County Regional School District is hereby called to order the meeting is called in conformance with the open public meetings act with adequate notice provided as follows notice sent to the burlton county times in times of Trenton on February 19th 2025 notice filled with
the township Clerks of Chesterfield Mansfield North Handover and Springfield townships on February 19th 2025 notice of annual meetings advertised in the Burton County Times and the times of Trenton on January 7th 2024 um we'll now do a roll call Mr
figs present Miss Bond Mrs appleget Mr arme present Mr bucks present Mr narwood
present Mrs Janice present Mr Spence and Mr Zimmer here we will now do the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a Moment of Silence thank you to flag United States America the
stand indivisible has any Board of Education member received Schoolboard related emails Andor correspondences that have not yet been shared with the superintendent all right uh Dr zuckman if you like to go through your I don't know if you want to go through the whole thing today or save some since we have a
few more members absolutely um I'm going to go through two updates um and then I will actually I'm going to do three updates and then I'll I may repeat them next week depending upon um as we're going um so for it seems like for a few
months we've been negotiating um and working on value engineering projects uh value engineering items for the um Turf um field that is scheduled for the this coming summer we've been working with three three contractors and we're very
pleased to inform you that there is a recommendation to award the contract to L Tech group for the installation of the turf field this project also includes a resurfacing of the track at a cost not to exceed $2.3 million this project is funded with a
$2.4 million lease purchase financing that will provide enough funds to irrigate Fields 12 and 13 as well you will see a non-consent resolution that's represented on tonight's agenda to award the cont contract for Synthetic Turf and re track
resurface resurfacing this is necessary to keep the project alignment with the intended timeline it is anticipated this project will begin the day after graduation and be substantially completed by September 5th 2025 in Mr cass's business administrator
report he's also included he included links to the rendering the bid summary and the lantech proposal when we get to the budget presentation we will start by giving you a dis of of what the turfield will will look like on Thursday March 13th at 4:00
Northern Burlington received four negotiated bids for the High School auditorium these negotiated bids had had to amount to $1 less than the lowest bid of two 20, 680,000 from the second round of bids it
is our pleasure to inform you that Northern Burlington received very competitive bids and is recommending the bid for author J Ogen in the amount of 8,356 th000 you will see this on next on
next week's agenda as a non-consent resolution currently the bids are at our architect and will be out our attorneys just to be reviewed to make sure that everything is is completed as intended because the board rejected the first two
bids we were able to negotiate with the contractors to reduce the scope of the project and reduce the cost to the overall project some of the negotiated items included changing the theater rooftop to low slope standard truss
structure changing the changing from the custom bow trusses to a deep Long span steel joist in layman's terms we're taking it from a bode roof to a flat roof to rep to replace the existing
facing brick on the lobby side and the cafeteria side side of the addition with ephis siding to replace the 4-in maple wood trim on the the wall base to a 4-in rubber wall base were applicable change the closed cell spray
foam instulation at the entrance in the canopies to a fiberglass insulation use the standard EPDM Rubber Roofing throughout the throughout in lie of the curved metal roofing remove the pit mounted loading dock um storage room lift and remove the loading dock storage
room Overhead Door all of this these changes do not significantly alter the scope of the project yet help reduce the cost by approximately $2.3 million this the the most significant changes involve eliminating the bod steel roof trusses
and the metal roof and replacing it with a standard flat rubber roof the bids the bids we received are currently being reviewed by our architect and our attorneys will be placed on the March 24th agenda as non-consent items if you would like I would like to thank Rich Caz and will mcke for all of their hard
work in negotiating these projects and to ensure that the project fits within our budget and that we keep the Integrity of the project intact lastly I just want to talk about the high school the upcoming High School graduation in June we'll see a slightly
different format to the 2025 High School graduation the graduating class will be sitting in the visitors bleachers and the parents and the guests will be able to sit on on the field or in the home bleachers this will allow us to have a larger number of Spectators and allow
the graduates to face their families and guests parents are asked to refer to the high school weekly updates for additional information as a graduation approaches you will be provided with more details about this exciting event that concludes my report for this
evening yeah perfect uh Mr Caz will give the business administrators report next week at the regular board meeting um I will also ask Dr mccan if you don't mind waiting till next week hopefully we'll have more board members in attendance for your high school
report um 2.04 is content agenda item for the approval of hi reports 2.05 is approval of the superintendent reports um we've had a number of committee meetings uh since our February um session um I know uh policy committee
met on March March 6 um during the policy committee uh there was an update on the uh regulations that Dr zman and the administrative staff are going through um attempting to review all of them um during the year um so they gave
us a a rundown of of the ones that are um board specific and board had to review as well as some of the ones that they've done um just to to look at as as we've deemed fit otherwise um there was a uh stress SMA alert that we reviewed
um most of the mandatory policies um discussed where um we wanted our AI information to be located at um we opted for the uh AI specific policy um as opposed to the original thought of um
incorporating it into another policy um that seemed to be the the more beneficial way in terms of any future updates that way we' be able to update instead of having to weed through our existing policies and make changes here and there um U utilizing the AI focused policy allowed us to have that one for
easier access and easier updating in the future um there was uh one or two that we we tabled for future meetings to get some clarification um from St sesme um in the intend what their intended um meanings
were or if items were missed in those policies so those are not on the first reading today um there was a discussion on um the transparency policy that Mr bucks recommended um we had pretty lengthy
discussion and commentary on it uh we tabled it for the next meeting so you can be a part of that Mr bucks um we didn't want we wouldn't wouldn't want to make a decision without you present for the discussion appreciate it but we did have a discussion amongst the board and as well as how it how it um fit into other policies that that we already
have um we made discuss the the small changes to 164 as well as just updating some formatting within there um and then uh made note that our fac facilities use policy um should be proposed to both the
other committees that that would affect with the new turf field as well as the um you know buildings grounds Finance transportation and the cost Associated community relations and the usage of the turf field um just to make sure that policy is being updated and provided to
the proper committees um and then we anticipate our next policy committee meeting to take place in early June um resolving some of those uh requests out to stra sesme any additional updates and alerts revising the transparency policy as well as the
facilities use policy um you'll see the first reading of those policies for the regular meeting next week um with that Mr Zimmer I don't know if you want to give some update to the buildings grounds Finance how much you want to wait so so most of everything in
there is in Mr kaz's ba report um it was specifically we had talked about obviously the auditorium and whatnot um the turf field the uh the um the installation of that um and I didn't
bring my notes because I thought Mr Cass uh was doing his report I forgot that he was going to be here tonight the only other major item was the budget which was we're see the budet right seeing the budget tonight right thank you um Mr narwood I believe
you'll give Personnel next week update makes sense um I think there's any others right Dr Su in all right correct um Mr bucks do you have any updates and jsba obviously I don't think anything's happened since February no
updates right no activity okay Mr AR anything okay um legislative wise there's been uh a good number of bills that the the senates recently met had their first uh meeting that they've kind of been discussing working on signed a few of them over um you know school
counselor certifications uh instruction on cursive handwriting um cell phone and social media policy being less of a uh guidance and more of an actual policy um requirement for this from the state um some revisions to public school district
leases they had a number of bills that they were they were working on uh most recently but keep updated as those get officially passed moved over to the house um or make it to Governor Murphy's desk all right um as part of the work session I'll I'll go through the public
or the Cent agenda um by topic header if anyone has any items um from the consent agenda in particular they'd like to discuss uh please you know speak up when we get to that section um Mr Lee do we have any public comment for for consent agenda or for
agenda items ladies and gentlemen this meeting will now be open to public referencing agenda items only please note that the board is here to listen the public comment period is not designed to be a discussion accordingly please do not expect the board to respond to your
concerns and questions this evening we take your concerns and questions very seriously and want to have sufficient time to allow our Administration to process process and research issues if need be we will however respond to your questions and concerns at a future meeting or have proper staff member get
back to you at the appropriate time also please note that if your questions or comments pertain to litigation students Personnel or negotiations we would ask that you see the superintendent after the meeting since we do not discuss these items in public please keep in mind that the public comment session is
an opportunity for you to share your opinions and remarks with the board and is not a question and answer session we also recognize that our community may be polarized on some issues we want our Schoolboard meeting to serve as an example to our students that each member of the board and Community can deal with
controversial issues in a civil Manner and demonstrate mutual respect for everyone's views in that Spirit we ask that all speakers please address their comments to the board directly rather than the audience and all speakers and members of the public show respect for others views and maintain civility
during the meeting please state your name Municipality of residents and group of ilation if applicable comments will be limited to 3 minutes per person and the total comment period to 30 minutes only those who have signed up on the public comment signin sheets will be allowed to speak this evening the
individual time limits will be enforced so that as many members of the public who wish to speak may be allowed to do so right uh Judy deaker Judy deaker Springfield Township um I just have a question on um agenda item
15.03 uh it's under um policy and it's the um the readmission to school after an absence um R 5200 and it says a student returning from an absence will be required to provide a written statement to the principal that is dated and signed by a
parent or adult student listing the reason for the absence um and I don't know if I'm misunderstanding this um and perhaps somebody can clarify for me there was all the reasons listed why an absence would be excused and I understand how you have to um you know
give your information whether it's you know your driver's test or college visit that kind of thing um but this was reading to me as if you missed a day of school and you know it's not an excused absence but you're asking for a letter from a parent stating the reason for the
absence even though you know it's not excused so I just want am I reading that right or or no um it was confusing so that's my question because if my student misses a day for something that's personal to
the family um I don't think it has and I know it's not an excused absence I don't think the school has any right to say send give me a letter and tell me why why you weren't here I I think that's falls into the none of your business category thank you
Mr figs I'm sorry was was that reference to 5200 yes regulation so uh Miss deer not and we can happy to have that that was really intended for excuse absences you're correct I can go back and just kind of make review that language so all right that concludes public
comment um all right so the students of the month will take place next week during the regular meeting um all right uh so section five U routine matters reports to the board are there any questions or comments on the
consent agenda items for Section Five all right section six is approval of bills any questions or comments on consent agenda agenda items in section six all right section seven is business and financial um any questions or
comments for the consent agenda items only all right and with that um 7.15 is non-consent agenda approval of Award of contract for the turf field project uh can I get a motion for
7.15 I make a motion and a second second all right um any comments or discussion on Section on seven point 15 all right U Miss Williams if you could please do a roll call vote sorry Mr figs
yay Mr AR yay Mr bucks obstain due to a potential conflict of interest Mr narwood yes Miss Janice yay
and Mr Zimmer yes right thank you the motion passes um 7.16 is non-consent agenda item for the approval of the submission of the tenative 2526 budget
um this time we will uh have the budget presentation provided to us prior to the vote okay yep you want this then um are perfect so just before we get started
with that um up on the screen is the rendering of the the tur field which we're obviously really U proud of it is uh obviously line for multi-port use um tried to make it personalized for for for Northern obviously with with several
aspects from from the Greyhound um it includes the resurfacing of the track um with the transmition lanes in the in the gray um and the school color so the blue and the gray on the the right side for the high jump area it's actually increasing that side so then they can do
more than one high jump um at the same time it's on the far left side of of the the football field it's actually replacing the um both um long jumps uh completely and around the entire perimeter of the track or of the the
turf before you get to the track that the drainage system to kind of really take all the water from the tur from the the track and kind of keep that separate from the turf um it will completely re um remove the uh exaggerated braid on on
the field obviously replace everything so it's going to kind of be be like all kind of like flush and and no safety concerns in addition to this it is also um we're going to resurface the high jump um Lane in the back and also regra
the area by the shot foot um area as well obviously and and this is where I I cannot speak to the underground kind of portion but obviously the drainage will obviously allow us to kind of continue that that use um at the same time we are the stars are really kind of in
alignment um just with really our connection with the military we did look into options about placing the different um logos for the various branches of the military it was cost prohibitive and and kind of this kind of helps to to streamline the process but the turf will be lined for obviously football um
soccer uh men's and women's boys and girls across as well as field hoey as well yes sir is there anything being um changed with the stadium or or where the seating is or is that just remaining as is the seating is staying exactly as is
okay thank you yep that was just I don't if Mr Cass was here he'd be able to tell you the exact date um I think that was done like 10 years ago or so maybe oh there was a around a hurricane when a hurricane came in it it happened around
that all right so going into things um we've been obviously working on the budget for some time we actually start um just after the year begins in October November to begin planning what our budget priorities are um as all of you know that that Mr Cass um shares with
you the budget timeline um he which starts with us gathering information and we constantly reflect on the monies that being that was spent the previous year to determine to make sure that we're budgeting accurately as well um that also includes our capital outlay budget
um and regarding projects and that goes back to the um the long range facilities plan um so then that way we can constantly um look ahead as it it starts here um where we begin developing the budget in November um as I said we it
starts with the uh the budget assumptions goes to the the public uh hearing for or the discussion tonight on the budget and then obviously for the for the hearing um that takes place in May so this slide demonstrates our state
aid summary it's a comparison of our 2425 state aid and our 2526 state aid you can see that we received increases in state aid and most of the categories except for our Equalization Aid just as a general budget note the governor
um the part of the governor state aid was that no District would receive a um decrease of more than 3% in overall state aid and no one will receive an increase of more than 6% Next
Level this is a revenue summary so this slide is showing the comparison of our Revenue news from year to year um and we are increasing our fund balance for the 2526 budget our fund balance is basically our savings at the end of the
year the money that we use from the current budget to build the next year's budget our to local tax levy is increasing by $459,000 um we're going to have an increase we're anticipating an increase in tuition of
$665 our miscellaneous revenue is going down and that's mostly a attributed to the expiration of srex on our solar panels they're um 15 years old so we anticipate a decrease in revenue for the srex um our state aid increased 1.2
million and so overall we're at an increase of 1.86 six million our impact Aid We're in increasing the amount that we're going to use in our budget for next year um by 150,000 so in previous years we used 1.3 million and in 25 26
we anticipate using 1.5 million from our impact Aid um our special Revenue funds went down about $26,000 and that is related to the expiration of the Esser grants that we have so there really no reduction
there um so our total overall Federal revenues are down 68 million and we have debt that expired so we paid off some bonds and so our debt service went down to 27,000 so obviously and get to questions
in in one moment I just thought it it's prudent to talk about impact aid for for a moment with the uncertainty of the federal budget impact Aid obviously is is a is a big deal to to Northern Burlington um myself um Mike figs and Rich Cass were just down in in
Washington DC uh last weekend in the beginning part of of last week um to really advocate for the need of this um the while we'll give the report next week as far as the naphis conference um each of the the New Jersey Representatives that we spoke to
understand the impact and understand the what it means to our district and and our colleagues from across the country had the same conversations with many of their representatives um while it's like it is likely even with a continuing resolution if that is passed we we would
see a 6% reduction in our impact aid but we would still receive that money obviously our goal and our plea to them was to be able to have additional funding to be able to go towards full funding and that's obviously the need because as we expressed we receive the impact Aid um in lie of the taxes that
that any of the military connected um students provide from their families because obviously they live on the base so it's it's just part of our our revenue and it's really in us making us whole um from a district standpoint yes ask quick
question I've never been able to get this straight in my head so the difference between the impact Aid and the federal revenue side so is impact Aid what goes up through the state or comes from federal goes to the state then comes back down to us or is it still direct from the feds because I'm I'm confused why we have an impact we
have impact Aid up but total federal revenues down great question so we received both we received impact aid from the state as well as separate impact aid from the federal government so the the the impact it we it's really hard and it's actually impossible for us
to put that in our operating budget because it's not forward funding so because we get that throughout like when we were down in DC we're still talking about the FY 25 budget which is obviously we're almost at the end of the the fiscal year um so we and we have not received those those funds yet so we
can't put that in our operating budget because we don't know the timing from the the state standpoint they also recognize the the need because we weren't getting everything from there so then the state decided to add the impact Aid as well so the impact Aid that shows on this sheet is actually from the state
it's not federal impact Aid is that correct so this is State impact Aid here this is the um Aid that we're getting from the state we had an increase in 1.2 million but on the other slide where we're using 1.5 million of federal impact Aid reserves to fund the budget
that is from the federal government directly and the reason it comes from Reserve is because it's not obviously for years right okay yep and it's it's important to note that the state impact is supposed to be completely independent of the federal impact dat they don't wait see you're try to base off last
they're supposed to be completely independent and the federal impact a does not go to the state the state has no say on distribution it's 100% independent between the two is the way a line it are supposed to work all right so then I guess the heart of my question
here so the impact a that shows on the sheet here is actually more than the impact a from the prior sheet so this impact dat is composed of funds from where the federal the federal impact Aid Federal impact a yes we only use a
portion of along with Reserve you said is that correct yeah okay so since the federal impact Aid comes in um in the rear as Mr I mean Dr Zuckerman said we don't necessarily depend on that to build our budget so as we can build
reserves for federal impact Aid and then as we build our budget we can determine how much we want to use of that Reserve from federal impact Aid to help support our budget each year okay so then with the rear money but when we still look at Federal revenues down like fourth line from the bottom
we're still we're seeing Less Direct federal revenue is that I I would make sure I would understand yeah the federal revenue is a mix so the other federal revenue that's referenced there is grant money and so our Title One allocations our Ida allocations they since the Esser
grants all expired that reflects as a decrease in Revenue all right so so really total federal revenue is more than just Federal impact the else okay thank you that's what I need to understand
that's I'm sorry go ahead oh microphone sorry and so on the miscellaneous Revenue that the srex are down are we are we then enrolled in the T-Rex that'll come right after that that that because they're totally different
dollar amounts I'm not sure that were're eligible for that in the current program that we were in um Mr Cass did Express that we will still receive a dividend but it would just be a lot less than we were yeah because it's timing of when you implement things but then the state jumped from
srex I want to say a couple um probably seven years ago to T-Rex so it's a it's a it's a 10 x difference right so srex usually coming in at 225 of w and T-Rex are coming in at 22 but it depends on when you implement the um piece but it
would just be interesting to know eventually is that going to go away or are we transitioning to the other re so he probably knows the answer yeah I I'll follow but if you could follow up just be curious thanks um this is an explanation of our debt service so this is like our mortgage what debt do we have
outstanding so um our budgeted fund balance is um generated from the bonds that we sold from the referendums as we generate interest on those on that money in the bank we have to apply that to our debt service which helps us decrease The
Debt Service tax levy um so The Debt Service tax levy is going down about $35,000 additionally we had a reduction of $227,000 because we had some bonds that were paid off so that all helps to
support the decrease in The Debt Service tax levy start so the from the program description is I'm going to walk closer because even with my glasses I can't see some of those numbers um I just want to talk a little bit about some of the outliers so you'll see some um increases
and some decreases uh some of the decreases specifically in the library and the special education they're really because of breakage it's not that we're reducing staff in those areas it means we've had some staff retire so we've been able to hire some staff at at a lesser cost which kind of adjusts the
the overall salary amount for for those um trans ation we had a 3.5% increase to the contracted routes we've also added um we've had several students that that need uh for special needs students that need additional transportation that also
includes that if we need a um a a nurse on a bus or a one to18 on a bus and then that also increases those areas as well so then that that accounts for the the transportation increase um operations um and maintenance we have had a uh an
increase in our utility cost as well as this is where we put those high school security monitors um and also the duplication Services as well while we've had the duplication Services previously by now Contracting with um with Rico um as has been discussed over
the past couple months um then it goes into a different line item so it's kind of like shifting from one line to to another in there um any other sure one of the major cost increases was health benefits oh thank
you no problem so um we budgeted for 133% increase in medical coverage 18% increase in prescription coverage and a 7 and a half% increase in dental coverage um while that is actually pretty high um we are still below the
average of the 27% that the State Health Benefit Plan is expecting so while it's high it definitely could be worse and then one of the other major decreases was the decrease in the capital outlay for $990,000 and there's another slide to go through that later but that's just
reflective of the change in the projects that we have budgeted for and so you'll see that as we go forward so even if we just connect the um increase in in health benefits and the transportation that's almost $1.5 million that's again we're just very thankful for the increase in state aid to be able to help
us um account for some of those increases as well Dr zman I think it's important to specify special education with the specialized AIDS we need I know that's one of the line items that's 177% Y in there um know he said the the nurse on the bus but I think it's important that they realize that's a big line item
as well absolutely I was just going to get to it on the breakout of the next the next slide so but but I I your your spot on Mr figs um is that on the increase when this breaks down some of the uh the the highlights of the the
budget uh Appropriations um and as Mr figs was just saying with the increase of uh 400 I think it's 4 and some odd thousand dollar uh for for special education um we have some students who who um need uh significant services and
and have one toone AIDS those one one AIDS are actually included in the special education budget um and those increases are really IEP driven so this is a um highlight of budget appropriation where we can see the changes you'll see a large decrease
in technology for $197,000 and that was really Shifting the cost of our computers so we took that cost out of the budget and put it in our spending plan so each year Mr Cass develops a spending plan where we buy larger items with money that is um
unspent at the end of the year so we were able to take that out of our next year appropriation to buy them this year through the spending plan um as Dr Zuckerman mentioned you'll see decrease in resource room and that really is um more moving of staff not a decrease in
staff or a decrease in overall expenditures but just shift in the population of the teachers um and you'll see the increases in facilities the duplication Services Dr Zuckerman mentioned the utility increase and the general Administration increase of
82,000 is really just a shifting of the interest payment we're paying off an old lease for the weight room and so as our interest payments decrease we're starting a new lease payment for the turf and so that's replacing that interest payment um again the capital
outlay there's another slide to explain that 990,000 decrease our debt service interest is decreasing as we've spent out that referendum money and um again we had um Debt Service principal decrease because we paid off some bonds so this is the capital outlay
explanation for the last um three years so in 2024 you can see the capital outlay budget was 2.7 million and the projects that we budgeted for in that capital outlay budget so the East parking lot faculty bathrooms were completed um guidance Suite renovation
High School Renovations for the cafeterias in 2025 we have a little bit less projects um we uh lease finan for the Health and Wellness Center is completed this year um the interest in the capital reserve account um we're
budgeting a little bit more we are addressing the public address system at the middle school the LED lighting at the middle school um window security film at the middle school security vble at the middle school that was already completed uh electronic door locks that
were completed at the middle school and we're working on a high school Courtyard project so the high school Courtyard project just real is because we have the unit lunch the students really like the the outdoor eating so it's going to enable us to to use the old main
entrance um of the of the high school as a courtyard and then we're actually putting a a a picture window in the um eastc as well so then that way then we can have a better sight line in there and so in 26 um 2026 budget we
have the new lease for the synthe Synthetic Turf um and we have the high school Courtyard project I'm sorry I picked that up in the wrong year um and we are replacing the gymnasium doors in the East um based on security we can't lock those doors when the build in the
evening when the buildings not being used and we are replacing the windows in the west cafeteria so that we can see out in that courtyard where the kids also eat lunch so is 2025 really 325,000 higher then and then total capital outlay for
26 is 700,000 is that transposed you said no I think I just picked up the um cost of the courtyard when I was talking about 2025 instead of 26 so it's right there I was just I just mentioned it in the wrong Year got us
cool this is the tax levy apportionment so the tax levy um apportionment is based on the regional enrollment and how many students that we have um attending Northern from each district and um it gives us a percentage share of the tax levy so it's a comparison of
2425 and so you can see that the percentage share has shifted it's in increase for Chesterfield for Mansfield it's gone down Slightly North Hanover has gone up slightly and Springfield has increased slightly so Mr Cass would want
to emphasize that even if we did not raise taxes at all there still would be a shift in the tax levy for each town because of the enrollment numbers this is the sorry this is the tax impact at a glance so this just demonstrates how that apportionment is
played out against our tax levy um it shows that with Chesterfield the um current tax levy overall is going to go up six well for the average assess house it'll go up $241 um Mansfield will go down to go
down $126 North Hanover will have an increase of $51 66 and Springfield will also have an increase of $180 192 and here's a five-year average of the tax impact um Mr cads would like to
emphasize the decrease for most of the districts over the five years but each year you can see the um tax impact um this is the current year that we're dealing with um and the decreases that each Township has experienced over the
years did you want to start in Bank cap or you want me to start I'll speak back into your so this is the bank cap analysis um Bank cap is generated when we have expenses but we do not exceed our 2% tax levy so in 2425 we had a million dollars
of Bank cap that expired because we did not use it and this year for the 25 26 budget based on the increase of um health benefits we generated an additional 830 $4,000 of Bank cap so our
total Bank cap balance for 2526 is $1,229 1,229 $2,912 and you have three years to use that bank cap before it expires so as we saw in one of the first slides we had a decre an a decrease of
our extraordinary Aid of over of over $750,000 um we're very fortunate to be able to have that that made up in some of the other Cate um state aid categories uh we've also talked about the uncertainty of our federal impact Aid um and next year we're going to also have a new governor it happens to be
that Governor Murphy has been has been um has stayed with funding education um and stayed to increasing the funding for education and we're we're uncertain about what that may look like with with a new governor so just my my thoughts that I think as as a district we are
looking at our expenditures to be able to make sure that we're being fiscally responsible with that as we always have but also just kind of looking to to plan ahead we just had an increase of of $1.1 million for health benefits over $400,000 for special education so we want to make sure that we're being
cognizant that that we're being uh forward planning um it Bank cap may be an area that we may need to discuss and may want to discuss for for future use fortunately right now for this year we're we're not in that in that situation if I could for a minute please
so Bank cap is something that that has always for all the years I've been School Board member has really been a trigger for me and I make sure that we're all clear and we all understand banked cap is the ability to go and raise taxes beyond the 2% cap that we have correct so this isn't money that
we've saved and put aside this is an allowance to go above and beyond so I make sure that the board understands that and the public as well this isn't like we have fund Surplus that's been been put away right this is this is our ability to go tax Beyond 2% correct
generated you get certain waivers so when you have extraordinary costs and one of them being health benefits for example it generates um additional Revenue that you could possibly use if if needed corre and obviously the intent is that the planning and everything is to be able to stay under that but then
with some of the uncertainties it it leads that that just for the F the need for future discussions from enr from enrollment I'm sorry I mean I think it's important to note too that we let that million-dollar Bank cap expire I know a lot of
districts out there just when they have Bank cap they they take advantage of it and use it um whenever they can so you know I think this board as long as I've been on it we've never had to use Bank cap and we've we've I think ba and superintendent have done a good job to make sure that the budget incorporates
not having to use that you know being aware that it's there in in the large jumps that we see is important to know of but I think it's important to note that we haven't used that bank cap in the this is the sixth year I've seen this any of those years I think is important as well absolutely and and
you're right there are some districts that will absolutely use every single penny that's available to them so but I don't think that's I don't think it's been our approach but I want to make sure that for the again for the purpose of the public right that this isn't money that hey we have off on the side that we we've saved that's not what it
is right especially when it's termed you know I banked right it it it's tends to sound like it's been saved so but it makes sense because if there's we're leading into a position of uncertainty the more we have cap the better in case there's anything that happens that we
just can't account for right I think it's prudent that we're doing that I mean state allows us right and it's really ultimately it's you know healthc care is one of those exceptions right that that generates that so and that's I think what we have the option to go forward and use that with I think
we've got exceptions around that anyway don't we in terms of if we if healthc care goes to a certain level that we can reach more than two% yes yeah I think that's the only stipulation that allows you to go beyond right there's a few
exceptions I don't recall them all Okay cool so um what is our bank cap right now I can't see it from here 1 million million and ch 1, to uh to take to use that well when you use Bank cap it becomes part of your tax
levy and it comes part of your base so are your 2% increases each year b% would go to four or five easily right with that the 2% is is approxim just over $420,000 so that would be going up
another right 5% on top of that so potentially to seven again not suggesting that we're that we're no I'm not I'm just saying that instead of 2% correct we go up 7% correct yeah and I'm not right so from an enrollment standpoint
this is our current enrollment I think this chart makes it a little bit more exaggerated than what our our decrease has been from the 201819 school year we have reduced um by our enrollment by 72 students um and it's been little dribs and drabs we also have a very transient
population within the military too so that 72 we could have an increase of 50 for for next year looking we are constantly working with our our sending districts with with the um from throughout the region to be able to look at their enrollment um over the next
couple years so we can kind of predict some Trends and see where where we need to increase if because if we see a trend over the next five years we may be able to reduce staff um in the middle school or increase staff at the high school whatever is needed we can fluctuate based on what their projected
enrollments are this is obviously the the same chart just in in a different Trend each line is is just identifying um where things are uh we'll see that the North Hanover um population over the same um 7year
span has has decreased uh slightly the Chesterfield uh population has increased slightly uh Mansfield has also seen a decrease and and uh Springfield has decrease over the seven years but obviously stayed pretty consistent over the last four or five
this is our district adequacy statement apologize for the size of the font this is like obviously taking the page from the state and kind of putting it on the slide correct so the district ad adequacy statement is from the state it's part of our um budget and what the
state does is they determine what would be an adequate budget for Northern Burlington and so that number is about 43 million um it then looks at what the potential what they believe the potential of tax levy should be at Northern for Northern Burlington School
District which um based on the assessed values and the income of the towns and so they use those two numbers they believe that number is 28 million um our tax levy is at 23 million and so they use that 28 million um that they believe our tax levy should be at and that 42
million and that's how they determine our Equalization Aid so that difference is $5 million and so this screen shows that we are under adequacy at um five million so I like to put things in late people's terms uh so then that means
that we are working more efficiently and we are budgeting more efficiently than what the state um would expect us to on tonight's agenda you'll see the resolution to um adopt the tensive budget um earlier in the presentation um
there was the date of submitting the budget to the county on the 19th so after tonight's adoption um rich will submit the budget to the county on the 19th yes also on the agenda is the annual um
travel maximum resolution setting the maximum resol maximum travel for the district at $100,000 which we do not spend that much we're not going to come anywhere close to that but it is a statutory requirement that we that the board also approves that which is why you'll see them on separate um agenda
items on this evening's agenda and lastly another required approval setting the maximum to be spent on public Rel relations at $35,000 there's also a non a non-consent item for that and this is the happy board any
questions sorry what do we usually spend on those two things right so we're we're determining a sum but like did we take a look at what so public relations is actually um my secretary is also part-time uh well not part-time she's full-time but she supports myself and
Human Resources um office um from a a a um administrative professional and she also works as our communication specialist so that's really where where that other where that portion of the of the um public relations comes from um and as far as the the travel the the
travel allotment is everything from staff travel um the the mileage to the this the school boards conference to when we go down to to naphis or or any of the the military conferences um and which I would say probably would never
exceed $35,000 um and I mean I I don't think we we ran a report on that but I I think that's even probably a highball estimate for that so why then make the maximum that high if we don't even cut in because if we're under that we cannot we
can never expend more like meaning like it would cut off all all travel for that got it so let's say that if we made it $10,000 and we hit $10,000 before school boards then then we cannot um reimburse or going to school boards okay thanks any other
questions all right thank you so much all right uh with that if I can uh again agenda item 7.16 is non-consent agenda item for the approval of the submission of the tenative 2526 budget uh can I get a motion for 7.16 second
um any further discussion or comments amongst the board right uh Miss Williams if you could please do a roll call vote sure Mr figs yay Mr AR yay Mr bucks nay Mr Norwick yay Mrs Janice yay and Mr
Zimmer yes all right the motion passes all right 7.17 is non-consent agenda item for the approval of the travel maximum for 2526 uh can I get a motion for
7.17 to make the motion for 7.17 and a second Mrs Williams if you could please do a all call vote sure question oh sure I'm sorry so I I missed that discussion or the question earlier this is on
tonight for the purpose of for which purpose this is the travel maximum for the district all all travel site we have to every year we have to approve the the travel maximum for the year same with the public relations so this is I'm just I'm why
March versus the beginning of the year one way or another I believe it's in conjunction with the budget we approve it in conjunction with the budget part of the budget okay thank you that's our was y any other questions or comments for 7.17 right U Mrs Williams you could
please do a roll call vote sure Mr figs yay Mr AR yay Mr bucks yay Mr narwood yes Mrs Janice yeah and Mr Zummer
yes all right motion passes thank you and then 7.18 is non-consent agenda item for the approval of the public relations maximum for 2526 uh can I get a motion for 7.18 motion second right and Mrs Williams if you
could please do a roll call vote Mr figs yay Mr AR yay Mr bucks yay Mr narwood yes M Janice yay and Mr zimra yes um motion motion I don't know the
voices as well I think it was Mr was it I think Paul was the second I was the second yeah thank you all right that we will progress with the categories of consent agenda items so
section8 is students um any questions or comments on Section 8 consent agenda items all right section n is Personnel appointments uh any questions or comments on Section n right we have no items in section 10 section 11 is leaves of absence any
questions or comments for Section 11 right section 12 separation of employment any comments or questions section 13 is Personnel miscellaneous uh any questions for Section 13 section 14 is programs any questions or comments for section
14 a quick question y so there's a contract here for a speaker in terms of um when a speaker comes in the building are they still subject to the same sort of rules background and that sort of thing it really depends if they're going to be alone with students um if there's somebody who's just a speaker and in
this case I believe it's for the for the steered straight um with with substance it so they're never going to be alone they're going to be gu there correct y so if there's somebody who's a uh going to work in in the library and then going to be uh potentially alone with students then then they would have
to be all right uh any other questions or comments on section 14 all right uh section 15 is policy any comments or questions on section 15 right we have no items in section 16
section 17 is use of facilities any questions or comments for Section 17 all right um we will vote on the roll call agenda next week's regular board meeting um Mr Lee are there any signups for public comment all right thank you
uh future dates um next week there is a community relations committee meeting prior to the board meeting um which is the March regular board meeting um there is an additional Personnel committee meeting prior to the April 14th regular board meeting um is there any old
business that the board like to refer to a committee or request from Dr Zar or Mr Cass to discuss at next week's meeting is there any new business that any members would like to refer a committee or request an update for from Dr Zer Mr Cass at next week's
meeting how about a quick discussion so in the I think in the past I've raised I guess the the structure of the agenda and tonight in the work session I think is a really good example especially where we had some non-consent items I still don't know and even as a board member that's now been here I've well
been in attendance to the public for quite a few years and then also now here for over a year um it's still really not clear to me in any given work work session agenda what we're going to take action on in this meeting so um I'd like to see
us and I don't know which committee it should go to to even be discussed but I'd like to see us actually break this out so that there's actually a section that talks about preparation of the agenda for the regular meeting versus the way we intersperse all this tonight
right we took action on 713 714 whatever that was and it's interspersed with the rest of the agenda and that agenda is for next week's meeting y does that make sense what I'm what I'm saying yep um I mean I guess one thought discussion is
should this agenda only include the non-consent items and then the regular meeting consent agenda items basically be posted in a separate tab but I don't want people to think it's being hidden because it's not on the agenda here like I don't you know what I mean if you put it separately is next week's meeting
early part of me think the limitation of of board docks you you know I've seen place where we kind of I've seen it done differently um I just I think we could do a better job of kind of breaking that out I think the intent is to put it in
the category where where it is I mean and so I I certain and I agree I mean I I don't think we want to hide anything and complicate anything by having like another section or a different agenda for something I mean it may be maybe even like I I don't know if it's
possible to do like a line and then under that category and then hear all the be acting tonight or whatever some way shape or form to call it out and say and likewise right and likewise next week we're going to have the non-consent item for the auditorium um on that agenda and again not trying to hide
anything it's really just trying to be um make sure we're doing our due diligence which is why it's not on on on this evening and I get it right we're we're building a structure within board dos so that it looks like the agenda for next week's meeting I just don't know that it's very clear like when I look at
this as it exists right now now I can't tell that we were going to actually vote tonight I mean I know because of the updates that I've got from you Dr Zuckerman but as if I was a member of the public I wouldn't know that hey the board's GNA actually take a vote on 713 714 tonight as an example so I I think
there's a way we can do that but I'm not sure what that is or again where to refer that to my thoughts are for the policy committee and granted I don't want to necessarily wait until June for for our next meeting but I mean it really with the obviously the the bylaws being within the within policies to be able I think it makes the most sense for
that committee yeah and that's my thought too yeah 164 is the policy that has the agenda and because we actually talked about it because 164 is not the the clearest Le most clear delineation and that's why I said one of the re things that I know Jill's working on is making it like what the the categories
are a little bit more clear with description paragraphs in between you know and that's exactly it I would love to put the ones that are for next week in italics but I don't know that board dos lets you do that right you know italicized items or business to be taken at the regular meeting but I don't know what again boru I they can't even get
the it doesn't fit on my screen properly so boru is far from uh ideal in terms of their operating system um you Mr Lee knows whenever I go to the conference that's the first thing I do is walk to their table and say you guys can update your your program so I can actually function and use it I even brought my
Chromebook to show them like I have to scroll side to side to read items mid agenda so um but yeah I mean that's yeah like I said and even in the short term it's just hey to be actioned on such and such date like be a help we you know you can even see in the beginning with the
students the month we put regular meeting in parenthesis you know obviously to put that on every consent agenda item but maybe you yeah the non-consent you put in parentheses work session right to to counter with the the regular meeting and that kind of would work the way we were talking Kevin with the things that we know will be non-consent next week they maybe
unfilled out information to follow but it's showing some semblance maybe it's just using those parentheses until we find a clean cleaner way forx to operate so but yeah I mean that's something that yeah I think that's 164 I know for a fact it's 164 in the policy um to
be yep yep so um yeah I know we were talking about just making it clear in our board dos policy because right now it's hard again with what what limitations you have and how you upload them um but just making it more legible
readable thanks yeah um was there any other new business anyone wanted to recommend to committee or request for update from Mr Cass or Dr suckerman or the high school or High School Middle School principal for that
all right um we do not have executive session tonight we do okay um with that um we will move into executive session we we did give um we will not be conducting any business following executive session
um can I get a motion to go into executive session make a motion to go into executive session and a second second all right all those in favor I I all opposed abstentions right and as I mentioned
there will be no business when we return e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e okay if you want it together I'll do make a motion to come out of executive session and adjourn okay yeah uh so all those in favor of
returning the public session I all right extensions nay all right uh then we have Ajman make a motion for Ajman and a second all right all those in favor I Yay all opposed extensions all right