Mr. Moore Mr. Albro Present. Mrs. Albro Here. [clears throat] Mr. De Costa Present. Mrs. De Costa Here. Mr. Lombardi Here. Mrs. Lombardi Here. Mr. Moore Here. President Bolomey Here. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Board statement. In accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law, the Milford Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted in the Borough Hall and the Milford Public Library. Notices have been sent to the
Record and the Star 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 comments 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 all 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. Okay. We are going to start off with a presentation with the Finding Nemo class. >> [applause] >> Before you guys start All right. Good evening, members of the Board of Education, administrators,
colleagues, community members. My name is Stelios Ginolis, or Mr. G as the students know me. I'm not only an alumnus of Milford High School and the current eighth grade math teacher at Gibbs, but I've also had the privilege and the joy of directing this year's musical at David O. Ellis Middle School.
This year, our students are bringing to life Finding Nemo Jr., a story that I'm sure many of you know and love. At its core, this show is about family, perseverance, courage, and stepping beyond fears to discover independence and belonging. The production team and I
are incredibly proud of the 66 students involved in this production. Since October, they have been working tirelessly, not only developing their acting, singing, and dancing skills, but also learning how to build and set paint, build and paint sets,
operate sound and lighting equipment, manage props, and style hair, makeup, and costumes. Our performances will take place at David O. Ellis Middle School on Thursday, April 16th, and Friday, April 17th at 7:00 p.m., and on Saturday,
April 18th at 2:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased now online at nmhsmusicals.com or our.show/deomsnemo. Again, tickets can be purchased now at nmhsmusicals.com or our.show/deomsnemo.
We're excited to share that we've already sold almost 200 tickets, so get them while you can. At this time, I'd like to introduce a few members of our talented cast who will be performing for you tonight. At our show, you will see these students alongside larger-than-life professional
puppets designed after the beloved characters from the movie. We have Jayden Pauls as the curious young clownfish, Nemo. We have Brielle Lozano as the friendly and excitable yellow tang fish, Bubbles. Ava Levine as the nervous, germaphobe
royal gramma fish, Gurgle. Britney Martinez as the mature, protective blowfish Sorry, mature, protective starfish, Peach. Sophia Bracco as the optimistic and supportive blowfish, Bloat. Gavin Watkins as the inspiring, determined
Moorish idol fish, Gill. And Finley Hutchinson as the sharp-eyed pelican, Nigel. In this scene you're about to see, Nemo has just been captured from the open ocean, and he finds himself in the Sydney Harbor Aquarium,
scared and alone, or so he thinks. Thank you, and [applause] I hope you enjoy this >> [music] [music] >> Dad? Dad? Where's my dad? I'm all >> [singing]
>> alone. I'm too small to be here [singing] on my own. I swam >> [music] >> away cuz my dad left. But >> [singing] >> now I really [music] need him.
Where's my dad? >> [singing] >> Bubbles, Bubbles, Michael! Ah! Oops. Hello there. Ah! Stranger, STRANGER IN THE TANK! >> [music] >> STOP THAT, YOU'RE SCARING THE POOR THING. It's okay, honey.
>> [clears throat] >> Where am I? Welcome to the Sydney Harbor Aquarium. I'm Bloat. This is Peach, Gurgle, and Bubbles. >> Bubbles? This tank is our little corner of the aquarium. It's not much, but it's home. Good night, mates. Hi, Nigel. Spoken for a quick hello. We have a newcomer.
Bloat, Bloat, they also witnessed Sherman's boat open in the harbor today. I'm Nemo. I'm from the Great Barrier Reef in the ocean. Ah, the ocean. THE OCEAN! GERMS! WELL, I SWAM BY THE drop-off just for a
second, and this diver in a mask came out of nowhere. I have to get back to the reef. I have to find my dad. He's probably so mad at me. Oh, well. But I'm afraid the Great Barrier Reef is
thousands of kilometers from here. But in the meantime, I'll keep a look out for your dad. Bye, Nigel. How am I going to get out of here? Hey, kid. Huh? Who are you? Name's Gill, and I'm going to get you out of here. In fact, I'm going to get us all out of here and back to where we belong.
Your escape plans never work, Gill. >> That doesn't mean we should ever stop trying. Gill here is always cooking up brand new plans to bust us out of the aquarium. A real risk-taker. Daredevil. Wishful thinker. Fish are not meant to be kept in a box. It does things to you.
Bubbles. We can't give up. We were so close last time. He's right. Operation Toilet Flush was the closest we've come. >> But our tank smelled for weeks. I still have nightmares. Guys, we're just getting too old for this stuff.
Look, gang, we got to help the kid. Okay, Gill, what do you have in mind this time? Um >> [clears throat] >> I got it. The antique pipe. At least directly to the ocean. But that pipe pumps water into the tank. There's no way we can swim against that current.
Unless the pump was off. Exactly. That's why Nemo here is the key. I've got a feeling we found a way. You said this before, and we almost got squished by a tank. We don't need a
replay. This time is different, cuz now we've got you. We're all in, Nigel. We can swim the [singing] way we always knew. >> [music] >> Together, we swim together. Cooperation [music] [singing]
is the secret to our success. >> Bubbles. >> [music] >> We swim in harmony. We're a fish family. And the >> [singing] >> aquariums will be [music] our new adventures. So, how am I getting out? I don't swim well. [music] I got a bad fin.
One bad fin never stopped me. Woah. Good fins about this, we paddle through. But the ocean is scary and dangerous, Gill. Not when you're with our crew. You are among us now. We've all got your back. And no [music] fish will be left behind.
>> We paddle as [singing] a pack. Together, [music] we swim together. And together, [music] we'll get out of here as a group. >> I believe we can. Yeah, but what's the plan? We're going
to jam the filter and fill this tank with poop. What? Nemo has to smarten up to jam the filter. The tank will get [music] funky and the staff will have to clean it. Oh. Oh, poop. They threw me off. Filter it out the pump, remove the grate, and swim
through intake pipe into the ocean. >> [music] >> Take the rock, jam the gears. Fill the tank with poop, yank the [music] grate, swim the pipe. Into the big old blue. Take the rock, jam the gears.
Fill the tank with poop, yank the grate, swim the pipe. Into the big old blue, into the big old >> [singing] >> blue. That's it, kid. Now wedge the rock into the gears. >> Come on, Nemo. You can do this. You're so close. Oh, I can't walk.
I did it, Gill. I actually [music] jammed the filter. Together, we [music] swim together. [singing] Little clown is your ticket to breaking free. And if we all join fins, everybody
[singing] wins, and we'll swim together in the [singing] open sea. >> [music] [applause] [cheering] [applause] >> Thank you all so much for watching. We hope you will come out and see our show April 16th, 17th, and 18th at Dwight D.
Eisenhower Middle School. Thank you guys again. Let's give them another ROUND OF APPLAUSE. >> [applause] [applause] >> WELL, YEAH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR COMING. YOU'RE AMAZING. Thank you so much for having us. It was really fun. Thank you. I just want to thank my partner, my brother. That was when we did the Unsung Hero
Award. Okay. So, that way you can come up. So, later on the board action, I'm going to discuss um a resolution for Sorry. It sounds great. You get on stage before, you're at the big stage at the Unsung Hero Award.
So, this that this is actually a big deal. Um every year one student from every high school and to summarize this award real quick, and then I'm going to read the resolution, is it someone who is just an all-around
great kid, but doesn't put herself out there in terms of like promoting herself. Like she just always flies under the radar, doing the right thing all the time, persevering, and people recognize it. And there's a lot
of kids like that, but for you to be recognized really means something. So, the board every year passed a resolution, and I'm just going to read it real quick. Whereas the Bergen County School Boards Association, in collaboration with the New Jersey School Boards Association, recognizes Unsung Heroes from each high
school in Bergen County to celebrate those whose character and impact define the heart of our schools. And whereas the Unsung Hero Award honors students who make outstanding contributions to their schools and communities, but are often overlooked by traditional recognition programs. Students who have
modeled good citizenship, a spirit of quiet strength, and a profile and purpose that inspires others. Whereas Emily Garzon Cabrera has overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to reach their full potential, serving both the school community and the community at large as a beacon of
resilience and integrity. And whereas on Wednesday, March 25th, 2026, Emily was formally recognized for these achievements at the 2026 Bergen County Unsung Hero Award ceremony held at Henry P. Becton Regional High School. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the
New Milford Board of Education officially recognizes Emily Garzon Cabrera as an Unsung Hero of Bergen County and in the New Milford School District. And be it further resolved that this resolution is presented to Emily Emily Garzon Cabrera as a sincere token of the New Milford Board of Education's
congratulations and best wishes for continued success as you continue to lead by example. So, it really is a pleasure, and I wish we had uh a thousand something. >> [applause] >> So, this is for you, a certificate, and here's the resolution. Okay. I just want
to say that I'm so grateful for this opportunity. And yeah, I'm going to be doing this all the time, like being the person who I am and being proud of me. And yeah. THANK YOU SO MUCH. >> [applause]
>> ALL RIGHT. OKAY. AND NOW WE ARE GOING TO DO THE UH ATHLETIC RECOGNITION. All right. So, we have two excellent athletic recognition that's above and beyond. I'm going to go through on my board report All-League, Second Team All-League, Honorable Mention
All-League. Uh we had two very impressive uh athletes. Uh the first is Santino Dormida, who their swim coaches are there. Please stand up. OH, SANTINO.
>> [applause] >> YEAH, SANTINO, I WASN'T SURE YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE IT. ALL RIGHT. SO, this is perfect. So, Santino actually won First Team All-County in the 100-meter freestyle. And so, swimming, if you don't know,
I'm not a good swimmer. Um but when you watch the Olympics, they always say how it is the most difficult sport. Um just because of the wear on your body, the stamina it takes, the strength it takes. And by the way,
the hours for these swimmers to practice, I thank the coaches, I thank the athletes, I thank the athletic director, I thank the parents for driving them. It is such strange hours because they have to get pools and everything else. So, as we build this program and continue to
build this program, we now co-op with Waldwick. Uh we are making a lot of gains. We missed out on the league, right, by a tiny, tiny little bit, you know? And I love I love how the coaches and the kids were upset by that. Because that means that they want to get better and better
and better, and that's exactly what we wanted. Come a long way with the program. So, I just want to say thank you for continuing to work, right, working hard. And First Team All-County is quite an honor, man. You go into the annals of the county, which is is rarefied air. So, congratulations.
>> [applause] >> We really have a team now. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. All right. We have one more. Sophia Santella. >> [applause] >> So, speaking of rarefied air, Sophia is part of our top uh dance team.
And she was First Team All-State. So, that is ridiculous. >> [laughter] >> And again, I've never cheered. Um however, I have great respect, and you are a flyer, right? And you are the
stunt person, so you're being flung up all the air all all the time. And I will say this, um takes a tremendous athlete, number one, to do so. You have to be brave, you have to be willing to get hurt, Mhm. because the most concussions the most concussions,
and I'm speaking of all DB members when I was a DB head, uh the most concussions come from cheerleading. When unfortunately your people drop you. But that didn't happen to So, the fact that she's willing to literally put herself in the hands of her
teammates, right, and trust that, and continue to do so day in and day out, and not just for meets, but for practices as well, and perform at the level that you have is phenomenal. So, we just wanted to present you with a token of our gratitude for all your commitment to the program. I know Mrs.
Cabrera was here. She is very, very proud of you. We invited you. I didn't invite Mrs. Cabrera. She invited me. She invited me. And I I know. I got I got I got a passive-aggressive email. She wasn't invited. So, but you just
showed You're so welcome. by everyone. I'm very proud of you. >> [applause] [applause] >> NOW WE'RE GOING TO DO OUR STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE. I'M BRI. I'm Cor. We had very few students here tonight,
but overall March has been a busy month for the nights. This month began with Kenneth Hall and Jeremy Freeburg becoming the state leader champions for indoor track. And our competition cheer team going to the super national championships. That's a weekend when we won the show choir performance on March 7th. We also won the show choir
competition as well. On Friday the 13th, Miss Finizio and the art students hosted a very successful empty bowls. This fundraiser is an all hands on deck event that supports local food pantries and gets everyone involved. So we have ShopRite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop
Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Shop Rite, Yesterday, 10 students from the Holocaust class attended the program at Ramapo College. The five students were given the opportunity to listen to several presentations given from various educators and speakers who are connected to the Holocaust and genocide studies. And they were a lot of second generation
survivors, so that means their parents were survivors of the Holocaust. Each story was incredible and each shed a light on a new perspective which allowed students to realize the importance of the individual amidst millions millions of victims. Though we had to leave early, it was a great day. And you guys seen Mr. Kennedy's group who in addition to being
in my face was instrumental in making this program a possibility. This Friday is the spring spring pep rally. Sorry, spring pep rally. And it's one not to miss. As an addition to athletics, several club achievements are being recognized to highlight other types of extracurriculars that you can get involved with. This week brings one
of several initiatives being taken inside New Milford to hopefully increase school spirit and after successful Friday, we hope to put the pep back in pep rally. This Saturday on March 28th, New Milford Athletic Boosters is hosting an exciting pancake breakfast with the Easter Bunny. This event will take place from 8:00 to
12:00 in the high school cafeteria. And after that, there's an Easter egg hunt on ice field starting at 10:00 10:00 a.m. Lastly, in just two short weeks, eight of our students will take the stage in a highly competitive competition for Mr. New Milford. Mr. Zacker is hosting a fun and totally serious show that will highlight the talent of our contestants
in various competition. Make sure to come and support the nominees on April 10th at 7:00 p.m. And that's my report for the evening. Thank you. Do they have any questions? Thank you. I know everyone's very busy. Whoever needs to leave meeting, you're more than welcome to leave.
Okay, our next presentation is the Care Plus Community Mental Health Program. There's a There's a There's a clicker right there. So it goes forward. There's a clicker. It's right there. I was going to say I wasn't really going to speak to the This is for show. Okay.
It's pretty backgrounds. And I will just have to talk. Um Good morning, everyone. If honestly the students were such a tough act to follow and they're so accomplished and more so than I ever was at their age when I was probably still like
not really sure about my life, but clearly they have a very strong direction. But my name is Ambrey Hall and I am the senior vice president for CCBHC Strategies and Innovations at Care Plus New Jersey now. CCBHC stands for Certified Community
Behavioral Health Clinic. It is a designation of a community mental health agency that just assures that we are structured in a way that provides a um let's see it's measured care. It's a
best practice model utilizing evidence based therapies, nine core services. We're ensuring that we're meeting the community needs and so we are here today to talk about what our community needs are that we're finding and how Care Plus can continue to meet those needs. The
best thing about this CCBHC is that we are accessible and have um no wait times. We're live assigning. So I don't know if anyone has reached out for um mental health treatment recently, but other organizations are not picking up
the phones. They're putting you on a 6-month wait list and that is not what we're doing. That is the opposite of what we do. We have walk-in center and we have availability regardless of ability to pay or diagnosis. So this all sounds great and all, but there's still
unmet needs, right? So this is where our partnerships now is coming into play. We are continually challenged as a CCBHC to um to look at our community needs. And we do an a triannual community needs
assessment. And in that community needs assessment, we're looking at what are some of the trends that we see. What are some of the issues are we having Is there enough substance use treatment available? Is there enough, you know, maternal family health services available? And um
are people utilizing 988 having a place then to go to to respond to their crises? We know that mental health and substance use treatment is getting embedded within our communities and I'm sure it's seeping into the school system as well. I just So that's where we
decided to take that access to care and extend it beyond our brick and mortar and put it directly into the community. And so that's what the school based access to care has become. And so we did launch uh a school based access to care
in another school setting. And the partnership can is beyond amazing. The The administration there has welcomed us, given space and this is all that we're asking for is designated space. And otherwise, it's like we set up a
shop and we're able to meet the students where they are when they need the help. So that is something that I think that can be replicated. And as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic, this is not at a cost to the school. This is
um something where we are billing the benefits of the individual. Um they are voluntary and confidential, so it's not a school mental health program. This is Care Plus and our
electronic health record and our data that we are measuring and ensuring that the work that we're doing is meaningful and and is helping. So Um let's see. I wrote some notes down of course my highest that needs to say.
Um Well, so if those were like the main highlights, I did put together a little bit of the vision. And again, this I think was maybe distributed ahead of time. You could probably have slides, right? Handouts. Yeah, I just wrote my
board notes real quick. But in how this would work is we have Care Plus, we have Anastasia at Mom Day in our uh school district already. And we work very closely with her. And we pay her Care Plus for those services and she provides clearances. And everything she's
wonderful. We have an unbelievable partnership. This would be above and beyond that in terms of on the past couple of board notes, we put in uh a couple lines and resolutions in regards to
mental health. And in my board notes, I alluded to that we are searching for avenues to get more mental health into the building. Now it's budget crunch. You know, it's hard to go out and just get another Anastasia, you know, for that sort of money. And Care Plus is starting to offer the program. We
piloted it. We don't want to do like a second pilot, right? To see what it's like. Um And let's say they go to our clinicians or Mr. Zacker or Anastasia, right? They need a higher standard of care. We refer them to Miss Care Plus. And they would call the parents and talk about, "Hey,
you've been referred to whatever it is and we're recommending counseling. We recommend counseling if you think it's fit." And they would work with the insurance companies to get it paid for. The nice thing is these kids are in our school. So part of the problem with
getting care outside of school hours is the kids can't always get there. They They say they're going to go, but they do not. The parents get distracted or whatever it is. This would allow us to go, "Hey, we're going to schedule during gym class. We'll go and schedule during lunch." Whatever it is. And now we know they're here and they can go. It
also if we have kids, you know, with substance abuse problems, right? Um let's say there's two or three kids, they can start a group here. And it's not our staff that's doing it. It is actually an outside clinical partner that's doing it, but we are just working with them and have the time and
facility to help them out which will give them a greater level of care. And I'll be honest with you guys, it's at no cost to us. Um and we'll start out slow and roll it out and see what the capacity is. But it's just something that we're piloting and uh trying to take advantage of in our community. I
don't want to say it's plagued, but our community they're interested in our community because we have a very diverse community with a lot of different needs. And we've been a partner with Care Plus for a long time. Going back to John Thorp. >> [snorts] >> So And that's what we're looking for. We're looking for again partners that
would work with us as we scale. The CCBHC is scalable. The more need there is, the more we'll supply the staffing and the model. And it's a mixed model, so it's case managers as well, care coordinators helping link, you know, to outside
resources if need be. Those are things that folks don't necessarily have time for. That care coordination piece, well, CCBCs are built on care coordination. We are We are a vehicle for care coordination, and that's what we're charged to do. We would be ancillary
services to what NJ is already doing, and we would But we have no cap, and I think that's the thing, you know, where within a school-based contract, there's a set cap for LOS, and there's a reason for that. There's just only so much, you
know, one person in a role can do. This model can scale up or down. Well, they're one day or five days, you know, two people, three people. It just depends on the needs, and when we start to see what problems are that come up, we'll then design the programming to
meet those needs. So, you know, I think that's what we need is that ideal partnership, and I think we have that here with Human First. CarePlus, I'm, you know, returning here in the past 2 years, but I know CarePlus has been here for a while, and there is a nice relationship. Um, I think that's
one of the reasons why we were chosen is because it is a pilot, and they they kind of trust the people they work with here already. Um, so I just wanted to bring CarePlus into present. Um, Ms. Horn has sat in on this. Obviously, our student assistance
counselor has sat in on this. Mr. Manzi has sat in on this. Um, we met with them two or three times at least, uh, describing this for over an hour each time, uh, just trying to map out how it would look. Um, we even talked about, listen, based on the need, it might be middle school as well that
we spend a day in the middle school because, you know, the middle schools don't They have needs as well. They're going through a transition as well. Uh, but again, this is a community resource that again comes through the schools, but at no cost to us, but we're still providing that support, which I
think, you know, could be very very important in these times. I mean, I have I have a question, so please fire away. So, um, can I say something about the mental health attachment? Um, for the students or the families that aren't unable to pay for services, that
don't have benefits, will they be covered by Yes. So CarePlus has access to presumptive eligibility, and so we have staff already trained to, um, help assist with that presumptive eligibility. New Jersey also has a payment system for anyone
who's not eligible for their presumptive eligibility. We're automatically able to enroll them in the NJ MAP, is what we call it, the New Jersey payment processing, New Jersey Mental Health Payment Processing System, NJ MAP. And so, there's there's ways that New
Jersey will fund mental health. Now, that is something that comes with that care coordination and that case, you know, management that we would then do. We take that on ourselves and work with families. And so, it's beyond just mental health treatment or substance use treatment, it's that whole person. We're
We're here to address social determinants to health as well, in fact, again, a charge of ours that we need to be doing. We're monitoring BMIs. We're, I, you know, looking at PHQ-9s, which is the just a depression screening and, um,
unhealthy alcohol use. So, these are just standardized, Truancy. That's a big one that we talked about. We have kids that they know we have a clinician in here, and that's the first thing they do. They get them in, they meet, and then they get them out through the, you know, into the school system.
But they know the clinician's here, they're more likely to come. I actually This just happened in our other school school-based access to care program. We had a young lady who was scheduled, and the first thing she said when she sat down with us was, "I wasn't going to come to school today." She had
12 absences to that day, and you know, that's getting to the top end. And so, she said, "I didn't I want to come to school, but I knew I had this appointment, so I came here for this." And to me, uh, all of this is amazing. And just so you know, I'm a marriage and family therapist licensed and a licensed
professional counselor. I'm a clinician, so the services are just designed by clinicians. You know, I have LCSW, and we have LCADC. We have the expertise, but we're also parents as well. Um, I'm, you know, in a nearby district. I have friends in the New Milford
district. And so, for me, the community is really important, you know, for us to provide that level of support. Um, so. Any other questions? Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time. Thank you. You want us to water you down? Yeah, I'm
here. Yeah, I mean, so, the way that I Why don't you all come up? No, [laughter] no, no. You might as well get up here. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. You can sit. Um, so so my question is this is I think, listen, I think that I think everybody agrees that there's a growing
mental health crisis, right, amongst our children. There's, you know, that we have to pay special attention to, you know, to them and and provide the services needed. I'm trying to understand what relationship will this have with the district in terms of liability?
And I'm asking that because if you're going to be providing mental health services, I don't know if you have prescription services or anything like that. Say, um, you know, we're almost I mean, we're shielded to a point cuz I I I mean, I imagine there's there's a certain, uh,
things in the contract that will kind of shield us, but to the extent that there's any sort of like, I don't want to say like malpractice liability, anything that, you know, God forbid happen. How is that So, all of our employees are covered under our malpractice insurance,
and that would be we would name the school as an additional insured, and you would We would ask for vice versa if I don't know if that's how that works. Um, but every practitioner, they're they're licensed, they have an ethical board as well, and the liability would
fall on us as if we were in our own site and space. We are, um, a provider that does community-based care, and so the work on site is in the community. We can also go to client homes, and we can go to the
Dunkin' Donuts if they're comfortable. We can meet at Starbucks in the parking lot if need be. That is the work that we do at every day. And so, it's over 600 employees at CarePlus. We have a big umbrella policy, and so that would be covered. And then, what kind of like
screening service do you have? Um, you know, cuz obviously for like a a and I don't know, but for a, um, like a business, the screening the screening the background screening that's done is maybe just as robust as the one that's done here at in the district. Or
>> So, more or so. So, that's a great question. So, all of our onboarding, um, employees, they do go through our own screening, but then we go through your screening as well. So, anyone we have operating on site has also the same credentialing that your staff would be
required to have. So, we do not overstep that in any way. And then, which, um, do you take all insurances or We do. So, every single >> Yes. That's fascinating. Nobody does that anymore. I know. We actually went out of, um, UBH for a while there. They
were not very nice with us, so we said, "Forget it." Like, we're just not getting paid, like, why are we working for free? Um, but we just went right back in, so. So, now we're taking everyone again. And then, what [clears throat] is your, um, like what kind of turnover do you have
in your business? And I'm asking this because if you say, you know, say you build a relationship with a child that is now going to you regularly, like, is that is he going to turn over every year? Are they going to get a new person or >> So, most likely it'll be a stable I'm at CarePlus 23 and
1/2 years. So, just, you know, stability-wise, I started off as a clinician at CarePlus and have sure changed my roles to senior vice president at this point. Um, Nicole McLane's been there 25, 26 27
Yeah, 26 years, and Lisa's a newbie at 3 years in, and so, she's our newest. But in any case, um, the point is is we actually do have a high, um, I guess the the terminology really is low staff turnover rate. We have like high stability.
Right. So, certified community behavioral health clinics, I get back to this. This is my passion. That's why my title is CCBCs. I just I I started it at the state. I really, you know, it was new. This wasn't even a model that existed before 2017 when New Jersey was one of the first states to become a
certified state, and then CarePlus got picked up with that, and so we launched the very first CCBC in the nation. I was there for that. So, super V of the model of CCBC. CarePlus The way that it works, just so that you have an
idea why this is, um, a mutually beneficial arrangement is that for us, we do have an enhanced payment through Medicaid, and it's a per member per month, uh, payment rate. And so, we are
tasked with the state as being certified community behavioral health clinic to provide services to everyone regardless of their their benefits. So, the enhanced rate on the Medicaid end, which is what the state has over [clears throat] anyway, is what helps support the other ancillary services
that won't ever get funded through Blue Cross Blue Shield. Blue Cross Blue Shield's not paying us to make those phone calls, but the Medicaid is covering that, and they know they're doing that on behalf of other, um, youth. So, that's one thing. But so, the other part of it is that our staffing matters
in a certified community behavioral health clinic. The staffing part of it is we are, um, tasked with having an attractive, you know, employment package so that we have that ability to have more consistency. So, we have
psychiatrists that have been with us for years. We have our clinicians, our management team is a very stable team. So, these are the things that matter because people, when your staff are able to feel good about the work that they're
doing, they can do good work. And that's what we're invested in. So, we have benefit packages like pet insurance and we have a really comprehensive, um, you know, benefit assignment ourselves, um, comparable to others. I know we don't we
don't pay a whole lot into it. So, but there's there's so many perks. So, we know we're constantly looking at salaries. We have a union base, but we go, you know, as much as we can above the union, you know, minimums because we are invested in our staff. Our staff is our greatest resource and we can see that.
So, we have scholarships for their education and we have scholarships for, you know, opportunities to invest in. So, it's a really great place to work. I mean, that's why we're Don't talk it up too much cuz then we might have people that want to come. I mean, we do have some openings if folks are, you know,
interested. >> should maybe we should just cut that question out. >> [laughter] >> Um, where are you going to do this? Like, where are where contemplated if you're going to have appointments with kids coming in? Like, where's this going to happen? Like, not going to be happening in a guidance room or anything like that, but and then logistically, if
you're having these appointments, and I'm sorry, I know I said I had no questions. Um, logistically, like, if you if say you do it in gym, right? You're not going to you know, that's probably a better time to have it as opposed to like math or something. There's there's 30 kids in the gym class. Like, what if there's 10 kids
that are going? Um, how are you going to work that out? Well, space-wise, >> We have space that we'll be locating and there's different types of counseling sessions. It could be group session, it could be a single session based on the need. Um, and that will all be worked out
there. Now, it's also based on the So, for instance, if we only are needing to serve 12 kids, they might only be in the building for one day or a day and a half or whatever it is. If we get a lot of children that need this, they will be in here
and depending on need, even two clinicians or whatever it is, but it's based on need. And we've been We've been fortunate. We do some work in some other school districts, um, outside of the county in and also but, um, schools find a way to find space for us. They do.
Even if it's asking another person to leave their office for 2 hours so we can use it for those 2 hours. Schools find a way. >> Do you guys do like board of ed services like in Vancouver? Um, actually, one second. We do we do we actually walk in We walk in pretty much every day. Yeah.
And then Like, space-wise, Um, I had two other questions that I forgot. I got one. The other one is, do you what about parental consent? Do you need that? >> Yes, of course. Yeah. Yeah. >> We still request it. We do have, um, so
what we have already outlined is for us, we have a sheet of acknowledgement that this is a service that your school offers. Parents sign off on it. They also load in their benefit assignment so that if if needed, it's ready and waiting for us to be able to help if
they're requesting service. We don't obviously utilize >> So, in the event of like it's not like you're talking in Right. You're acknowledging that the the service exists and then if you need it, reach out this way. You know, we'll have a referral process. And you You have you found any
you know, I know you're doing a different pilot program, but um, you know, I messed up my questions, but um, have you had any hesitance from the kids because, you know, sometimes, you know, kids don't want to you know, admit they're going to therapy or see, you know, seeing anybody for mental health
services. Have you found that they're open to because with you guys in the building and then, you know, now it's, you know, you're going to have kids that are going to be going there now. You had Is there a way to anonymize that or >> Well, we do a lot of work around destigmatizing mental health services
and creating wellness spaces and making it safe for youth to drop in. We integrate in, um, parents night, right back to school night as well as having that, you know, friendly appearance and face. So, having the
ability, a lot of times you in the work that I've done in in my, you know, almost 30 years at this point, um, the work that I've done, I've never had a youth ever tell me they ever they don't want their parents involved. I've always been able to even if there had been
resistance, we've always been able to talk through and say, you know, you're still living at home, right? So, like, and you want things to get better. So, what how else can we do this, you know, without, you know, So, it's there's always a way to get the parent to sign a consent. I find that's so much better to
work with the family dynamic and secondary to have that, that stance of we're we're in this together and honestly, within a family, if everybody has contribution to that change, it's one big powerful team versus, you know, one huge person making
all like the the changes. That might get undone anyway if they go home. So, Yeah, so a lot of what we can do, too, is telehealth the parent in during the day while the student's here. And so, having family therapy sessions occur,
um, you know, on site can still happen and the telehealth is, you know, a service that we provide. So, everyone has access to that. I'm done. >> [laughter] >> I'm loving it. I'm like, what else you got for me, Don? Parental consent. Don't tell me. Yeah. I
mean, one of the, um, when we were leaving, we got a ribbon cutting yesterday and when we were leaving, um, one of the girls that was walking around didn't need a statement. She was just like, this is She's like, I've never felt so safe. Because here's the thing, too. I think them seeing the faculty, like,
everybody together, they see me and they know that I'm working with these students and then, you know, you're their favorite other guidance counselor, other, um, counselors that they work with, they get a sense of like, wow, this is I'm safe here. All these people have my best interest, um, at heart. So,
like, one of the girls really talked about how much it really meant to her because like just when we created, um, the hub, the alliance hub where we were at, and just how she even just feels different when she walks into that area. So, I feel like if anything, even kids are coming to
check out like, what is this? Right. Because the referrals will come from whether it's faculty, whether it's parents contacting, um, guidance or whatever and sometimes, you know, they'll come up to us and say, what do you think about this kid? This is what we want to do. So, I I think that just
the togetherness of it and people seeing how it's turning families and other teachers and the counselors together is creating like an atmosphere that feels more normal. Yeah. And people are like, what's the group today? They're excited. Like, they want to be part of it. So,
it's it's working out like that, I think. Right. And and we definitely want to hear our student voice, right? Cuz if they're invested, if there's a topic they're interested in, like, that's what we want to do. We want to include them. I agree. It's a way to bridge there to parents
and kids together. A lot of times the parents were not coming to those events, the back to school nights, the if there there's a lack of the those are the families, too, that we want to come on, the ones that are ignoring the emails, the kids that are truant. And so, this
is a vehicle for your, you know, for your school to be able to have a partner and somebody who's like, hey, we're going to do a prize that night and, you know, we're going to have this. And so, we have a secondary engagement for those families and we do that. You know,
that's not on you to have to to do. So, it becomes like like I said, a win-win for everyone. And I also think I also think it's an opportunity cuz you know, you had mentioned that we have clinicians in the school. We've had We've been in that role for a long time. Like, we want to be able to reach the other students that
maybe wouldn't ever get referred to us, right? Not every student is going to be like a tier three that needs, you know, a lot. Like, you may have somebody that is struggling with something for a short period of time and they could just see that support from them in the system. Yeah. No, definitely, too. And it's like
a beforehand, right? Like, there's a lot of IOPs, a lot of partial programs. Let's try here first. Let's try doing this first. And then, also, when people come back from the higher levels of care, how do we support them when they come back? Cuz so many times, um, the students get out of IOP or partial and
it goes from like 5 days to, you know, 20 hours to 9 hours to like it's like, you know, fading out. So, how can we help bridge that gap when they come back? Yeah. And this is for which schools? For all of them? We started the high school and
then we see, you know, the demand, um, and possibly in the middle school as well. And we haven't even taken elementary schools off the board as well, but it it'll be a slow roll and we're not This is all not going to be just a 5 days a week like it is it would be start very slow and we feel like that's the process
that we would take. >> [clears throat] >> We already run this pilot in another school and so, you know the roll out plan and how it works. We have seven students at the Seven students. Yeah. So, it's and it started in October. Mhm. So, that that told you that there's
just the need, but by this point in the next thing you realize it's just gradual. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, guys. That's a good one. Who's screening here right now? Smile behind the mask. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank
you. Have a good night, everyone. Thank you. No, like, great people to be around. We appreciate you. >> Okay. All right. Thank you everyone. Uh very dynamic meeting. Nemo to sports
awards to Care Plus and now the superintendent. We're going to start off with under board action. We have uh February 2026 suspension report. New Milford High School, two students were suspended for a total of 4 days. One student served 3 days of out of
school suspension. One student served 1 day of out of school suspension. In DEO, there were four students suspended for a total of 8 days. >> [snorts] >> Three students each served 1 day of in school suspension. One student served 3 days of out of school suspension and 2 days of in school suspension. At
Boothbay, zero students were suspended. In Gibbs, four students suspended for a total of 4 days. One student served 1 day of out of school suspension. Three students each served 1 day of in school suspension. As far as HIVs, there were no 338 HIV forms submitted by parents and
or staff. Uh so, zero. That is great. Um but currently, there are two HIV investigations going on that will be on the next board meeting. Um obviously BA 2526.6 is approval of the unsung hero
resolution. I'm really proud of that one. Uh uh Uh I'll get to education and curriculum. Under personnel, uh the approval of the following retirements with regret. Uh Ms. Chamski at the Gideon Middle School served 13 years as a science teacher.
She started in 2012. Um finding science teachers is very difficult. Um Ms. Chamski has served our community very well. Um we're already advertising, collecting resumes. Science teachers are very, very difficult to find in middle school and
high school. Uh really quick under finance and facilities, I just want to point out F2526. I'm probably going to steal uh after Dr. Gooch's funded. Uh but approval of the Milford Foundation donation of teacher district grants for supplies, materials, and
upgrades in the amount of the big one, $33,792.86. And I'm glad to see uh that Mr. Cashin and his young daughter are here. Uh the Ed Foundation is a huge partnership. And yeah, you can you can clap for them, but before before you clap for them
>> [applause] >> So, really every single time uh Mr. Cashin always said, "What do you need? What do you need? What do you need?" And uh he identified with Mr. Manapelli, we have some of our classroom sets are outdated.
Meaning that Jerry Perone, our assistant principal, in 1976 was sitting in the same chair >> [laughter] >> So, needless to say, it's a need. And obviously, um there's some financial things going on. And this is where the Ed Foundation continues to step up. So,
they have donated two full classroom sets of high quality furniture. We had a rep come in. And the chairs are so neat because they're designed where the kids can hang their backpacks on the back and they don't tip over. Like little things like that. Yeah, really, really neat stuff. Um
teacher podium, teacher desks, 25 desks per classroom. Um chairs, all in two years for two classrooms this year. And also uh also guaranteed, I'm going to say, promised uh the classroom set uh for the next 2 years as well. Uh hopefully to build
that momentum. So, we're really, really, really >> Count on it. Yeah, thank you. I know we do. You know, you I mean, count on it. And I'm really, really excited about it. Mr. Manapelli is really, really excited about that. And it [clears throat] builds up uh something where the district can also start chipping in as well. Um
On top of that, this is something that we didn't even ask for, but Mr. Cashin always looking to gain uh you know, partnerships not just with the school, but the community as well. And obviously, we go to our restaurants in New Milford a lot asking for donations and money. And I think this
was a brilliant idea to give back where our student citizens of the month at the high school um is selected by a committee. And the Ed Foundation gives them a $150 gift certificate for those winners um for
restaurants in our community. So, the kids are happy. We're finally giving back to the restaurants that the kids are going to bring their families to and hopefully spend a little more money than the $150. And they get to choose um the certificate they want out of four, right? What are the four?
>> Correct. Sen Ducci's, Senzari's, Andiamo's, and River Glen Deli. So, they've been committed to the Ed Foundation since day one. Uh they're great people and they they take care of the community. So, I was really happy to buy gift cards for them. Yeah.
And then the runners-up get $10 Dunkin' Donuts gift certificates. >> Correct. Uh so So, Jane has a bag full of gift cards for us, Mr. Manapelli. So, this is really nice. It just increases the culture of the school. It shows that, you know, as a community once again, outside even our just
specific school community that looks out for these kids. Um and that's not to mention, I don't know how many tens of thousands of dollars you gave uh for teacher grants from communication boards to uh the Harlem Globetrotter Globetrotter that came in and entertained the kids
and talked about perseverance. Uh so, the wide spectrum of things. So, it really is a great partnership. I'm glad you came tonight uh so we can actually, you know, thank you in person. Our pleasure. Um do do do do. All right.
Tentative budget. So, the tentative budget we are moving ahead with the tentative budget. We've had a committee meeting. We've been talking about this for months now. I'm going to talk very briefly about it in very, you know, generalized. Um it is difficult across the county. Uh
we have been reading about it in the paper already. Um every district is going through some sort of fiscal cliff. I believe this is the second year of the fiscal cliff for us, but everybody is now hitting the fiscal cliff. Um
A major part of it, there's rising costs all over the place in terms of transportation, in terms of tuition, in terms of energy costs. PSE&G and the controller get their money, too. And and they are making money off the schools just like every other household. Um the
biggest cost by far has been health benefits. And we are in a superintendent meeting today and um one of the superintendents, you know, forwarded something to us where the state just did an audit of themselves, I guess. How to come in and
audit of the state health care program. And when I read this it's not something I didn't realize we're going through it. Uh health care costs, we have to budget over 30% for next year. Uh 30%. So, it's been over 50 it's been 58% over the past 2 years.
And in this audit and you can't make this stuff up. I have it right here. I have the entire summary of the audit and I highlighted certain passages just so we understand what's being told and communicated to us. And so, this audit uh
Upon review, these are quotes. Upon review of the material and the empirical evidence, it is clear that the financial position of the health benefits program continues to deteriorate deteriorate and is structurally unstable. Despite significant premium increases
for 2026, the plan is not generating the expected surplus and reserves are projected to fall into a deficit, -32 million by the end of this year. This where it gets This where it gets really You just have to like laugh. Looking ahead to 2027,
the outlook is concerning. Without structural changes this creates a classic, and this is the word they use. This creates a classic debt spiral risk. Where rising costs and shrinking membership reinforce one another, making
long-term sustainability increasingly uncertain. Debt spiral the state is using for the health care state. So, this is passed on to the districts. And when you talk about 30%
for every million dollars you know, that we spend in this you know, 10% of 30% is $300,000. Uh so, multiply that by, you know, $10 million. So, this is where the crux of everything is
going to happen. So, this preliminary budget, unfortunately, does have um you know, overall reductions in force and faculty and staff. Um but there is also going to be moving around of uh different people to hopefully sustain positions.
And over the next month, this is going to start panning out as we start having conversations, you know, with uh union members and uh school district faculty and staff uh before the um big, you know, budget hearing in April.
So, everybody's on the same page. So, that is the state we are in. Uh Stephanie, do you want to add anything? Um just because you mentioned the energy cost just for some perspective, the 2024-25
budget, we budgeted $360,000. The proposed 2026-27 budget, we're budgeting 595,000. Um so, just like what you're experiencing in your home it happening at the
district just on a much larger scale. Um >> [snorts] >> and that's a really conservative number. Um I don't know that it's actually going to be enough based on our current utility bills. Um but we just didn't have the money to
allocate any more on that line. Um that's just an example of of many. Obviously, the health benefits is a very complicated one because we obviously run on a on a fiscal calendar and so we know what our costs are going to be from July
1st, 2026 to June 30th, I mean December 31st, 2026. Um the we've been told to budget a 30% increase for January 1st, 2027 to June 30th, 2027.
And in doing so, that means that the district will be spending over a million dollars a month on employee benefits. Um That's a percentage. So to write a check to the state of New Jersey for health benefits for over a million dollars and when your
employee contributions are are minimal because of the way the state plan is with the introduction of the Chapter 44, it's no longer a contribution based on premium, it's a contribution based on salary. Um
the the board's share is much greater. So that's sort of what we're dealing with. We are waiting. We just requested our rate of that from the state. You can request it every 2 years. We requested it. We'll see what happens.
Um but basically, the other big piece of what's happening is is anybody any district who can leave the state plan is leaving the state plan. So which is just sort of hurting it even further because the only districts who are left are people who can't afford to to get out.
Um So we'll continue to to see what our options are. Um but that's that's where we're at. We are looking at an option like you know, what Dr. Kujawski is alluding to is the experience rating and that audit comes in and if our
experience rating with medical and prescriptions is above one, we're kind of considered uninsurable. And if your district is below a one, technically, I'm I'm speaking generalities, you can leave because you are insurable and go to a private health
plan which potentially [snorts] saves a lot of a lot of money. But as more and more districts leave, it's offsetting it's offsetting everything and so that's what's driving up the cost. I mean, Newark just left. So Newark, now you take out, you know, 10,000 faculty and
staff, it depletes the big pool which we are in. So that's something that we have no control over. We are trying. We are looking for avenues and I think you can see just like by this CarePlus presentation, we are
looking for any way possible to continue to support our children in ways that are maybe outside the box that will not cost the district money but still provide resources for kids. So we're looking at every avenue to do so. Uh but when it comes down to it, you know, there's a
pot of money that we have and we have to make it work. And we're doing the best we can to do so. I can't tell you how many conversations my administrative team, specifically Stephanie and I have had and I know I can speak for the board, we've had multiple long committee meetings trying
to figure this stuff out. So I think that I don't think you're wrong, but I think the other really important piece of this is we went through it last year and we continued the philosophy last year was to have the least impact on students and we continued with that
philosophy and we continue to try to find creative ways that the students are not feeling the direct impact. And I I believe that we were pretty successful again in that. But it's it's getting it's getting real
close now. Um so I think that's something that the board can be proud of that they've sort of figured out creative ways that the students are not going to be directly impacted yet again. Um
and yeah, it was a lot of hours, especially with the finance and facilities committee. Many discussions uh about everything and looking at everything in total. Um so it's balanced. It's [clears throat] balanced. Yes.
So again, over the next month or so, it'll [snorts] it'll pan out and then we'll be ready for the annual budget hearing meeting um eight end of April. All right. And then we'll have to go from there. All right. Spoken a lot already, but let me just do
a couple of quick updates. I can't I can't believe it. As a principal, I send kids to the county spelling bee every single year. We never cracked the top 16, I don't think. Last year in the North Jersey Spelling
Bee, which is all of Bergen County, they do it in Bergen County. Huge event. Last year, we had a first place winner and this year, we had a second place winner. Uh seventh grader Ellen Um so very proud of her. That is
amazing. Um I I I I can't believe it. For 13 years, I I never cracked the top 16. Back-to-back years, we placed. That's It speaks to the children and the faculty, you know, in this district. You know, it really is
a mission of a lot of world and you know, yes, we take the crazy sometimes, but there's there's really great things happening here as well. And I thank the staff and the kids and the families for that. Um Read Across America was a success. We actually have two readers here, right?
And you Nobody else, right? Just you two. I'm sorry. >> Thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I read. I read. The chief of police read. The mayor read in a Dr. Seuss hat once again, you know, um a couple other police. We also had the uh the high school kids go down and read to the elementary schools as well. It
really is a a very, very nice event and it's funny how people have their books, you know, like I have my Giving Tree book and I go through that. I try to try not to get choked up because the Giving Tree is very powerful one. I know you have your book, right? And
the mayor has his book. So it really is a is a very nice event. I thank um the media specialists, um Ms. Oliveri, Ms. Bolton specifically for really arranging that and coordinating that and sending out all those emails. So that is much appreciated. It's one of
the best days in the district. Um and again, Councilman Seymour was there. He loves being one of the people and uh you know, Chief Clancy was there in his his construction. So I thank that as well. Uh we have Dr. Saffer, one of our teachers at the middle school who will
be presenting at an AI symposium at Fairleigh Dickinson University. So he is also an adjunct professor there and they're doing all day symposium and he was invited to speak on integrating AI into teaching and learning. So we have an expert. We're very proud of him and I
will be talking about that in my district newsletter if anybody wants to attend. Um do do do do do do do do do As far as athletics, a lot of a lot of success in the winter. Um
boys swimming, Chris uh Matt, first team all league, third team all county. Um honorable mention all league in the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 100 100-yard breaststrokes. Santino Armida, uh we just talked about him. He was first team all county. He was also all
league in the 50-yard freestyle. Um Caleb Pinto, honorable mention all league in the butterfly. Samuel De Combo, first team all league, 500-yard freestyle. Vince Armida, Santino's brother, um first team all league and honorable
mention all county in the 100-yard and 50-yard and the relays very successful. In girls swimming, Valerie Gonzalez, honorable mention all league in the butterfly. Boys basketball, Jake Johnson, first team all league. So he was first team all county in football, first
team all league in basketball. Troy Matthew, we'll see what he does in the spring. Alex Stuckey, second team all league. And Brady Gilchrist, honorable mention all league. Girls basketball, two first team all leaguers, Casey Digliarmo Dean Dean Digliarmo, I apologize. Casey
and Sabrina Santi, both first team all league. Layla Crothers, second team all league. And Kendall Lubinski, honorable mention all league. Wrestling, two first team all leaguers, Anthony De Brosio and Jack Costello. And second team all league, Harry Martinez. And
honorable mention all league, Robert Bianchi. In bowling, here we go. Layla Crothers, first team all league, high game, high series, fourth place in the BCWCA, third team all county, first team all NJIC.
Um like I said, he bowled like a 275 in her high game, which is ridiculous. And then honorable mention all league is Luke Bartis. In cheer, we talked about Sophia Santelli, but there was also a second team all state, Colleen Willis. And
overall, they were NJIC league champs. We're very proud of them. Indoor track, Ivan Bempah, honorable mention all league. And then Hannah Bellows, second team all league high jump. Uh so a lot of success there.
Um as far as other events going on, you have Nemo coming up in mid-April. I do also want to point out April break coming up next week. If you show up to school, no one will be here except for the custodian and maintenance. Uh so, please enjoy yourselves, decompress
everybody. On Monday, even though the schools are closed, we are opening up our auditorium uh to the borough council. There is a very important meeting that I would suggest you go to. It involves the redevelopment of the
Brookchester complex where Roman's Pizza is right now and that CVS. Um and the owner of Brookchester is looking to pretty much tear down 90% of that complex and put up more uh apartments. So, I encourage you uh to go to that
meeting. I was at the last one personally. Um Mr. Board was there as well. Um and people spoke, and I was very proud to hear people speak on the school's behalf. And what it could possibly do to school enrollment uh with the revenue residencies.
And so, I would encourage you to go and be informed and see what's going on. This is on the heels of the ShopRite development that is also going on and I would like to point out it's both on Berkeley side. So, there could be over, you know, 300 more apartments going up in the next, you know, 1 to 4 years uh
that will obviously have an impact on our schools. Um so, please again, Monday I believe it's [clears throat] at 7:00 uh in the auditorium. It will be streamed as well thanks to our man, Mr. Pre. Um Nemo that you saw is going to be a
wonderful play. I want to thank them again. I see Stilios he came back, you know, to the meeting. Um it's wonderful to see Stilios here cuz he he was a student of mine too long ago. >> I was too long ago. Too young. There you go. He's a little bit younger than I am.
Honestly, too long, but um it's great to see him here and I kind of paying it forward. It's great to hire him and see him give back. back. I know he's a passionate guy. He's at the elementary school right now. He's also helping out at the BOE. He was also at the musical. Um he helps out a lot of our musicals.
Thank you for all your efforts. And Nemo, there's a lot going on behind the scenes. I'm getting updates all the time about the set builds going on all the time. I know you're working on the coral and the volcano uh recently cuz Heidi was texting me. She was texting me and giving updates.
Um I also want to point out that we have the China trip coming up over spring break. So, we are ready to go. There's been planning meetings. Insurances all covered. Permission slips. Rides to the airport 8 hours before because of all the craziness going on uh with the trip. We wish them luck. I'm actually on
WhatsApp with them through my school phone. That's really cool. phone. Um on WhatsApp so, I'll get the updates about what's going on and obviously wish them the best of luck. Uh the musical, Legally Blonde, so successful.
Um they sold out their Saturday show. Um which was I'm not surprised. You know, after seeing it, you know, I saw it Saturday with the feedback on Friday. I'm not surprised they sold out on Saturday. Uh they had Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I'm not surprised they sold out on Saturday.
And again, Heidi was texting me like 60 tickets left to go. 50 tickets left to go. And then we put out one last email last and uh they hit it. Uh so, that is a great um a great testimony to the staff, to the town, to the students. And again, a strong community when we want to be,
they'll come out and support each other. And we actually got an email from someone from Washington Township who is not associated with the district at all. Um I guess they just go play hopping, musical hopping. And they liked the play
Legally Blonde and they sent a nice paragraph email, but I I pulled an excerpt from it just to read it. Um cuz it kind of summarizes the feel that night. Um the love and sense of community and support you all showed each other after the performance was
incredible and actually gave us some hope for the future. That is that is wonderful when you get people from outside of town that come in here and just watch it and are moved enough to email complete strangers um that they they enjoyed the show. So,
thank you again to all the children children the young men and women who put in all that work, the staff. Um very successful. So, proud of you all. Um That is it for me. I know it was a long one. I apologize. Um but I wanted to make sure everyone
was informed. That was the longest ever. >> Oh my gosh. Does anyone have any questions? No. Okay. So, are you doing the board report? I thought I was doing the board report. All right. Assistant Superintendent report. >> [laughter]
>> Michelle Docstader is um under the weather. We wish her the best of luck. She's been fighting something. I appreciate her coming in to work. I'm a work through sickness person and she has been trying um but she she's she's sick. She's got to take care. So, she has just 1 2 3 4 5 quick
updates. Uh it The administration of the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment, you know it as the NJGPA adaptive, took place last week with make-up testing currently underway for small number of remaining students. We navigated some initial logistical
nuances specifically regarding the flexible session structures for reading and mathematics. While the platform organizes these content areas into 275 minutes blocks, it also offers also offers the option to complete the assessment in a single sitting with no clear distinction between each session.
Writing remains a dedicated 90-minute session. Thanks to the diligence of our staff, these technicalities were managed effectively to ensure a supportive testing environment. The insights gained from this administration have been invaluable and will directly inform our preparation for the upcoming NJSLS assessment in the coming weeks.
ACCESS for ELLs testing for our multi-language learners began on February 23rd and has now been successfully completed. The assessment is more comprehensive in nature and depending on students' grade levels required individualized administration. With which our teachers managed with care and attention. We appreciate the
efforts of our ESL teachers in ensuring a smooth and supportive testing experience for all our participating students. InView testing, a lot of testing. The Cognitive Abilities Assessment will be administered to all second grade students on April 14th and 15th. This assessment measures students' reasoning,
problem-solving, and critical thinking skills providing a snapshot of their cognitive strength and areas of growth. The results will help guide instructional planning to support early identification of students who may benefit from additional enrichment or targeted interventions.
We are pleased to bring forward for approval a number of students' teaching placements for the spring semester. It is encouraging to see a growing number of aspiring educators choosing to complete their field work requirements in our district. This continued interest reflects positively on the strength of our instructional programs and serves as
an encouraging sign for the future of our educational landscape. As an update on ESSER funding, we are seeking approval for a part-time, you'll see it in there, tier three interventionist at Berkeley Street School. Again, this position will further strengthen our multi-tiered system
supports and provide targeted assistance to students with grade with the greatest needs. Additionally, due to the overwhelming success of our tutoring programs at Berkeley and Memorial Middle School, we've been able to reallocate funding to expand these efforts. Plans are underway to approve additional tutors for Berkeley in April. The fine
details are currently being developed. Again, this is another way we are looking to support kids at no cost to our operating budget. This tier three interventionist we just hired um was a teacher who is now a stay-at-home mom. She is Orton-Gillingham certified, which
is awesome, which is uh you know, the board just went to like a a seminar on that. I'm always on that. And it helps teach it helps students that are in our tier three at-risk you know, reading intervention. And she's coming on part-time and is paid through
title funds. So, we are trying to expand the use of title funds again to get more support for our kids in a fiscally responsible way. There's one other thing in here that I didn't mention and it's not on here. We are partnering with uh the Passaic Valley High School.
They have an internship program that serves Passaic Hills. It serves Park Ridge. It used to serve Emerson. We're going to take their spot. We do have an internship program that's one day a week. It does not offer the trades. This internship offers access to the trades.
So, you actually get interns to person with HVAC, electrician. And it's 5 days a week for half days. Wow. So, they leave the school. It's almost like Bergen Tech. But now these kids can go out and they can hopefully see if they like it or not,
which is both very good. You don't want to get out of school and go to plumbing school and hate plumbing. So, this is a great way to introduce yourself to this. It gets the kids out of the building. So, the seniors are itching anyway to get out of the building. And it's for credit. And I think there's going to be a strong
I know there's going to be a strong need for the trades already, but even growing in the near future. Um And so, we're glad to offer this and encourage this. It's kind of like a pilot. Um I think it's going to be successful. So,
that's really it for me. Does anyone have questions? The cognitive abilities assessment, is that something that parents could be involved in? Like is it a part of the kids' web that So, the cognitive abilities assessment
likened to I don't like to use this word, but it's likened to likened to an IQ test. Where you give the kids and you see, you know, the different types. You can't study for it or anything like that. And it assesses, you know, uh your ability to So, a lot of times we'll take like
the cognitive skills index and identify enrichment kids as well. Like if they score very high, you know, 140s, like, okay, like you're identified enrichment that helps us as part of the matrix to do that. Parents can request and so Dr. Odasco will speak to it
tonight. There may be scores given out to the kids as well. I know letters come with it as well, but Mr. Odasco will be able to speak to that. And then, I'm sorry, and then you would get you said something about intervention. Like you would know at that point to
follow up with the people who It helps It gives a more complete profile of the kids. So, when you When you talk about the cognitive skills index, so it's more of an IQ test. So, it kind of provides clarity. Like if a kid is struggling reading and then you
look at this score on top of the NJSLS scores and all everything, you know, it gives a just a bigger picture of what we can do for the child and perhaps even further support special education. So, I just had a question with the partnership with Passaic Valley.
I'm Sorry if I missed this detail, but what grade levels is it? Like freshman to senior? It's just going to be grade 12 for now. Just Just going to be grade 12. Cuz we don't know what the interest is going to be, number one. We think there's going to be a lot.
Um And >> [clears throat] >> this is what it is because I'm talking to the students. I think I'm always talking to the students. Actually, one student who's very vocal. Um Praise. I'll give her credit. It's Praise. I guess you heard her laughing.
>> [cough] >> And I sat down with her one day. I was like, "Well, Praise, just tell me what's on your mind." And she was like, "I wish I could come to school half the day and then go to my job or internship the second half." And I was like, "Okay, we're looking into this." And I know, you know,
my kids go to Passaic Valley. I know they have a program. Um so, I was like, "Do you have connections there?" I was like, "Tell me about it." They came to visit. They spoke to Mr. Mandapalli and Mr. Odasco and it's just a way to offer the trades, which again, uh we have other things possibly in the
near future with the trades coming up that I was just meeting with today, actually, um with the trades, but trying to again, in a fiscally responsible way to offer these programs and opportunities to kids in a fiscally responsible way. Um So, we're trying.
Can I ask any questions? Just to clarify, [clears throat] that's for the 26-27 budget. You're like so excited about it. I'm very excited about it. It's for the 26-27 budget. Yes, thank you for But it's But it's not happening now. Like tomorrow you're going to have all these seniors like signing up.
There's going to be an interest meeting very shortly, um to to roll this out. Passaic Valley will come speak to the kids. And it has to be before that, you know, um the other internship program we have, which is one day a week. Um that is not so much with the trades
necessarily because they don't have a certain type of certification, but it has to be nursing and engineering like that. So, this will have This one's going to be more focused on trades. But it has a commitment. It's five days a week, half days. So,
and they don't mess around. Okay. Is there something to say on your part, Stephanie Couture? Good evening. Um So, I'm going to start with the agenda items. Mr. Odasco already thanked the NMEAF,
but especially when um our operating budget can't support these things, it's especially important the work that the foundation does. Um and such a large donation for all the teacher grants, the the desks, um
and all the things that they continue to do, a huge huge thank you for all their continued contributions and support. >> [clears throat] >> Um F2526.187 is a joint transportation agreement for the 26-27 school year.
Um And just so the board's aware of the importance, typically June we have what we have historically called the re- taking meeting, um where we uh
approve vendors and contracted services for the following year. Um this one appears in March because Friday we actually have a deadline to meet with South Bergen Jointure, where they will bid out our non-public routes
for us. Um and then especially this year as we navigate the budget, an area that we're looking at is the transportation efficiencies. And so, we're also going to put out out of district special education routes that we
currently maintain in district, but because many students have returned to district, it may be more efficient to have um those students on a contracted route where we can share the cost with other surrounding towns. Um so, we're looking
at that. We're Those are going out to bid. I will keep the board informed once I have more information on that. The resolutions F2526.190 through point I mean, point 190 through point
195 are all of the corresponding resolutions to submit the tentative budget to the county office. I just want to again thank the finance and facilities committee for all the time that they took on,
you know, working through and getting a balanced budget as well as the administration and the time and thoughtfulness that went into a very difficult budget. It It wasn't pretty, but it's what it's It's balanced and
like I said before, I think it's important [clears throat] because we really tried hard not to have a direct impact on students. Um the approval for the capital reserve withdrawal,
um we're looking to in the current 25-26 budget we withdrew from capital reserve, which is money that has been set aside. It's sort of like a savings account and the only way that we can access that money is through a resolution now,
um that we can withdraw from that. And it has to be for projects that are outlined in our LRFP. And so, the project that we identified for the current budget was to do the windows and doors in the cafeteria, the
high school cafeteria, um was a big one. And that was identified because every student uses that space in the high school every day. A lot of the community uses it. A lot of um athletic dinners. There's There's
just that space constantly being used. I think the fall dramas, spring musical, they have They use that stage. Like it's really a used space, but um and the reason I go into this detail is because we're going to continue the
windows and doors on the first floor of the back side of the high school and then continue on the second and third floor. Um so, part of the resolution outlines that project and that's really important because right now we have single pane
windows and our So, we we really are focusing on encapsulating our assets and trying to um when we're heating the building, not heating the town of New Milford because it's just going out the windows um
and doors. So, we're trying to use this little bit of money the best way we can um to set ourselves up for future financial success. Another project that we identified when we did the window project, um
a big concern is always the safety and so, the previous windows were able to like a jar open very slightly. These windows you cannot open and so, what we're going to hopefully do is in-house,
our maintenance staff are absolutely incredible, um install cassette units of air conditioning in the um ceiling. So, it'll be 16 cassettes um feeding to air condition the high
school cafeteria. That's a very complicated roof. Stephanie hates Dr. Couture. He hates that roof cuz it's a sawtooth roof. So, you can't do the traditional like huge two-ton unit or whatever it is on the roof. So, this is like a It's a work around because we've had
structural engineers out because we have to put the RTU on a different roof and then run duct work and we can't afford that. So, we identified the space that really could use some air conditioning. Um
hopefully we'll be able to do it. Of course, you know, in these initial plans we've already run into, you know, the asbestos. So, we will have an abatement. Um we already did get the quotes for that and so, that's built into the cost. That's part of the resolution.
And the other big item um that we're looking at that has been said at every level, everywhere, every place is the high school locker rooms, both
boys and girls as well as the team room. >> [clears throat] >> Um So, we're looking at different ways to do that project. So, inclusive in that money is also um the potential to do the locker rooms.
So, plans are under works. Whether all of these projects are actually able to happen during the 2026-2027 budget, um that's that's the goal. Whether it happens, um
we'll see. We are doing We are doing a lot of this stuff in house. Because when you start paying companies to do it, it quadruples, quintuples the price. The fact that we are lucky enough as a district, and I mean this, I came from a district where we did not have certified HVAC, did not have certified plumbers,
did not We were outsourcing everything at a ridiculous cost. Our maintenance then save us saves us a tremendous amount of money. So, we are trying to utilize that, but not stretch them too thin at the same time, so they can do quality work. Yeah.
Um and they really are They really work well together and really skilled individuals who we who we do think have the capacity to do it, but what we're asking them to do, um demolition of two locker rooms and HVAC in a high school cafeteria in 8
weeks in the summer, they'd look at you like you're crazy. On top of all the On top of all the little maintenance things that we get over summer that we have to do in each and every one of the schools. And we we can't forget we have five campuses. We have the Wings Campus plus the four schools. That's a lot of square footage and a lot of little mechanical
things that break here and there. Um so, that a lot of their requests are done over the summer because it's you know, the buildings are more vacant. Yeah. So, um then actually the next resolution F
25-26.196 is the approval of non-resident tuition costs. Um and then F 25-26.197 and 198 are the uh tuition rates for other school districts to send their special
ed um students to our various programs. Um and then I With that, um it's been a sort of a district initiative for the past couple years, at least the past
2 years, um tightening up of our residency requirements and ensuring that we have current documentation for all families, um because I feel very strongly that if you're say you're living in New Milford,
you better be living in New Milford. Um because obviously, especially when we're we have this tight budget, we don't need families saying that they're living here and and not living here. And what I found in the past is when it comes to me
to be brought to the board for disenrollment, a lot of the times I'm not I don't have current documents. And so, when I'm reaching out to the families, um it puts it puts It's just a a sort of a weird situation, and so we're looking at anybody who is on a
lease, whether it's an apartment or leasing a home or an affidavit, um those are all 1-year documents. And so, we had been There was a big push to put all that into our student information
system, so we're able to run a report. And so, with the help of Ms. Auerbach, um we're updating all of that. We We We recognize that some of our records are out of date by a few years, maybe a few months. Um and
so, all of those families, at the beginning of April, will be receiving a letter to prove residency because we just want to ensure that that we have accurate data. Um and so, I know it's not easy for families, but everything will be on the portal,
um because it it is a lot of documents. And so, we're looking for updated leases um or updated affidavits. [clears throat] So, all of those families will be contacted. >> Cuz right now, the check and balances are when they enroll in kindergarten, right? And they enroll again in sixth
grade, and then they enroll again in ninth grade. So, if they if their lease expires, you know, a year or two in after kindergarten, you know, technically the next check and balance isn't till sixth grade. And we're That's what we're trying to alleviate, where we're going to
put these leases, 1-year leases, month-to-month leases even, into a separate pile, so we are checking on them every single year to make sure that they're still Yeah, and it's not because we're targeting these families, it's the documents that they're providing are
valid for a 1-year period. Um and so, we we do understand that it is a cumbersome process, but we really have to ensure that everybody is is where they say they are. Um so, I just want to thank Ms. Auerbach
for all her help on that cuz it is a huge task. And then from there, it will be sent to the to the building levels, um and we'll all work collaboratively to to get it done. But that'll be forthcoming beginning of April. And
that concludes my report. And there's no correspondence tonight, so I'll hand it back to the top. Okay. Before we start, does anyone have any questions for Stephanie? Oh, well, you look like you have questions, Amy. Okay, so let's move on then. Okay, we're going to go back
on the agenda to the Committee of the Whole. I seek a motion to approve the minutes of February 25th, 2026 regular. I need a second. Tony. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. Um Open to the public for items on the agenda. I seek a motion [clears throat]
that Island Milford Board of Education bylaw 0167, any statement made by a participant shall be limited to 3 minutes. I need a second. John. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Anyone have any questions? Please state your name and town. Linda
Eichen, Milford. Um just curious. See uh 34. The the chaperones committee chair. I obviously know the first two names. I'm just curious if the others are parents
or are they faculty members? Um I believe they're parents. Okay. Does anyone else have any questions for Amy or Stephanie? I seek a motion to close to the public. Tony seconds it by Stephanie. All in favor? Aye. Opposed?
Okay, board action. Having the recommendation of the superintendent, I seek a motion for BA 25-26.58, .59, .60. I need a second. John. All in favor? Aye. Opposed?
Educational programs and curriculum, Stephanie Coughlin-Rogers. I make a motion to seek approval for C 25-26.33, .34, .35, .36, .37, and .38. I need a second.
Andrew. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Personnel. I make a motion for P 25-26.75, .76, .77, .78, .79,
.80, .81, .82. I need a second. Tony. Roll call. Mr. Albro? Yes. Mr. Albro? Yes. Mr. Costa? Yes. Ms. Coughlin-Rogers? Yes. Mr. Lombardi? >> Yes. Ms. Moore? Yes. Vice President
Dunn? Yes. President Gomez? Yes. Finance and facilities, Cheryl Albro. So, can I ask a question? I skipped over the board reports, so I was going to read some things, but I'm going But can I do it now? Do you want to do it at the end? Do you want to do it at
the right after policy? It was about It was about the budget, so I'm Oh, no, okay. You can do it when you want to. Okay, well, now I feel like it's awkward, so I'm going to say It's not awkward. Stay. Okay. Um good evening, everyone. I want to take a moment to recognize the tremendous amount of work that went into
getting us a balanced budget this year. As chair of both the Finance Facilities and Negotiations Committees, I have a unique perspective on the time, effort, and thought it takes to balance a budget of this size and significance and the downstream facts of any decisions made. This is not easy work,
it never is, and this year it came with a set of challenges that I think everyone in this room understands all too well. Rising health care costs, continued pressure from school funding formulas that don't always reflect the reality of our community, impact of the world decisions, out-of-control prices
and living costs in general, and a growing list of unfunded mandates from the state that have created a very narrow path forward. These are real constraints, and they require real decisions. I want to be very clear. Yes, we are very happy to have a balanced budget, but this process does involve difficult
decisions. Some of them are not easy, and not everyone will agree with every outcome. But that is only part of the story. This budget also reflects a tremendous amount of creativity, problem-solving, and discipline, um and primarily from from our administration and and the countless time that they put
into these efforts. Real effort went into identifying ways to preserve programs, manage costs responsibly, and minimize impact wherever possible. It would have been far easier to take a more rigid approach, but that is not what happened here. These decisions were not made lightly, and they were not made
in a vacuum. They were made after significant analysis, thoughtful discussion, and with a deep understanding of the impact on our students, our staff, and our community. Every action was considered with deliberate effort to balance what is needed today with what is sustainable for the future.
I want to sincerely thank Superintendent Dr. Piccolos, um PA Stephanie Cuchar, and Assistant Superintendent Laura Doster for their leadership throughout this process. The level of detail, transparency, and care you brought to this work did not go unnoticed. I also want to recognize our broader
administration, faculty, and staff. Budgets are not just about numbers on a page. They translate directly to people, classrooms, [clears throat] and programs. We see that and we appreciate the professionalism and commitment you continue to show in putting students first even in the face of challenging circumstances.
Balancing a budget is not just about closing a gap, it's about making responsible choices while continuing to deliver for our students, and as well as being good stewards of taxpayer dollars even in a very, very difficult financial environment. The balance is not easy to strike, but it was done here with integrity, with
intention, and with a clear focus on protecting what matters most. So, thank you for your hard work, your collaboration, and your continued dedication to this district. And while not everyone will agree with every decision, I think we can all stand behind the fact that this process was thoughtful, responsible, and grounded in
what is best for our students. And I wanted to read that because I know that when the budget does go public, there are going to be people that are going to be unhappy. I really wanted to just make sure that the community knows that we are welcome everyone to come to the budget
the the budget presentation and ask questions, and that this board the finance facilities committee in particular worked really hard with you know, the administration and none of these things happen just through the decisions of a few people. This was a collaborative effort,
so to the extent that there's going to be any upset people, you know, I think we're all we all collaborated, we worked on it to make these decisions, I just wanted to make that very clear. Thank you. Thank you. Now. Wait, does anyone else have any board committee reports?
Uh I just That's a lot of that. Okay. Who wants to go first? I'll uh I'm just going to talk briefly cuz a lot of this is stuff that Mr. Glasso mentioned regarding athletics was like He stole my thunder one night, but no, um the reports in our folder we
had met on March 2nd. We had pretty much just done a recap of the winter athletics. We talked about um the spring season starting just a little shout out. Baseball's home opener's tomorrow at 4:00 and softball is Monday
against Crestwood, so it's supposed to be 70°, so it'll be a nice day for a game. Um And I was going to talk about musical, but Mr. Glasso spoke about that as well, so the board I just shared that in my report, so as I said, it would be brief.
Second. Um so, the curriculum meeting curriculum committee also met. One of our longer committee meetings by accident. Um and basically what we discussed was the academies program at high school
um and just the evolution of it. Everybody has my notes, but just look at the public schools um where how it originated and why and where it is today and just the the um I guess the the re-committed drive to infuse a little bit more
structure and rigor into that program. Um and then we also discussed the dyslexia screening at the elementary schools, which takes place in the second grade. And a tool that is being utilized now has been transferred to us which was SL a savings to the district, so that
was a nice a nice thing to hear. Um and that was basically what we discussed, so more detail will be put in the report that I sent to you guys. Um and that concludes my report. Thank you. Okay. I see the motion
for the approval of act 25-26.172 and 3. They're all .174, .175, .176, .177, .178, .179, .180, .181, .181, .182, .183, .184,
.185, .186. .187, .188, .189, .190, .191, .192, .193, .194, .195, .196, .197, .198.
.199 and .200. So, before we approve it with varsity prep, I know that um Mr. Gutierrez is here to give a presentation and I know um I was hoping for the public that Mr. Glasso you could just share what that collaboration would look like for
the schools. Like I know I had asked you questions, but I think publicly it's important to understand what does that collaboration mean like how are we going to use the facilities? Like what does that look like? Just help me out. Yeah. Sorry. >> No, we were No, no, no, we worked on
this together, you know, with Mr. Gutierrez and Mr. Warrior Land and everything else to get contracts. So, basically what Mr. Gutierrez discussed was a partnership and they utilize our facilities and continuing in the trend,
you're going to hear this from me a lot, we're trying to be creative with getting funds for the district. And this is something that has been happening in our schools pretty much every year anyway except for last year because of the roofs, right? It didn't happen. Um but typically it happens in our schools and
they utilize the back fields most of the time for rain and they come inside. Um and then they go to the swimming pool and all that. So, with this partnership um it would give us, you know, $20,000 up front and then
as a minimum and then any more that they make gross, we get 10%. So, if it's now income for the district and then there's a bussing element as well where we can there's 12 trips I think we're allowed for a set amount of money and it all has
to do with Bergen County, but like then you get 90% of the money to the swimming pool. So, it's just a way to bring us revenue and that program as you saw in the presentation, it not only supports our kids, but is also revenue for a lot of our teachers. So, it was very, very
important for us to sustain the program in district and we didn't want them going anywhere else to a cheaper facility or anything like that or another school, we wanted to maintain our kids working in the program, our teachers working in the program, and supporting our students in this sports
camp. Um that pretty much happens all summer. I think it's 10 weeks or something, right? Um I don't know how many weeks it is. I believe it's the last week of So, June and then all the way to
August. Yeah, I believe it's the middle of August timing. Um I don't know. Um but they they've been doing it and um there is now an enrichment component to it. Uh so, it does
have a I I do believe a lot of community access to the program um and it's not something that is really good. It's just [clears throat] it's new in the terms of of the partnership. Um because like Mr. Glasso said, it's
it's our staff to our kids um that are also part of the community, so it it makes it makes a whole lot of sense. And it's going to run while our custodians are here, so it's not like overtime. If there is overtime or if
there's bussing overtime for some reason, that's not that's extra that they pay. We're not That's not coming out of our pocket. But it's just it's income for the district cuz we we can only get income a certain number of
ways through the tax levy, through tuition, or through partnerships like this and contracts you know, bringing money in. So, this is just another way to I guess try to I don't know.
Benefit the district and benefit the kids and the staff all at the same time. Did that help? >> Yeah, no, I just wanted to like cuz I know we spoke about that and we're approving it tonight, I just wanted to like make sure everybody understood those details. And you said it's a one-year partnership, so
it's like a pilot and we're going to see how it goes and if it works out well, we'll expand it. If it doesn't, it's negotiable. Um so, it has to fit both. I need a second for the finance. Anyone? Okay.
Stephanie, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Policy, Anthony Elbro? At the recommendation of the superintendent, I wish to move policy 2526.7, which is the second reading for adoption of the listed policy and regulation as well as the
abolished regulation policies. I need a second. Stephanie, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Any old business? Any new business? Okay. Um this was alluded to a discussion earlier, but there was a mayor and
council meeting on Monday on Monday about the potential redevelopment over by the Brookchester uh retail shopping area. So, one of the questions that I didn't I was able to attend personally, but I attended by video.
One of the questions that came up was what the anticipated This was a question for um council for the governing organizations, what the anticipated effects were of building that number of units in that area. And they didn't have any answers, they weren't prepared for
that question. Um so, I'm wondering if there's a way that we have that information. How many children can we quantify that are are living in, you know,
doubled up in the apartments. Yeah, yeah. So, we are a step and I spoke I spoke and I spoke about this already today and we have rough numbers already. I want to vet them a little bit more. It is a little more complex than to where we just look at
kind of who's paying rent in the apartments and then double up in there in terms of addresses or whatnot, right? And then so we have a rough idea already. And there's that was the same inclination. I know that question was asked a number of times at that council meeting. And so just we have perspective
I know numbers from already was at the meeting as well. And we were standing right next to each other and it all went down. And so that is on our minds and we do have rough numbers. We're going to vet them a little bit more, but we do have a good idea, but it is more difficult than just running a report in Genesis. We think
there's more than we can actually get our hands on. But But isn't it significant and if you're adding, you know, over 300 apartments over the shop, right? You know, and then this one it could be a lot of kids on top of they use this Rutgers formula they call it.
So, the Rutgers formula predicts Mr. Abrahams, you are you are very attuned to this, right? Because you just went through the pilot program in your district. They use this Rutgers and it gives it's supposed to give you an estimate of how many kids will come to your school district. To be honest, you
know, I find it that it underestimates it a lot of the times, especially in Bergen County, especially with the programs we offer. This is the land of opportunity for many people who come to Bergen County to access all the great
things and the great schools. So, they are willing to live in a one-bedroom apartment or a two-bedroom apartment with multiple family members living, you know, and listen, all power to you, but that Rutgers formula is not really going to be
mirror what exactly goes on. And that that's what my biggest concern was and that's why I attended the meeting because in the end of it depending on how many kids come into this district with with these two complexes now coming if student numbers go up and we just run
out of space that isn't put on the taxpayers. Like, you know, I don't I don't think man from what Burchesters is going to put an addition on their building for. Yeah. So, that will go to the taxpayers to fund that and in light of everything that's going on,
you know, I'm worried. I'll be very flat out honest and when they are knows I'm worried as well. And he's great, the mayor's great, the council's great. Councilman Seymour was you know, we were way up there, you know, asking questions if you saw it, right? So, I think everyone's on board
and again I encourage the community to go out and really be informed about what's going on because it's it's a community changer. That really is a community changer. You know, I I was watching on the on the on the YouTube. But
one of the answers that they that council gave was that from their experience they found that like from similar situations they built that there was virtually no impact on the school district and there was like an audible laughter you could hear through the through the speakers.
They can see my new wing in my school. Yeah. I know it did that. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Tony? Um I I did not get a chance to attend the meeting so I had my own board meeting. I would imagine for those who attended
the the thought of pilot money was discussed. The board should know that there is legislation, nothing been ruled upon yet, but there has been proposed code or law that would make pilot the developer would have to negotiate
with the school board, superintendent actually, personally to get the money either get either get money or get a specific project taken care of. Not to take any money away from the town because obviously the town is going to have its costs with all those new
residents being there in terms of sanitation or anything else like that. It's been discussed in both houses. It hasn't come to any action yet, but it it is out there. And I don't know you know, it's probably going to have a timing mechanism to it. For example, my
community is done so where I work so we're not getting that, but I'm sure at some point if it passes um maybe we could reap that benefit somehow. Oh my god. God, don't get my hopes up. But I know Tony's been through this and
so Mr. Abrahams has lived through this and so he is an expert on it and uh Tony built a lot of apartments in Rutgers. A lot of apartments. I mean, how many apartments are there? Do you know how many apartments there were in My my
If if you visit my town, it is basically a brand new community of apartments, townhomes, condominiums, single family homes. It's we we my early elementary grades used to average
80 students every grade. Now we're 125 every grade. We just finished a brand new wing of our grammar school to house all these students. It's a it's a wonderful joy to have all these students and all the talent and the diversity but you got to find seat for them and rooms for them and that's that's what
makes it difficult. And once you find a room, you also have to find teachers in those rooms as well. So, it's like that's that's I agree with what Tony's saying. It's wonderful to have all these kids and the diversity and you know, the talent that comes in, but it's money.
It comes down to the dollars. Who pays for the wing and the school? The addition. Who pays for the addition? I'm sorry. The addition. Who pays for it? Who pays for it? We built it. I choose to wait. Who pays for it? Who pays for it? Who pays for it? This we got state aid money. State aid money.
Okay, anyone else? Okay. Make a motion to open the public as outlined in Milford Board of Education by law. Each citizen >> [clears throat] >> by the president shall be limited to three minutes. Do I hear a second? Stephanie, all in favor? Aye. Opposed?
Anyone from the public? Do I hear a motion to close the public? Tony, seconded by John. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, closed session. We're going Yeah. Okay. It is hereby moved that the Board of Education adjourn to 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 and student matters. The minutes of the executive session will be made available to the public when the need for confidentiality no longer exists.
Do I hear a motion? Stephanie, seconded by John. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. When we come back we will not be taking any action. So, thank you everyone. Our next meeting is April 29th. Thank you. Good night.