like to call the meeting to order. This is a special meeting of the Oakland Board of Education. Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in accordance with chapter chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 entitled the Oakland Open Public Meetings Act. Adequate notice of this meeting was
provided by mailing notice of the time, date, location, and uh to the extent note agenda of this meeting to the Courier Post in retrospect on April 2nd, 2025. Copies of the notice have also been posted in the board office located at 100 Lees Avenue and the school and filed
with the burough clerk burrow clerk. Um we'll call for attendance. Mr. DeMarco here. Mrs. Falel here. Mrs. Love here. Mrs. Marian here. Mr. McMillan is away. Mrs. Rotando here. Mr.
Schaefer here. Mr. Sts here. Mr. Tabby here. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one
nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right, we're going um going to flip items one and two uh or two and three rather so we can uh see the budget presentation, get the details, and then we'll go into our public comment
section. That way everybody has the information handy. Um so moving on to uh committee as a whole. Uh, do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor? I
I leave it cuz I never remember to turn. Good evening everyone. Thank you so much uh for attending uh the 2526 uh school budget public hearing. Our theme uh moving into this upcoming school year is supporting our continued
growth. The uh vision and mission uh is is the same. And so our goal is to make sure that uh we appropriately prepare our students for a just world and that it is uh inspiring and empowering to the young people of our community.
And so, as we shared in our last special meeting, um we want to make sure that we are still positioned to continue with our growth. And so, coming back from the pandemic, districts and our contemporaries were struggling in order to be able to maintain degrees of
proficiency. And so the bulk of our time for the last three years has been heavily focused on growth, making sure that we're not losing ground, but that we're also moving young people at the different bands of performance. And so
at any given time in any given classroom, there are going to be four, sometimes five categories of performance. And our school is going through uh every single month and marking period focused on moving child
up one band of performance until we reach proficiency. And so what we have seen is that we have not lost ground over the last three years and want to maintain that. But what you don't see is the growth from students that were uh below basic, they have now gone up two
and sometimes three bands of performance. Students that were almost proficient are now proficient. And so we want to continue with this trajectory until we reach our goal, which is 100% We also want to bring positive attention
to uh one of the other goals of our school which is positive student behavior. And so making sure there is high levels of student engagement, making sure that we're tracking attendance and making sure that we are incentivizing and making it uh fun and engaging and a welcoming place for
students to want to come. And what we have shown over the last three years is a 3.9% decline in chronic absenteeism. What that means is that more students are days of school and they're benefiting uh from our teachers. So we also want to make sure
that we are appropriately framing the current landscape. And so we would categorize 2025 as a time of chaos and uncertainty. We have an escalating mental health crisis. Young people are demanding more and more services in order to be regulated within the school
context. Growing teacher shortage. very we've had an extremely low turnover rate here in Oakland. However, as the years continue to progress, uh those who started off as uh doughy eyed young teachers are not so
young and we're going to start to see retirements over a period of time. And so we want to make sure that we're able to backfill those positions to maintain a continuity of services. Rising cost of goods and services. You will hear about this throughout the presentation. The
inflationary cost are driving extremely tough decisions within our school district and districts like ours. Local uh budget, the impact on taxpayers, this is affecting districts across the state and across the country, the potential
elimination of the United States Department of Education as well as federal programs and services. And so in our district, programs and services that are not yet determined for the coming year are going to be our title one
services, our idea services and so we are waiting with baited breath in order to make sure that we're able to sustain the services that we're currently providing to our students but being able to have a plan in the event uh we start
to see decreases in federal funding like many districts are currently experiencing and to make sure that you understand that this is not some longoff um our sister district in Collinswood, we received a notification on Friday the
cancellation of a mental health grant in that supports social workers is a fiveyear grant and they're canceling it after one year because the statement was that it no longer als with the new goals and objectives of the new
administration in addition to potential reductions in K12 funding that affects the state and then ultimately trickles down to local municipalities. And so what has been done in Oakland to be able to address some of these challenges?
And so over the last year, year and a half, um we have been very fortunate to have uh community members as well as board leaders that have gone to bat and helped us advocate for additional resources as well as funding flexibility. And we're continually
pushing for an outright revision of the school funding formula. Uh the current funding formula disproportionately hurts South Jersey school districts. And so we're pushing for change. The New Jersey policy perspective published a technical report that was
presented to the legislature seeking to identify specific areas where we need to improve school funding. The New Jersey Fair funding collective which was created for Camden County is concerned community members board members on this day that are participating in that fair
funding collective. This is continued advocacy locally pushing for state level change. the public hearings, we had board members go both to Trenton as well as Blackwood to testify on the negative impact on local communities with the
current funding formula. And as a result of the continued advocacy, uh we were provided a one time opportunity for the tax levy incentive program. And so what is this program? The program is a one time exception to
the 2% tax cap law established in 2008, refined in 2009. It has ultimately impacted districts like Oakland since about 2013. And so what
this means is that the funding that's available to be raised is inconsistent with the rising cost of expenses. It's a one time opportunity to raise local and reduce budget deficits and potential funding shortfalls. And then as an
incentive from the state, they will provide one time additional funds 5% of whatever the value of what is raised at the local level. And so why is eligible for this program? The state has determined that Oakland is underfunded locally and has a budget that is below
educational adequacy. And so what does that mean? The state determines there's a dollar am needed to provide a thorough and efficient public education to students. And so the problem with this uh formula
is the state's definition of what is thorough and efficient is not consistent with what our community believes is thorough and efficient for its children. And so things that are not included in a thorough and efficient education are extracurricular activities, targeted
student level of support, after school program, um additional technology needed to support students, building maintenance. And so the state expects for us to pay for all of these things, but they don't include that in the development of their
formula, which then shifts that burden back onto local residents and taxpayers. So, I'm going to turn it over to our business administrator. She's going to talk about the numbers and then I will even comparison of our enrollment in
Oakland. Um, so we have about 14 children are estimated for next school year. So, what I do is I count the children in October. I submit the enrollments in October. Um, and that informs the state funding formula because it's supposed to be based on the number of children. And then Trenton has
a fiveyear weighted average scale on the trends for each district. Um, so they are projecting Oakland up slightly. So um, I've obviously increased the numbers accordingly. So about 14 additional
children for next year. So this slide is a little different than prior years for those of you who have been following. Um Trenton has requested um because we are changing budget tonight the public hearing for the tax levy incentive aid program that I break out specifically the state aid that
we're receiving for the for the um tax levy incentive program. And that's also why the resolution is so long. The one item is like three pages long. Um that was actually directed by Trent. They wanted line item accounting of where the funds are going and where the being
placed. So in preparation of the 2526 school year um we had 399,000 of surplus and surplus just is basically unspent funds from the year before um after it's been audited and certified that is funds available. So what the law says if we
have excess funds then I have to use it um as revenue in the in the next coming school year. Um so was 399,000 and that is down from the year before local on the table tonight.
6,880,000. We have a $300,000 uh withdrawal from our tuition reserve because we're a sending district and we send to Collinswood. There's certain reserves that we can set aside in June of every year, kind of like a savings account. Once we close our books um in the month of June, we can set aside
funds for unanticipated future costs, but only specific areas. If you're a send receive relationship like Oakland is or Collins would, we can set aside money in case there's a large spike in tuition cost. In addition, we
can set aside money for a capital project and a capital reserve or maintenance reserve. So that brings me to the next two line items. We're mainting maintenance of the building. We're drawing 15,000 from our cat
reserve and that is going to fun. We're putting railings um on the main floor where Mrs. 's office but the ramp the carpeted ramp we're going to put railings safety railings state 2.9 million so it's
27.7% this is on a decline when I started in college about 17 years ago was about 30% Oakland was hovering about 28 21% so it is on a decline um stated for the tax level program the onetime pot of money that Trenton is
kicking in it's not a lot but we will be able to buy some items with this and that's $21,429 semi Medicaid. This is one of these programs that Dr. M was just speaking about. We were mandated by Trenton years ago for all districts to participate in this. So some of our children that
receive specialized um like OT PT and one nursing services we get money back for Medicaid um usually on a good year $45,000 quite a bit of money for a tiny school district
like I'm told by Trenton to expect 1600 next year. So it's a sizable um reduction. In addition, I believe this is one of the programs that's on the slate for the Fed to cut. They're fighting right now. So it's possible it's going to go away completely in the coming year. Miscellaneous income of
about $6,995 is basically money earned sitting in the bank. And then rentals. Oakland runs three classrooms to Collinswood for Collins preschool program for those of us I like pictures
so those of us that see it um surplus accounts for about 3.7% of revenue maintenance reserve 1% tuition 2.8 state aid 27.7 and 64% coming from local
taxes and this is how we And to be honest, I think instruction and student services should be together. The way Trenton has um the DOE budget, it's actually broken into specific categories. Instruction's $8.3 million or almost 78% of the budget. Student
services and these are things like child study teams. Those fall into that category. So I believe they're instruction worthy as well. But this is how Trenton has spoke that out. That's almost 13%. Facilities
and add cost 4%. Sorry about that. And just if you like pictures and this is what everybody wants to know. So 2526 tax levy proposed tonight
on the agenda $6,880,970. Average household increase $31.80 a month or $38155 per year. Thank you. We have a few district priorities um moving into this upcoming
year. So we want to make sure that we improve the alignment of our administrative services. And so we want to make sure that we're providing additional support where support is needed at the school level. continue to identify strategies to secure additional school funding,
actively pursue additional revenue streams. And so one of the things that has grown very apparent to us is that the state is shifting the responsibility more to localities. And so there's a threshold
that that most communities can sustain and then there is an unsustainable threshold. And so as a district and as a school, we're going to be focused on identifying philanthropic dollars, institutional levels of support, external resources uh through
partnership to be able to bring in additional revenues to support our students. And then we want to commit uh to retaining our dedicated staff. And so our our teachers in honor of teacher appreciation week uh our teachers have
been over the last several years as we transition students, as we provide for their needs that are growing in degrees of complexity with declining resources. And so the team here in Oakland has
really focused in they've removed some of the minutia that doesn't have a positive effect on kids and they're really drilling down on a daily basis and doing the absolute most important things to be able to impact young people. And what we're seeing is
students are growing. Students are improving. Students are thriving. Do we still have uh areas to improve? Absolutely. All school districts do. But our staff is working incredibly hard. We want to continue with that progress. Curriculum and
instruction. And so in 1985, uh those of you that are uh my age or a couple years older, we used to carry our books big. book bags. They don't really sell books anymore. They sell digital resources
that they charge you fees and then they have consumable products that are proprietary. And so what we're experiencing is is uh trying to figure out ways to navigate to get students with the resources that they need, but in the most economical way. The
standards in ELA and math, they change on an annual basis, and we want to make sure that we're keeping up with pace and that we're providing resources for our teachers to be able to engage our young people. We will continue implementation of the science of reading. We will also focus on
continually improving the quality of teaching and learning, specifically by making sure our teachers have resources, but also focus on our coaching model, increasing targeted levels of student support, making sure that small group instruction continues to meet the
needs. We're also going to be using universal diagnostic screeners so that teachers are looking at the right information for the right students and prescribing the right support at the right time to continue with that growth.
And then we also are focused on increasing high quality early childhood educational seats uh for all qualifying families in Oakland. costsaving uh measures. And so these are systems that are currently in place. Uh we're continually looking for
opportunities to provide uh service at the most economical cost. And so uh external relationship management, actively seeking grants, partnerships, additional resources to bring back into our school. Uh we participate in insurance joint ventures which lowers
the cost of our insurance. And in positive years, we actually receive refunds and dividends which goes back into supporting our schools. We are in a utilities consortium because we want to be able to pay for uh energy,
water, and sewer at the lowest cost in addition to belonging to the ed services commission for cooperative purchasing of student supplies and technology. And then we benefit greatly from the shared service agreement between Oakland and Collinswood where we share
administration, business services, child study team, custodial maintenance, technology and safety. And so there are significant reductions in operational expenses based on that partnership. Trash removal is provided by Oakland Public Works. And then by ensuring that
we have high quality programs, we dramatically decrease the likelihood of students needing to go to private placement out of district. And so the cost of private placement for the average student is between 70 and
120,000 per child. And so it behooves us to make sure we have high quality programs here in this building to be able to reduce the likelihood of having to send young people away outside of the
And that concludes our presentation. Um members, we are open for your questions. Before we get started with questions, there's a brief statement I want to share with the public. As Dr. Matt outlined, we are in
a pivotal moment in our district. We've been provided an opportunity to take control of our financial destiny regardless of changing federal or state mandates. Um, and I really wanted to begin tonight by uh providing the community uh a detailed timeline and
some crucial clarity on our strategic vision to rightsize the budget. Um, highlighting our our desire as a board to keep the needs of our students and the financial impact of our community at the forefront. As mentioned since 2009, New
Jersey school funding formula has faced ongoing criticism for its limitations, particularly with the imposition of a 2% annual tax on tax levy increases. While was intended to provide taxpayer relief, the proven
increasingly ineffective in addressing the actual financial needs of school districts across the state. As we've seen in the news, Oakland is not alone in that. Um over time the constrained revenue growth coupled with rising costs associated with inflation, contractual obligations and the increased demands of
providing a third efficient education has led to a growing structural budget deficit or gap um in districts across this state. This widening gap uh between available funding and necessary expenditures has forced difficult choices. A core tenant of effective
governance and one that resonates strongly with the current presidential administration is the principle of empowering local communities and states to make decisions that best serve their unique needs. Addressing the shortcomings of the current state funing formula aligns perfectly with this
philosophy by enabling our district to exercise greater control over its financial destiny and educational priorities. pursuit of additional funding at its heart is about ensuring that our decisions impacting our
students are made here at the local level, not by those by those who understand our communities specific needs the best. I firmly believe that our board of education has diligently embraced this responsibility and in doing so we have a unique opportunity, one that may not come again to enhance
the educational experience for every Oakland student. provide a clear understanding of the comprehensive process that we've undergone since March 28th, about a month ago, which has included five formal meetings along with
countless emails and phone calls. Um, I'd like to walk everyone in the community through some of the key dates and resulting decisions. Um, and I want to once again commend the tireless dedication and urgency uh that our board of education uh and district administration have displayed uh in
navigating this complexities of this budget this year. Uh March 28th, 2025 was when the initial guidance came out from the state of the tax uh incentive aid program. In short, the guidance gave districts permission to uh increase uh
the tax base over the 2% provided we utilized all current avenues of income. Um, also allowing us to uh the state to kick in a 5% um allocation um to offset
that. Wednesday, April 9th, as we scrambled, that was our first public meeting um to discuss uh the funding options. That was a special meeting um to apply, not to approve the budget, but to just to apply to the state for the program. Um at that point in time uh
board decided to apply for the full amount. We didn't want to leave any money on the table um and wanted to have as much freedom as possible moving forward to decide the best path. And looking at that uh the district administration and board
finance committee really honed in on uh several plans to try to frame our thinking. So option A would have been to go for the full adequacy funing. would have been a $750,000 increase to the budget. Um that
would have eliminated the adequacy gap completely. Um and it restored all of our programming staff. That would have been uh an increase of $588 annually or $449 a month. Option B
uh was a medium funding increase for 550,000 um would have paired down what we would be bringing back and have brought us to a $460 annual uh tax or
$3825 monthly. And then option C that we discussed was uh $300,000, which would have only restored uh two teachers uh that were cut in previous budget cycles. That would have
been uh $299 annually or $24.92 monthly. Um that brought us to April 14th, a mere two weeks after the application or after the state sent out their guidance to have that uh sent out. So uh we approved
the application for the full amount, sent that off to the state for approval, which we were sub subsequently approved for. Um the conversations that we've had went well beyond just the finance committee. Um, you know, we engaged the entire
board throughout a variety of committee meetings to have these discussions with district administration, with Miss Balden, um, as our building principal. And one of the things that we came to a realization with those three options that we kind of outlined originally,
just to frame our thinking, was that we were a little off target. The full amount, the 15.44% % would have been way too much to ask the community. Conversely, the 8.23% or option C uh really just wouldn't give
our school the uh funding it needs. And so through these ongoing discussions, we really came hit at that $450,000 as that sweet spot where we would minimize the uh uh tax burden on the community as
much as possible while still ensuring that the needs of the building are met. Um so all these uh conversations took place um during the April 15th committee meetings um and then during the April 22nd uh finance committee meeting which
we have we have our own special meeting to kind of dig into this a little bit more deeply. I'd like to thank Mr. Stouts, Miss Love, Mr. McMillan for for engaging those conversations um as we had that extra meeting. Um
which brings us to our Saturday, April 28th, last weekend, our meeting, special meeting to revise the application. Uh the state said we applied for the full amount. If you want to change that, you have to reapply so we can approve that.
Um and that was due uh by that Monday. I forget the 28th. 26th and that was due the 28th. Um, so the application that was ultimately sent to uh the Department of Ed was for the
$450,000 increase or a 10.63% adjustment. Um, the roll call at our Saturday meeting, we had seven for one against and one board member not present. That brought us to our April
29th board meeting which was our regularly scheduled meeting. Um, however, the budget hearing was postponed um until we had heard back from the state. Um, which brings us uh to tonight, May 6th. Um, you know, the
purpose for our vote tonight as a board is to uh approve the budget as a whole if that's what the board decides. Um, that will be on the 10.63% 3% adjustment um since that is the amount that was approved by the state
currently and send that up and of course tomorrow um and this is where the timelines really get crazy the state put to place um everything is due to the state by tomorrow. So in the event of a tie in the event that the budget is not approved um all budgeting decisions will
then be turned over to the county superintendent and the department of education. essentially we would lose control. So in closing, I'm just reflecting on a great deal of time and effort that each member of the board of education is committed to this crucial topic. Um I want to echo
the sentiments that I shared earlier this week with the board um and express my appreciation for the hard work and thoughtful consideration that everyone on the board has given to this topic. Um our discussions have been incredibly positive and productive. I'm proud to be working with such a dedicated group of
community leaders administrative team. Um the thoughtful engagement that we've had over this last month has been highly valued. Um and I don't want us to lose sight of that because it's been a lot of hard work. The collaborative effort has ensured that the entire board is well
informed and ready to move on with tonight's vote knowing the impact that will have on our district's future. So, thank you to the board and to the administration for all your dedication. And with that, uh we'll open it up to the board for any questions or comments.
question. We've been approved for $450,000 approximately. Um, can we elect to take less than that amount? You approved for 757. So, we elected to
take less than the full amount at 450. Yeah, you approved for 757, I believe, was the number. Yes. And we elected to go for less at 450. So, yes, you can go less again. We could go this again. Okay. And another question for
you. Just out of curiosity, why didn't this not go back through the finance committee? Which part? The revised budget. We we just had our meeting. Uh I just went through the outline of the
dates, but our last finance uh committee meeting the date here was April 22nd. You were there for that? Yes, I was. But I wasn't there for the decisions that were made with the numbers that are being put in here. Now we made that
decision then and then we voted on Saturday. We we made a decision on the total amount, not the individual items. But that's okay. No other questions. Okay. My understanding is that the terms of the spec specificity of the line items,
that's not something that's voted on. The amount is voted on, but in terms of what goes into which specific line item is up to the district administration to determine. Yes, that's correct. Okay. But we would have input into what's going on there or we should have some
knowledge of what's going in there. If we can go less and due tomorrow, how would we go less? We'd have to change all the numbers as we sit here tonight. Don't leave until it's done. That's why when they send the guidance out, they said they could change your budget up to and at the
public hearing, which is right now. So, to echo some of you know, ful for everyone's hard work here at this table as a board. I know it's a decision that we've all taken and are taking very seriously. Um obviously last meeting I was was the lone no vote. Um as I had
just kind of felt a little more comfortable at at an option that was a little less. Um you know at that point we did have more viable options. We don't have the greatest options obviously as as of right now. Um you know with a budget presumably passing it
is going to bring I think stability um to the funding for for this district, which I'm very grateful for. Um, but in never kind of feeling really at ease in with the option that we we pursued, respectful of the decision we made as a board, but always kind of feeling um
some of the other options that were on the table then, feeling more confident in them. Um, I almost feel a violation of conscious to to approve tonight. Um, I appreciate all the work and I am grateful for I think stability that's going to be brought to the district in
funding. Um, assuming this the budget passes, but in never feeling fully confident and at ease in getting there, uh, I will respectfully be a no tonight. I just wanted to be transparent with everyone here and kind of let you know what my thought process was.
Um, first of all, thank you everybody for showing up. Um, and I think it's a good thing that people have differing opinions because um, it gets the conversation going. I think I made it clear at the last
meeting I was at that I disagree with some portions of the line items, but overall that this is going to bring stability and benefit the district. Um, I'm in a unique position where I was here in seventh grade when uh Oakland
transitioned to K to 5 after being K to9 uh because of some budget shortfalls and I don't want us to in a position like a neighboring district where we see layoffs and we see massive resations.
Um, with that in mind though, I think that after the vote tonight that we as a board need to commit to exploring reducing non- studententf facing areas. I think that is extremely important. Um,
so we do have money set aside and I also think we need to evaluate um changes that have been made in the administration over the past few years, whether that be increases um spending and see where we can make changes there.
Um, obviously I don't think there's a win-win scenario for this. People are getting affected and hurt either way. But again, I may disagree with portions of the line items items, but this is
still money that's going into our district that's going to protect um our our teachers for years ahead. I would just add that I have been so conflicted with this entire thing. Um I
think he said it well. There's no uh none of ideal. I don't um really feel I guess what Todd said in conscience great about approving this. The one thing that would make me
feel worse about it though is leaving the state the county office to designing our budget. So, um I would like to say and I I think this is the plan anyway. So, you guys can confirm for me, we're going to hear from our community before we vote, correct?
So, maybe I might change my mind by then, but we'll see. I just want to hear what the what our Oakland community has to say about it. I want to add a gentle reminder to the board because I think it's important for
us not to have selective amnesia. And so if you recall those who were on the board, we had an opportunity two years ago about almost $200,000 and then seven months later we had to start laying off people that we
would not have had to lay off if we had exercised our advocate of unnecessary increases in in taxation. However, um we're dealing with an extremely
challenging um uncertain time and the fewer uh options that the board has um is not good. And so, for example, last week we
had a new family move in and that child is out of district coming into the district. That is a 75 to into the budget that we already know that was not budgeted for in previous
years. And so we have these rising costs. We have high degrees of uncertainty. And what this opportunity allows the board to do is to provide to Aiden's point and consistency of services to
students with minimal disruptions. What happens if we do not have if the board does not have the flexibility to make decisions? We do cuts, reductions, and decreases to services to students. Um, and I would
just uh gently remind us is that we've we've come a long way. Um, our students are moving in the right direction. Our teachers are working incredibly hard, but they need additional support in order to deal with what's coming. Plainly, what keeps me up at night at
this point, because I think we're all in agreement, this is a terribly difficult decision. Um, and we're all feeling the weight of that. Um, what keeps me up at night is the thought of five years from now, 10 years from now, for the Oakland community to say,
"Hey, what did that that board have the chance to do X, Y, and Z in 2025? Why the heck didn't they do it?" Um, and So that that's something for for me personally that keeps me up. I I want to do right by the community, not not just in the short term and and minimizing a
tax increase as much as possible, but also in the long term of of broadening that tax base so that you know down the road they're saying, "All right, you know, those those guys in 2025, they had a tough decision to make, but they did right. They did right by us." So I think
that is really weighing on me as well. One thing that's weighing on me as well is well, this is a terribly difficult decision, but I also was present for graduation last year as we said goodbye
to two staff. We're an extremely small, wonderful, close-knit community. Two staff members was catastrophic in my opinion as a parent, as a community member. And I'm very I've also as a
parent seen the difference that you know a year can make without enough people there. So I think it's it's hard where when you're a small ship and there's a big wind it moves you much more than a bigger
neighboring district. And I think one of the greatest things about our community is what we have been able to do when we band together. So I hope that we can continue to go in that direction. to to that point I was talking with a
colleague about uh referendums district referendums and they had said I've never heard of a district that passed a referendum on the first try and I very quickly said Oakland did right before the pandemic you know and thank goodness we did because we were able to do a lot
of these facilities upgrades that we just would not be able to do at this point but so again just just bringing it back to the community stepping it up for the school and being being willing to support this wonderful wonderful district that we have. So, you know,
kudos to the community for that as well. Any other thoughts or comments from the board? All right, hearing none. Can we get a motion to close the move? All in favor? opposed. Motion
passes. At this point, this point in time, we will make a motion to go into our first public comment of the night. Um, members are please stand, state your name and address, keep your comments to five minutes or less. If you prefer, you can just leave your name and address.
There's a sign in sheet over on the table there. The purpose of the first public comment section is to discuss items listed on the agenda. Additional more general comments may be made in the uh second public comment portion of the meeting. Uh the public is reminded that
attempts to resolve all concerns and complaints should first go through appropriate staff members and or administrators. increase. So also You said So, I was wondering how I've never been a good education.
household. I guess is All right. Any other public comments? Any other public comments? All right. Any other comments? Motion to close public comments section. All right, we'll close the
public comment section and yeah, Dr. community um for your feedback uh for your concerns. Um it takes guts to be able to speak in public. Um so thank you for having the courage uh to speak to
speak the truth about the impact of this. And so one of the the reoccurring themes was reassurances. So I just want to make sure that we're being very clear and transparent about how school budgets are determined. So,
Oakland, and I'm not tooting our own horn. What I'm doing is I'm just reaffirming the decisions that not just this board, but multiple boards have done over the last 10 years. And so, when uh and you heard Aiden kind of
share, Oakland has gone through multiple transitions over the last 10 to 15 years. Uh some were very much needed and some were And so from a financial perspective, the
Oakland boards uh including this one, they have continued to be extremely mindful of the financial impact on the local community. Um we are operating an extremely lean budget here in Oakland.
And so in order to be able to maintain the independence that the community has asked for, that the board uh appropriately supports and continues to advocate for Um there are costs associated with that for small districts. And so one of the things um
new districts don't pop up of this size because the cost uh to operate is is is overwhelming due to previous generations significant investments. And you heard uh the Rearen family talk about um just having a facility of this magnitude. To
rebuild a facility like this would be 50 to 60 million to to build new um and that's uh that's being uh conservative in terms of the cost. And so this is a huge value that it takes uh resources in
order to be able to maintain. And this board has been extremely mindful in making wise uh and frugal bill decisions that are that are um most uh uh beneficial in the most economic way. And
so um what you're seeing is a tempered and measured discussion among the board. We have some knockdown dragout discussions about finances because we know that it truly matters to our community. And so when we think about the tax levy um aid and when we think
about our current budget, our current budget does not have fluff in it um the majority of our budget goes to staff salaries and benefits. And so just to give you an indication of the increase
of benefits is the a 2% cap really translates to about 0.7% of the total budget. And so we're able to increase in new tax revenue about 0.70.8%. The cost of health care for our
employees, which is an earned right, we want to make sure that we're taking care of our staff, is about 10 to 10 and a half% more than it was last year. And so when we're talking about the rising costs, there are
unsustainable costs that we are subject to and we're doing u the best that we can to be mindful of how do we make sure that the young people get what they need, but also how are we limiting the negative and the disruptive impact of
the finances on our community members and our taxpayers. And so some of the additional pieces located in the tax levy uh in the increase um the largest line item goes to restore the staff members that you
heard our vice president talk about. And so last year Oakland received a $632,000 reduction in state aid even though we were not slated to see reductions in state aid. We found out uh on the day that they were released uh
Oakland and 128 other school districts that were not slated for reductions. And so we had to pivot. We cut a significant amount of funding out of our budget. And that was a decrease in not only staffing but also student services and support. And so one of the things I think that
it's extremely important for us to continue to talk about from my perspective, growth is always growth. And so whether our young people improve 1% or 100%, I'm going to cheer our kids on because what it took in order to see
any level of growth with the circumstances that our young people and our staff are facing is nothing short of remarkable. The young people that are in our buildings, they have a wide range of need and we expect our teachers to be able to support 20 to 25 children in 20
to 25 different places and do it at 100%. And so um our staffing is extremely lean. The two positions that are being asked for uh would go towards targeted instruction for our students
with with uh uh IEPs for our students who are struggling academically to make sure that no child is left behind to make sure that no child is getting short changed in terms of the academics. Additional areas that are going in are health benefits. Um the rising cost of
health benefits is unsustainable. However, we have a financial responsibility to make sure that we're getting the best quality health care for our dedicated staff year-over-year. And so that's a cost that we will continue to find ways to be able to get them
maximum benefit for the lowest price. uh transportation. We have students with learning differences and students with targeted very specialized needs. Transportation costs increase about 7%
more than last year. Keeping in mind the revenues that we're able to actually increase is about 0.75 to 0.8. Transportation by itself increases about 7%. outofd district tuition with the average cost of outofd
district tuition being between 70 and $125,000 per child. This time last year when we were going through the budget process and and in full transparency, we had worked out an opportunity to uh this board said that it was important given
families were struggling for us to reduce the tax levy. And so the school and the district administration, we had identified about $105,000 in reductions to lower taxes. That same week, two young people, two
families moved in and out of district tuition was $99,600. And so it completely absorbed that cost. And so when we talk about the struggle um and what you're seeing on this day is is you're seeing board members that have been wrestling with
very challenging circumstances and we're not all on the same page and that is okay. They do not lose their independent judgment or voting with their conscience or their faith uh to be on this day. And so I I just wanted to to kind of put out there that the uh asurances that folks
are asking for. I wish I was psychic. Uh we can give no assurances. What we are experiencing from Washington DC is unprecedented. The level of chaos, dysfunction, and disruption is unlike anything that we've ever seen. Every single day we're getting new information
that uh potentially uh and sometimes definitively negatively impacts our local community. And we are pivoting, making adjustments as best we can. We are trying to limit the weight of that burden on our communities by not sharing every crazy thing that comes from
Washington DC. But there are some challenging things that are coming uh from Washington DC and coming from Trenton that we have to respond to. And what we have been encouraging strongly encouraging our board is to have the flexibility to make the decisions so
that decisions are not made for them. And so I would just uh as we're thinking and as we're contemplating and and still having discussions and gaining feedback from our community um for us just to be mindful of the environment in which we operate and that if we uh limit the
amount of flexibility now um the decision will no longer be yours in the near future. Thank you. Moving on to item four, finance and buildings and ground committee. Um, I'm not going to read the whole resolution
unless you want to. No, we read it last night in Collingswood and no, you don't have to read the whole thing, but I just note that this resolution looks different than ones in years past. If you went back and looked at our old minutes because Treton required with us participating in this program, we identify the account numbers that the
revenue is going into and in the expense account numbers that we are increasing with the use of the funds. And I had to add some more whereases and therefore there are outs and all that other stuff in there. But um yeah, so that meets the requirements for Trenton. All right. So, we're looking to approve
item 4.01. Do we have a motion? So, moved. Second. Motion and second. Any uh comments or questions from the board? Um, I just want to emphasize again, um,
after this vote, I'm extremely committed to exploring, um, ways that we can reduce non- studententf facing areas and evaluating our administrative costs and how we can make changes there. And I hope that the rest of the board agrees.
I I agree with you and I think um, in addition to that, we have to have a real emphasis on sustainability. Um, as our neighbors pointed out, this is a hot destination for new families and with that can come new children who also need out of district placements. So, if we
have three move in within the next year, how do we sustain that? What does that look like? So, I think more so than just thinking about we have to obviously get out of the situation that we're in now, but we we really have to focus on making this something that can be
sustained long term. All right. Uh, on roll call. Mr. DeMarco, yes. Mrs. Fel, yes. Mrs. Love, yes. Mrs. Marmian, yes. Mrs. Rotando,
yes. Mr. Schaefer, no. Mr. Staltz, yes. Mr. Taby, yes. The motion passes. I can. You okay here with it? Okay. All right.
Moving on to item five, curriculum and personnel committee. Mr. Schaefer. All right. So, just one item on the agenda for tonight. Um, assuming this my computer is a little slow right now. I'm waiting for it to get down there. I can just use the hard copy in front of me,
can I? There we go. So, we're looking to approve um a couple substitute secretaries uh for the remainder of the 2425 school year. Uh the two secretaries are listed there for you. So, we're just seeking approval on item 5.01. So, move second.
All right. Moved and seconded. U any comments or questions? The heading says secretaries, but the section says substitutes and tutors. That's the standard. Oh, thank you. I'm secretar. How many do we need? Ly is doing a great job.
Roll call. Mr. DeMarco. Sorry, somebody's got to turn their mic off. Just yell. Mrs. Pel, yes. Mrs. Love, yes. Mrs. Marameian, yes. Mrs. Ratando, yes. Mr. Schaefer, yes. Mr. Stoz, yes.
Mr. Taty, yes. Motion passes. Moving on to item six. This is our second public comment uh section of the evening. Um this is for any topics of discussion. Um, all committee members
are reminded to please stand, state your name and address, keep your comments to five minutes or less, or if you prefer, you can write your name and address on the sign-in sheet. Um, the public's also reminded that uh, attempts to resolve all concerns and complaints should first go through appropriate staff members and administrators. Do we have any general
public comments? is that only special edify choice special ed. Yeah, it's a special ed placement. And how would you sustain that moving forward? Because obviously we
sustaining budget situation. So if you addition that moving forward along with tech issues we have three people who are in college and then we're trying to sustain
technology to be a huge thing. Is that on our radar? You just walked. All right. Any other public comments? All right. hearing. None. We'll close our public comments. And item seven, uh, motion to
adjurnn. Do we have a motion? So moved. Second. Motion and seconded. All in favor? I. All opposed. All right. That concludes our meeting.