I meeting call to order. Mr. Alb, Miss Calderon here, Mr. >> Minger, Mr. Lombardi >> here, >> Mr. Lundo, Miss Moore >> here, >> Vice President Dun here, President >> here. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance
to the flag of America and the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Board statements in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey open public meetings law. The new Milford Board of
Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place that were posted in the Burough Hall and the Milford Public Library. Notices have been sent to the record in the Twin B News. The board announces that under its long-standing policy, it will not discuss in public any comments made by
members of the public concerning individual staff members. At this time, please be advised that all cell phones and electronic devices are to be turned off. Meetings of the board are open to the public and all members of the community should feel free to participate. Before coming to the board, the chain of command should be followed.
There are two portions of the meeting reserved for comment from the public. The first at the beginning of the meeting for agenda items only and the second at the end of the meeting for other items. Issues raised by the public may or may not be responded to by the board, but all comments will be considered. The board requests that all
members of the public be mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Due to confidentiality and legal rights afforded by the state of New Jersey, members of the public are asked to not speak negatively or in a derogatory manner about any employee of the board or any student
committee of the whole. I seek a motion to approve the minutes for December 11th, 2025. Andrew, seconded by Nicole. All in favor? >> I >> oppose. Should we start the present? >> All right. We're first going to start off with the presentation. It's the recognition of students for their
acceptance into the high school county band and chorus festival. >> Yes. So, I'm just going to speak a little bit about it first. Uh, first of all, thank you for coming. Parents, thank you for coming. Kids, obviously, Mrs. for Zelius. Miss Hayden Bower, thank you for coming. Um, it's a big
event. You know, obviously, you know, we had, you know, Jake Johnson who was all county in football, right? This is this is all county for bandon courts. This is a significant significant event. They have to compete and they have to earn a spot. there are cuts and they are very
strict as I have just recently learned in talking to some colleagues they are very strict with um attendance and you have to make a commitment to them and they have no problem booing you so thank you for representing our school
community your parents I've seen all of you on stage and really I'm not surprised uh by any of you making this so on behalf of the board of education you know myself, the teachers, I'm sure um they agree. We are very proud of you.
Thank you. Uh Miss Gazilius, do you want to say anything? When is when is it? >> It was last night. >> It was supposed to be Sunday. >> That's right. >> And it got snowed out at Moose last night and it was amazing. There will be a recording that came. >> Can you please forward that to us,
please? I'll put it in the newsletter. That's wonderful. >> Yes. >> Um yeah, thank you very much. We have certificates for you. So when I call you, you know, please come up. Uh, Raina Vieira, you were alto one >> and you are ranked like number eight in the count
>> top 10 SALAZAR. looking forward to see you in the museum. Christian Dio, >> this young man I'll never forget. He was one of the first students to talk to me. Superintendent last year in culinary,
right? In culinary. That's where I was I was observing or something. Thank you for that. CONGRATULATIONS. PLEASE COME UP band for clarinet. >> CONGRATULATIONS. >> Can we take a picture?
Oh yeah. >> Some of them might have to ship. I will also say that some of our friends here, this was their first time auditioning for this program. So, the fact that uh it was one of their first times auditioning and they're getting in and getting such a great opportunity
with other teachers around the county is it's really amazing. They're a really great snap and then >> Yeah. Thank you. >> We got one more. Got one more.
>> Thank you. >> And thank you so much for Thank you so much. >> I didn't tell you. >> No, >> thank you all. >> I didn't
I did you Before we get to our audit, we're going to have first presenter report so you don't have to sit here through our meeting. >> All right, good evening everyone. January January has been a busy month for the Knights and Summer. So, I'll
start with the athletic achievements because there's been a lot this month. So, first, Hannah Belos set a school record for the high jump at 5'2 in in indoor track. She broke a 39year-old school record which I thought was very impressive. Leila Grunt, which I've been reading about, is one of four athletes
in the NJIC division to bowl one of the highest games in series. In a 565 point series, Ila averaged a score of 210. If that's not impressive enough, she was the NJC bowler of the week, and she moved up to number 21 in Burton County for the girls patriot division. Speaking
of athlete of the week, Santino Ramia, sorry, Santino Ramita was nominated as one of the top boys senior swimmer and senior captain Robbie Bianke was named wrestler of the week after his impressive performance in the county tournament in which he finished third. Jake Johnson has been named MVP for the
NM in the forward in the 9th annual Brian Long Classic at Richford Park and the girls basketball season has been held. So they most recently beat Woodridge and they had a score of 50 to 17 and both the girls and the boys won against their respective opponents just
last week in a basketball sweep. In any case, we have our spring sports interest meetings tomorrow after school. So if the winter sports have inspired you, now you can go into spring sports. We recently conducted our newest members of the Pora Hubber chapter of the National Honor Society and it was a lovely night
recognizing the academic achievements of our upper classmen. Tomorrow, the honors holocaust and genocide study class is welcoming a full production to begin the names members project. This opportunity is one of a kind and the first time we're doing it at Milford. We'll kick up tomorrow with an explanation of what is expected and then next month the project
will continue as students have the opportunity to interview Holocaust survivors. Oh my god, you guys, if you're looking for an update on the musical, I'm your girl. This past Saturday, the production of weekly began set with the help of the amazing Mr. Robert Hannah who are hosting his own
day. Mr. Pre and many crew members and proudly pink set for the musical is in the works. We should be done just in time for the benefit concert which is on February 7th and it's a great night full of performances from talented alumni coming together to support the show before tickets go on sale shortly
afterwards. Lastly, I wanted to remind everyone, especially students watching, that midterms are next week and all students have been informed of the schedule and given study materials. So, make sure you get sleep, review for your test, and have a charge school Chromebook to prepare for every
>> fantastic domino and then some more alumni. >> Thank you. Okay, now we're going to have our audit from Lens and Bliss.
>> Good evening everybody. Do they have a copy of this? >> Yes. >> Okay. So I So keep in mind that um every year we have to file two reports. We file an annual financial report which is actually the document I have in my hand
fairly lengthy. And the second report is actually um the management report which covers areas that we test as part of the audit with um if needed any audit recommendation. I just thought for the ease of discussion having one page
summary would be you know um advantageous for the board. Uh one just to see where you are financially and we can review the one recommendation. Um so in comparison to 24 you can actually see um the total reserves and surplus of the
district actually went down uh $1.3 million. Um at the end of 24 the district had just over 14 million. Uh keep in mind that when you look at your fund balance you're looking at a capital reserve
balance. You're looking at maintenance reserve, emergency reserve. So it's not what we call or label as surplus. It's a combination of reserves and surplus. So capital reserve just for the information
of the board are projects that you believe you will fund by paying cash. It's tied into your long range facility plan. Um I guess in capital explanation there are minor projects where you do not want to go to the voters for a
referendum which would be financed by bonds. U there's a limit as to how much you can have and if I look at 25 you actually have a combination of 7.7 million. The maximum you're actually
allowed to have is 72 million. That's the dollar amount of projects that are actually in your long range facility plan. So obviously you're well below the maximum with capital. Uh maintenance reserve would be as it's described
projects that are maintenance in nature. Um calculation is actually tied into how many square feet you have in your buildings. Um and the maximum there is 1.8 million. And at the end of 25, you can actually see you at just over
800,000. Uh emergency reserves are somewhat restrictive. Uh can be used for uh increases in health benefits. It's obviously well documented how significant those increases have been the last few years. Uh and can be also
used for security in the buildings. So right now you have 400,000 of emergency reserve fundings. Your max there is probably about another 100,000 500,000 and change.
The next two categories you see are excess surplus. It's really the terminology that the department of ed uses. It's monies that are in your total fund balance after you deduct all your reserves and
after you deduct the maximum amount you're allowed to account, which basically is 2% of your expenses. So, what happens with excess surplus? When the board approves a budget, it's basically money that's going in a future budget. It's your surplus that you will
use as a revenue where you're not going to ask for taxation. You have your own resources. So that 640 is actually less than the 1.5 which is in this year's budget. The 640 will actually go in
2627's budget. So there's a delay because of when the audits file versus when the budget cycle hits. The last amount that you see unassigned, that's really the maximum amount that you're allowed to have. And again,
that's a annual calculation that we go through um when we do finalize the audit. Um and this year's maximum was 1.3 million. So when you add up all of your reserves and include the uh the
excess surplus and the unassigned surplus, you come down to the $12.7 million. uh still a healthy amount, you know, from a financial standpoint considering your budget's roughly 5152 million. Uh it's still um a sufficient
amount of resources that you have. Obviously, you need the surplus, the reserves to finance your projects as well as for cash flow. We have one uh audit recommendation. Uh it's really just advising you know
administration to monitor the lash key uh because this year's operation actually had a operating loss. So the concern is just making sure that a latch key program basically is like your own
little business operation. The user pays fees and you have to obviously pay employees for the salaries associated with it. So, you need to make sure that the revenues do offset your expenses. Uh, so last year did have a a loss and I
believe it was about $70,000. So, what we're doing uh I'm sorry, 59,000. So, what we're going to do uh shortly, actually, we're going to come in to review the first half of the school year just to see how the trend
is. just so if you uh need to uh finance some of that locally, you are notified before the end of June. Um so I would think we're going to probably review that over the next week or so.
Any questions on the finance or the one recommendation? Other than that, the records were in excellent shape. So it was a very good audit. And as far as the latch sheet, we were aware after last year's audit that we were pulling a deficit and last year we started making changes.
So I am hopeful that we requested the audit for them to come in and and see our books because we have been working to make changes and lower costs and you know I guess utilize staff more efficiently. So, I think we're going to
be in good shape. Stephanie and I, you know, I I have big numbers in my head. Definitely does not. So, we will see. But I'll give you an update once we get that order. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> All right. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Okay. Superintendent School reports. >> All right. Thank you, everyone. Um, this is a work session, regular session combined. So, I'm just going to go to go over the agenda items first, ones that I want to highlight.
Um, under board action, I would like the board to approve the December 2025 HIV report. Uh, in the Milford High School, there were zero HIV 338 form submitted. From DEO, there was one HIV 338 form submitted. Um, it was investigated. It was unfounded. We
discussed that in close session. Berkeley and Gibbs, there were zero HIV 338 forms. I would also ask for the approval of December 2025 suspension report in the Milford High School. There were two students suspended for a total of seven days. One student served one day of preschool suspension and two days
of out of school suspension. And then one student served one day of out of school suspension and three days of inschool suspension. In DO there were two students suspended for a total of three days. One student served two days of out of school suspension. One student served one day of in school suspension. Berkeley and Gibbs there were no
suspensions. also under board action. I just want to discuss this enrollment. Um every student in the district uh stepping in her office along with um our guidance office secretaries are as diligent as
can be and making sure those who reside in Milford attend school in New Milford and those who are not residing in New Milford are not attending school in New Milford. Um before any disenrollment I want to let you know we take exhaustive meas measures in terms of contacting the
parents speaking to them writing letters giving ample time for them to produce documents if they don't produce the documents that we have at this moment. Okay. I'd also like to point out the approval of the school year calendar um for 26 27
early days a Labor Day is a little late. It's on September 7th. So we've asked the teachers to come in prior uh for September 1st and 2nd. The first day for students would be September 3rd. It's 183 days for students, 186 for to
uh staff. Um there are emergency day givebacks which will be used around Memorial Day and at the end of the year because we would like to get out in the teens. Um in terms of ending the school year, June always gets a little bit difficult. Um, we did talk about spring break.
Spring B break is very, very early this year. It would typically be March 22nd to 26th. So, what we did, we gave the 26th off and spring break to nicer weather, the 12th through the 16th. Um, so it breaks up that long stretch a lot
more. Um, even talking to teachers union and the principal going from the third week in March all the way to Memorial Day is a very very long stretch for students and staff. So we moved that break up and we were able to do that because Rashan is on the
weekends and so was Diwali. So we gained those day tax we could you know give that extra day. All right, any questions by the county? All right. Educational programs, curriculum, doctor. We'll talk about that. As far as personnel, um, approval
of following retirements with regret, Kevin Herren. So, Kevin Herren is a maintenance worker for us since 2001. They've been with us for 24 25 years. Um, his specialty, um, is with keys and locks and also dealing with the busing,
but he also is a general maintenance guy and helps out where needed. um really nice guy. He kind of minds his business. Uh we'll tell you stories, but uh you know we you congratulate him and are happy for
um fall drama. I just want to thank them again. It was a wonderful production. Uh they deserve to get paid. Uh we appreciate your efforts in that. Uh finance I'll let Stephanie handle. Uh but I do want to point out the donation from the Ed Foundation. They donated a
$6,000 printer. Um, the reason being we had an old printer that Mr. Pner used to use well over a decade old. >> The idea was to refurbish that thing, but no company around here has the parts. We have to like get it off eBay
and refernish refurbish it that way. So the Ed Foundation instead of making like a $2,000 investment that way which is like why don't we buy you know a brand new one for you guys now you know we can make posters uh and you know advertising that I know Mr. Pit was very involved in
this and he is very excited. We want to thank the Ed Foundation. Um that is it for the agenda. You know, Emma does a fantastic job with her report, so I I can skip a lot of things there, but I do want to say uh
thank you to the town over break. They were trimming and cutting down the dead trees around Berkeley. Saved us a tremendous amount of money. Um they're also going to help us dispose of the wrestling mats because we did get new wrestling mats in the partnership um with the town. Thank you. They're going to provide a
huge dumpster for us because chopping those things up, it's just not worth the time and effort. And also the police keeping us informed about the thin ice. Uh we did, you know, eblast something out when they were on the pine behind Dorchester and they contacted us. We blasted something out.
And then obviously Friday, you know, Hackinack River, they tried to disperse the Hackinack River. Kids will be kids, but I do want to say it is cold, but please just stay off the ice. Please. Um some legislation from Governor Murphy. a
bunch of things are going to affect the teachers, parents, everybody. Uh bell-to-bell phone ban looks like it was signed into legislation and now we're just waiting for I guess more thorough overview of how to implement. They're already discussing it. But I also want
to point out cursive was signed into cursive was now signed uh into a bill uh for grades three through five. Cursive is wonderful. You know, our generation all did it. We we find the merit in it. um but where are we going to put it and
you know how are we going to teach it and what resources and then the big one ebikes were also affected by Governor Murphy signing to a bill that all children under 14 no more ebikes and that when you're 15 you need a license
um so just like the moped days for us is now the ebike days it also affects scooters correct >> yes >> Santa just scooter the license for scooter. >> No license for scooter, but they have to wear a helmet. >> It's mostly the ebik.
>> It's mostly the ebikes they're going after and they whip around. They can go up to 40 miles per hour. So, it's it's like a little motorcycle. Uh we did have a no hate in the state New Jersey grant. Uh Darene Zacher put together a quasi club student organization.
um that is called unified pathways and it gives regular education students the opportunity to experience a day in the life of a student whose academics are driven and a bunch of districts put in their proposals and ours was accepted. So we made it to the first round. So now there's an orientation. We have to
submit documents and we'll see if we get the grant. But we thank them for their efforts. They had an ice cream party with the kids. They made Sundays together. Um I did have one. Great. Um, but they're very they're very very excited. It's a great program and it
complements our project unified very nicely. I want to thank the municipal drug alliance for the black supporting the black poster project. Black poster project um pretty emotional. Mr. Lum actually spoke um has to do with you
know really just somber somber stuff you addiction. um he spoke about, you know, his family and listening to it, it affected the staff. You get teary eyed and um I didn't
realize just being here so long ago. I mean, he rattled off six students that have passed away that I taught that were in my classes that he coached. So, very powerful. We hope it affected the students and we hope it never, you know, touch these drugs and seek help when needed.
Emma mentioned the names, not numbers. I want to elaborate a little bit. This is really, really exciting. So, Hershey Ruff, our social studies history, he's the the head person in the history department. He took over Connie Tamboo. Huge, huge shoes to fill when it comes
to just educating children, but also the Holocaust. So, we have been looking to get survivors, actual Holocaust survivors into the building. As you can imagine, very, very difficult to find. So we had been like last year we started
with second generation survivors and brought in the children of survivors and it was great in I don't know just networking we hooked up with a rabbi from a non-public
and we were interested in what he could offer us and he hooked us up with names not numbers and names not numbers going to come in and they offer an opportunity where they bring in a filming crew they teach our kids how to edit and everything like that. And we they bring in I think we're going to get four
survivors in and we actually interview survivors and then they they cut the film and everything else. So it's like all hands on deck. It is uh 21st century perfect while learning about the Holocaust and then we have to do a big reveal in the end. So we are in the
infancy stages. The first day is tomorrow actually where they're going to start introducing it to the kids. I think I get interviewed, Mr. manipell gets interviewed. But we're really really excited. The fact that we're going to actually get Holocaust survivors in this building and they trust us enough and one of the programs
that they chose uh for to support us is is phenomenal. I'd like to thank Hershey Gra and everybody else involved in that. Uh the Elks Writing Contest, you know, we have some bright kids in this district. I I emphasize that. I try to point out all the time all the awards
and accolades that we get. So in the altra writing contest earlier this year they had to write students had to write what does service to your country mean 12 essays in Bergen County were sent to the state state level. 12 essays in all
of Bergen County were sent to the state level. Six were from DE. So congratulations to Rebecca Leona Lucas and Matteo Valencia Arthur Vetti Gabe Rimmer Roza and our very own
Lorenzo Piccasta. So congratulations. And John told us he turned it in for uh Brobox. >> That's it. >> So that is great. Congratulations. And again, 12 from the county went to the state and six are from DO. That is phenomenal.
>> The updates on sports and co-curricular. I think she did an exceptional job. She Emma did an exceptional exceptional job. Um she spilled a lot of what I had to say. Other things going on, we had a project unified bowling match. It's the first of
four we lost, but it was a hard fight. They bowled in Mont Lanes. Uh, thank you to those who took them. Um, the Seth builds we blonde. I actually popped my head in there. They were busy little bees in there. I mean, they had the wood delivered. They're reusing wood. They
probably had at least 15 students helping out and being the tool handers and lifting up wood. And then you had some really really skilled like union carpenters and everything else in there. So they do a really nice job. I'm looking for the second looking
forward to a second one as they start erecting it. It is really neat because they have balconies and everything else. It's really cool. Um I think they're going to do another one this Saturday hopefully. Um we had an elementary day of service on MLK day I think for the
first time. Uh the elementary schools Mrs. took the lead on that and put it together and just offered an opportunity for students and teachers to volunteer their time on MLK day and they put together give back baskets for the homeless did holiday cards. We had a lot of student volunteers. They got over 50
kids coming in. So, it was very successful and I thank them for that intergenerational community service. This has been a huge hit uh where we send our students, the high schoolers to the senior center which is luckily across the street and all they're doing
and they're rock stars is just showing them how to use smartphones and computers. So it's not even like these students have to train. They're just they know it. It's second nature for them. And they go in and they look like rock stars. So they've done two sessions
and the first one was little and the word got out so it was bigger the second time and now they would like us to discuss AI with them. So the senior citizens, you know, they hear AI, obviously they get very worried. And so we're looking to do like a little visual
of like, hey, here's what AI here at Gemini can do. Like give me a question, I'll answer it for you. You know, so we're looking to see how that works and how they react. But it's a really, really nice program. They're very appreciative and it's a great having them right there. I know the cors also
perform for them. Our culinary bakes cookies for them. and they are going to be the first show in for the musical. They do their dress rehearsal. We walk them right over. We get them dinner through Ponian. So, we'll get a lot of them. Once you offer dinner, they're here and then they'll watch the show.
So, it's a great relationship and we, you know, we're just looking for more and more to do with them. Uh, Empty Bowls is coming up, I think, in March. So, Empty Bowls again, one of the best. I'm bring I'm going to try to
bring my whole family to it. So, I'll talk about it again, but I want to mention it because Mrs. Fenizia and her crew of like eight kids, they spend the whole day from 8 to three just creating bowls on the wheel and they pop out 200. And then over the course of the next
month, month and a half, they have the art students glaze them and they do this empty bowls fundraiser where I guess for $20, you get to choose one of the bowls that were created by students and they fill it with soup and eat it and they have music playing in the background. You know, it was very, very nice. Um, so
as that gets closer, I'll let you know. But these kids were pumping out bowls. Some of them pump them out like in five, six minutes, they can finish one. And really, really neat. And so I thank Nizzia and all the students for doing that. upcoming events. We have Pebbony night on Friday. Uh we will have the
chorus singing the Star Spangled Banner there for the wrestling. Um James Abero day uh which there was a between the school district and the town has been postponing. Uh then we have Pevity night basketball the following Friday on January 30th. Uh
Gibbs night fundraiser on the 5th of February. The new Milford High School spring musical benefit concert on the 7th of February. PreK Valentine Day dance February 12th and then obviously short session for students on the 13th and President's Day we are closed. That
is it for me. Any questions? All right. Thank you very much. >> Okay. Thank you. Assistant Superintendent report Lauren Doa. Good evening everyone. Um if I could just draw your attention to C2526 to 2025 on tonight's agenda. We're seeking approval
of new high school course offerings for the 2627 school year. Each year, um, members of the high school faculty go through an established course proposal process, um, where there it's an opportunity for
them to share um, potential new course offerings for the next year's student body. Um, they provide everything including the course overview and description, uh, goals for the course, relevant New
Jersey student learning standards and interdisciplinary connections, um, outlining units of study or topical areas as well as course assessments. So um typically they submit those propos
proposals to review and then we spend a full day um as a team with the leadership at New Milford High School, myself and members of the faculty and talk about all the proposals and narrow
down what would be um feasible to run and and so forth. So, even though we're seeking your approval tonight, it's not guaranteed that these courses will run, but you're approving us to include them in the program of
studies. And um they will be offered to students in their uh selections for next year's schedules. Courses will run based on enrollment, interest, and of course scheduling with um the staffing that we have. Really nice to see some of these
courses. Uh the heritage Spanish as you know was new this year. So we're continuing doing a second course in that sequence for next year. Uh Missy Garer was very excited about AP seminar and bringing that to our student our 10th grade students. Intro to psychology
psych we've been talking for about for a very long time. I know there's a strong interest amongst the student um body chemical basis of genetics which is really like a study of DNA. um super comprehensive and and
scientific and I think that will be a big hit with the students and history through sports. A really cool concept of um teaching historical moments, big moments in in history through um athletics. I think I could see that being a hit with
our students. Um so that will go out soon. We find ourselves now in at this time of the year in um kind of testing mode. So, winter benchmarking is underway. We're also beginning, as Emma had shared, uh, semester 1 assessments
next week. Um, and then we're also preparing for the NJGPA and NJSLA adaptive roll out um, in the spring, but it's starting February 2nd, I think. We're going to start
uploading our student data. So, we're looking at rosters, we're looking at accommodations, making that we're prepped and ready for that upload. Uh more information will be coming home as we have uh fine-tuned our schedules for testing.
And lastly, I just want to mention we did pull an item under uh programs from the agenda. It was the March extravaganza trip for themies. It students were set to visit a number of colleges and universities. We decided to
postpone that due to low enrollment. There were a lot of conflicts. I know that um Miss Williams, our academyy's coordinator, had reached out to a lot of parents. There's a lot of conflicts at this time with um extracurriculars and
athletics. And so we thought it would be um beneficial to hold off so that we can engage more students in that trip. So more information will be coming when we do decide to move forward. And that concludes my report. >> Thank you. Does anyone have any
questions? >> AP seminar is that it's just for 10th graders and obviously just talks about all the APs I think will be able to take juniors and seniors. >> AP seminar is in it's an English AP class and it's really based and rooted
in research. So, it's it's not really an overview of all their AP offerings. It's just another offering, but that this will allow students to get an AP under their belt 10th grade and then move on and take additional AP courses.
Okay. Anyone else have any questions? Okay. Report Stephanie Buchar. >> Good evening. um to start my report just in what um Gary reported on the audit
last year when the audit was presented to the board. Unfortunately, this is a repeat finding. Um, but I just want the board to be aware that the 23 24 year loyalty also ran a deficit. And when the
audit was presented at that point, um, I believe it was on the February agenda a year ago. It could have been January as well. We knew we were running a deficit, but there we were so far down the path. there was really nothing corrective at that point we could do to fix it for
June 30th. We took the measures to fix it for this year. Um so I think that's really important because unfortunately it is a repeat um recommendation and so that's not great. It's not great that it's running the deficit. Um but we were
aware of it and we took measures to to correct it >> and believe we were correct. >> Yes. The question is how how correct is it? Um, and we have very different opinions on that. Usually we don't have different opinions that that one we do.
>> Um, and I really think that it's important. The business office is like nobody really knows about the people there, but to have a clean audit um on a year of financials is really credit to the staff of the business office. Um
Kate, who's the assistant business administrator, does a phenomenal job in all things accounting and procedural and she's really uh awesome at what she does. And then faith in accounts payable. There is not one thing that
will get by her and she's constantly going to vendors asking for the proof of documentation and it's really a long effort of all of them really making sure that everything is done. Um, Patricia, who was new to the district, um, that
position was revamped a little bit and so she took over um, the payroll portion, which I really think has helped the business office operations because Kate in the assistant business administrator role couldn't really be an assistant business administrator because
payroll is a constant job. And so when we shifted that to what historically was the administrative assistant role in the business office, um the weight of payroll and people's money is a very important thing and very stressful and takes a lot of time and energy. And so
that focus um has shifted to free up Kate and so I think all together and then with Terry taking over the transportation and food services which is also sort of a massive operation. When you talk about a business office in
an educational setting, we're here to educate students. And so anything not educational falls on the business side. Um, and so there's four of us or five of us. Um, sorry, there's five of us in the office.
Um, all working together. And so I really think that they deserve, you know, all the credit in in what came out of this year. um just on all their effort and really working as a team. So I think that's important for you all to know um how seriously they take the
financials of the district. So with that being said, um agenda items F 2526 point 41 and 42
are the annual um audit that the both financial documents are they've been printed and they were lengthy lengthy and really large documents that you sort of all returned to me and um so They're in your reports and closure folder for
your review if you have any questions. I'm happy to answer all of them. But those are the two corresponding resolutions and then they get uploaded to the state um the Apacker repository. So after those are approved, I'll I'll upload those tomorrow. The financial documents are already there. They're
published on the state website. F25 F2526.44 44 and 45 are we spoke about this at length in the finance and facilities committee meeting because the center core at the David
Young's middle school um HVAC unit is heating and air conditioning and it does not work. We are it is freezing out. Um, fortunately because it's the center core, the all of the rest of the building and because our boilers are
high efficiency there thankfully, it's not super freezing because there's no outer space. Um, it's cold. There's um it's really the main office, the nurse's office, guidance, and there's one
classroom that's on that unit. The classroom is a tech classroom, and so all of the computers and everything are keeping them warm. So um we are fortunate that we are going to we're seeking approval to withdraw money from
maintenance reserve so we are not hitting our um operating budget and because of the board resolution that was passed in June and because this corresponded with the audit we deposited an additional $100,000 into maintenance
reserve. So we're we're essentially back where we were. were actually plus 30,000 in maintenance reserve when we closed the books um June 30th of 2026. Um so I think that was that was great. We also didn't have to go to the county
for an emergency project because it is above the bid threshold but fortunately this company is under uh state contract. So, it's already been vetted and so we do not need the emergency approval because if we put it out to for a formal
bid um which would be required of us, it's well after heating season and we can't continue to not have heat and then not have air conditioning. Air conditioning is a luxury. Heat is a requirement. So, um we'd like to get
that done sooner rather than later. Um, I'm happy to report that the food services low balance with all of our letters and haunting has been reduced by $1,000,
>> which may not sound like a lot, but it's a huge it's a huge win. Um, we my office sends out letters to parents with low balances. Anybody who has a dollar negative gets a low balance notification. I know some districts do a
little higher amount, but once you have a dollar, that becomes five, that becomes 10, and you don't want any low balances. Um, I know Angie, who works for Compton and runs the cafeteria, she sends them out. So, I think families are really getting bombarded with them at
this point and probably a little bit sick of us. So, it's working. Um, in terms of residency, I know Mr. spoke about this a little bit, but we never like to have students up for
disenrollment, but we are um requiring families for the first time. I believe if you have if you have a lease or if you have a C1, those are both one-year legal documents. And we now are able to run
monthly reports that show us when those documents are expiring. and we're asking families to prove residency because what we've found is that when things come to me for disenrollment um a lot of times it's these types of
families and it's unfortunately because they're a lot of times transient and maybe they're living in a different apartment but it's important because any correspondence that we send isn't reaching the families and so or they're no longer living in town. So, these two families have not been compliant. Um,
and so we're seeking disenrollment so that we have a paper trail and we can disenroll um effective tomorrow. Um, we are lastly um I received all of the
budget items for um from the administrators. We were in the middle of developing the 2627 budget. Um, going back to the audit just for a second again, the line of excess
surplus is very confusing because it's money from a from two years prior to fund a future budget year. And when we're looking at our financial stability over the years and bringing the district
to a better financial place, relying on 1.5 million and having to generate that money out of budget years is becoming more and more challenging. And so in an effort to sort of put us in a better place for the future, a much more
attainable number is in the 600,000 range. Um for a budget that's, you know, just above $50 million. It's still we'd love to have no no money. um it's it's really not realistic, but when you're developing a
budget, your revenues have to match your expenditures and that becomes a revenue line for two years. So, it's because it was June of 24, it's going to fund the 2627 budget. And so, that becomes a revenue line. And so, I think it's
really important to note that we've already cut 800,000 that we need to make up somewhere else. And so it's going to be a very delicate budget process again this year, but I think it's important to to know that we're doing this for
financial stability moving forward. Um, and that concludes my report. >> Tony, Dr. Kra, you said one question about 143 Marotis. What's the uh the term for that? June 30th is the next
year. >> It's one year. She um she did one session earlier in the year. I think it was preparing for the assessment, but it's for this year. Yes.
>> Thank you. >> Does anyone else have any questions? >> What's causing the deficit for the last program? >> So, snacks won't believe it or not. And so, we
ordered the snacks last year by mid year. We were actually discussing Costco versus Ptonian and we could go pick it up and then we renegotiated Paltonian and so that was a big one believe it or not. Um the other one was just staffing in general with site
managers uh trying to use them more efficiently. Um I the cost last year was was very very very low and so we made it not it's it's more realistic now to I guess fund
the program now. So with those three things, we also taught those involved um how to do Excel spreadsheets and money in, money out, and what we talk about with us is it's revenue and expenditure. That's all it is. And so now they submit
spreadsheets to myself and Stephanie monthly and they have their own projections. So that's why we're getting it audited because we want to see what their projections are and how accurate they are versus what the auditor says they are. So we really know how they're
doing. Um so we do based on those projections we do think we're in much better shape, you know, but we will get really down to exactly how much better we are um after this last. >> Yeah. I think one other piece of it is
that minimum wage has significantly increased and then the majority I shouldn't say majority but a large portion of that staff are students and so when you're paying a student minimum wage and then you're paying an adult simil like minimum wage as well because
that but they've sort of been paid but because now the students are higher like so there's sort of an inequity there um and so then the adults got raised a little bit so the overall all payroll costs um with the increase in minimum wage significantly increased.
>> Is that seasonal minimum wage or actual minimum wage? >> Are you allowed to use the seasonal >> it's just rehire seasonal? >> Yeah, seasonal work
>> the kids go regular. So, how would that work if you do it? I don't understand how that would work because most of the kids I know a year. >> Yeah, it's just thinking outside the box and just exploring new things. >> But they so the staff there does a really nice job. The kids are happy. I haven't heard any complaints.
>> My kids have been asking, "Why are you here?" >> I've been going back and picking them up at 6. >> That's a good sign. >> Yeah. So, I don't have to agree that they're very happy. >> Okay. Anyone else have any questions?
Okay. Any leaison board committee reports? >> Okay, I have Stephanie steals my thunder every time. So I am going to get an approached one. Um the committee report shared with all of you on G Drive, but
the finance and facilities committee met on January 13th. Um it's budget season, Stephanie's favorite season. Um and Dr. Peter and the administration have been working hard on the budget. We discussed fiscal challenges and different ways that we're going to miticate mitigate
and address those challenges. We discussed future capital projects that we're exploring and um as part of our messaging I just wanted to explain again what a capital reserve account is. So it's a restricted fund mainten maintained within the general fund
designed to accumulate saving for future major capital projects. Um so if you see and I'm going to create any more but you know it has to be a long range facility plan. So in the budget process when there are cuts um to certain things but
then you see us working on capital projects there's a there's a reason um those capital reserve uh monies are allocated to certain projects. Um then we also discussed in more detail and not necessarily in the context of the budget
way to address the uh rising transportation costs and other potential revenue streams um that I think we can discuss more when they're finalized. That's it. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. Um any
correspondence? Not this evening, but um just for the full board to be aware, Cheryl, your other committee met today. Cannot be discussed. >> My super secret committee can't discuss. >> Um we met today about confidential
things >> and that's all we can tell you. >> We had a very nice meeting um with those individuals and I'm not just saying that because two of them are sitting um but it was >> okay. open to the public for items on
the agenda as outlined in new vote for board of education file 0167. Each statement made by a Pacific shall be in minutes. I seek a motion. John seconded by Cole. All in favor? >> Opposed.
Okay. See a motion to close the public. Tony seconded by Andrew. All in favor. >> Opposed. Board action. I seek a motion for BA25-26.501.52.53.54.55. I need a second. Cheryl. All in favor? >> I
>> oppose. Okay. Educational programs and curriculum committee. Stephanie's not here today. Nicole, would you like to? >> Sure. I seek a motion for C25-26.24.25.2. 226 227 a second
John all in favor >> oppose okay personnel having recommendation of superintendent I seek a motion for P25-26.601 661 62 63 64
65 667 I need a second. Tony, roll call. Mr. Alro, >> yes. >> Miss Calderon, >> yes. >> Mr. Dcasta, >> yes. >> Mr. Lombardi, >> yes. >> Miss Moore, >> yes. >> Vice President D. >> Yes. >> President,
>> yes. Okay. Finance and Facilities Committee. Cheryl Calderon. >> Hi. Uh I see approval for F25-26.121.122.123.124.125.126.127.128.129.130.131.132.133.134.135.136.137 138.139.140.141.132 143.1 144.1 145 and.1 146
>> need a second Andrew all in favor >> opposed policy committee Anthony Elgro >> this evening we have the second meeting of a group of policies and regulations so we'll be formally adopted this
evening I'm seeking uh a motion for PL 2526.5 >> I need a second John all in favor I >> oppose any old business on the board. Any new business?
Any board member request for additional information? Okay. I seek a motion to open to the public as outlined in new for education by one 0167. Each statement made by a participant shall be limited 3 minutes.
I need a second. Tony. All in favor? >> I oppose. Anyone from the public? No. Okay. I see a motion to close to the public. Tony, seconded by Andrew. All in favor? >> I oppose. Um.
>> Okay. I seek a motion to go into close. Is hereby moved that the board of education adjourn into educ executive session in accordance with the provisions of section 8 of the open public meetings act chapter 231 PL for the purpose of discussion and consideration of matters pertaining to
the following subject personnel. The minutes of the executive session will be made available to the public and the need for confidentiality no longer exist. Second, John. All in favor? Opposed? Thank you.