Time is now 7 o'clock. I'll call this meeting to order. Mr. Gibbs, please read the statement of compliance. >> In compliance with the open public meeting act, public law 1975, chapter 231. Notice that this meeting has been properly advertised in the daily record in suburban trends. Its agenda has been
post posted at the appropriate locations and a copy has been filed with PCON Township clerk. >> Thank you. Please call the role. >> Mr. Bloomer, who will be late, Mr. Sesi, Mrs. Espazito? >> Here, >> Mr. Giten >> here. >> Miss Ikeo
>> here. >> Mr. Mcmey is absent. Mr. Mahalik >> here. >> And Mr. Senic >> here. And Mrs. Shanton will be absent. We have a quorum. >> Thank you. Everyone, please stand for the flag salute. Good evening everyone. Welcome to our April 27th meeting. Tonight is the
public hearing for the 2627 district budget. Dr. Poris, Mr. Gibbs and the entire administration have been working very hard on this budget to deliver a finished product that is financially responsible as well as inwardlooking to rightsize our existing services and
expenditures. You will see that the tax levy has increased as we have been discussing. This increase is allowed by statute to cover the tremendous increase in healthcare costs that all districts have been facing. However, in Puquanic, we did not just get the healthcare
increase, match it with the tax increase, and call it a day. The team did a line by line analysis of our current budget to see where costs could be streamlined so that our current budget and expenditures are efficient and correctly sized to the educational
needs of our students. The result is a tax increase that is lower than it could have been with a budget that will allow the district to maintain the educational standards is known for. Dr. Poris and Mr. Gibbs will present the budget and then members of the public in attendance will have an opportunity to provide
comments. I want to thank Dr. Poris, Mr. Gibbs, and their teams for all their hard work that went into creating this budget. Last, the board would like to send our condolences to the family of Dr. Glenn Grub. He was the superintendent in Puquanic from 1992
until 1997 and recently passed. His resume and impact in education is very impressive and may he rest in peace. And now I'll pass the mic to Dr. Boris. >> Thank you, Mr. Senic. I will have a brief report, but first I want to send
it over to our student representatives. >> Good evening, everyone. The pen realized we're last Thursday. Congratulations to our boys 4 by 100 team on finishing second place in their heat. Congratulations to our girls 400 or 4x400 team on finishing fifth place in
their heat. Congratulations to the girls varsity track team for winning small school division at the Randolph relay this past weekend. Derek CPiel took first at the Kennalan Cup Classic at Birkshshire Valley last week. Boys golf also broke the 1800 or the 18 whole
school record with a score of 299 at the Kimmelon Cup Classic. Good luck to spring sports and their county tournaments. The Gold Party hosted a district-wide art show at the Scurbal Garden. This was one of their campaign promises during the AP Gov election.
There was art display from all district schools and studio art students drawing images out front. Thank you, Mrs. Manda and Mrs. Cohen for all their help in setting up. Art field trip was last Thursday. Photography, art, and digital art students traveled to Storm King Art
Center where they were able to see different sculptures, textures, and even the science that went behind this scene in the process of making these art sculptures. Friday, May 1st is National College Decision Day. Everyone is encouraged to
wear their college gear to support the students who made their college, military, or career decisions. Students will be taking pictures and celebrating their postsecary plans for college, military, or the workplace. Congratulations to all the seniors on their decisions.
PTHs was happy to welcome 18 children of our staff for take your child to work day last week. Kids received ID badges, participated in art activities, physical education classes, science labs, had their lunch that included ice cream, and spent time with their parents throughout
the day. The Adams family put on three outstanding performances this past weekend. Congratulations to the cast and crew and to Miss Gran, Miss the Beast and Mrs. Barbosza for all their hard work. Thank you to all the parents who helped out as well. Congratulations to
the cast and crew of Frozen Jr. at Pave as they had their performances last week. Congratulations to Evan Evan Perah who is named valadictorian of the class of 2026 and to Megan Derizio and Shannon Sitting who are named co-oluditorians.
They were announced today and were joined by teachers that they had over their four years. Sabina Velios a senior at PTHS and recipient of PTHs's unsung hero award was selected as one of the top unsung heroes from Morris County for 2026. Because of this distinction, she
has been chosen to receive a monetary award. She will be attending a dinner on Wednesday, May 6th at the West Morris Menum High School. On April 30th, the administration will meet with the seniors to talk about prem and other upcoming senior events with
the guest speaker to talk about making smart decisions. The physics classes will be taking a trip up to Six Flags Great Adventure on May 1st for physics day. The students will be able to see the different rides that will represent all the different laws and forces that
they saw and applied throughout the class over the course of the year. Seniors received a list of their senior events this past week in a letter from Mr. Hazler. The seniors are looking forward to all the different events and prom is upcoming up on May 21st at the
Grove in Cedar Grove. Mr. Dr. Hazler met with the principal advisory committee o uh this past week to go over final exams end of year activities and to continue to discuss the cell form policy updates to the school calendar and the election for the
2026 2027 student council panel grade nine students will be taking the NJSLA language arts exams tomorrow and Wednesday. AP exams will begin on Monday, May 4th. Good luck to everyone. Next week is teacher appreciation week.
So we'd like to take this time to thank all of our amazing teachers we have in Bquanic District who have made a positive impact and difference in the lives of every Puquanic student. Thank you for your time and have a great night.
>> Thank you ladies. Uh I see Mr. Sice he has his hand up but unfortunately we can't take any questions tonight >> before you guys leave for uh for the budget because I know you're not staying. college decision day on Friday. I'm looking at you two.
Haven't made a decision yet. Okay, fair enough. Good luck with that. All right. I tried. But on a on a nice note as well, um I understand the two of you, the Zegler twins, were part of a podcast that was
described alternately as incredible and lifealtering. Um, it hasn't been pushed out yet. It's going out in May 1st, but would you care to just give a little information about that? And yes, I'm totally putting you on the spot. >> Yes. This past week, um, me, Caitlyn,
Sophia Kletcha had the honor of being a part of a podcast for Dr. Poris. Uh, we got to talk about female empowerment in sports and it's coming out on May 1st. and we just talk about all the different aspects that fe the role that females
have in sports and the advantages and leaderships that um and the skills that are developed from that. >> Yeah. And something I did comment to them too, it really became um I I hadn't anticipated it. Obviously, we have the questions done ahead of time, but I didn't anticipate it was going to focus
so much on leadership attributes, leadership qualities, practice. So, it was it was it was really interesting for for me and I I told them I was so excited at the end of it. Not that it was over, but just like just such powerful conversation, which actually takes me a little bit to my left. I hope
Olivia, you're not trying to bolt. I know you're moving with Mr. Bloomer. I understand that you're on the docket for a podcast as well after the AP Lang exam though. Care to share a little bit of detail about that?
I'm the vice president of the Bquanic Safe Driving Club and we passed well we went to town council and we got we had like a proposal. We created like a proposal and a whole plan and we did fundraising to um put in a pedestrian activated um stop sign like crosswalk
where like the gym and like Sanders meet over there. So we were able to get that pass from town hall and then we got asked to be on the podcast. So now I get to go on the podcast, >> which is pretty cool. >> Me and Amelia. >> And can we just confirm as well that the
Safe Driving Club really was a student developed? >> It was. Yeah, it was. >> It's pretty awesome. Can't argue with that. Excellent. Thank you very much. Uh I'll keep my my report fairly fairly brief at least by port standards. Um I
know we have a lengthy presentation for the budget. A few events since our last meeting. We uh held staffing meetings with all five principles as well as Mrs. Vansel um reviewing where we see people being placed as well as our staffing numbers. We've also begun the kindergarten placement process. Right
now we have 161 students in the registration process. Not all are complete, but that is a fairly robust number compared to where we've been in years past. Um on Wednesday, April 15th, we had our Jersey Mike's fundraiser in Lincoln Park at which Mr. Mr. Hazler and
I both helped to prepare sandwiches for some really wonderful customers. Um, we also had the World Language Honor Society induction that night and we did not smell like a deli, though I thought we were going to. Uh, on Thursday, April 16th, I hosted a legislative committee
meeting. This is for uh other superintendents in Mars County. We met with some health insurance experts uh who provided input on health insurance costs and and why we're in the well as much as they could surmise the position that we're currently in and start
looking for solutions that we can find. This group's going to meet again um in in May, actually on May 7th. Um and we've we have at least one confirmed legislator who's coming in. Um I've also sent a couple invitations out to people who serve our district. So hopefully we
get some traction going with this uh and can find ways to really help school districts as well as um staff members with um these exorbitant health health insurance costs. Um Wednesday the 22nd was administrative assistance day or administrative professionals day. For anybody who forgot to purchase gifts
that day, I pity you. Um on Thursday the 23rd, we had our AI committee meeting. We also discussed doing another podcast about our updates on where we are with AI group. Um, we also reviewed um some of our restorative practices for students who violate the um code of
conduct regarding AI as well as how we can better push out the message to families as well as students as well as the staff. Um, and the girls made a reference as well on Thursday to take your child to work day. This is something our district had not participated in for quite a few years. Um, I'm not going to glance to my left,
but I'm sure Mr. Bloomer is smirking because he knows it was a resounding success. um heard some really great stories including from up here at the high school uh where kids had an opportunity to to work with their parents, get to know the high school kids who of course were wonderful with them. And something I hadn't really
thought of is that um staff members really enjoyed having their kids meet the other kids of their colleagues or the kids of their colleagues. So, a lot of really nice things there and that was entirely uh employee run. I did not run that. That came from the culture club,
culture committee. Uh, but I'm really really happy with how it went. Um, also we had three successful nights for the Adams family musical which complemented the two very successful nights for Frozen Junior as well. Um, and then just a couple other items before I talk about what's coming up. We start NJSLA testing
here on well tomorrow as well as at the elementary schools. As I always tell students, my advice, do your best, try your hardest, have fun. And usually they look at me kind of a scance when I say the have fun part, but if there's a challenge involved, have fun with it. You know, rise to the challenge. Um,
also echoing Mr. Senic's sentiments, I'd like to pass condolences on to the family of Dr. Glenn Grub, who was superintendent in this school district from 1992 through 1997. Um, and he he passed recently, and our thoughts are with the family, and we appreciate Dr. Grub's service to our district. A few
things coming up. I'm going to be having ad hoc uh staffing meetings with the board this week so that we can be prepared for the May 11th um vote. Um the vote has to take place on on staffing before May 15th. So I want to make sure that is informed. Uh on the
29th, which is Wednesday, we have the Mars County Educators Association Friend of Education event. Uh this is held down in Randolph and it's a really nice way to celebrate people from various communities who've contributed to education. I I honestly I don't know why I keep getting invited, but I do and it's a really nice event, so I keep
going. So, um I appreciate that. Our preschool lottery is going to take place in April 30th. I more or less serve as the Arthur Anderson in the room where I just make sure that everything's on the up and up. It is. Um and we will let families know shortly thereafter about whether their kids um will be placed in
the program. Uh May 4th marks marks the beginning of teacher appreciation week. It's a great opportunity for for students um as well as families as well as administrators express their appreciation for our teachers which includes also certificate personnel in our buildings. Um it really is a
wonderful week. We also have AP exams starting on on May 4th and I'm really excited for our kids to be able to have the opportunity to perform. I know that uh teachers put in an incredible amount of effort and time to help make sure that our kids are prepared and they are. And our our average score last year was
3.93 which is really tough to beat. we'll do it. Um, we also have an HSA presence meeting coming up on May 4th. It's a good group. Um, they bring some really, really nice insights that help me understand the basic tenor of the community. Uh, inclusive playground
committee is meeting on Tuesday the 5th as which is also the day of the middle school leadership dinner, which is a great event um, in which every middle school in the county recognizes students who serve to be recognized for their leadership. Uh, the girls made a reference to our unsung heroes award
ceremony. It's out in West Mars, Mendum, but Savina Belellios will be recognized with a very select few of the unsung heroes from throughout the county and she will be receiving an award of some monetary amount. We don't know exactly how much. Then we're going to continue the kindergarten placement. We have a follow-up meeting coming up on May 7th.
I will say the number, which is 161, is higher than we anticipated. Um so we're going to have to look at the different um lines that are being drawn for um the residents areas. Um, and then, oh, finally, just on a nice note, um, it's a
little brag time. I'm gonna be presenting at the NJSA conference on Friday, May 15th at 10:35. It's a three-day conference, which begins on Wednesday. For those you've been to many educator conferences, I'm sure you know that both people still in
attendance might attend my workshop. So, very good chance I'll be playing to an empty auditorium, but I'll be there and it should be fun. That wraps up my report. Thank you. Mr. Gibbs, you have a report. >> Oh, yeah. We'll do the budget at this
time. Okay. Right. Good evening. As if my report wasn't long enough, I'm going to follow it up by relegating Mr. Gibbs not really having much of a speaking role for the budget presentation tonight. Um, this one we put an incredible amount of work
in. I'd like to thank the administrative team that was very heavily involved in helping us to make decisions that made it so this budget could work as well as to the board who maintained communication with us throughout our process. And then ultimately it's Mr. Gibbs and his business office team who
really had to put this all together. So, um, the slide is a Hazleresque 34 in number which I plan to blast through as quickly as I can. And yes, that slight at my colleague was intentional. All right,
so essentially this is what we're looking at is I'm going to give you an overview of the budget. We're also going to go over some of the some of the budget basics um to help make sure that not only is the board aware, but also um our staff as well as our greater community.
So the annual school budget is the financial expression of your district's educational goals and aspirations. That is not my original thought. That's actually from NJSBA, but I think it really helps to capture what is the purpose of a budget. Um, we're looking to get as much return on investment as
possible and we have to follow the key components of our strategic plan which has four priorities and we're going to be revisiting the strategic plan in October as well. But our four categories are ensuring student success, ensuring staff success, facilities, finance and technology and parent community
partnerships. So, what this means is that every dollar that we spend has to be allocated towards ensuring that we're meeting the objectives that are set forth here. Um, and we're very careful with how we invest. Uh, we we certainly don't spend willy-nilly in this district
and we want to make sure that we're very intentional in what we're doing. And again, um, with finite revenue, we have to make sure that we are strategic in how we execute our plans and finance them. Next up, our reality. It's all over the news. I'm not telling you anything you haven't already heard. Um,
but we we uh we have a pretty good reputation and one that we've earned for fiscal prudence. Um, but what we're facing right now is that costs, most notably health insurance, have changed considerably. Um, and it's not only health insurance. We're seeing this with fuel. We're seeing this with energy.
We're seeing this with out of district placements, transportation. there there's so many different costs that have just risen vastly beyond the 2% cap that's on the tax levy. Um so what we're looking at right now is that the the health insurance increases are such that
we've had to use what the state provides for us which is a waiver that allows us to go beyond the 2% levy which in this case we're going to a 5.77. Now Mr. Senic did make a reference in his report that um the number could have gone higher, but we we wanted to limit
the burden on taxpayers um while also making sure that we didn't cut anything that was going to impede our ability to provide a world-class education to our students. So, there's a slide there. By the way, these are really prettyl looking slides. This is all using um the
Google Enhance Your Slide or the Beautify Your Slide, which I discovered converts your slide to a PDF that you can't edit. Yeah. Yeah. This is Yeah. This type face is Merryweather, which has, as you can see, seraps to it. So, um, it's very I find it very attractive to the eyes, but
it's not so overly adorned that becomes difficult to read and it doesn't scream I don't care anymore, which Ariel tends to announce. So, thank you for noticing that, Sam. I appreciate. But yeah, um, back back to the serious part of this, but um, the inevitable cliff, it's here. Um, and we're seeing it statewide. We're
seeing districts that had previously come in with 0% tax levies coming in at 12% tax levies. Um, and it's it's a significant issue and for those of you who have experience in developing budgets in whatever industry or whether it's a home budget, you know, these issues tend to compound themselves. So
that's why we wanted to make sure when we set this budget, we weren't just looking at survive in advance of 2627. We wanted to make sure that we were preparing for 2728 and beyond. Now, um the budget that we have in place for this year was a tough one to to manage
as well. And by this year, I mean school year 2526, but it's helped us to provide a lot of really great opportunities for our kids. And these are some really wonderful bragging points. If anybody was able to make it to that trips event that was held at PV it was phenomenal. Uh there were so many kids there and a
lot of a lot of purchasing power in that room, but it but it was really wonderful and we saw the kids were really all in on the experience. Um we also purchased a Gaga pit for North Boulevard. And yes, when I first saw that name, I was like, "What is a Gaga pit?" It's kind of like
modified um dodgeball. You can only hit somebody from the kneecap and below. And you're in a small hexagon-shaped pit that has walls that are about 30 inches tall. from what I understand it's all the rage. I don't know if it's quite up to pickle ball for for youngsters, but
it's it's quite popular. But as you can see, there there are a lot of other things that we've been able to invest in to provide greater opportunities for our kids. Whether it's the Dibbles program that provides a great measurement tool for early literacy, it's Conquer Math, which is truly helping our our teachers
feel more confident in their math instruction. There's a lot going on here, and the budget helps to make it possible. Um, next slide. You see the PV, we had some really great opportunities for our kids there. We had plenty of champions as well as a really
wonderful spring musical. Um, Mr. Pashack and the peer leaders host the first responders for a lunchon as well as a senior citizen breakfast. Um, and for anybody who's ever able to make it, Jerry Zach, whose parents are both Holocaust survivors, um, speaks to our eighth grade, all of our eighth grade
classes, speaks to him separately, and he is a brilliant speaker, but we're able to bring him in as well. And then that bottom one, the 75th anniversary activities. This is the 75th anniversary of Pquonic Valley School. And so they're uh trying to make it as much fun and as
exciting as possible. Um we're ignoring the fact that we can't find the time capsule that was buried 25 years ago. Yeah, we actually think somebody stole it because we we were it looked like the movie Holes. We were digging up the the front of PV back in August and we couldn't find we even had somebody who had a metal detector from the township
helping us. Yeah, there's one from uh from 76 as well. Um that one that one was dug up um when they when they plant when they dropped the one in 2001. Um they dug up the one from 76. So 76 has been found just not just not 2000, 2001. Um few few
district points of pride. Um Mr. Boyce is one of our security guards. Um received the unsung superhero award. That was a really great event down at um Mar down at school boards. Um, we've also had some some really great things. I already mentioned Conquer Math. Um, but we're get we're also getting
involved in the 250th celebration. Um, it's actually pretty neat for me. I went to a um went to a meeting about what school districts are doing to celebrate the 250th CCM and I was told by somebody that the feedback was that Pquanic showed up everybody else with all the
things that we had. Of course, my response to that was good. I had more of a response, but good will suffice. And then as far as the high school, we have a lot going on here. Um, we brought in so many experts to speak with our kids in the Ascend Academy. I
made a reference before to the AP scores to earn a 3.93 on the fivepoint scale is remarkable. Three gets you college credit. Um, this is really strong. We had 23 students earn the seal of biiteracy. Been able to add new courses.
Our kids went on a trip to Costa Rica. Um we've had some really fantastic experiences and opportunities for our kids in athletics as well as the arts. We even were able to host um Shakespeare live. They did a performance of the Scottish play. Um and some of the people who have come to speak with us have really given some great information and
insights to our kids. So there's a lot going on in our schools. Now for the not so great news. So right now we're facing what could be best described as the perfect storm um involving costs and broken into three categories. um healthcare and insurance,
those that's the most pressing and the most urgent. That's the one that's getting the most most press. Um as far as shortages, we there are certain staffing areas where there are shortages which drives up hiring costs because districts are competing with one another for finite resources. In other words,
limited number of people hold the certificates. Operations and logistics, the OOD stands for out of district placements. We do our best to avoid out of district placements. We feel like the best place for Puquanic students is in Puquanic schools. Um, and I deliberately made eye contact with Miss Bronco as I
said that because I know she's a huge advocate for that. But in some situations, the the placement is necessary because we simply don't have the programs to meet the specific needs of those individual students. Nevertheless, th those costs are not controlled and they're not capped. And
the transportation costs are outrageous for those as well. Um, and then energy costs. We've been able to do pretty well with the energy costs because um of our investment in the solar, but we're still getting pegged with a 10% increase in in costs. So during COVID, we we more or
less accepted the fact that there were there were supply chain issues and that sent prices skyrocketing. Prices haven't come back down. It's kind of like they they achieved a plateau and just stayed there. And then the the other thing we have listed on this slide is about state aid. Um it's never been sufficient. Um,
we actually don't receive our full share of state funding. This, um, connects back to something called S2. Um, and I'll get into that in a in a later slide. As I said, there's a lot of slides here. I don't want to want to be terribly redundant, but really the the the point of saying that there's cold
comfort. We're not alone in in facing a deficit. Um, New Jersey is actually facing what's called a structural deficit, and that's when um costs are exceeding revenue. Um there are districts that are in trouble because of mismanagement. We're not one of them. We
we've been managed really well. Um when you hear about people who use non-reoccurring funds to pay for reoccurring costs, they knew they were going to get into this situation and if they didn't, shame on them. And what that essentially means is if you got a lot of COVID money, which is a non-reoccurring revenue
source, and you spent it on reoccurring costs, generally that that's staffing, um you knew that that money was was going to dry up within two, three years tops. Um that's that wasn't what we did. We we barely got any money for COVID anyway. But we've been so mindful of in
our practice. So that's what makes this particularly frustrating, especially with the health insurance too, knowing that it keeps going up and we can't get out of the plan that we're in because our experience rating is too high. There's a degree of hopelessness there that's incredibly frustrating. Nevertheless, um we face an an expense
gap. Um, and what it's become is what I refer to as an impossible gap because the the leaps that we've seen in healthcare insurance are just so overwhelming that it it very much impacts someone who has fixed revenue, which is what a school district has. So
to say the system's broken is to overstate the obvious. But um, I'm taking action as part of my county legislative group. Um, I apparently opened my mouth at a meeting a little bit too much and was advised that I should lead that council. So I or that group, so I am. Um, and it's been a it's
a really good group of people who want to take action to support not only their school districts, but also support the communities that support our school districts. So I don't know what we're actually going to accomplish if we're going to get a seat at the table in Trenton. would be lovely if we ever could, but um we want to at least help
to raise greater awareness and partner with uh elected officials so that they understand like this is where we're coming from and it's not has nothing to do with political parties is there's no us and them. We're we're in this together. So the healthcare waiver adjustment, I
made a reference to it. So what the healthcare waiver adjustment essentially does is allows districts to exceed exceed the 2% tax levy maximum. Um if we had stuck with the 2% um we wouldn't have brought in enough money to cover the increase just for um we would have
come about halfway to covering just this year's increase which doesn't factor in that there's also a one $1 million increase last year. Um it's it's something that again it compounds because those increases only build on each other and it's put us in a very
difficult position where we had to take this waiver which is not something you ever want to do. But um each percentage point that we went up essentially equates to three to four staff positions. And when you when you talk about return on investment staff is critical to that. We need people to
deliver the programs to help make sure that our kids have the educational experiences that they need. And what this ability to go above the 2% has enabled us to do is keep our staff, which helps us maintain intelligent class sizes as well as the wide variety
of programs that we have in place. So, just for a little background too for property tax rates, uh this is something I pulled off the Department of Consumer Affairs website. So, just gives you a point of comparison for where we are as a district compared to Mars County as
well as the state. So, the orange is the county property tax rate, the red is the school property tax rate, and then the blue is the municipal property tax rate. And for anybody who might be experiencing color blindness, um bottom one is county, middle one is school, top
one is municipal. So, um, our tax rate as a community is school tax rate is lower than, um, the state average and significantly lower than what we see throughout Mars County. Um, continuing with that, we see the residential property taxes versus state and county
averages. So, um, on average in Mars County, they're spending 7,000 homeowners spending $7,668 um, on school school taxes with the property taxes. Quantic at 6709. So, we're almost $1,000 below that. Um, the
state's actually below us there, which I found surprising. U, but the state has much higher rates for the county property tax, significantly higher for municipal property tax. So, looking at the budget basics, so u
three three major areas. Well, really comes down to two sides. There's revenue and there's appropriations. Two sides have to match up. Um, otherwise the gentleman seated to my right is in trouble. Actually, I'm in trouble, too. but um he's in trouble first, but that's not going to be the case. So, we see the
three main categories, current expenses and capital outlay, uh federal, state, and local grants, and debt service. We'll get we'll get through these. Um so, we build the budget. We do want to be considerate of taxpayer dollars. Um we also want to make sure that we maintain acceptable class size. Um I
just read an article on Friday about a district that's had to go to 25 per class at the elementary school level and 30 at the high school level. you can do it. It's just it does impact the effectiveness of what you can achieve instructionally. I know there's a there's a gate study that said class
size didn't matter. What people left out from that was class size didn't matter if the instructional practice wasn't effective. If the instructional practice is effective, class size does matter. State will tell you that 30 is an acceptable class size. Um from my experiences, having been in the classroom 15 years, I'm sure gentlemen
to my left would agree with this. Um class size matters and it matters a lot. We got a nod. Um, we also make sure that we maintain the programs and classes. Um, we have classes at the high school that aren't generally offered at smaller high schools and we're able to do so
because we have enough students interested. We're not packing in 24 kids for some of these more specialized courses, but we're giving kids outstanding opportunities. Um, then also for building the budget, revenue is limited by statute. Um, we do have
annual labor cost increases. that's something that's collectively bargained. Um, and the the sad part there too is we we also know that people who are receiving the the labor cost increases are also facing our incredible um rising
costs as residents in New Jersey as well. So, it's it's a it's a huge pool of difficulty. Uh, but the labor costs, increase salaries, health benefits, and pension costs. By the way, I blanked on the word inflation as I was speaking there. Hopefully, no one picked up on
it. So the essential investments for our 2627 budget um we continue to provide um specialed intervention services um I give a lot of credit to Mrs. Vansol for her work with Mr. Fobia and Miss Bronco on um improving our intervention
programs which oftentimes can help to prevent um kids getting unnecessarily um classified or the recommendation for class or request for classification for special ed. Um we continue to invest in our athletic facilities. We have to upgrade our tennis courts to make sure
that they're safe. Um tennis courts unfortunately it's it's poured concrete. It's it's going to crack over time and not a lot of time. Um especially so as close as it is to sunset which is not really a main thoroughfare but there's enough traffic there to send the
vibrations and then West Parkway even more so. I just learned this from somebody who explained the physics. It's fascinating. Um we're also making sure that we upgrade our infrastructure. We have old schools and with old schools you have things that break down but we're able to get a whole lot of new
unit events um using an NJSDA grant currently working on an inclusive playground. I've been given some updates about that that's going to be constructed at North Boulevard to accommodate the play needs of our preschoolers as well as students with um varying physical and or cognitive
abilities. And then we're always looking to invest in our security systems which comes down to people and things. So we also want to make sure that we protected programs. Um we did we did have to make cuts in this budget. Um we we did these very strategically very
methodically went through a series of meetings. Um we we eliminated edge of planet which was our our housing platform for a curriculum as well as the link intervention manager. We feel like the Google suite provides us enough for those programs that we can save the
money there and use a program that's already paid for. Um, we reduced agency aids and we're also eliminating day-to-day subs at the high school. Um, we've also found some places in tech where we could push back investments by a year or two with thus saving
additional money there. And we're also looking to integrate enrichment programs into the standard school day which will help us realize the savings as well. Um but there are things that we were that we looked at at our core were um obviously for our academics to have manageable class sizes intervention
supports and the intervention supports come back to making sure we have basic skills instruction. We have support staff for our students. We have a counselor ratio that works uh as well as manageable child study team case loads. Um when when budgets go severely
sideways, those are the that's one area that gets hit really hard. Um we made sure that we don't preserve our athletic programs. We did not eliminate u PV or freshman sports or coaches. Those oftentimes um get cut when districts are facing significant shortfalls in their
budgets. Um we also maintain extracurricular stability. Um we did not integrate any activity fees. Uh nor did we have to make any program cuts. Um obviously this I'm looking at the 2627 budget. Hopefully I'm saying the same thing for the 2728 budget, but there are
things that we know are important to our kids, to our community, to the families, um our staff. We want to make sure that we preserve that. So, um our revenue sources, our local tax levy is the primary source of
revenue. We also received state aid. Um equalization aid we no longer receive, so that one's gone. Um, we also receive tuition from some students as well as um from our contracted districts which uh Lincoln Park still stands for allied health academy. Our Mars County VOTE
Allied Health contract is expiring at the conclusion of next school year. We we will still have the current juniors going to be seniors next year as part of the share time academy and then that will go by the wayside because Mars County Votech had a building that they wanted to fill down in Randolph.
There were a few other miscellaneous sources of income as well from interest, rentals, refunds, and fees. So, this chart um be quite tedious if I went through all these numbers, so I will spare you that. But it breaks down our our different sources of revenues
and where you see different changes. Um on fund balance at the very end, I had a math error. So, you'll notice that it doesn't exactly line up because this was one of those beautified slides that I couldn't actually edit. So I pasted an image on top of it. Nevertheless, um
this gives a breakdown of where we were, where we look to be for this upcoming school year, where we are right now, the level of change, and the percentage of change. Going over to state aid, and the state aid numbers won't look like they lined up from the previous slide to this one.
So our state aid came in at a 5.97% increase. um previous slide factored in that um they w they withheld or factors in the amount that's not there due to debt service. Got it right. All right. Um so when you see that like hey we
almost have a 6% increase. That's great. It is except for the fact that we should have gotten much more of an increase. Um the state capped the increases that you can get at 6% and the losses that you can face at 3%. And this was to help prevent districts from um having
excessive fluctuations in what they were getting in state aid. Um we should have gotten $329,335 more this year, but because we were capped, why it didn't go to 6% is beyond me. But so we missed out on that money that in the state's funding formula. Um
furthermore, we were also shorted for the previous school year to the tune of $150,000. So that's almost half a million dollars are even shorted because of um an artificially imposed cap that goes against the state's very funding formula. Um and the reason that these
caps are in place um I'm not going to go into the details, but there was something called S2 um that was meant to um reform school funding um hasn't necessarily worked. It's it's tried to make things more accurate and distributed more equitably. um and it
hasn't worked to the extent that they had hoped it would work. All right. So, our certified tax levy form here, it just breaks it down um based on what we receive for the the first half of the year as well as the second half of the year. What gets
complicated is a school district operates on a fiscal year calendar that starts on July 1st and ends on June 30th. uh most of the universe instead goes by January 1st to December 31st. So that's why you see the numbers broken out here as they are.
And then to get back to just providing the overview um we want to make sure that we appropriate capital reserve monies for projects. Um this these are bigger projects. Your paint job is not going to go capital reserve but something that's much more significant like replacing a tennis court would fall
under that umbrella. We get um requests and input from the principles and directors. Supervisors make requests as well. Those just get filtered through Mrs. Vanskll for poor operational needs. And again, I've said it already a couple times, we're looking to maintain current class sizes. Um and I made a reference
earlier, too. Final staffing will be determined in advance of May 15th. Our meeting is May 11th. So staff um will be made aware previous to that of their status for next year. So, for budget building, a few things to factor in. Um, health benefit
contributions. Um, Chapter 78's been phased in for eight years. Um, and that was supposed to really help school districts as well as staff members um, manage the ownorous cost of health insurance. It has not worked. Um, we do
receive tuition revenue. Um, we also have pulled together um, for some shared services. We're in the poolled insurance funded act, which actually is on an FFA to get approved for another three years. And something we've been looking at really closely as well is what's called staff hiring breakage. And that's where
if you have someone retire or otherwise not return and they're at a certain level in the salary guide, you look to replace them with somebody who is significantly farther down on the salary guide, which is great because it helps you helps you to give opportunities to emerging career
professionals or Yeah. and it also saves you a lot of money and infuses uh the schools with with with new fresh talent. Um but we we very much focus on this for for our breakage for this year. We've already seen at least a quarter of a
million dollars just in in our hiring breakage which is a trend that we we look to continue. And um to help that when we post for positions as well, we also post salary guide um steps that are that the positions are available for.
And I realize that this cuts out certain people who might be farther ahead in their careers. Um we've seen a lot more mobility among teachers. Like when I came here after my 10th year, that was very unusual. You didn't see people leaving teaching jobs after their 10th year. This was back in 2007. It got to
be a lot more common place around CO. The concern is when when you're one of the last people in um if there's a massive budget issue, typically one of the first people out. Um and this has happened. I've talked to some of my colleagues who have lost some really really good people because they simply
couldn't afford them anymore. Nevertheless, um we we post what the steps are that that we can hire for. Um and it lets people know like this is this is exactly what we're what we're after. you're hiring for a Spanish teaching position, you have to have more flexibility in the steps that you can
allow. An elementary school teacher position, you can say, "Look, we're looking for steps one through four." And it just depends on on what's out there, the pool of candidates. I've been talking a lot, right? Any questions so far? I was kidding. Okay, just one small
question. The equalization aid that we lost, why did we lose that? because of decreasing enrollment or like why did we lose that equalization aid? >> Yeah, they they just eliminated it. So equalization aid yeah thing in the past. So for the last two years we've been
zeroed out on that one. >> What a convenient answer for the state. They just eliminated it. Perfect. Thank you. >> Okay. Where'd it go? I don't know. It's gone. I don't want to seem too flippant, but I feel like sometimes when you I've worked in I know I've worked in bureaucracy for a long time, so I can
roll with it, but sometimes there are responses that you get. We're like, "Dear goodness." Yes. Um and we will find a larger house to represent. Um that's actually my house. No, it's not. But it's it's not. It's not. Nevertheless, uh but this just gives you
um an overview on the estimated impact on homeowners. Um, we wanted to make sure that we're upfront about the overall cost that people are going to see. I wish it was lower, but unfortunately circumstances do not allow for that. And then here's another comparison for
our 2025 versus 2026 tax levy. Could go through these numbers, but I've already risk stupification. Um, budgeted tax levy, which I couldn't get to center. This table frustrated me a lot, but you can just see the general fund versus debt service fund as well as
the total that it came out to um increases over the past two years. This one's another winger if you want to go through all the numbers, but it shows you different budgeted numbers for um
2627 as they compare to our current um cost levels. So as much as we could, we tried to find savings. We found savings in central services. We found savings in school administration. Um found we found savings in regular education. So like where we could, we
were able to find savings because when you know that there are costs in other areas, you have to make sure that you're allowing yourself as much of a cushion as possible. But there are some that are beyond us like the the tuition cost. It's it's beyond our control. That's almost quarter of a million dollars. Um,
and then the the benefits going up almost $1.8 million. It's it's a program that we we we can't escape. I mean, obviously, we want to make sure people have health insurance. Um, but I I just wish that we could find a more costefficient manner in which to provide
it. We're working on it. And then, uh, other expenditures, and give a lot of credit to Google for this magnificent breakdown. I don't know exactly what it was doing with our logo. If you look at the upper right, I actually intentionally left that there knowing that this is something we're going to
look at in the strategic planning for next year is um our brand identity. And I do think we need to have a crest for our school district and our high school. That's actually the crest for our school district and our high school. That that crest to which Mr. Reesi just pointed,
that's the township seal, not ours. Well, I mean, obviously we're part of the township, but I feel like we should have our own. So anyway, so that was uh that was AI generated. It looks pretty cool. I'm not quite sure exactly what the what the smaller parts of it are. I just know
it looks cool because it's got the checkerboard pattern to it. I'm going to try to stay focused here. So we you see the breakdown at different costs um that are that are again part of our budget. We do spend we do spend on our co-curriculars and I think it's it's
money well invested and same with our athletics. you're I've said for years too that you want to have safer schools, have kids who are really involved in a lot of things. And um I I sincerely believe this when you hear about terrible things happening in school districts, um it's you never hear about
being kids who felt like they were really connected to the fabric of the school, who felt like they had a place where they belong. Um and I want to make sure that we provide as many opportunities for our kids to feel that way. um and to be able to interact meaningfully with staff members who do
genuinely care about them um and want to help push them into great experiences for the present as well as for the future. So, um you see the breakdown of our reserve accounts. This was another one that I converted. If you hit beautify the slide, um you cannot edit it and
there was a math error which may or may not have been my fault. So that's why you see that kind of wonky looking font shift at the bottom of Capital Reserve. I couldn't I couldn't replicate this font. I couldn't tell which one it was. Nevertheless, uh you can see the breakdown for our reserve accounts. Um
where we've had a budgeted withdrawal. Um the return on the SDA grant, that's the school development authority. And then we're expecting to get 7 $760,000 for the sale of the board office property. Um, I was prepared to come in with a higher offer, but I was told that
I I could not do so. And here again, it breaks down the capital reserve accounts. This is what we're removing money for. School unit replacement as well as tennis court, tennis court resurfacing. Then the maintenance reserve accounts. You see it broken down by by five
schools. And where's this money going? You also see the different areas in which we spend for maintenance reserve which also includes inspections, repairs and maintenance. And when you see clocks and intercom systems, I just really want to stress that several of these clocks
are indeed analog clocks. They're all digital in this school though. They made that change back when I was still teaching here. It's those red digital clocks. So, it was like having Sauron staring down at you from the wall. So here we see our
enrollment history, our 2027 projection. We don't know our exact 2027 number, but that that's that's what it's estimated to be. When we had the demographic study done, what the demographer found was more or less we should anticipate that
our enrollment will stay largely flat for the foreseeable future. So we we lost from where we were 2017 2020 we we've gone down about 30 30 kids maybe 50 kids from the high but we've stayed
remarkably consistent since then which is a good thing. It helps ensure consistent funding. It helps ensure consistent classes. Um I don't anticipate there going to be any major developments built in our community. Um this is true. This is true. But yeah,
the um but the developments, I mean, I I see it in Lincoln Park. There's a very very large apartment complex that's just down the hill from me, right by the Legion, 96 units. It's not supposed to have an impact on the school district. There's another one right by where the Wexford used to be. Um you go to where
the ice fault is in Wayne by Barbara Pond Road, there's a huge one there. There are there are huge developments going up all over the place. Um, I drive by one in Montville where they're advertising that they're selling in the mid 800s. We kept driving.
Anyway, um, so for our enrollment categories here, you see how it's broken down for our pupils on roll as well as our additional placements. And again, the pupils on roll is a bit of a projection since we don't have all of our kindergarten students enrolled just yet. Um, nor do we have all of their um,
not all their enrollments are completed. So, if you are paying attention, you have a kindergarten one who's going to be starting next year, please make sure that you've completed the enrollment process. That helps us enormously with placement. It helps us have geographically sound placement, which is really important because when we start
getting later enrollments, we put them where where there's where there's space. Um, and we try to get kids and families as close to the schools in their neighborhood as possible. No guarantees, of course. Um, we're almost done with this. So,
debt service and fund 20. Um, fund 20 is largely the funding we get from from federal, state, and local grants and um and aid. So, we're projecting that at 75% of the previous year. We're not sure exactly what it's going to look like coming from the feds. We have a stronger
sense now from the state. Just making sure you're still with me there. Um, and then debt service we continue to pay down um, from the 2013 and 2016 issuances. I believe the 2016 actually helped to renovate the very room that we're in right now, which
appears to be cooling down nicely. So, finally, um, I I it's kind of an obligatory thing. You always make sure you have the thank you slide, but in this case, I truly mean it for thank you. Um, this was a really difficult budget to develop for a number of reasons. And um I have to say the
support that we've felt from staff, from administrative team, from board, from the larger community um with some really tough decisions um has proved enormously helpful. Um if you need to reach out to either Mr. Gibbs or me regarding um any
questions, comments, concerns, um we are available. Shoot us an email. We get back to people pretty quick. Um you can also check out where we are in the different socials. Um X is a bit of a cess pool now. we haven't been using that terribly much, but Facebook and Instagram um we we're still using quite
a bit. I'm kind of afraid of Instagram. I don't know why, but nevertheless, um there's that. So, while I'm still up here, um any questions from the board regarding the budget for 2627? >> I just had one. Um you had mentioned that
when you prepared this budget and I think you had said this at past meetings too that when you when you preparing this budget you and uh Mr. Gibbs um you were doing it with the next year's budget in mind so you could set yourself up for success and not have create more problems for the following year. Can you
just talk a little bit about what that entails and what type of things you guys look at? >> Absolutely. Um and I'll give you a chance to Yeah. Um so our for this one we knew at the end of last year's budget process that this one was going to be
particularly difficult. Um and then when we had the additional healthcare insurance increase that was announced in September they finally gave us the numbers in December went into place January. So we knew ahead of that that this was going to be tough. That helped us realize it's going to be even tougher. So what we did in our meetings
is we we met with each principal actually we met the principal teams for the elementary and then PV and then high school and Mrs. Vans was part of that as well. Um and we looked at what were the um possible cuts that we would make and what were what I called pain points um
what would cause the greatest amount of pain to um our programs. And what was really good about the conversations is that um we were able to be open and and share ideas about hey this is this is where we could save money and and I give Mrs. Vans a lot of credit too. She's
fearless in in coming up with solutions that um that weren't mine and and and I appreciate that. Like I I hate group think. I know it makes makes leadership easier but that's not leadership. It's management. But point being that that
where where I initially I really thought that we were going to have staffing cuts. Um I I was certain of it and what we were able to do is find other places where we were able to prevent that happening. Um we were able to find um points that almost caused
no no duress or distress. So when you cut out something like Edge of Planet that's a recurring cost and that was the tune of like 30 grand a year. That's what it was. So it was edge plan and link it together was 57. So that 57 we saved for this year and that 57 is
again saved for next year and and the years thereafter. So we're looking for reoccurring savings. Um I told Miss Bronco I need I need to cut this many aids from our from our agency's roles. She got to me like that. That was something that we were able to do that
that's fairly painless and that delivered$180 $200,000. um one that we're going to see how it goes is eliminating the day-to-day subs here. That that's a that's a major expense um that we're taking a leap of faith that we're going to be able to supervise kids. We are still going to
have some subs here. We're going to we're going to maintain our permanent subs, but um we talked to other districts about how they rolled that out and by putting kids in a cafeteria, having them appropriately supervised, saving probably $130,000 if not more.
So, so to get back to your question, I'm giving a very long answer to a pretty short question, but we were looking for thing for costs that that keep coming up. They're not just singleton expenditures. There's they're things that if you pull them out of your budget, you're not only pulling it out
of the 26 27 budget. You're pulling out 27 28 28 29. Um, and I had I'll admit I'm not proud of it. I had a comment at a countywide meeting that Mr. Gibbs and I attended and I I try not to not to ever play the role of the pessimist, but
um someone was talking about making sure you have a five-year plan and I was like five-year plan. I'm hoping to make it to June and you're talking fiveyear plan. But the point was like you need to have that that long range view in mind and though school budgeting dynamics have
changed quite a bit even over the course of my relatively short superintendency. This is my it's my seventh year and and I can tell you this is so much different from what I walked into in 201920. Um but we're gonna we're gonna do as many things as we can to limit the pain of
the cuts because the pain generally filters its way down to our kids and our community and we want to avoid that, you know, and and I talk about we we keep our staff in place not because of some great generosity on my part like give everybody a job. That's not it at all.
It's because people we have are the people we've determined who can best deliver services to our kids and they do it really well with a lot of pride. So I don't want to lose what we have there as well. Um, and who knows, in future years it might be there might be other factors
that make that an impossibility, but for now we were able to find ways to get us to starting line for July 1st, 2026 and then looking ahead to July 1st, 2027 because we do have to have that long range planning. I don't know if you want
to throw anything in there. >> Well, before you go, I just want to say that you said you're given a long answer to a short question. I think it's important that you do give a long answer to a short question because like I said in my opening report, you guys did a line by line analysis. I think it's important that the town sees the level
of detail that you went to to try and find the correct need and what fits it for our district. if, like you said, we had things that we were doing that we can change around and maybe make it more efficient, more more uh streamlined, maybe use Google Drive instead of a
software uh suite that costs money and that project savings into the future, not for just this year. I think it's very important to let the public know that that exercise was gone through and it wasn't just we need money, we're going to raise taxes. We we went through a process to try and make it as um
efficient as possible and raise them as little as possible. >> And and I appreciate hearing that from you too. This is uh when whenever you do any type of process at this level, you realize how many different I answer to a lot of people. Um whether
it's to staff members, whether it's to board members, to families, community members. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it comes back to I answer to kids. Um and so as we were going through this process, I tried to keep that at the at the forefront of my thinking and it's
and it's easy to take a detached perspective and just look at things in a very linear analytical way. Um so to have the number of voices involved in this process has helped to humanize it as well as to make sure that it's efficient and it's as effective as
possible. And I give him a lot of credit because I can tell you right now I I've become infinitely more annoying with all things school budget related over the past 12 months. LA last year, maybe the last 15 months because last year definitely got my attention. It's not to say that I was like a just put whatever
you want in the budget. Like that was never the case, but I wasn't nearly as as involved. And I've asked him a lot of questions and got a lot of really good answers. And it's it's uh it's been a very involved process. And we're still still in speaking terms. Even though I haven't let him speak yet, but we we
still are in speaking terms. >> Yeah. I just wanted to further mention that um we're already starting on the 2728 budget, believe it or not. Even though this one's getting passed now, my mind is obviously focused on this because it's getting passed. But I'm also thinking of 2728, namely the fund
balance because that's my beginning basis. From there, you build. We're working now to get that fund balance back up because we lost so much money this year. So, in doing so, we've cut any non-essential purchases this year. I mean, obviously, health services,
special education, you know, the buildings that that gets taken care of, but anything over and above at this point, we're it's on hold till July 1st in order to help build that fund balance back up again. Um, any questions on that at all or No, >> Gordon, I was hoping you could elaborate
a little bit on the fund balance and how you use it to fund the revenue side and where, you know, how that looks for us moving forward. >> Okay. If you have a strong fund balance, and for me, I like to see 10% of the total budget as your fund balance. Right now, we're at $4 million, which we're
below 10%. that actually helps you in things like emergencies like this uh health insurance that came up 1.3 million and was just thrown in our face back in October going into effect January 1st. Well, where's that money coming from? I mean, if your money is
already accounted for, you got to pull it from somewhere. Thank God we had the fund balance. It could come from there and other other sources also, but it also hit the fund balance. So, to me, it's critical that the fund balance is healthy. It's It's good for the school district and it shows that we're fisc
fiscally responsible in what we're doing. >> Can you also talk a little bit about um I think you guys sent me when I first got on the board at the beginning of last year the long-range facilities plan, but so I haven't had eyes on it in a while, but I'm a little bit um
concerned about the maintenance reserve going that low, but I also haven't seen what's on the LRFP in a long time. So, can you talk about how that was considered in the process? >> Absolutely. our maintenance reserve. Um, we basically try not to touch that at all. So, it's always going to be
constant. Even though it shows it could go down to, you know, a few hundred thousand dollars, in all likelihood, unless there's a total disaster, that will never happen. Okay? I always want to make sure that our maintenance reserve is at least as much as what our M1 schedule shows, and that's the
maintenance for the school year. Um, it's almost required by the state you keep a good healthy maintenance reserve account. Do you know the M1 number? >> Uh, well, right now it's uh 980,000 we're looking to pull out, but we're not going to pull that amount out. I can
tell you right now, we haven't even hardly touched it this year, which means that that number will be pretty much constant for next year. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Can I actually ask a follow question on the fun bounce? Um, you know how they
kind of threw this in our face? You said in October, do you potentially foresee that happening again this year? >> It could. We were told with the health insurance that originally back in September, oh, it's only going to go up 18%. That's a huge increase. January, I was told, oh no, anywhere from 24 to
30%. And basically, you pick what it's going to be. >> Yeah. So, we took 24% the low end of the spectrum as most districts have. Um, it could go up to 30% and then we're in the same boat next year.
Um, so my question might be to to both of you. Um, I I think I really just want to know is what the hell is the state going to do? Because, you know, if the price of food at restaurants goes up, you don't go out
to dinner. If the price of vehicles go up, you fix the vehicle you have. Um, you don't buy new clothes, you fix your clothes, whatever the case may be. But our costs are going up. Energy, health insurance,
and I mean, what can we do other than raise the taxes? What is the state doing other than just raising taxes? I mean, you know, private companies can have less people work for them or they
can pay less of the medical insurance or they can cut in other ways. you know, um, we're going to downsize the office, right? We're going to move to a smaller office. People can work from home, whatever the case may be. I mean, is the
state even talking about doing anything or they I mean, because health insurance is going to go up 25% again next year and at some point it's you're going to have I I don't I don't want to say, but you're going to have to
make a decision on having classes with 354 kids because health insurance is going to be more than salaries. I mean, we're in that situation in my company where people are their health insurance is with the family is costing almost as
much as their salary. >> Well, as it was mentioned in the last board meeting that health insurance chapter 78 is going to be phased out in 2027. So, what does that mean? Chapter 78 is the employee contribution to the the plan. There's also chapter 44 which
is a very low-end contribution for the employee. What I foresee is going to happen is they're going to go into chapter 78 mode. Even though it's being phased out, it'll be a new chapter, whatever it is. Meaning >> last chapter. >> Yeah. Staff will have to contribute a lot more
>> because districts can't retain it. I just how can >> you said? >> But if staff isn't making as much as other positions that people won't become teachers. >> Well, that's a state decision,
>> right? I mean, listen, none of us know what's going to happen, right? >> No, but but I mean, I I part of my job is dealing with the health insurance company. >> Sure. >> It's going up 25% next year. >> So, I I I think >> I mean, I don't know if it is for what we're using,
>> but United Healthcare is going up again. The thing that I want to like focus on in the fact that >> you made the best out of the situation that you were put in and it wasn't just simply
we need money because healthc care went up and we're just going to lay it all at the feet of the taxpayer. >> To me that's the story. The story was we went back looked internally at our operations and tried to make them as efficient as possible so that we don't
pass on a cost. And meanwhile, we're not running an efficient operation. I would imagine in the future, if this happens again, we're going to do the same thing and go through the same exercise, but I don't want to speculate what's going to happen, and I don't want to have a doomsday scenario because no one really
knows what's going to happen next year, and no one's going to know what they're going to do once that law sunsets either. >> Yeah. There was a article um about two weeks ago in in the record maybe a week ago um and it was talking about how our
new uh Department of Education Commissioner um Dr. Lux, it's Laux, which I thought was loud, but apparently it's Lux, but um how she she's working to look at how they can update
the school funding formula. Um, and it sounds like she she's bringing her experiences from Texas and she's used to looking at at big situations. Um, hopefully she can be part of the solution finding process. Um, we have to have gotten the attention of of the
legislature um with this because the news stories are everywhere. Like you can't you can't click online or open a newspaper anymore, but it's it's its own epidemic. It's everywhere. So, um, yeah, there has to be something something
large scale, but something that has to be done, too, is we we have to make teaching a more appealing profession to young people as well. And I've had conversations with with people in the in our association here about how I think the legislature should be partnering
with the NJA about how do we find ways to make it so that young people want this profession whether it's offering lower costs college loans to people who are aspiring educators or um offering um
lower interest mortgage rates to young educators who are looking to get started. that there there has to be ways that we make the profession more appealing than other just that intrinsic sense of I want to make a difference like that's what pulled me into the
profession was I I felt like I wanted to make a difference for humanity and when I was working for Nabiscoco I didn't feel like I was doing that um but that's not enough so we have to make sure that whatever however can be incentivized and when when I started teaching and this is back in 1997
I had zero dollars taken out for health insurance not a dime and that's obvious obviously changed quite a bit, but there there are a lot of there are a lot of things that that require um creative and intelligence solution finding that are that I think
coming to a head right now. And hopefully this is an opportunity. There's the there's a fairly well-known adage that in Chinese the character that's written for crisis is the same as the character that's written for
opportunity. And that is true. And so perhaps out of this crisis, this there is the opportunity for creative problem solving. And that's again why um I I I feel awkward like I'm self-promoting. I'm not like why I'm leading this group
of the of county superintendents to try to get into the ear of people who can help to effect change. Um, and what we're hoping is that what we start with Mars County, we have SE County working with us, too. But if we can get that to spread throughout the state and we get
people from both sides of the political aisle as well as independents on board, maybe we maybe we can make things happen. Um, but we're not going to go down without a fight. So any So, as far as as far as your speculation, yeah, be unfair to give some type of categorical
response, but um, you know, we'll we'll be prepared. We've got a we've got a dynamic team that'll that'll help us with solutions. Uh we have an association that we trust that we know we've talked to them about solutions as well. There's great communication channels and um yeah, New Jersey needs
some some major changes and hopefully this is the the wakeup call that helps to make that happen. Beautiful. >> Anybody else have any questions or comments? All right. Thank you for the presentation. Very good job. Thank you.
>> All right. At this point, I'll open it up to public comment on the budget. Um, so anyone that would like to just state your name and sign in before we begin. Mr. Hon gave away my name already.
Not going to lie, I didn't think I'd be the only one. All right, official business out of the way. Um, first and foremost, thank you guys for everything tonight. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak. Uh, I do realize it's it is getting late, so I'll keep it kind of
brief for you guys. Um, for those you do not know me, my name is Elliot Honik. I know I've been here before. Um, but just to clear it up, I am a teacher here at the high school and I've been here for over 15 years now. Um, tonight is actually my first time at this podium as
the president of the PTA um, in which I was elected earlier this month. I am not here to give you any type of rehearsed speech. I am here as someone who has spent a decade and a half in these classrooms and as the leader of the professionals who make this district
work. As an economics and business teacher, I get the math. I see the 24% spike in health benefits and the tax levy increased. Uh I carefully watched the video of the last meeting. I heard the concerns raised at this table. I
heard the talk of money trees and the reality that we cannot just keep raising the taxes. I also heard the honest acknowledgement that many of our teachers are already working second jobs just to stay afloat. Um, one board member uh mentioned that at the last meeting that they hoped
someone was watching and listening. I want you to know now I was watching. I am listening and the PTA is here tonight because we are paying attention. We see the same news headlines you do. Uh Mr. Senic mentioned in the last meeting that
this is happening in every district. We've heard that quite a bit all night tonight. Whether it is those skyrocketing cost of medications, the failing state funding formulas, we are all being squeezed by forces that we did not create. You alone are you are not
alone in this fight and we are not alone together. As Dr. Poris said, everybody has this battle ahead of them. But we have to be honest about the stakes. My members did not break this system and they cannot be the ones
expected to carry the burden of fixing it. We are the humans who have become the collateral damage of a system that is no longer sustainable for the people on the front lines. This is not just about a local budget. It is about the fact that we are being priced out of careers we love because we love what we
do. We love our students and we want to continue to make a difference in their lives. We need to work together to push for legislative fixes and that makes healthcare affordable and predictable again. If we do not address those root causes of those costs at the state
level, we will continue to see talent leave this profession because they simply cannot afford to stay. We cannot protect the standard of education at Puquanic if we do not protect the people who provide it. In this town, we talk a lot about Puquanic pride. It's one of
the reasons I have stayed here. To me, this isn't just a slogan. It is a standard. It is the veteran teacher who stays late for a student. It is the coach who mentors an athlete long after the season ends. It is the staff member who is the staff members who have spent the last few weeks running over 20
different AP review nights on their own time to ensure our students are ready for their exams. That pride is the reason families move here. We are the heartbeat of this district and we turn budget line items into top tier education.
I personally want to thank the board and the administration for the work you put into this proposal. I am grateful for your leadership. I appreciate that Dr. Poris is speaking to anyone and everyone who will listen to him at every level in order to to voice his frustration about
this budget and the effects that it has and for keeping it so that these budget cuts uh do not take away from our students. But we have to remember that we cannot that you cannot protect the classroom if you do not protect the
people standing in it. As Dr. Poris has said before, paraphrasing slightly, staff investment is critical to our success. Historically, the board of education, the PTA have had a very respectful relationship. I want to build
on that foundation by working together to fight the bigger fight. Together, we need to advocate for real change. So, our students, your children, will not be the next collateral damage. I do not want to see this happen, and I know
neither do you. Quantic has always set the standard. I am asking the board to join the PTA in maintaining that standard by recognizing that our staff is your greatest asset. Let us make sure the partnership is rooted in mutual respect and shared commitment to this
community. I am here and I am ready to do that work with you. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> We're in this fight together. That's my response. >> Okay. Uh with that, I'm going to ask Mr.
Bloomer to move the items under FFA. I'd like to make a motion to move FFA 169-26 through FFA73-26. >> Second. >> Any question or discussion? Mr. Gibbs, please call the RO. >> Mr. Bloomer,
>> yes. >> Mr. Sesi, >> yes. >> Mr. Giddon, >> yes. >> Miss Ao, >> yes. >> Mr. Mcmey, no, I'm sorry. Absent. Uh, Mr. Mahal, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shanton is absent. Miss Espazito, >> yes.
>> And Mr. Senic, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Uh, that closes the budget hearing and we're going to move into approval of the minutes. Miss Ao, would you please move the minutes? >> Motion for minutes on April 13, 2026.
>> Second. >> Question or discussion? >> Oh, I'm sorry, M. President Zen also March 23rd, 2026. I apologize. >> Second. >> All good. Any question or discussion? >> Call the roll. >> Mr. Bloomer. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Sesi. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gon. >> Yes. >> Miss Ao. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mcweeni is absent. Mr. Mahalik. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Shanton is absent. Mrs. Espazito. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Senic. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> All right. That brings us to our first opportunity for public comment. Uh
members of the public may speak for a maximum period of five minutes by the clock on any agenda item. And if they have a question, please direct it to the board president. State your name and sign in before you begin. Okay. Uh there is no one getting up to address public comment. So we're going
to move to approval of the action items. First up is Mr. Sesi. Would you please move the items under PMC? >> Yes. I would like to move PMC 173-26 through 183-26.
But there I have to adjust PMC 17926. The number under the musical technical director co-advisor is 466 not what's there.
>> Thank you. >> So again 17326 through 18326 with that change. >> Second. >> Okay. Uh, any question or discussion? >> Mr. Gibbs, please call the role. >> Mr. Bloomer,
>> yes. >> Mr. Sesi, >> yes. >> Mr. Giddon, >> yes. >> Misso, >> yes. >> Mr. Mcween is absent. Mr. Mahalik, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chanton is absent. Mrs. Espazito, >> yes. >> And Mr. Senic, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Next up is CIS. Miss Espazito, would you
please move the items under CIS? >> Sure. I'd like to move CIS 88-26 through CIS-95-26. >> Second. >> Any question or discussion? >> Second. >> Mr. Gibbs, please call the RO. >> Mr. Bloomer, >> yes.
>> Mr. Sesi, >> yes. >> Mr. Giddon, >> yes. >> Miss Ao, >> yes. >> Mr. Mcween is absent. Mr. Mahalik, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shentton's absent. Mrs. Escidito, >> yes. >> And Mr. Senk, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Next up is uh FFA. Mr.
Blumen, if you're not too tired from seconding every motion tonight, could you please move the items under FFA? >> I like to make a motion to move FFA 174-26 through FFA 185-26. >> Second. >> Question of discussion.
>> Mr. Gibbs, please call the RO. >> Mr. Bloomer, >> yes. >> Mr. Sesi, >> yes. >> Mr. Giten, >> yes. >> Miss Ao, >> yes. >> Mr. Mcweeny is absent. Mr. Mr. Mahalik. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Shenton is absent. Mrs. Espazito, >> yes. >> And Mr. Zen, >> yes.
>> Motion carries. >> I'd like to take a moment to thank all the generous donations uh this this meeting. Um four of which went to our inclusive community playground project called Landscaping Tall Creations, Mr. Murray, Mr. Appar, and um
customuilt cubbies from Mr. Bachuk. Hope I pronounced that correctly. Thank you for your generous donation. Thank you, Mr. Bloomer. Next up is another opportunity for public comment. This time, the public may speak on any topic uh for maximum five minutes.
And I'm going to close that and move on to unfinished business. Does any me any of the board have any unfinished business? Any board member have any new business? about board member announcements. >> Yes. Um,
as a board of education, today we are wearing blue in celebration of autism awareness month. This small gesture reflects our committee or I'm sorry, our commitment to supporting individuals with autism and continuing to promote a culture of understanding, acceptance,
and inclusion throughout our school community. We continue to celebrate autism and our students individuality. Um, I'd also like to thank Dr. Portz and Mr. Gibbs for an awesome presentation. It was very thorough. Um, I think you
answered all of the questions the community may have. I also want to say thank you to Dr. Portoris and Mr. Gibbs. I know you guys spent countless hours putting it together and making sure it answered all of our questions and we had hardly any. So, um, we do appreciate you guys. Uh, I
also want to share that we met as a shared services committee uh, last week um, working with some other community members and I hope to have some exciting updates on that at a future meeting. >> Anybody else? >> Okay, we do have reason to go into
executive session tonight where we will discuss personnel matters. No action will be taken and we will adjourn from there. Our next meeting is a workshop meeting on May 11th here at the high school. Is there a motion to go into executive session? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Second. All >> in favor? I.
>> Any opposed? Good night, everyone.