##VIDEO ID:pp-pQuaBhbU## so that's those are the numbers and then just to remind the board that we do a financial statement audit to make sure that the numbers are reported accurately we do certain procedures to make sure you're in compliance with different directors that New Jersey Department of Ed um feels are necessary and then because of the pandemic you have had a federal and a state single audit so if you spend over 750 it requires us to do a matrix figure out which programs need to be chosen each year it has to be rotated you can't select the same ones each year and the district came through with no audit recommendations so I just want you to see the amount of work that goes into it and that you came out um very very well and so with that we did make two management suggestions that we made in every report that we do just being mindful even though those programs are winding down that um some some districts have been monitored and they're very very nitpicky so when you apply for the money and you have a grant you have a budget and you know what you're charging to it I've seen other districts um be challenged on it it just doesn't seem to be in the spirit of providing those funds but hopefully they'll all work out in the end but they are you know dot every eye cross every T and I think you do a good job here so with that um I think you did a remarkable job and I thank you for the opportunity to serve the District board any questions one quick one you mentioned Food Service you can you say again you said year-over-year $50,000 increase it can you elaborate or what what was the yeah sorry yes that is true it was a $50,000 increase over the year is there a a why behind that that you were yes um it was the it was the effect of three different components and that is that the operating Revenue was up the operating expenditures were up and the nonoperating revenues the subsidies were up and the interest was up so net was 49,000 effect over last year got it how do you feel about this uh a you feel that uh we're in good shape or there's room for improvement I think that you're doing everything you need to do and then from a procedural point of view I think the procedures are in place and we always have conversations um Dana will say to me what do you think of this and so we work that out from side to side but financially I think that um it's really important important to gain that continuity and I know you've had some transition over the past years and um I know just working with Dana for the last year and a half two years it's been challenging but you're getting it on that Plateau which is a great thing to do once you know what you're dealing with and things are not changing um I think you're doing a good job of bringing stability to the finances and then again congratulations for the um do the best we could with what we have yep okay very well anything else okay thank you so much I really appreciate it thank you and now we're moving on to Berkeley Heights report yep all right uh we've had uh two meetings uh up at Berkeley Heights GL since since our last meeting here uh we had one regular meeting and then one special meeting the last regular meeting was October 17th um terms of student updates uh September was deaf awareness month and the students did chalk drawings out in front of GL which are actually still up uh interact Club held bake sales to raise money for victims of some of the southeast hurricanes uh the Highlander marching band took top score in three recent competitions uh they held a homecoming dance again this year that was September 18th uh we also approved all winter coaches so wrestling track basketball swimming Etc at that point um for uh for the winter season uh wasn't our last meeting but I did get a note tonight that the volleyball team girls volleyball team won their state sectional so they that's three straight years pretty cool um and they play Thursday for the um in the state in the state group semi uh Championship um they're uh the athletic director as well who we approved uh in September he started officially yesterday that's CJ Hendrick um and let's see October 16th was a challenge day for sophomores um that they did as a one-day event they had the largest turnout yet about 100 students attended that event um we also had an njsla presentation from their current acting assistant superintendent Durk Phillips um Kevin Moore gave a really comprehensive special ed uh presentation a lot of questions uh it for anyone's interested it's worth it's worth a watch you caught some of it right I I watched it was very very good yeah I mean still have more questions but I know since we've talked about that as a board covered all the all of our hot button questions I think um that we've had in the last couple of years so very thorough and worth a watch uh they also did their their uh Hib um ssds presentation uh on Thursday our next meeting up there they're going to they're going to be doing an AP courses presentation uh I haven't seen the the Pres the slides on that on that yet but that's supposedly coming on Thursday um on the facilities front uh for their ba AJ uh he talked about a wiring upgrade for GL field lighting uh and getting pricing on that uh he also talked about separately getting a bid for lights uh light the light stanions themselves um they're looking at still pricing on the Press Box up at GL uh and Locker estimates lockers being like outdoor um module type lockers which are quite expensive according to AJ but they are looking into some of that to to try to solve uh some of the locker room concerns that they've had uh the blue gym was painted at GL uh new lines and sleeves were put down for volleyball or put in for volleyball the Red Gym is also being painted this month at GL and then they're going to do the floors U they added new LED lighting in the main hallway at GL um and then separately uh we had a special meeting not to bury the lead but October 29th um separate Board of Ed meeting we approved their new superintendent Kim phry as superintendent she'll officially start uh Jan one she's coming from Hillsboro um it's a three and a half year contract since she's starting mid year um she was at that meeting and and made some nice comments so I think um she'll be starting to do some work unless she's reached out to you at all Janet or or that not yet but I'm sure she's just working on her transition and getting herself ready she's going to do board one-on ones and all that but um so that's that's exciting uh and then yes our next meeting is November 14th this Thursday uh at 6:30 at GL and then after that our next regular meeting is December 12th uh to wrap the year that's all I got thank you one question Jordan you said they're making preparations for lights on the field there there's been a lot of conversation about field lights at GL uh going back years yeah but more recently in the last two years uh a getting through the potential hurdle of the town right which is which is cleared that that has been validated as as as an issue that the town would be okay with neighbors included so that was an issue once upon a time they opposed it they did they remember over the years so the neighbors towns are good now it's money oh okay no I just wonder what happened that the big change because they were there there's been a big student push I will say um some of the student Representatives have actually petitioned the board to to look into this and some of that is um I think I think some of it's accelerated by the fact that Snyder uh is no longer like first right of refusal for Berkeley Heights Athletics it's now County control so a lot of the like senior night events used to be at snd some still are but they don't have the first right of scheduling that anymore you're basically into the county pool so eyes are back at ja to say why not go through all that trouble and then you have the opposition like it's been previously that's that that part has now been overcome which is good yeah so now whether again you got to come up with the money to it's you got to wire it and then you got to pay for the actual lights it's not cheap but there are grants and psng Giants and jets there are ways and he's working on it I think it'd be great you know especially with like you get to soccer season and and other sports that are out there and and with daylight savings you got to start these State Games really early pull kids out of school it's sort of nut So yeah thank than you Jordan yeah okay we're moving on can I please have a motion to approve under Administration items 1 through six so moved second second any questions or comments I just want to point out item number two on your agenda which is our annual self assessment for determining grades under the anti-bullying Bill of Rights this is an annual selfs survey that is submitted to the state of New Jersey um basically each school it's not done as a district it's done individual schools and are they are ranked under we rate ourselves on a score of zero to three in many many indicators um including our HIV programs how we train the students how uh board training on the policies uh PD for the staff the implementation of programming the Personnel the reporting procedur so all of these aspects um um and so in terms of that um out of an ultimate score of 78 Beachwood received a 72 and Deerfield a 71 so just reporting those out um and they are then submitted to the state thank you roll call please Michael Goodwin yes Dana gy Petro yes Jordan Heyman yes Vivian poopo yes Candace Jano yes Carman vennis yes can I please have a motion to approve under budget and finance uh items 1 through 11 so moved second questions or comments I'll just double down to say that for number eight it's great that we're you know we talk to adding that second day my mental health support and it's it's great that we have Town backing to be able to do that and absolutely Thanks Jen for seeing that through thank you thank you roll call please Michael Goodwin yes go to C Petro yes Jordan Heyman yes Vivian poopo yes Candace shano yes Carman Venice yes I please have a motion to approve under Personnel items 1 through 13 so move I I do want to add another High School volunteer Emma wowski uh to the list of high school volunteers I have to say I think it's really awesome to see some of our former students that are still that are at the high school that are coming back to volunteer so I think that's really great roll call please Michael Goodwin yes Dana greaty Petro Jordan Heyman yes Vivian poopo yes candano yes carine Venice yes can I please have a motion to approve under policies one through really one and three one and three yeah so moved second questions or comments I have a question with the board member policy it's just the wording the two extra words that were added at the end it deals with the code but also at the beginning it just talks about number it added in the word literally the word number at the very beginning of it okay um but that's a statutory statement that you can't negotiate the number on it it all goes based out on your enrollment so it was just the numbers at the end and then the word number yep all right thank you here uh roll call oh did we get a motion I'm sorry yeah we um roll call please Michael Goodwin yes Dana Petro Jordan Heyman yes Vivian poopo yes candano yes Carmine venis yes do we have any old business new business any business at all do you do you want to talk reorg dates new business yes yes so we have reor uh Berkeley Heights has a date that we have a date so uh we're looking at changing or having any recommendations proba possibly January 2nd or January 6th I believe it's a Monday um so if we I guess check on availability because uh Berkeley Heights is having theirs the 7eventh the same day hours and it has to be the first seven days first seven days yeah January 6th I'm fine with January 6 that's a Monday yep I'm good with both so I'm going to go with majority ditto both are fine here yeah I go with f it yeah I'm good with you okay so ladies second is no that's a Thursday I'd prefer the six I mean I could do the second but I prefer the six I totally agree yeah okay so is everybody okay with the sixth it's the day before I'll just note that the one member is not here tonight vital to be there for the sixth because he'll be attending we need him there the sixth to be so we just want triple check so let's let's go with a tentative of the sixth and if he if our memb is not available on the six we'll have to go with the second Fair yeah okay okay let's move on new business um Carmen so we don't know yet I'll let we'll let you know we'll let you know as of right now possibly the six unless a board member cannot make it just okay new business committee reports we will be having a strategic planning committee meeting on Thursday I sent out the zoom um yes I believe we said one o'clock I'll double check the calendar I will get the draft out to all of you by tomorrow uh I just unfortunately a little bit delayed today a few other things so I will get you that information tomorrow um so that you can preview it before we meet on Thursday is it Our Hope Janet remind me again just timeline wise are we aiming to try to get something to the full board hopefully for the December meeting okay yep the goal is to have it finalized uh make any edits that we need to and then have it to the full board for approval at the December meeting got it I know I have it on my phone but when is our December meeting December 10th thank you okay any other committee reports okay so we're moving on I would like to open up the uh comments and public participation on any items that you would like to discuss please come to the podium state your name and address seeing none seeing none can I get a motion to adjourn motion second all in favor all right I oppose thank you meeting ends see you uh December 10th --------- ##VIDEO ID:OZsF6lnHkfA## three four we're good okay we got a majority good evening welcome to a meeting of the mountain side Board of Education in accordance with the state Sunshine Law and the state regulations adequate notice of this meeting was provided by mailing a notice of the time date location and instructions for accessing the meeting to the Union County local source and the Westfield leader filing the same with the burough clerk posting the notice at the main access store of the Mountainside Board of Education building and on the mountains side Board of Education website these meetings are reserved for board deliberation and for review of items contained within the agenda the board reserves a right to vote on action items the board welcomes the participation of interested individuals we encourage questions about specific School practices incidents or events to be brought directly to school administration public comment will be permitted at the beginning of the meeting for agenda items only each participant is asked to give his or her name and address prior to making statement in addition time will be allotted at the end of the meeting for public comment on any item speakers shall limit their comments to three minutes roll call please Bill Dylan Michael Goodwin here Dana guy Petro Jordan Heyman Here Vivian poopo here candano Carmine Bennis here at this time I would like a motion to go into executive session it's 6:33 we will return in about an hour so moved second all in favor I I oppos motion carries we'll see you in one hour e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening we are returning from our executive session it is 7:35 can we please stand to salute the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all can I please have a motion to approve the minutes from October 15th so move second questions or comments roll call please mik Goodwin yes Dana Petro yes Jordan Heyman yes Vivian poopo yes candano yes Cara and Venice yes at this time I would like to open up the floor for public participation on any agenda items please come state your name address seeing none we're moving on uh president report I want to start by um extending my heartfelt thanks to the entire Community for your support voting yes for our schools your commitment to investing in the future of our children and ensuring that they access that they have access to the best education opportunities is truly inspiring this vote reflects the strength of our school shared values and the belief that every student deserves a quality education with your help we are one step closer to building a brighter future for our schools our children in our community thank you for your trust and your dedication I also would like to congratulate Mr Heyman and michano for uh re-election welcome back um happy to be back I truly appre appreciate you guys a ble right to the end right the endend no and that's it for me and now with superintendent report Mrs W thank you very much so to reiterate and to couple on that thank you thank yous to the community for approving our public question it truly is wonderful to see the support and the programs that we will be able to reinstate and put in place um so along those lines on tonight's agenda you will see approval for a number of Staff members to be approved for our after school reading and math programs some of them happening before school so before and after school uh we have I believe five of those slots already filled and we're really excited to be able to really make that immediate turnaround and begin providing programming for our students as soon as possible additionally on tonight's agenda you will see um for your approval to expand our mental health supports from Care Plus as we discuss we approve them at the beginning of the year for one day a week and this approval tonight will allow us to expand that to two days a week which was also supported by our public question other positions have all been advertised so we have placed ads out for our gift and talented posi position as well as our steam teacher and um we are have we will be advertising very shortly for the part-time curriculum coordinator the job description for that is on tonight's approval so once approved that will allow us to begin advertising for that position so we're very excited to be able to make those adjustments as quickly as possible and as soon as Staffing allows we will bring it forth to the board for approval and Institute new programming as quickly as we can throughout the remainder of this school year um in addition it has just been a an extremely busy time we had a few weeks ago we had our PTO Trunk or Treat activity which went very well out in our back parking lot very well attended a beautiful evening for it uh we had our annual Halloween activities with our parades as well as class parties that were really enjoyed by all students um this past Monday we had our Veterans Day assembly here at Deerfield which was just beautifully done Mrs jenss our staff our students they do such a nice job of recognizing our local veterans bringing them in for our assembly we also had the opportunity to hear from the VFW Patriots pen essay contest winners the top winners at each of the grade levels sixth seventh and eth they read their essays at our December meeting we will be inviting the first second and third place winners for all three grade levels to come to the board meeting so that you as a board can also recognize them and we will give them a certificate for their efforts at that time um so very excited with that we also have been busy preparing a parent survey that will be going out tomorrow as you all know and the board has discussed we are in the midst of a um our we are entering our third year of our second fiveyear contract with Berkeley Heights so for our high school programming we will be looking to renegotiate and relook at contracts that start with the 2728 school year so in uh expectation and preparation for that as we have discussed I've prepared for the board as you requested um a survey to really gauge parents on their High School needs what's important to them for Education what are they seeing what uh programming do they feel is most important for their children what do they feel is most valuable and so this survey will will be sent to the entire Mountainside School Community it will also go to the parents of current governor Livingston high school uh students current Union County vocational school students and through our aen L list any students in Mountainside who are attending private schools we feel that um this will give us a good feedback as was shared with me at um from the board level just really giving the board a good sense of what do we need as we move forward from mide what is most important and how do we best support our students while they may not physically be here with us they are our responsibility so how do we continue to ensure that they are getting strong high school education and strong support as they move through those formative years from 9th through 12th grade so um that survey will be going out I expect tomorrow we are going to have it open for two weeks to allow ample time for parent response and then that gives the board good information as we look for again a new contract as we move forward and and this one wraps up okay um and then because that's not busy enough Mrs jenss and Mrs goldbeck and I were so fortunate this past weekend to be down in Washington DC for the national Blue Ribbon Awards and so we very proudly we received our plaque and a flag so just want to share with everyone this is the plaque that is so nice that every school that was a National Blue Ribbon award recipient this year was we received um so we had the opportunity to go up on stage um dance with the blue ribbon um committee and receive hour so it says in recognition of Deerfield Elementary School Mountainside New Jersey exemplary High performing National Blue Ribbon School 2024 great so this will be displayed here at the dip building we also received a flag um and just so excited to be able to celebrate that with everyone if you took a look around the building you'll also see that the um building has been adorned with indoor blue ribbons if you were here for conferences you had the chance to see those um a huge thank you to the PTO they sponsored t-shirts for the entire Dearfield staff with the blue ribbon logo on the back um and Deerfield across the front so all of the staff received those and uh huge huge recognition to Mrs Starling Mrs Tisha and Mrs Keegan who really spearheaded the idea of the blue ribbons around the building and getting that that recogn Mrs jenss has been working with some outside vendors to look at uh various ways that we want to really memorialize longterm our Blue Ribbon recognition so um she has received quotes on banners she has received a quote on a three-dimensional um seal that could potentially go um and so we do have some PTO funding for some of these items we just have to take look at what's going to be best um but I would like to also um think for as an opportunity potentially for the board as well as to what something they might want to see um that we might be able to as a board sponsor for uh long-term recognition one of the ideas that had come up from one board member were the um the signs that go on a light pole the flags that go on the light polles and potentially those either if we could get permission to put those on Central Avenue so that would be right here in front of Deerfield um and if not there then um putting those on the entrance um the ENT the light poles that are on the entrance to the parking lot that's a great idea um so I think that that's something that would be worthwhile for us to to take a look at it from the board perspective and to support a long-term recognition of Deerfield yeah and those could potentially stay there like permanently or those there's one up in front of of Our Lady of Lords that's been there for um I I I I never know if they're like accidentally left up or they're just meant to be there yeah I don't know um don't get Ri with the wi yeah yeah um but they should be able to be up there for for a permanency I'd have to check with you know so if we we wanted if the board wanted to move in that direction I would um approach the town to find out about you know the use of those light Poes and um if they would accept being because I think there's about there's at least two if not three that come go from our exit to our entrance yeah so that stretch in front of the houses as something that I think we should take a look at and consider okay we should do it okay um so that is that pretty much covers uh most of what's been going on oh and conferences I apologize we had parent teacher conferences last week which went very very smoothly uh lots and lots of opportunity for good conversation between the staff and parents and really centering on student education and their growth and working together to continue to um expand that as we go throughout the year thank you and now to our ba so every year we are required to have an audit of our financial statements um done by an outside auditing firm um this this year we did start early and luckily we got the information from the state that we needed early so um we're here in November and Kathy n Mattel from nage is with us um she's going to present a little bit of the audit report um you all were emailed the big document last week um the C1 is the document that really means the most to to me and to most everyone um which is where we are financially and where our fund balance is um we basically have maintained our fund balance at the same level which means we can use we have a little less than we did last year to use in our 25 26 budget and that's how we like to manage so that we can keep revenue consistent from year to year rather than having spikes in our Revenue um so I'm GNA ask Kathy to come up what you are required to do is approve a resolution that you're just accepting the audit um we didn't have any recommendations if we did that would have required a corrective action plan um so you will just see a resolution to accept the audit Kathy anyway it was nice to see your faces again and you all seem to recognize me stronger than last year um so you know we always want you to have an opportunity to ask questions but again as Dana said the comprehensive report is 150 pages I condense it down to two and a half pages of the key takeaways so if anyone has any questions I'll talk about the numbers and then there's a little uh few comments about um why there are no recommendations and some other things about the federal um grants that are the window on them is closing or has closed as of uh September 30th I think some of those could have been open orders to be liquidated in 60 days but pretty soon it should be all over so as Dina indicated the fund balance overall from June 30th of 23 to June 30th of 24 was down a little over 200,000 and that's because you utilize the tuition Reserve again you're in a sending receiving relationship so that's important to establish a reserve um you see a change in the unemployment which was unusual but Dana and I talked about that and you had some claims that came in during the year and then capital reserve um you're utilizing that and we'll talk about that as we get to the bottom of the page but again if you look at the overall change you can't just take that as a sum you have to look at the different components that changed and so when you get to the bottom of the list of all the restrictions they have to be utilized in that fashion encumbrances or open purchase orders you don't have that many that's great that's a wonderful control um you appropriated a little bit more last last year um into the year that you're in 19,000 not significant and then the unassigned is really where you are and so last year it was 429,000 it's a state computation this year it's 471 so if you don't budget the full amount of extraordinary and non public transportation Aid that you receive you are you have the opportunity to add that to 2% so that's where you get to 471 and then I just like you to get a feel for how fund balance changed over the course of the year so you had excess local revenue and as we know the interest rates were again up for the full year so predominantly that's increase in interest on deposits the excess State when you adjust it because the numbers that are in the C1 that Dana referred to have numbers that are not received or paid by the district they're tpaf on behalf of the district that the state pays and they have to be recognized so once you take them out of the equip equ you had 63,000 of excess state revenue that's the two pretty much the 2% got added to the 2% and then your unexpended budget Appropriations were 250,000 you had some open incumbrances and they're not reflected in there so um by and large you had very small balances coming back but you were managing them very well so in the 23 24 you used 200,000 of your tuition Reserve you used 144,000 capital reserve 375 of uh fund balance to support operations and then the other um items are minor so when we came in as your Auditors last year there were some capital projects that are 10 12 years old so at the end of the whole audit we said to Dana if they're that old I don't think those balances are going to be utilized part of them were from Bond proceeds so they have to be returned to The Debt Service fund to offset Debt Service payments and then um it's this 15,780 that was financed by capital reserve and that went back into the capital reserve account and again just to give you a feel for the fund balance and other balances that you're using on an annual basis for 2324 again trying to keep that 375,000 constant um there was a small amount that was approved by the board different resolutions during the year 8600 not significant