thank you we're going to call the meeting to order pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act NJSA 104 through10 adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by advertising such notice in the home news tribune the Asbury Park Press the board office the
schools and on cable vision channel 118 and Verizon channel Verizon Fios channel 24 and by filing such notice with the township clerk the meeting was scheduled for Tuesday April 8th 2025 the board will take formal action on payment of
bills and other agenda items mr the Old Bridge Township Board of Education acknowledges that the law of the state establishes that members of the public including members of the board have the right to record public board meetings using audio recording devices provided that the actor recording does not interfere with the business of this public board meeting
therefore the board makes it known that any such recording is to be considered the private recording of the individual and in no manner represents the official record of this board the board therefore takes no responsibility for such private recording and completely disavows any future use
roll call please dun here francisco here giardano here jri here mone here slade here solicowski here benitason is on the way and Dantino here we have a quorum
thank you can we all stand for the pledge please i pledge allegiance thank you next week we will have a moment of silence who would like Is there anyone that would like to read the ethics
corner next i'll read it okay thank you um I'd like to make a motion before we do minutes um to take finance item number three and move that to the last item of the evening uh to save the public's time we're going to go into
executive session before discussing the executive the um application and my thought was if it's going to be a quick executive session we'll let um the studio teacher know and that we're going to come back if it's going to be long
we'll let everyone know hey you know it's going to be a long night we're going to come back at a later time to decide on that part so that was my goal with putting it at the end if I could have a second i'll second it's not actually a motion just consensus on that all right is there any objection with moving that to the end okay no objection
Madam President it's just just number three onto finance right oh my mind so page seven okay can I have a motion for the
approval of minutes miss motion done second Madam President thank you any discussion roll call please done yes
francisco yes gerardano yes jri yes mone yes slade yes silicowski yes vanitason yes dan Tuno yes resolution one for approval and minutes passes
we'll have a student report next week um any questions on recognition for next week or two weeks next week we're not here i'll cover the retirements next week okay thank you is there any superintendent report this
week just just a brief discussion um obviously it's two items that usually bring public interest we have a discussion there's no action on the calendar selection tonight just people from the public wanted to uh review the
calendars um bring any thoughts about the calendars that as presented to the board this evening they could do that do so during either public hearing and obviously um the item that was moved does the board want me to say anything about it
or just so the public knows what we're talking about the item that was moved okay um so it has been you know secret that this district this board has
been subject to S2 um defunding since going back to 2018 and in doing so um the board has had to use many of its reserves just to keep programs afloat as we've lost uh district funding so we
come to a year when costs are rising astronomically across uh many facets from health care to salaries transportation cost utilities costs and everything and just those fixed costs are up $12 million from
previous years um in addition to uh the other expenses uh brings us to about a 17.5 to 18 million deficit that we're trying to adjust but we as a board I think the doesn't always agree with me but I think as a board the we all feel
the state has played a heavy hand in this because you know removing state aid from us over the course of that time has only to the point where it has put the district in a financial peril and my and other superintendent has been in other situations when I testify before the
state I always say that you've put us at a financial cliff and we're at that cliff you know you've removed all our funds and you put us in a place where as costs are rising you cap us at 2% um revenue that doesn't allow us to reach
the funds necessary to make make ends meet when you have exceeding costs so what one of the things we did was we looked to the state to help adjust the problem they've created and um look to a
loan and many districts uh across the state who similar situations have gotten a loan from the state we went through the process we had a meeting in my uh conference room with the uh county commissioner uh county superintendent and to go over our budget
presentation with him he received it identified agreed that there's a revenue problem uh we have lost our reserves in past years uh keeping the district going with all the programs we have uh even though we've gone through years when we've done some really severe belt
tightening and reduced staffing and reducing um electives and areas in which um there's accessibility of programs even though not removing those programs um and we even submitted a temporary but a
not a temporary budget it's called a tenative budget tenative not temporary and it was approved with the application for a loan in it it wasn't until late last week uh Friday or so that they you have to resubmit the budget because we're not in the business of giving out
loans and um said but there is a way in which the state seems to always do this they always come up with this fourth quarter option um to put it back on boards of education and put you in these boards and I said last year is not a great year to be a board member because
the state has created a a position of financial peril for the community community of Oldbridge and They gave a oneshot ability to address it last year putting on the backs of board members to make very difficult decisions well I think
this year they even outdid themselves and made an even bigger issue and um the state has determined that we are um under uh under adequacy i was looking for
another word under adequacy by $30 million meaning that over taxpayers are under under supporting the local district board of education by $30 million and through the reserves that they've taken away they say "Well we'll
give you one more opportunity to fix that and allowing states to have uh districts to go into this incentive program." Um and again just came out like the end of last week and they give a deadline that you just to be considered for this program not to say
you're going to you're going to increase your local tax levy um beyond the allowable allotments that you have not to say you're going to go by the 2% and the adjustables that you can put in there but just even to be considered for the application process you have to do
by the 14th to have that as an option in in May so by 14th of April we just gave you this information on basically the end of last week you got to determine at your meeting this week if you want to consider this for an option so the board has that um resolution before them
the hard part is that you know by not passing the resolution it takes that option off the table in the future um it even takes to offer like hybrid options like if you wanted to say well we will make $3 million in cuts but we will um
go up um 14 million uh to to adjust the shortfall you couldn't do that anymore because of you didn't apply for the option so very difficult you know like I said um and like I
testified with the state the state seems to find ways to take money but never really give solutions to local boards of education and taxpayers that live up to the constitution the constitution state New Jersey says that every district has to provide
a effective thorough and effective education to the local um students this cuts that would be deemed necessary to make a $17 million shortfall not not even in the realm of being thorough efficient it wouldn't bring us in even in the ballpark of what I would even
support to being a thorough and efficient education it would be a disgrace to any school district to have to to deal with that level of fiscal cliff that the state has placed us so that kind of gives a summary of where
that is with that resolution and the you know if there's any questions I can address them or Mr widell or any board members wants to address them as well going forward thank you thank you very much um progress towards goals i know there's
a few committees that haven't met yet this calendar year so if we can try and get some calendar dates on for our meeting in two weeks we can give the the public some notice that would be great madam President I'm sorry buildings and grounds and transportation i know that
uh Mr widell has had a lot of uh work he's been doing and we're just waiting at the appropriate time to have a building grounds and transportation and technology um committee meeting based upon his availability yeah my my only request is for any uh chair please just email me some potential dates that you
have you know as I was going through on minutes uh then I saw ah forgot to do this meeting this meeting and while we have been busy just if you have some dates where you want me to explore just please email me so I have them in writing um besides the minutes that I'm I'm scribbling here thank you
is there any correspondence for this week correspondence we do have one actually yes Also uh for the board just for the record some of the correspondents if you do uh get correspondence and in the
email you don't see my name on it just please remind uh citizens that are looking if they want it read at the uh board meeting it needs to come to me as well so please just send it to my my way if you send it to the board um that's fine and dandy but if you have the intention of it being read by me I need
to be included and there should be an expressly you know expressed statement on there saying "Please have this read at the board meeting." So there was a correspondence that came through today um it went to the board and then the individual did actually call and say "I think I forgot to include Mr widell." So I did get it and it was a request to be
read and I will read it as such now all right it is from Nadia Aad or Nadia Aad excuse my pronunciation whatever one is correct uh good afternoon my name is Nadia Awad and I am a resident of Old Bridge Township i see that there is a board of education meeting scheduled for
this evening but unfortunately I will not be able to attend due to other obligations i'm asking that this letter be read aloud at tonight's meeting for all those in attendance to hear i am asking that our district adopt Eid as a day off in the academic calendar there this is a necessary
accommodation that will help ensure that Muslim students and staff do not face academic and professional disadvantages for missing school days to meet the religious obligations i have been a longtime resident of Oldbridge when my family moved here when I was at the tender age of one year old i have gone
through the OBPS system and OBHS and my education was fantastic and prepared me very well for my professional career and gaining essential life skills however I was always one of the several students each year that had to be absent from school to observe these two holidays when they occurred during the academic
school year as years went on being one of the several students gradually led to being one of the many students in the district and now boosts a large Muslim population that observes these holidays now I have a son who is a proud student in kindergarten within OBPS and I do
hope to see him blossom as a student while being able to observe these two holidays on an annual basis without needing to miss any days of school several townships locally have these two holidays off namely East Brunswick Edison Homedale Malbero Monroe North Brunswick Piscatawi and
Sarahville/perlin as you may know American Muslims make up more than 3.5% of the state of New Jersey and I'm sure we have a significant number of Muslim students who proudly attend the schools within Oldbridge Township i noted that Eid
al Var and Eid al Ada were proposed holidays to formally be recognized on one of the draft calendars for the 2627 academic year these other two draft calendars list these days as proposed half days this would not be helpful to
those of us who observe the holiday as most of our festivities occur in the morning and our children would have to be excused from school to observe the holiday in any event by recognizing and including Eid on the Oldbridge district calendar as a day off our schools can inspire conversations among students and
staff that play a crucial role in dispelling anti-Muslim bigotry i am hopeful that the Oldbridge Township Board of Education will will recognize Eid and close schools in observance thank you for your time sincerely uh Nadia Aad
thank you that concludes correspondence we'll have a special committee reports at this point we'll have hearing of the residents on any agenda item andrew Lewis Obbea as you know we're facing a serious
budget deficit last year we thought we were in a dire situation facing cuts so deep that they threatened to alter the future of our district for a generation now less than a year later we find ourselves in an even worse position for eight years we've endured
relentless punishing budget cuts every year we're told to adjust to do more with less to tighten our belts just a little bit further we've been patient we've been flexible but despite our best efforts here we still are
struggling s2's over and the financial relief that we so desperately hope for has not arrived things are not getting better they're getting worse we're two and a half months from the end of the school year we're $17 million in the hole and our community is waiting with
anxiety wondering what will be left of our schools when the budget is presented to the public despite years of cuts we continue to face impossible choices we've eliminated staff at every level administrators teachers ESPs we've closed the school we've sold off
property and still these challenges persist tonight you have an opportunity we can stop the bleeding and we can take the first real step towards ending this cycle of crisis by approving the application for tax incentive aid we can
bring millions of dollars in urgently needed relief to our district let me be clear the aid is not a temporary bandage it's a tool for long-term sustainability it gives us breathing room to restore vital services to retain
staff and to invest in programs that support our students not just for next year but for years to come this is an opportunity to invest in the success of the Old Bridge Township Public Schools this funding is designed to help districts like ours who have suffered
most under the weight of the funding cuts and shifting state formulas it's a chance to reset rebuild and reinvest we cannot keep cutting our way out of crisis every time we take something away a position a program a
school itself we compromise the quality of education that we provide if we don't take a serious approach to addressing the crisis we'll find ourselves in the same position next year and the year after that making decisions that only dig the hole deeper this isn't just about about
balancing a budget it's about taking a hard look at our district to determine the best path forward it's about making strategic sustainable decisions rather than waiting for another crisis to force our hand this moment is not about blame it's not about politics it's about
survival it's about doing right by our students our educators and our community let us not wait for another crisis to force our hand let us choose action action choose strategy choose sustainability i urge the board to take the necessary steps this evening approve
the application signal to our community that we're not going to accept a future built on endless cuts that we're ready to move forward not out of desperation but out of determination because our students deserve sustain stability our educators deserve support and our
community deserves schools that they can believe in thank you any other speakers okay we're going to close the mic thank you there's nothing on policy any discussion on curriculum and professional
development can I have a motion for finances item one and two miss motion i had one question sorry on curriculum uh or on finance no on the curriculum um I see here uh the school
administration is uh traveling to the convention right uh the second item mhm um how about planning for the board i I do know that some of the board members I think that's included well this inclusive of it that's part of the registration oh okay there is another
section where the board is is approved actually so this just gets the planning the board and and the the administration team okay okay so it's a se separate section for the board members yes correct okay all right thank you i believe it's under board business at the
end yeah okay any more discussion on curriculum and professionals okay so looking for a second on finance item one and two we're actually going to administratively remove number two um I've been working with the township there might be
something we add or revise to this um I spoke to Anita and she was out until today okay so she's going to come back and review it and then if we are amendable on the revision we will put it on for action at the end of the uh month
here okay and then they will approve in May so I am going to administratively remove number two for now for potential revisions jen I second it thank you who was the first okay any discussion on item number one of
finance roll call please all right finance resolution number one we have Jodri yes mone yes slade yes solicosski yes benitason yes dun yes
francisco yes gerardano yes and Dantino yes resolution one for finance passes any questions or discussions on items number four through 14 on finance there's nothing for athletics any
discussion on non-certificated personnel office item number one non-certificated personnel operational items one through four any discussion non-certificated personnel
other items one through five okay can I have a motion for item number one and two under certificated personnel jan motion second any discussion roll call please
certificate personnel one and two done yes francisco yes gerardana yes chry yes mazzone yes slade yes solici yes bank of Tason yes dan Tuno yes resolution one
and two for certificate personnel passes any discussion on items number three through 15 okay seeing none we'll move on to non-certificated personal transportation item one through one through
three any discussion okay transportation items one through four any discussion okay can I have a motion for items number one and two under supplies equipment and services miss motion jo
second girardano yes jori yes mazone yes slade yes solicoski yes benitas yes dunn yes francisco yes dan Tuno yes resolution one and two for supplies equipment and
services passes any discussion on items three through 18 any discussion on miscellaneous items one through five can for board secretary and board
business can I have a motion for item number one francisco will second okay any discussion um I was going to bring up that we want to thank the part of the Easter Monday came from
a third grade uh requesting and advocating for their that Easter Monday off so um I want to give kudos to that class marjorie which class was that um that was Mrs powell's class at uh Shephard School i went there to read for Read Across America and um before I
started reading they wanted to know if I knew Mr citadino so I said I did and they asked me if I could relay a message and asked that since they counted the snow days they counted the the school days and they said that since um since we appeared to have two extra days that
we didn't use for snow days would I asked him if they could have the Monday the 21st the day after Easter off so I sent him an email copied them and he excuse me he brought it to the board
yep he brought it to the board he talked to I talked to and then he came back and it happened so because they advocated for themselves they got something that they wanted so I'm really really proud of them for doing that so I think that's
great roll call on item one please sure mone yes slade yes solici yes benitason yes dunn yes francisco yes grodano yes joel yes dan Tuno yes
resolution one for board secretary and board business passes so discussions on items 2 through 17 it looks like um for for 17 it is on there just to make
note our June I think I believe our regular meeting is the day of middle school graduation um so we just want to pose to the board at least set the the table for discussion on a potential replacement date we can potentially do the Tuesday before which I believe is
the 10th um but if you want to check your calendars you know and then email me and and the team and then we can come to a potential agreement on a change date um we can do that so we just want to bring
that attention that is the Which meeting are we moving the 17th or the 24th there is no school on the 10th there's no school on the 10th for students and inservice day for staff so we could still have a we could have a meeting um I would suggest we make it that day and
then if you have problems with it um let Mr widell know and if there's no consensus for a problem then we'll put it on the agenda for that uh next on the 24th for voting a question uh are we able to just do one
meeting that month like just do one instead of doing the agenda session and a regular session just doing one my concern about that is the end of the school year a lot of renewals and so forth especially as the budget becomes more clear um we're going to probably
need that two meetings okay since we don't have one in July okay i have one question on item number six uh we designate Asbury Parkress Neptune etc as the official publication
newspapers um why not all around Wbridge have we spoken to them or something not working out because I do see all around Wbridge newspapers like to everyone yeah so you need state provided the ones that are disseminated throughout the state that are available so these are our official records when we have legal
notices and and bids openings we have to put it in a a widely distributed and and now actually it's getting more and more difficult and there's some pending uh legislation out there with doing online advertising as well so for right now these are our official um things that are because they're statewide run papers
um but we will probably see some some changes coming up because of the digital advertising coming up especially all around Oldbridge does physical papers newspapers oldbridgeidge doesn't go to all of like in Lawrence Harbor i can't get it oh you don't get it okay plus it's not done daily so if we were to
advertise a meeting it would have to Oh it has to be on the daily yeah that's a monthly all is monthly okay sorry I didn't know about that okay thank you um I wanted to try and open some of the discussion around the calendars because I
know I think we're all struggling with this one so just trying to have conversation um and I will say this is it's like every seven years this is the most difficult calendar um again it's not for next year it's for 2026
2027 but I think it's happened three times since I've been superintendent that This comes up because two things happen second eclipse you have Passover and Easter separated by a month and you have
a late um Labor Day um both of those are difficult when putting together 180 day calendar within 10 months because it creates um so much time there which you know just starting late um it would be a
problem starting after Labor Day trust me I love summer i I love starting after Labor Day but it just makes it very difficult if you start after Labor Day to get in your 180 days and then have the the holidays and so forth in there
so um again probably the most difficult calendar as a board you will have to adopt is the 26 27 then if not on the board seven years from now you'll be fine i'm missing my second so like if I go by the popular opinion for from what I've seen
and people that have messaged me you know staff kids they need that that break of the spring break off but as a board member I felt like last year we told the Muslim community the Indian community like we'd look at Dali and Eid
and Lunar New Year uh for the Asian community i feel like we kind of owe that to them this year so on what other board members think um also I looked at the demographic report that we got um and 16% of our
students perhaps um celebrate the wall and Eid so I think even though even if every single student in our school system celebrated and wanted that calendar it still wouldn't be a majority so I think that we have to actually
weight that um to make sure that they're equally represented even though it's only 16% of our school system i'm confused which way you're you're leaning towards with that comment because because I'm saying that um if
you're looking for a majority you're never going to get No you're not right that's what I'm saying so since it's only since it's 16% we have to weight that accordingly and make sure that it carries the proper weight within the full number that's kind of where my feeling was like you know the popular
vote will always be what what people are used to or what the majority is but I I feel last year we said oh well they were going to have half half days for the 25 26 calendar and we would relook at it and revisit it for the 26 27 calendar
and so here we're presented with that option you know I I feel you know we made a promise last year which not every board member was on here last year you know I appreciate these comments right because um after we published this people started pouring into me personally you know reaching out to me
and online uh definitely people prefer the red which has giving specific full day holidays for the and the Diwali uh Mr considered you know we spoke it falling on a weekend so that's okay maybe the following year we can get into the practice and as naturally you see
there's a lot of population moving in diverse population moving in so appreciate the you know comments here I think that's something even I will vote for uh and that's what people are looking for and uh this will help to have more uh inclusivity within the
school system in the classes um like I think some of the board some of the public spoke in the past that um you know people of this want to get you know other friends and kids and families over to their places as well just like how you know we all celebrate Christmas we equally you know bring you know
different cultured people to our homes to celebrate uh all of the other festivities so this will be a good change for the community maybe we won't have snow next year we can add the snow days back into one of the longer weekends that's something which we all have to pray for i guess in two years we have snow next year i guess it's two
years so curious what other board members yeah so yes as I agree with you know um celebrating the Eids and and and Diwali I also feel like and I could just speak for some of the elementary school teachers that I have spoken to they look
forward to that that Easter that that break only because right for both for staff and for and for the kids um from some of the teachers that I have spoke to right now the kids in the afternoon are antsy and they can't sit still um so I think taking away that week alto
together and just giving like a day you know a Friday and or and a Monday I don't think that's really gonna help i would like to see an option where we can still have Eid you know even I I know nobody wants to hear it but if the school year has to go a couple days later and then if we can
incorporate those snow days which would then bring us early again if we don't get snow but I I I don't think taking away that week alto together is a good idea for both staff and students um so I would like to see if we can come up with maybe some kind of option where we can work it out what we have where we don't
have to take away that that spring break week um and and still be able to celebrate you know the Eids and and Diwali so um I don't know how to propose that but so another consideration for the
public to to know is graduation at PNC is is Monday Tuesday so at if like say we're going with the red calendar and we add the few days on now graduation is not going to be till the 28th or 29th of June should be hot
um so it's a lot any other board members yes i have more of a legal question because we have to have instructional days 182 and per the email we got she said they celebrate early so instead of doing an early dismissal could you do a
delayed opening to the same schedule travel for family i'm just saying could would that be an option i I mean I didn't get from the letter that person wrote that they just celebrate in the morning the the festivities start in the morning and
just carry on through the day so I don't know if having an early I mean a delayed opening for allowing people to celebrate um either the early in the day would would solve the problem right but it's we on our contract we
have 181 instructional days and then there's three um professional development days so public I guess keep reaching out to us over the next week and a half um you know I think this is a very hard
calendar to to look at and figure out when is the absolute latest this has to be approved like I know this is for 2627 so when is like the It doesn't have to be approved next month if you're looking for more information it doesn't have to be approved this month we the parents
from the feedback we received I guess parents do more online booking of vacations and so forth and online uh programs for their students and their children who are in musical program and camps and athletic camps they so those
kind of programs I know from my own son they want you to register a year in advance so they're kind of like looking for more notice as possible so it's become the norm for districts to put calendars out two years in advance now um so you know you don't have to we don't have to adopt in April we can look revisit in May i would just like to have
parents know before they leave for June or July you know have calendar adopted any other I mean why for like the red it's so spotty on spring break for just because Easter and Passover are separate
so it's two long weekends one for Easter that's a tough one yeah because most of the feedback was for purple obviously for those breaks but like Christina said if we can somehow incorporate both the hard part okay so if you did like
a if you did like an elongated spring holiday which one is it and you know that becomes so you do one week for um let's say you do one week around the Easter holiday and then you do two days
around Passover um and you're getting out on like the 28th or 29th um you know the law requires you can't graduate the high school can't graduate before the last day of school can't have last day of school prior to um after
graduation um plus we bus our students to the facility um to ensure that they arrive safely and orderly um so we need our transportation system and we can't do that on a school day so some school districts do it on the last day they actually have high school
graduation on the last day of school we can't do do that either we could look at alternative venues but the consensus from parents it seems that PNC art center is nice it's not far for parents um who even have to use transportation
like Uber or something else get there because they don't have a family car um you know we could look at other venues but they can tend to be require traveling a lot more and become uh a little more costly but then any any large venue they get more like demand on
the weekends you know speed wagon come to town you got to make room for him any other discussion on this and then So we're going to hold off until uh May to vote up for on the calendar then is that what we came up with you can make
the motion to Right now it's set to vote in two weeks yeah can I make the motion to push it back just so maybe I can reach out to whoever is in charge of doing it just to see if I could even if I have to work with them just to try to come up with another option to
Madam President i'll second Miss Mone's motion any other discussion on the motion do we need a Do we need a third Chris okay hold on one second let me just go to that section
we will go in the order of the board secretary board business so we have Mazone yes slade yes solicowski yes thank uh yes in the interest of figuring out to get a good spring break definitely along with the Eid holidays
so yes dunn yes francisco yes gordano yes joel yes and Dantino yes all right resolution to push back the calendar voting until May passes
so just for clarification are you requesting that we send it back to instructional council instructional council is where the calendar comes out of because it has representation from the different groups within the district and have that they meet once a month
um although if they meet in May because that's be like a special um meeting well they we could I think they meet um the regular agenda meeting so we could put it on
their task list for that meeting to go back and review um an option that includes the full week um and what we would get out and present that option i think
that's what we did last year we had kind of gone back to the drawing board to try to find something that fit everybody's needs so can't hurt hearing of residents on any district item andrew Lewis I wasn't planning on speaking again but just as someone on
instructional council want to give you a little insight into the calendar and I don't know when we meet we have a PowerPoint that kind of lays out how many days and we know when we're off and all those things i don't know if that's been shared with the board but I can ask Mr o'neal to share that if it hasn't um
just one other thing to note um about it including all the holidays in what is this 2627 Roshashana uh which we typically would be off for fall on a weekend so if we incorporate the holidays it's tend to be something that we'll do moving forward um so we it
could in a year where all the holidays are on weekdays push the end of the year back by another two or three days so again you know as you mentioned that push graduation back to the end of June a lot of our elementary classrooms aren't air conditioned so in that case then you know we might be looking at early dismissal days for that last week
depending on the temperature uh so just things to keep in mind as we look back at it anyone else on any other school i do um I just wanted to mention that Hold on i just want to close the Yeah let's close the mic close the public portion okay so does the board have any
old business i do go ahead uh I just wanted to mention it's kind of old business because um SEPTA is having their meeting on the 17th of April um and now it's been pushed to May 15th it's going to be on guardianship it's going to be in
person at Glen School at 6:30 i want to talk about something that I felt we are really you know should be proud about um thanks to Lynn and the principal at um our middle school Jonas Sulk Middle
School um me and my family visited them to watch the musical show Legally Blonde and I was aruck literally right i'm not sure other board members got a chance to you know visit um but I was aruck my
kids were aruck tremendous amount of talent you know with the kids and the staff importantly right the amount of effort they have put in starting from January and really you know at the end of the show and that was the final day I was there and it was bringing tears tears really because you could really
see these small kids you know performing at the uh capability of a Broadway right they're really top performers I should Okay so I'm going to take probably you know like 30 seconds to really call out their names to feel them you know recognized for the achievement you know that they you know brought
so the director of the show was Nicole Barrow White assistant director Kathleen Kelly choreographed by Amaya White Lyanna Britain Anus Christina Barrow scenery design Catalyn Kelly
Naian apologies if I am mispronouncing the names i'm trying my best assistant scenery design Karen Langan set construction Joe Kelly catalyn Kelly stage crew manager Kathleen Kelly costume design Kathy
Fernack a supervisor Nick Andashi production assistant Lauren Seits student production assistant Eva Marchetta program cover design Jade Rescu program construction Stephanie Felman
house manager Lynn Azri and the list goes on right uh but these were the also important people who are the production staff who literally are behind the scenes so that's why I wanted to call their names out first because literally most of the times we go with the superheroes first but these
are the background superheroes who really made that event happen and now for the cast themselves uh Nialis Tjara I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing again she's one of the top performers she was performing Ellie
Woods you know character there and then we had Jaden Blamer who performed the Warner Huntington three- roll and Jordan White performing the EMTT Forest role and then you know the list goes on again
kylie Eel Owen Moore Mara Ferente Manny Gonzalez Megan Walters Christian Mendoza Derek Cra and uh quite a few others so I just want to take a moment and really thank
uh you know the staff and the kids for this top performance and uh the chief choreographer of the director she is leaving or retiring this year as well so that again is another moment of um you know kind of silence you know but you
know the students are so motivated the rest of the staff are so motivated so it is very happy to see them you know do this I'm not sure if there are any other competitions around in the state where we can go and compete maybe that's something to look at Mr considered you know you know because there's a lot of great talent here and uh one of the
sentences that uh the chief uh you know choreographer or the director made was you know this is not only about art and music art and music are most critical for your academics as well because you start thinking creative so that's a key element right we need to encourage
talent such talent it's not only about SAT scores math scores or science scores but you do need to have these other talent to complement you know your academic talents as well thank you and there was a special guest for Legally Blonde that didn't get to make
the curtain call at least the show that we saw daisy was awesome um I'll echo I took my my daughters to see the high school play Samberg and saw high school my kids ended up listening to Broadway music the whole way home susical at
Samberg I ended up being an earworm and in my head all weekend afterwards and then Legally Blonde you know again was awesome so great job by all the performers thank you to the staff that helped with all of that um I did want to
let the public know that on March 26 I went and spoke to the state senate budget committee um Mr did the assembly the week the day before um I got some comments you know people wish they would have known believe me
although it would have been nice to have company they ran over an hour late at least at the Senate one we sat there all day for the three minutes to speak but I did speak for three minutes spoke how awesome Old Bridge was and all that we had to lose if you know we're stuck with this $18 million uh or $17 million in
cuts so um just letting the public know is going you know any chance we can to to try and speak up uh there wasn't room for a whole crowd to go you know there was I pretty much had a chair so if anyone would have come with me that would have been standing room but uh a
few school districts did speak up you know saying why the money is needed so just want to let the public know that we are still advocating any other board member with old or new business good luck to indoor percussion in Dayton um indoor percussion is leaving tomorrow
for Dayton they are coming back Sunday evening so if anyone is around um I said I was going to go and then I forgot that I was leaving on college visits so I won't be there Sunday evening i know somewhere on Facebook it'll say is it usually around nine eight nine o'clock
they come back to like the grade nine grade nine center they're going to have the trucks and stuff like that try and ear them in so if you're hanging around looking something to do you know clapping them back is a great um they like it the families like the support so look out for that on social media
anything else from board members and thank you Mr banks for bringing that up it's one of my closing comments over the over the course of the past few weeks I've been to shows at um the high school 42nd Street Susicle at Samberg at Sulk obviously I had to be
there all three nights because I'm Daisy doesn't drive and she was in the show all three nights did she get a limo no but um you saw Saturday night she was really they made a fatal flaw on Saturday night kathy Kelly gave her treats to thank her for being in the
show and she thought about was those treats when she was on stage and trying to get back to them so I personally did not bring any treats for her for Thursday and Friday because I knew that's what she would focus on so she tried to pull the her cast member off stage to go to the treat so that was
something but I digress um and you know this is like the my one of my favorite times of year where the spring sports are out there on G and going over there and that's what the important part of our education system is right it's not about just you know
what goes on just in the classroom because our students don't come here for just what's in the classroom they come here for the arts they come here for the athletics they come here for the social and emotional um supports they get and the many activities and that's what a thorough efficient education is it's not
just a grade because when you go out into the workplace and I've said this hundreds of times no one's going to say you know what was your grade in in geometry they're going to what kind of person you were what kind of person you are and who did you last help and those
are the things and you know what kind of leader are you and those are the kind of skills you get from being in a comprehensive school that offers so much and that's what the state doesn't understand is that's what stand we stand to lose um when you start making cuts
because only the core things become important and they're no more important than what shapes us as human beings and our our students so marketable beyond here you know think of that right now we have students in Germany not a lot of
districts do that it doesn't cost the district anything to have our students in Germany other than uh transportation we do provide transportation and any any uh substitute coverage for any shops that are there that need coverage but that's it imagine
you know the global view that our students get from being in another country learning from students in another country getting that that experience and for some of the students are on the trip this may be their first time out of the country and it offers perspective and where they are and where they they have opportunities in the
world that they may not even think about so these are all why we do what we do and why this board is here so congratulations to everyone who makes these things possible and this is what makes proud can I have a motion to go into executive
session motion francisco we'll second um so we will keep the room ab breast if you know within a half hour if we're going to come back quickly if we think it's going to be a longer conversation we'll let you know so we don't waste everyone's evening thank you
roll call all in favor of going into All in favor I we're going into exe All right all right so um do we have to make new motions for this okay so we're we're
returning to Finance item number three which was delayed i believe Mr widell will have Yeah we we'll get a separate motion because we pulled it off of the regular action agenda for finance and Mr widell will read it into the record because there are blanks that are filled in in what
you will actually vote on do you need a motion yes you need a motion but let me read let David read the motion the resolution first okay okay so for finance the revised finance number three which we now make it a a three a revised
number three is that correct or number four it's actually revised number two because number two disappeared in this okay okay the motion reads as such move the board of education approve the following resolution application submission dash additional expenditures
and tax in levy incentive aid whereas in the proposed fiscal year 2026 state budget certain districts have the opportunity to apply to the commission of education to increase expenditures including an allocation of tax levy incentive aid in order to satisfy the
thoroughess and efficient standards established pursu pursuant to NJSA18A 7F-46 whereas the Old Bridge Township Public School District is below fair local fair share and spending below adequacy to be
eligible to participate in this program whereas the Old Bridge Township Public School District is eligible to increase expenditures by 30 million44,449 and qualify for tax levy incentive aid in the amount of $1 million
whereas the Old Bridge Township Public School District is requesting the approval to increase expenditures based on the following reasons if not obtained would have a deliberate deliberating impact on the district's ability to provide staffing facilities
and programs sufficient to offer a thorough and efficient education to its students therefore the Old Bridge Township Board of Education is approving the submission of this application to the Commissioner of Education
thank you can I have a motion to approve done will make a motion Madam President to approve item number three under finance a second jan a second um really done you mean number two under finance yes number two mr wiselle before we vote on it can you just explain to the public
that we're not actually voting for a tax increase up to that much can you just explain what we're voting on right now correct the tax levy incentive aid is just a mechanism it is a part of
um language provision in the proposed 26 uh budget for the state that a district who is below spending adequacy um has the opportunity to apply to increase expenditures up to the amount they are
below adequacy so the district is spending below adequacy of 30,44,449 what this application does this resolution does allows us to just submit for an application to give us the chance to vote and and ex in increase
expenditures we are going to meet as a board to discuss what potential programs would be included in this but essentially this is just a mechanism for us to be able to increase our levy um to apply for additional expenditures and
get a tax levy incentive aid from the state is everyone okay with that explanation or do you want more do you have any follow-up questions so one of the things that took me a little bit to get caught up on is the spending below adequacy because I thought that meant
like us as a district so that mean to the state that means that the taxpayers aren't paying what the state feels they should be in property taxes it's like the so the it's not the school district that's spending below adequacy the
community is not spending what the state feels is their is the adequate fair share on of their income on the school public school system so I want to help with that explanation right and that's we've been to Trenton to try to ask them
to be transparent with the formula and they're not providing us the and tell me if I have this right they're not providing us with the actual formula as to how they reach that conclusion but The state says that the township not being reassessed since 1984 is not
paying their fair share so that's why we're $30 million under adequacy and that results in um reduced budget to the township schools i also think it's important to note that we aren't the only town in this
situation that there are other towns across the state that are in the same boat as us when it comes to the lack of money that we're receiving from the state so I just I think it's important to note that this is not an old bridge specific problem
this is happening all across the state and when we went to Trenton those other districts were there as well trying to advocate for the same thing we were trying to advocate for transparency in the formula so we would at least know how they arrived at the formula and how they arrived at the um dollar amount
that Oldbridge residents were um were not paying what they consider their fair share in taxes madam President um unfortunately we're in this position not based upon this is this board's actions or previous board's actions
we're in this position because of Trenton Trenton and politics and it's unfortunate that you know this school district under S2 suffered so much and this board is trying to find an avenue where we're going to preserve our programs uh preserve our school district
keep it in its entirety and if we can't do that then our home values and our and our our township is going to be different so you know it's a very hard decision and uh I just want to make sure everyone understands that this board and previous boards have not put us in this
position this is a state issue and my colleagues here along with the administration have done everything to petition and speak their minds and try to advocate for us and obviously it's still going to uh to deaf ears and now the state has given us this avenue to put more of the onus back onto the
taxpayer and it's it's it's it's a very difficult situation the plight is not appropriate uh and that we have to make some hard decisions that this board is unified in finding the common ground that's going to be able to preserve our schools preserve our educational system here in Oldbridge and ensure our home
values stay uh where they're at and um you know I want to thank everyone on this board for making the hard decisions right now to even consider you know these options and uh I can tell you speaking to my colleagues here a few minutes ago we're all unified to find the common ground that's going to
preserve our school district in its entirety so I want to thank everyone here for making the hard decisions and is giving it the consideration that it needs just so everyone is aware um prior to when this application or information about the application first came out there was a preliminary list that was
sent to uh BAS it was a prelim preliminary eligible list for pre-budget year levy below the local fair share and spending below adequacy in Middle Sex County there is only two districts that are not eligible to apply for this one is Cranberry Township and the other is
Miltown Burough so of all the counties everyone has the opportunity to apply for this now I think we are we very well know you know we have been hit harder than any district in this county as far as S2 um throughout it so districts that
we may have seen get additional aid and you know flourish you know during the S2 when we were getting cut they have the opportunity still because they may be below adequacy to apply for this they may not choose to do so because they feel they have the the funds and and
necessary to go but we are in a position where again we had such a budget crisis and there is now this mechanism to be able to do it it is a tough decision but I just want to know it is you'll start seeing you know articles throughout the entire state that people are looking to
do this to get chip away at that below adequacy number and get as close because the problem has been the 2% cap on the tax levy expenditures are increasing way beyond what 2% of revenue can bring in so um just to provide some clarity on
that again only two districts in Middle Sex County were not eligible to apply for so you know all the the big ones that again haven't had the budget issues that we have still you know have the opportunity to apply for this and we'll we'll see what they do but again our
focus is here and making sure that we make this district the best district we can moving forward and Dave just to elevate the urgency can you just give us the deadline that this has to be in by publicly so the deadline to get this application in so one of is
April 14th i believe that's Monday right or Monday of spring break so I will be working on it from now until the Monday of spring break there's a couple components one was a required resolution which upon potential approval we would have and then there are some other uh
documents some historical data that needs to be provided and then a breakdown of um expenditures that would potentially be covered in such an increase but um there is just three components it is kind of will be
reviewed by the DOE and we will move along from there dave I just want to just so the public knows too when did you first get a concrete picture of this application process uh approximately okay let me see hold on one second let
me check my calendar for a second so we we met with our county superintendent on the 26th of March here and at that point in time a potential of a loan was still on the table we hadn't heard any otherwise um we got
information on the 28th of March I believe Friday at like three o'clock in the afternoon um I worked on calculations all that weekend and then a lot of districts communicated with me and and started kind of scrambling
because there was a deadline due so the first week of April is when people really realize the magnitude of this there's a deadline of April 14th due and the the real reality of the situation is some districts um don't have two meetings a month like we do they have maybe one meeting a month that's
typically at the end of the month and after spring break well after spring break would mean that their meeting is past the 14th so people districts were scrambling to either set um finance committee meetings or special board meetings this week to be able to get
this resolution in by so again the information came fast and furious i have uh calculations that were done and uh you know we're still really waiting for more information and we really didn't get as much guidance as we did in other programs like we have in the past so I
just want the public to be aware of that so we met with the county superintendent 26 this wasn't even a concept introduced to us on the 26th i had heard some rumblings in talking to some of my superintendents that I work with who were in other S2 districts that something was coming but there was no picture of it 28th at dismissal
something comes out and you have to make a decision a week and a half later by the 14th to pro provide a resolution on a $30 million decision and that's how we have been forced to operate as administration and a board of education that these last minute things come out
when you're working on $190 million budget on operating a a business $190 million business you get these last minute um I guess the directives or opportunities or whatever or what whatever it is that
um and it always comes with a well two weeks you have two weeks to decide how you're going to spend or if you're going to spend $30 million a month just it's it's unfathomable and you know it's unfortunate that's the way schools districts have been forced to operate uh since S2
and just to clarify a little more about a month ago I think Mr videl made it public here we are under a deficit of uh $18 million and um since then the first option put forth was let's go and ask for a loan and that loan has been denied
and further we get this last minute option uh from the state to apply for an additional tax incentive aid and um with this what really it means is we can go all the way up to the under adequacy C
amount which is 30 million but uh with the 5.27% increase planned uh you know prior we are about 18 million uh under deficit right now so we do have an option here um to ask uh or apply uh to
the amounts that we need it is not like we have to apply for the full uh 30 million which is really under adequacy we do have the options we can apply just for couple million or 10 million or 15 million so as a boardier we need to also uh look at the options because
ultimately asking for an option is one thing but not using is another thing but what do we really need right we do need to have some consciousness in minds that yes there is an option to open the floodgates yes you can open up to 30 million but consciously just last year
we increased the taxes for the people and this year again I know it is not the problem of us here or even the people it is a problem with the state on the funding formula like you know Jen and Maji explained but the point here is we need to be really conscious about all
aspects of it yes students education at the same time taxpayers and seniors and you know everybody else living in the town going to get impacted yes the home values can get impacted whichever direction you know we take so it's a very difficult decision here in the board like Mr also explained uh it's a
very challenging situation so what I want to make sure is we should really work on how do we solve this problem realistically either for now or even for the later yes one option is to open the floodgates go and increase the taxes but
again you know and another year or probably in another year we're going to be in the same trouble and we don't know what Trenton or the administrators are going to do change in the government going to come we don't know so let's be realistic here right over the period of the last 8 years of S2 uh its right yes
you know the administration and everyone has worked together to mitigate it but every time we mitigate it is more of you know for the next budget year what's the bandaid we can put right we have not been really realistic to make some arch decisions when I say arch decisions it is not about again you know closing
another school but rather you know holistically look at the utilization right how many programs are utilized at what percentage and what other districts are doing you know in the same cases where how they are surviving or sustaining so what is our sustainable model for the next few
years to come right I don't think we have that sustainable model in place so my request here is and that's exactly what we discussed in executive session is we need to come together as a united front like Mr said you know requested we all board members need to come together and look at that sustainable model what
is that sustainable model be very realistic about it right I don't think we have that done and that's a lot of homework to do and it involves a lot of time from each of the board members honestly and administration as well so that is something which is on works while this application is only to open
up that floodgate and an option and it's an extreme option honestly because if we keep having these options we are never going to get and fix the right problem right the right way rather right the problem in the right way right so while this is a very important decision because yes you know when things go
south more and more this is one of the options to resurrect and sustain and manage the situation but this is not the only option this is just an application but by all means we need to be judicious in calling out what amounts are we going to even ask for yes you know somebody is
giving you know here is my 30 million you know go and increase the taxes but that doesn't mean we need to really raise it up to that bar so I request the board members fellow board members and Mr videl we need to agree upon what is that increase amount going to look like and then you know vote on it at the same
time like we discussed we need to really get into the weeds of things look at the various parameters of this educational structure of academics sports and extracurricular activities or arts and music and look at what are the must haves what are the nice to have and then you know make some conscious decisions
and be realistic to the public uh is what I know I want to share thank you any other board members oops it's up uh yeah so I I'd also of course like to join the bandwagon of how inefficient the state is as we've seen
they got the loan process passed quickly and then they took it away they did this tax levy incentive aid and they're giving us two weeks but yet they can't figure out a funding formula over a course of many years so people have to be more mad at the state i've been saying that for years practically and
people have to be more active there's no one here right now because it's not the final budget but I don't want to be everyone coming just for the budget hearing people have to be more involved in the next weeks and we only have a month so people have to get involved so
yep thank you that's it any other board comment roll call please mr we have roll call for finance uh revise item number two we had a motion by Dunn seconded by
Gordano roll call will be Jodri yes no slade yes solici yes thank Did we say what is the amount we going to ask for 30 that's what uh if it is for 30
no done yes francisco no gerardano yes dan Tuno yes resolution two passes motion to adjurnn miss motion georgia
second all in favor i thank you i hope everyone has a great spring break