students so >> yeah I mean the the professionalism of not only the the students but also you know the director the choreography Everything is really first class. Um, we have just really premier theater and
coral program. Um, the voices were phenomenal. They were not high school voices. They were very professional. The ensemble coral work, fantastic. Um, you know, we we we just have an embarrassment of riches in our theater program. there are so many kids who are
worthy of having lead parts that aren't only because there's such a deep gene pool to pick from. So, um yeah, another great thing, Mr. Beard, he was he got on I think very recently is I think Morris was state um forget exactly what it was.
I believe it was state um recognition as state um theater director high school. I believe that was the award. And um yeah, we we have a great program and we have the Lazar program coming up next week. I think the musical is uh Billy
Wonka, I believe >> it is. >> And um it's a great theater. It's a great theater program for the high school. So again, Embarrassment of Rich is at the middle school, too. We're very lucky. >> Now, is that is that is Willy Wonka Thursday, Friday, Saturday? What what
nights is it? Do you know? >> I I believe it's Thursday, Friday evening, Saturday matinea. >> Okay. Okay. And also, you know, plug Shrek, okay? Um, our summer program through Medic, they're going to be putting on Shrek the musical, so kids
can sign up and have some fun at our summer med program. >> Nice. And Mike, I just want to say I really appreciate you always giving us that additional color, background,
knowledge about all aspects of our uh music and performing arts. Thank you. >> Thank I I mean I just think it's important because there are so many districts that when it comes time to cut the budget, the first thing they look to do is cut the arts. And we have
fortunately managed to avoid that. And for that, I thank the administration for its wisdom. >> And you know what else, Mike? I think we would agree. There's some students who've never performed before in their lives. And then they get involved in
theater um or music and that shy child then grows and gets and gains confidence and then they make new friends. So getting involved in the theater arts are really important for anyone. Even if they don't feel they have a talent, they
do find it. So I agree. >> Can can I just piggy back on to that real quick? It's funny because because Mike is going to notice about this. So at the bar bar mitzvah and bot mitzvah around when they have them here, you can always tell the Montville students, okay, the Montville boys are out there
dancing with the girls. They're having a great time. The kids from other schools are just standing, you know, the boys especially are standing along the walls because they don't have the movement class that they have at Lazar. That movement class gets gives our
students the confidence as you know, as Christine was saying, it no, the the arts give the kids these this confidence to get out there and present themselves as our students did this evening, you know, with their companies. So we do have a lot of great art programs and uh
programs that go beyond just the academics but instill a lot of confidence and leadership in our kids. >> Yeah. If you look at the demographics of our choirs both at the high school and even the middle school and I emphasize that but they are very very high number
of boys much more than you see at most schools which is why we have such good pickings at the high school. You know, kudos to our, you know, middle school director, M Mr. Green. He goes sixth, seventh, seventh, and eighth grade. You've got a lot of boys. It's not going to be half, but it's more than the usual
10%. Much more than that. So, um, you know, let's keep going. >> Thank you. Um, moving on to our last public participation for any items that are not on the agenda. Anyone wants to come up and speak?
Seeing none, I could get a motion to adjourn the meeting. >> So moved. >> Thank you very much. >> Happy St. Patty's Day, everybody. >> Yeah. >> I didn't even think you were in green. I should have. >> Here you go.