Mr. King. Dr. Nelson here. Mr. Patel here. Miss Rivers here. Mrs. Salgado Cowen present. Miss Smith here. Miss Stafford present. We have eight present. Thank you. Hereby it being known that the Piscatoaway Township Board of Education has complied with the
notification requirements of the open public meetings act for the announcement of this meeting date in place on April the 17th, 2025 in the following manner. Posting of the public notice on the posting board for the board of education in the administration building. Email notification to the newspaper seraway
the home news tribune and the courier news. Email notification filed with the municipal clerk at the municipal building on hose lane. This meeting is being videotaped. This recording is not an official record or supplement to the minutes is intended only as a source of information that the public might
utilize at a later date to familiarize themselves with the board's activities. Executive session. Be it resolved that the board adjourn to executive session for the purpose and review and discussion of personnel agenda litigation HIV monthly reports and other
matters persuant to the law NJSA 10 semicolon 4-12B. So move a second. Second. Just so everyone knows we're only going to be taking an executive session for between five and 10 minutes. Then we will come right back out out of respect to you and
your time. But right now, we will adjourn to executive session. We're all in favor of that. He convenes the public session. Have a motion. Motion. Second. Second. All in favor? We are now in public session. Um, tonight we do not have any student
presentations. Uh, we do not have any student reports. So, we'll go with my president's report. As the district moves through developing, refining, approving our budget for 2526 school year, it is very important that our board that we are
upfront and transparent about the process ending results. We take our role as public servants incredibly seriously, balancing the needs of providing our students with a quality education, our families with support outreach in our community with fiscal restraints and
responsibility. As the business administrator, Mr. Avera offered a detailed presentation on proposed budget on March the 13th board of education meeting which was streamed live on YouTube. A link to the video has been and remains on our website and the
budget has been advertised publicly and the news tribune, the courier news and all other meeting public notices. Um, the honorable mayor Waller at our meetings for our budget, you could send a representative to our
March meeting for them to take notes, pictures, hear the presentation, and then go back and create a detailed graphic video like the ones that you posted this week and emailed this past week to all of the citizens of Piscataway. You can also put them on the township social media page so that the
taxpayers stay informed and always have access to it. It may even be put on the township website for the citizens who do not engage in social media and all that comes with it. Meetings of the fiscal and finance operations committee and all of our other committees are open to the
public. Membership on our committees is also open to the public and reports for all of our committee meetings are available on the website. In my hand, I have applications for anyone who would like to fill out an application and join any of our committee meetings. We have
fiscal fiscal planning and finance. We have culture and uh climate culture and climate. We have policy and we also have curriculum. These applications you simply fill it out. If you don't want to do it here in person, you're able to go
on to the district's website, fill it out, submit it, and you can join any of those four meetings where you can be involved, have input, uh also contribute to the decisions that are made in those committees, and stay informed. Throughout this process leading up to
this budget, our administration strived for the cost efficiency as it reviewed all needs and requirements with regard to curriculum, instruction, technology, special education, security, home resources, healthc care, upkeep and improvements, and other district
necessities. And the most recent data available, Piscatoaway ranks 19th of 24 school districts in Middle Sex County uh per person yet ranks number seven among the best school districts in Middle Sex County by niche.com. The driving forces behind this budget
include state and federal mandates, our enrollment and staffing needs, student learning standards, and more. All prioritized based on available funding for the 2526 school year. Our proposed budget calls for a tax levy increase, but there are sufficient reasons for the increase and steps were taken to
minimize the impact on taxpayers. Our state aid for 2526 is down $800,000, meaning more of our general fund budget is coming from local property taxes. According to the state formula, our proposed property tax levy is underfunding our district by $39.5
million and what the state calls the local fair share. The discrepancy could lead to greater cuts to state aid in the future, which our district must be prepared for. The district proposed allotting 4.2 million of surplus funds towards reoccurring expenses in the 2526
school year. We would prefer to use surplus funds for nonreoccurring expenses, but this was proposed to help offset a tax levy increase. Even with next year's proposed tax levy increase, the average household increase over the past five years has been $130.85 85 cent
per year. The 10-year average of increases in the school tax levy is 2.5 or six 5% even with the 2526 school year tax increase included. In the six of the past 10 years, the tax levy increase was lower than
2.5%. As a board, we are very proud to say that our district is debtree, meaning none of our tax dollars goes towards debt services. Instead of issuing bonds and raising taxes for debt services, we have built up a capital reserve fund of $29 million to pay for
building additions, renovations, upgrades, and maintenance reserve of 6.5 million for required upkeep on school facilities. The financial planning puts our school district on solid footing to maintain stability and future budgetary unnecessities. When you factor in our
elimination of school debt, our overall tax increase has only been an average of 2.1% over the past 10 years. The state school funding formula swings dramatically from year to year, which affects not just our district, but districts across the state. Many districts are currently in dire position
of choosing between drastic tax increases, bond or budget referendums, or deep cuts to staff and programs. We are fortunate here in Piscatoway Township Schools not to be in such a situation thanks to our administration, sound financial leadership and proven
track record of planning for the future. Next on the agenda, we have the superintendent report. Thank you. Thank you for that uh statement, Miss Cherry. Uh good evening. I'm Dr. Roberto. I've been here three weeks. Look at all the
people. Good. This is very good. I hope you came because the comments I made at the last board meeting were so stimulating and encouraging. Um, I'll first give you an update uh from what went on in our district in the last uh week. We had take your child to work day
today. So, no matter where you went, you saw children that weren't normally here. Uh, yesterday was administrative assistant day and we acknowledged the work these fine people do in the offices. Now, I'd like to tell you we also had a bake sale today to benefit
the sale program. I don't know if you're familiar with the sale program, but it takes place right in this building. And I have to tell you, the children in that bill in this building are highly engaged. They did all the work for the sale program and the funds that they re
uh receive will benefit something. yesterday I have never seen as an educator and that was the freshman field day. When I first got the invitation to go I thought it was a traditional field
day. You know it is but it's the culminating activity and I know you all know about it of the freshman seminar. Uh I've been in education for quite a while. I've never seen anything. The el older students mentor the
freshmen. And here, this is going to make you all feel good. I got to see yesterday the CLA members of the class of 2028. It's Oh, it's going to look very good on them. Very good on them. And as a senior
citizen myself, Madame President, another four years getting up there. Uh this weekend there's something very very special going on in our district and that's a fun day to support one of
our students Omar who is in need of a kidney transplant. And the event is this weekend. It's Saturday. It's from 10 to 2 and there are activities for kids to do and I hope you'll all consider uh attending it. You
know, tonight I'm going to reveal a little of myself to you. None of you have the opportunity to interview me, and if I'm going to be here while you're looking for your permanent superintendent, I thought it would um be
beneficial to let you know. As I told the students in the back, my first class I taught was in 1971. You could say, "Gee, you look really good." Just, you know, give me a I or
something. It was the same year I got married. So, I've been at education and marriage for the same amount of time, but I'm not going to tell you which was more challenging. Um, I started teaching in
Patterson and my first week I had a student in 11th grade, 11th grade who could not read. That was before mandated assessments. That was before mandated
assessments in align with standard curricular basis. And as an 11th grade teacher, I had never, and I'm a Jersey girl, seen
that. Well, I never taught formal reading. I was a high school English teacher, but I learned very quickly. And I saw Ricardo at one of our reunions, and he's doing
fine. Let's move that up to Piscataway. Let's go 54 years. I'm an educational practitioner. I'm not from the NJ DOE. I'm not from an a outside agency or vendor. As an
interim, I'm a temporary superintendent to prepare the district for your permanent replacement. I also support everybody here. I'm not here to change things. I'm here to learn, influence, and support.
As you all know, education is in our state constitution. We are required to provide every child with an equitable education from ages 5 to 16. Let's go into
Piscatoaway. Last board meeting, I thanked everyone in Piscataway for helping me with the transition. I have to be candid with you. When I got the call to interview, I have been losing faith in my profession. After 54 years, that was
demoralizing to me. It made me empty. I lived a life, had children, did all the things you're supposed to do. Was obedient, a good daughter, a good mother, wife. Did it. and everything in
the middle of that re everything that I did revolved around me as an educator. And after 54 years to see things I wasn't happy about. So I took 11 months
off. I stayed home on the board of directors for a stateway organization that helps kids on drugs and the homeless. and I'm also president of the Rotary. Then I get a call to apply in
Piscatoaway. First answer was no, no, thank you. Then I got a call from someone else. My husband said, "Joe, why don't you give it a chance?" Well, I'm here tonight to tell you I needed Pascataway
more than you needed me. And I want to thank Dr. I am a practitioner. I've got a lot of experience. You're all googling me like, "Forget it. I'm getting emails about
Indeed." The worst thing you're going to hear about me is a parent called me a pitbull because he was talking about his son publicly at a meeting, depriving his child of privacy.
Now, everyone knew the challenges his child had and that I was a pitbull, but I've gotten more mellow in my age. I don't want to be a pit ball. I want to be honest, authentic, and
straightforward. I've been to 10 of our 12 buildings. Really, 11 counting preschool. Again, I thank the people for assisting me. I only have two schools to go. Here's what I've learned about you,
not me. I'm the outsider. You're compliant in all programs. You're compliant. You look in those buildings. I myself would eat off the floor. There's not one building in this district that's not
immaculate. And don't think I walk and just go down the hall. I look What they all have in common is highcapacity teaching staff, high capacity administrative teams. These are
from my notes. I've never seen such inclusivity in a district. Let's try something on for size. We're all getting destroyed by the media. In
Piscataway, no child's excluded. I know you're all in the budget mode. You need some teachers. Otherwise, you're shifting your your your district. They know the
kids. I don't mean they know them. How many students do you have in the school? They know their children. Any principal in this district can tell me academically how many children they have
achieving full advanced proficiency. And now I didn't do it. Reelli did something. He's I'm proud proud to follow in his footsteps. They're professional. They know their
craft. And you know what else? They have respect for their staff and their staff's capacity. You don't see that everywhere. Here's my last question I asked them. Here it
is. I have a formal transition. I've taught on every level on the academic level from seventh grade up to doctoral program. My last two questions. What makes you not sleep?
And every single one gave me an answer. That's how focused they are on these children. What worries you? Same answer. The last question is, do you feel you have
support? Every single one gave me this answer. I can call anyone for help. I'm going to tell you, I hope you're proud of this school district. And I'm not talking
money. I'm talking you. Yeah, I'm an outsider. Who does she think she is to talk? Well, you might as well know who I am. I could be here for about five or six months, but I've been told I'm
entertaining. And for you all, I put lipstick on and make sure I don't have sneakers on. They're proud of their district. They're proud of their community. Their community is
it. President Roosevelt, and it's on my emails. It's a quote that when I first read it in his book, uh, traitor to its class, I adopted it. And I paraphrase our great president. You can't prepare
the world for the children, but you can prepare the children for the world. I was telling the our young professionals in the back, when I started teaching, there were no
computers, no cell phones. What's the world going to be like in 52 years? What will our children today need to know? How have you all changed? Well, the same way my life
revolved around being an educator, many of you, your life changed was influenced or evolved around education. I've been to all the schools, the elementary. The result is a culture that's strong. I had nothing to do with
the culture. The culture represents all of you, board members, parents, people who love the budget and people who don't. You develop the culture. Here's your mission
statement. It's not mine. Before I take a job, I look at the data. I look at the budget. And as an outsider, I'd like to acknowledge the work of Mr. Aivera. I have to acknowledge
it. Your data for academic achievement is strong. I'm a senior citizen and my husband is an accountant. He is the last person that would vote or approve an increase in anything. How's that? And the way
Johanna Roberto offsets it is I cut every coupon known to man because I have to. Because my community, which is cutting severe staff this year, that doesn't represent the investment my husband and I have made in
it for 35 years. That's not the district my children went to. But here's your mission, state. The mission of the Piscataway public schools is to prepare students to become confident, productive members of global
society by developing each child's unique abilities in a learning environment that also includes the New Jersey student learning standards. Your key words are prepare the
student. The next group confident. How many of you can sit there and say you're confident? I'm a product of my upbringing, but school taught me how to talk in front of a group. Make eye
contact with a group. My hard handshake my father taught me. No, Joe, it's not hard enough. Squeeze hard. You're a woman. That's right. Oh, no. That's what he told me. My mother told me, "Don't bend
down so low to pick up so little. You don't need it." How's that for advice? Here's yours. Global society, AI technology, that's in the budget.
Your one-on-one initiative, which you all put in years ago, it didn't go away and you have to keep it going. Child's unique abilities. We don't teach children the way I was taught. It's not full class
instruction. The technology enables the child to be use technology to amplify learning and individualize it. Self-paced interestbased in a learning environment that includes the standards. You are
compliant in special education, bilingual, gen ed, and the standard. I'm giving you a report. You pass QAC from the state. You're there. You have a seriousness of
intent. Before I came, I did a data review, looked at your budget. Again, I compliment. and my husband and I came to this town and visited different places because I got to tell you at 76 I'm not
getting myself in a mess. Get it? I earned the right not to. And that's what we found. The words in your mission statement, I'm telling you now, are alive in your school district. The kids
are prepared. from my framework. You're living your mission. You're integritybased people. As your superintendent of three weeks, I'm sorry about the budget. But I stand behind it because it
is a good solid budget. You know why? It represents what you and the message you sent to this table over the
years. Five years ago, you gave you had to put nothing in. And now you're getting hit because of different things. I want to thank you because you held high
expectations. But to all of you in here and Dr. Renault Rena Reelli, thank you all. I don't know how you did it, but I've been a superintendent in 11 districts. I've never seen anything like
this. And to everybody who works in our district, thank you. And I end on this note and I'm probably getting emotional which is not my style and I'm not going to get emotional because as a woman I won't as an educator to to scatter
away. I needed you more than you could ever need me. You have renewed my faith in a profession I love dedicated myself to. So thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you Dr.
Public comments from the floor. The board of education recognizes the value of public comments on educational issues, school matters, and community interests. In support of this position, the law established a period of public comment at every board meeting. Individuals wishing to speak must state
their name and municipality. Comments are limited to three minutes duration, but an individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard. The board may require that individuals register to speak prior to the beginning of the meeting. Participants may submit written
materials in support of their position. All statements and or questions shall be directed to presiding officer and no participant may address or question board members individually. All speakers are required to express themselves in a civil matter with due respect to dignity
and privacy rights of others who legal rights may be affected. Please note, while this is not the board's intention to stifle comment on matters of legitimate concern to the school community, the public should be aware that if their statements violate the rights of others under the law
governing defamation and invasion of privacy, they may face personal liability to the injured party. If speakers are uncertain of their legal ramifications of their comment, the board urges them to seek guidance beforehand from their own legal advisor. Um, we're now in public comments.
Yeah. Uh, Madam President, before we start public comment, just two uh things. First, this public comment session is a public hearing for the 2526 budget only. If you happen to have a comment on the other two budget uh items on the rest of the agenda or if you have
general comments, there will be a subsequent public comment section. This is only for any uh comments related to the budget. Secondly, I'd like to note for the board and uh for the public, there's been one adjustment to the budget since the tentative budget presentation on March 13th. Um that was
for the total budget for the special revenue fund has decreased from 14,154706 to 13,48864. So this is exclusively a result of changes made to uh preschool education
aid. um we had to compensate for the state. They clawed back 25% of carryover funds and the pea budget workbook was not due until March 14th of 2025. So that's the day after we did the presentation. So that change was made.
The uh preschool budget workbook was submitted on March 14th and the changes are reflected on the budget resolution item A. I will note none of what I just said has any impact on the local tax levy. Uh it's it's merely related to the
special revenue fund. Yeah. And I I I wanted I wanted to get it on the record uh because it is a change from the March uh amounts. So with that, if there's any public comment related to the budget only, you can approach the podium. Um I do need to record for the record your
name and your township. Uh, Ed Smith, 34 Lake Park Drive, Piscatoaway. Good evening, members of the board, superintendent, and fellow residents. I'm a longtime resident of Piscatoaway, and I'm here tonight to voice my strong opposition to the proposed 5 and a half% tax increase. I
recognize the challenges our district is facing, especially the reduction in state aid, but I have serious concerns with how the district is choosing to respond. Instead of tightening the budget and protecting essential services, this proposal includes expanding staff. That includes four new
bilingual teachers, an autism teacher, a full-time nurse converted from part-time, a high school media center clerk, and a new IT specialist. Now, those are all great things, but I want to be clear. This is not the time for expansion. Piscataway families are
already dealing with higher taxes due to annual property reassessments. This year alone, my property value is increased by 130,000. That reassessment by itself will raise my taxes, even if the rate is lowered by the proposed half a percent. Now, on top of that, you're asking me to
pay even more because of a tax levy. It's simply too much. the taxpayers, the ones funding the schools. We deserve to have a voice in whether our money goes forward to goes toward expanding staff in the middle of a budget shortfall. So give us that choice. Show the community
and the students that democracy works. If this increase is truly needed, then make your case and let the voters decide. I'm asking the board to reconsider this path path. Scale back. Focus on the essentials. delay the new
hires. But if you still believe this tax increase is the only option, put it to a vote and let the people of Piscatoaway decide. Thank you. See if anyone else is coming forward. Is there anyone else wishing to speak tonight on the budget? Please come forward. State your name and the
municipality, please. Okay, my name is Tony Pingu uh from Piscatway 36 Franco Avenue. I have a lot of questions. Um first thing is uh I want to draw attention to this uh
2024 to 2025 uh projection that says that PK to 12 enrollment will be projected to go down substantially. So it doesn't make sense to increase the budget when there are
less students in in this coming few years. it should instead be a lesser school budget instead of increasing the budget. Um the other one I'm not sure if I
understand this the total special revenue fund. Um from the 2023 to 24 versus 2024 to 25 that was increase of about $800,000. So
I'm not sure about the one the 224 versus 25 compared with the proposed 2526. It shouldn't be keep on increasing. It should be uh you know contra of the 800 uh,000 shortfall. So
look into into this aspect. So this one is a kind of interesting I think but uh this require the uh the state assembly and the senate intervention pisc have about I believe
it's uh 8% 112 of the ratable properties occupied by ruggers university and it's tax exempt uh others township like Edison maybe east Brunswick or whatever I know New Brunswick have rugged
property there. I think the 8% um property occupied the opportunity cost is uh too burdensome on this township. If it is say 3% or 5% maybe it's kind of a
something that uh the township could tolerate. But in the climate of the current increasing uh property tax for the last couple of years and now with this $800,000 shortfall um this will become too burdensome already. So somebody here
with expertise should help to get the state representative to seek relief so that we don't have to uh lose this opportunity to raise the uh taxes from industrial or residential
development on whatever is a fair percentage say 3% of that that will help to bring in more revenue. So if you or you with connections with expertise get this congressman to do the job they are
sleeping on the job we we are wasting a lot of we are paying too much um what is the other stuff okay so now with the artificial intelligence capability there should be some investigation if all the the school the
teachers could employ them to be more efficient instead of hiring more uh humans human cost a lot of money. It's better to to have more AI, you know, to help to bring up the cost of uh
schooling. What else can I say? I think I'm almost done. Okay. Then there's the last one. It's just for comparison purpose. Uh playing field just shot down the the budget increase, but they were asking a lot like a 30 36% or something like
this. Pisc way less. So I I hope Biscalary Tom should show some sensitivity because that is a reflection of property tax increases but people does people don't actually get rich they stay in all these kind of houses is not
a second home investment. So they are all burdened by this additional taxes especially the school budget is probably about 55% or stuff like that. So it's very burdensome. So it there should be a freeze. Uh that's what I think I'm I'm not asking for reduction but at least a
freeze will be more proper. U so that's the other reason uh final one people are moving out of New Jersey because of high property tax. So this is the point to be understood. So all these property tax increases and now the school budget
increases it just make people feel really annoyed with the the burdensome taxes. I just give an an example. My property is over $700,000 assessment. Okay. So I just do a quick research maybe 4% mean interest rate. Uh then
they say at about 5.7%. You know I look at the whole thing after you do all this calculation we are almost to the point where we have a home ownership title but we actually almost like we are renting our
own property. your pro your $700 plus,000 is sitting there and uh not accumulating uh interest they who earn from annuities or or cities. So you know what I'm saying? So with all the other kind of uh like the the the the
the insurance that the utility stuff like that is narrowing the gap with the marketplace of that the uh is the rental versus ownership doesn't make much sense anymore. So this going to be factored in because the
biggest problem is that over 55% I think of the school budget of the total revenue from uh for the township. So this is the biggest issue is too burdensome on the residents already. So I propose freeze zero increase make
everybody happy. As far as educating those younger generations, I mean those preschooler, I understand all the thing. You got to teach them very early so they can catch up, you know, and be very very good later. But we are living in
the hard times. I would say this is not the time everybody is rich. Your money in the house, you don't buy anything. It's just sitting there and you're burdened with property tax. You see, you can you cannot cash in. It looks you're rich, but you're not rich. Yeah. And our busters on your neck. So I would prefer
there's no increase at all. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else wishing to speak on the budget? Madam President, can I can I say something please? Stacy. Yeah, there's someone else coming up.
Yeah. Okay. Good evening. I'm Stacy Burgerer, 233 Ellis Parkway. Um, I've been to a lot of but a lot of school board meetings and um I think that you know people do the best that they can with what they have and I have never seen a single one of our elected officials to your point um
from the state legislature here to talk about how they're helping our school district get more money. I have not seen the mayor or many of his um fellow council members. I do see them take a lot of pictures uh when they come to your school district and our school district. I no longer have students in
the school district. Both of our sons graduated um from Piscatoaway High School uh over the last couple of years. Got a great education here. Um and I firmly believe that we get what we pay for. I I saw an interesting comment um that somebody made on a social media
post about how they were upset about the tax increase and that they um didn't want to be asked to get involved because they're busy and part of what they expect from the people that they elect is that they're going to make the best decision for them. And having known some of you um for quite a while, I believe
you're making the best decision that you can with the resources and information that you have. Nobody wants to pay more. But the current conditions that we're in where the mayor and many of his council members continue to follow this strange insistence on reassessing everyone's
property value every and reevaluating it every single year is driving our property taxes way through the roof. that is one of the largest sources of this issue because I believe and I think the data shows that most towns don't do that and it's really unnecessary and it
creates this false sense of housing wealth that Piscataway just simply does not have but it puts a burden on our on our elected officials in both the municipality and at the school board to try to make up what the state thinks we have. And so you're in a position of
really not winning because if you do this, some people are going to be upset and if you don't do this, we're going to short change our children. You wouldn't be asking for those teachers and the bilingual assistants and the other things that are in the budget if you didn't believe that they would benefit our entire community and our students
and our faculty who need those resources. I I could not disagree more. Um I don't think that we should have AI be teaching our children. There's also lots of environmental impacts of AI that don't go um you know that aren't as well documented or aren't as well understood
about the impact on our precious resources uh that we would be wasting by simply not having people. What makes Piscataway such a wonderful school district that people are actually moving to New Jersey and moving to Piscataway in large part because our schools are great is the people who work here and
serve our community. All of you I know and I'll tell you are volunteers. None of you, I believe, would want to raise your own taxes or anyone else's taxes if you didn't think that it was absolutely necessary to make sure that our schools get the resources that they need. We
have a tremendous um you know, community and civic and and and civic the civic fabric of our community is such that people volunteer for your committees. The community culture and climate culture and community relations committee. I should know how to say that because I was on it for many years. Um
it's difficult. It is. It's a lot of words and I know who to blame for that and he's not here. Um but um there's, you know, there's a lot of people who care a lot about what happens in our schools and they don't just serve the students. They serve our wider community. People participate in the
chorus, they participation for, you know, kids from 7:50 or some whatever ungodly hour this the high school is. 7:15 to to 145. It's a whole community experience that I think really makes Piscataway a wonderful place to live and work and
raise a family. And so I I think that that gentleman on who put that Facebook post up is right in some respects that you know our elected officials are elected to make difficult decisions to make decisions that they think are best for our community. That's why we that's
why many of you were elected um you know in in landslide majorities because people believe that you have their best interest at heart. I believe that and I believe that you will do what is right for our community and our kids and I want to thank you for your service.
Thank you. Yeah, Madame President. Um hold on. Let me close. Um there's still Good evening, Madame President, board of education members, South District employees. My name is Joe Toma, 31
Stelton Road, Piscadway. I am the proud president of the Piscataway Township Education Association. Besides that, I have a long history of being teacher, a principal, a vice principal at the Newark public school district. I am a
consultant for education whether and I am a board president in my own hometown. I am also part of many legislative committees in order to screen legislators and advocate for education and ways to fund it without it being a
tax burden. I'm not going to bore you with a lot of stories, but one of the things I can tell you is that the school funding formula, and I believe Dr. Connors could speak very eloquently about this is flawed. That's only one part of it. And I have spoken to many
legislators across the state that don't even know the funding formula. I could get into more detail about that or anybody can certainly talk to me outside. But the one thing I will say is that for the people here who are against the school budget and I certainly
understand the feelings. However, I do have to address a letter that was posted on social media by the honorable mayor that was riddled with inaccuracies in regards to a school budget and what funding could be utilized. I wish a
representative were there were here from there because I would gladly offer my tutoring services for free in order to assist. However, I do believe that many people who are against this budget increase are actually at the wrong meeting. And perhaps it should be the
township council meeting that they should attend because in New Jersey, mayors have the authority to enter into something called a payment in lie of taxes agreement or a pilot agreement with developers to encourage redevelopment. These agreements allow developers to make payments to the
municipality instead of paying traditional property taxes. Typically, typically 95% of these payments go to the municipality. 5% go to the county. School districts often receive no direct
share. Piscataway does not receive a direct share. One of my colleagues was at a previous township council second reading of an ordinance for pilot programs and asked how much is going to the district. The response was, "I don't know." which
I find as a public official myself a little alarming when you don't know what's in an ordinance that you're about to vote for. However, what I can say is mayors can take proactive steps to ensure that school districts do benefit from pilot
agreements. There's a voluntary revenue sharing. It's not mandated, but municipalities can choose to allocate a portion of pilot revenues to local school districts. So that way we wouldn't have a situation like this. For instance, Hobok and city council approved over 500,000 in pilot funds for
schools with the amount increasing 2% annually over the agreement's duration. There could be more transparent negotiations. The township can engage with the school board during pilot negotiations to help assess essential impacts on school enrollment and resources, ensuring that agreements
consider educational needs. Because after all, what we're all talking about here is the children of our community and the children are hearing this discussion. We can also advocate for legislative change. I do so often, like I say, I meet with legislators all the time and
unfortunately a lot of them don't even know what is in the funding formula. We could support legislation like Senate Bill S59, which proposes mandatory sharing of pilot revenues with school districts and can institutionalize equitable funding practices. These are
all things that we can do to help, but also the other things I was mentioning, there is one, the township council, that could help to alleviate the situation that we're in. Also, community school initiatives. Mayors can participate in state funded pilot programs aimed at
transforming schools into community hubs that often integrate services thereby attracting additional funding and support. So by adopting these strategies, mayors can ensure that pilot agreements contribute positively to the financial health of the local school
district. So I'm speaking to a room that actually knows all of this. So, I apologize, but I at least wanted an opportunity to set the record straight with some factual information, and I thank you all. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tilma.
Sure. Board members. Good evening. My name is William Makita, uh, Piscato, New Jersey. I am on all sides of the fence. I'm a homeowner. I have a son that's ready to graduate. I have a daughter who's in choir, volleyball, uh, and softball captain, thank God. And I also
am married to a teacher here. So, my concerns are this, you know, after four years of inflation, we've got a a BPU 20% uh upcharge, whether it's in July or whether it's in November. I think we've heard a lot about the mayor, and trust me, I am no friend of the mayor. Not at
all. But my concern is this is coming from the state. And if the state, and it's my understanding that the state board of education is telling communities that they have not taxed their residents enough, if that's true, could you please tell us that we're one
of the subjects of the state board of education requirements regarding tax because it may change some minds. I'm against the the tax increase, you know, to be honest with you, because I think $400 a year is going to hurt regular people. But if it's coming from the
state, there's, you know, there there's not things that we could do for you guys. It's really a state problem. And I and I know there are state problems when it comes to funding, fair funding, and it seems like it's our state legislature, state legislators. Um I mean, Bob Smith's not
here. Uh you know, Joe Danielson's not here, Kevin's not here. um as well as the mayor is not here, but I'd like to hear what their version is as far as why we are not getting the appropriate amount of money, which can also help us lower our tax burdens because we are now
at the ground level where the money is important to all of us. It's important for me as a taxpayer. It's important for me as someone who has a junior in high school and it's also important for me who's got a teacher in a school where, you know, she's getting paid and she's getting the healthcare benefits. And I
know we as a family have moved into the more state sponsored health insurance. So I don't know is this a health insurance cost? So you know and I know there's some explanations on Facebook which I didn't understand that well but it's also Facebook and sometimes you know you get shortened versions and you
know it's like writing on Twitter. So I'm opposed to the budget for now but I would like further ex explanation just so we know why there's a tax increase and is it really a state problem not a local problem. Thank you.
Question. Good evening. Uh uh madame president and respected board members. My name is P Desai Tan Blueberry Court Piscatway. Um I want to bring a legitimate concern as a taxpayer. As you all know, we are going
through a terrible financial situation. Last few months have been terrible. Personally me and lot many more of my friends the job uh promotions job increments all have been stopped. Increasing this tax or putting
this $400 increment is going to hurt us a lot. It's a humble request to either postpone this replan or do something. It's going to hurt us. And trust me, I have two kids who go to Piscato school
district. So again, I hope we get some help, but it's a at a very wrong time and we are going through a lot of tough times. So please, please understand. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else in the floor?
I'm going to desperately try to be short. Steven Salgado, Cowan, 124 Stanton Avenue. I'm disheartened by the way this has been discussed by our mayor. I'm not going to harp on that. I'm going to say this. I came here 20 some odd years ago from uh Oakridge, uh
New Jersey. And I came here uh based on a couple of really simple factors. Uh proximity to New York, um diversity of community, um median tax rate, um and um the
schools. It's really that simple. No one wants, it's been said a couple of times, no one wants a tax increase. No one enjoys a tax increase. But we understand what the taxes are here for. Whether it's for your roads, whether it's for your streets, whether it's for your lights, whether it's for any of these
things, this is a tax, although it's an increase. Sorry, it hurts. I know, but I look at it as an investment. It's an investment in our community because if we have a solid school, we have solid residents that are coming out of those schools whether they stay here or they don't,
they increase our value exponentially. They attract other people because we have wonderful school system. This wonderful woman has come here from I don't know where. Thank you very much for recognizing what a lot of people in this room and all of the volunteers that are sitting here have done. I've watched
over these 20 some odd years how this school has generated my kids, other people's kids. I'm in and out of that school for a variety of different reasons. And I am always encouraged by what I see. I am always encouraged by the teachers that I see, the
administrators that I see, the students that I see, the programs that are there. And every week and every year I get and we all get I think the wonderful emails that are delivered to us to tell us what our kids are doing and how they're achieving and how they're
getting inspiration from each other. No one wants a tax increase. I know everybody sitting here has worked hard to make sure that it is not painful. Sometimes it is. There are people that are outside of this town and outside of this state that are working hard to take
things away from these schools. Your district, you spoke about it. It happens all the time and it is happening at an increasing rate. And I don't want to see it here happen here. We have to pony up a little bit more to make sure we have a little bit more available when they come knocking on our door and rip open our
chests and start taking money away from us. Then we're going to pay a little bit more. I'm in a good position to be able to say it's not going to hurt me that much. I do not have a $700,000 property value, by the way. Some of us do. Some of us have less. It's not going to be
fun, but it is sometimes necessary. And I hope everyone that's unhappy about this understands that this is an investment in their community. It's an investment in their children. Even if you don't have children in the system, it's an investment in your neighbors and
everyone around you. And when you leave and people come here because the schools are so great, you're going to be happy when you cash that check for your house. Thank you very much for all you do. I know it's hard. And take care. Have a great evening. Thanks, Dave.
Anyone else wishing to speak, please come forward. Craig Max, Three Lake Park Drive. I have three children currently in Piscatoaway public schools. Um there's been a lot of discussion online and I've gotten emails and videos from
the municipality itself regarding the budget and the tax increase and the disproportionate impact it's going to have on people from the school boards uh component of the uh property tax. Um but there hasn't been a whole lot of
discussion at all about whether it's reasonable or not. the amount that is being leveraged. So, I looked at the numbers that uh is in your handout from tonight and it looks like in n 2021 the school board levied $98 million in
taxes, this year, next year it's going to be 109. Um while that is a increase of 11 million or so, um if you just plug 98 million into inflation calculator, that's 119 million today. So you're
actually raising 10 million less than we would have otherwise if we just accounted for inflation. Never mind increased costs for state health benefits program, aging facilities, uh increased technology, and uh other
increased expenses. Um so that seems pretty reasonable. um we're raising 10 million less than we would if we had just increased our uh tax levy based on CPI numbers. Um so then I looked at one of the other lines
here. We have average assessed value for properties in in the town. Average assessed value in 2021 is $345,000 and for 2526 the average assessed value is 520,000. Yep. uh using
that's right using inflation adjusted figures based on CPI uh that would be 150% increase that that's um that's shocking. It's a
significant increase um that hasn't been explained other than the reassessments that have been talked about previously. So I I think what a lot of the speakers tonight have come up and discussed is the impact on their their household. 400
bucks average. Some people are going to pay more, some people are going to pay less. Some people can sustain that increase. Some people really can't. Um, based on our average household, uh, based on your handout here, 2021, uh,
the average household paid $4,266 in school tax. Um, and in this coming year, they're going to pay $4,918. Again, based on inflation adjusted figures, that's less than
inflation. If you were to pay the same amount of tax you paid five years ago, you would be paying about $5,150 in property tax for the school district and you're paying about $200 less than that. So, I think there's lack of perspective in the public's
discussion about this budget and the proposed budget is that everything's more expensive. Everybody knows that. But based on inflation, the budget that's been presented is actually below basic inflation numbers. Um, and
that's with adding additional services, teachers, and programs. So, I'll commend the school board uh on the job you've done. I think it's fantastic that we've been able to get to this point with no debt service. That's absolutely fantastic. I don't think that's
celebrated enough in this town that the school board is not wasting money paying interest to investors that loaned us money for things we needed to borrow before unlike we've done in past years, you know, a decade or more ago. Just borrow, borrow, borrow. That's not an
answer. You can't borrow yourself out of a Now, unfortunately, occasionally if you have a big project to do, you need to build a new school, you need to replace something very expensive. Um, occasionally you have to borrow money, right? We've been able to get to where we are without borrowing money. You have
you're not paying interest. You're not wasting taxpayer dollars on interest, which is fantastic. Um, and you seem to have a pretty good reserve for if something goes wrong. A school needs a new roof, an HVAC system needs to be
replaced, emergency spending. And I think it's foolhardy uh at best to recommend that we use the emergency capital fund to plug holes in our operating budget. That's a short-term solution to a long-term problem. And um
the only thing I would say is the district could do better in educating the public of why we're in this position because of the way that school funding formula is in New Jersey and the way that New Jersey funds school districts through property tax versus sales tax or
some other manner. So maybe we could do a better job educating the public and who to contact our local officials, uh, state representatives, and let them know to let them know that that 400 bucks has to come out of your pocket. But it's necessary, and it's a reasonable
expense, a short-term increase is better than a long-term suffering when 20 years from now, we we have adults that can't read or can't do math or can't speak English. So fine job.
Anyone else wishing to speak? At this time, I'm going to make a motion to close. We're going to let Let me close and then I'm going to give you the opportunity to speak. All right. Okay. Motion's closed. Can I second? All in favor? Okay. Public session concerning
the budget is now closed. Dr. Connors, now you have the floor. This hits home with me. You know, we really appreciate that so many people came out to the meeting tonight to share their views. It's not lost on this school
board that no one likes a tax increase. All the elected volunteer school board members up here tonight are residents. our kids were either in or currently in the school system and we pay taxes too,
just like you. I've lived in this town for 36 years. I've been on this board for 16 years. I've chaired the fiscal plannings and operations committee for 10 years. The last five years, we have an average of a
2.2% property tax levy increase. Last year we had a 1% increase. But let's talk about this year. Let's talk about this year. Did you know that 18% separate from the 74% tax levy revenue in our operating
budget that this 18% revenue comes from the New Jersey State Department of Education school aid? School funding in New Jersey is a major political issue. My wish is that the Scataway town
government, who is the taxing authority in our town, would be willing to sit down with the school board and have an open discussion on fiscal matters as they relate to the calculation of state school aid per the state school funding
law. They will see that in their effort to achieve multi-year fiscal stability locally for the town municipal government via steadily increased ratables to achieve a lower overall tax
rate that this has had a negative effect on the calculation of Piscatoaway state school aid year on year. Annually, the state calculates what is called local share, which is a dollar figure based on
the district income and property valuations. Local share is used by the state to tell Piscatoaway schools that this is what the town taxing authority has the ability to raise to pay for giving our school children an adequate
education. Here's the quandry that we're faced. There's a $40 million deficit gap between the state local share calculated amount of $149 million and the lower amount of school
taxes raised via property taxes which is approximately 109 million. Yeah. This state calculation in turn in any given year causes our budget preparation to be unpredictable until the state aid
figures are announced. So now speaking put a different hat on as an elected volunteer the executive state vice president for the finance of the New Jersey school boards association that includes 21 counties from Sussex in the
north to Cape May in the south approximately 600 school districts representingund 1.5 million school children I ask you who do we believe about the local share amount for giving our Piscatoway
school children in adequate educ education the state department of education or our town municipal government okay that's where I'll leave that but but let's talk about health care health care is one expenditure that
causes major instability in an annual school budget preparation that doesn't get talked about enough okay Our personal health care costs have gone way up. Rising health care costs of
Piscatoaway have outpaced the ability of the allowed 2% property tax levy cap alone to pay for these costs. Teachers need to have health care benefits and make a living like anybody else. We need to retain teachers, not
let them go. They are one of the society's most undervaluable valued people. They are the people that are on the front lines every day. They are the ones who believe in our school children and educate our school
children. The fact is that Piscataway school health care costs have risen almost 300% over the past decade. Okay. The only way in any given year, depending on increased or decreased
state school aid, is to choose not to or choose to utilize a healthc care waiver. So, here's where we sit. Unfortunately, when the state aid decreases, we needed to utilize this waiver as a 2.44% 44% budget exception
above the 2% tax increase and took the 1% from last year that was banked and that gives you your increase. That is where the money is is needed against the budget. So last I just want to end I'm very passionate about this.
You can see I'm very very passionate about this. I sit on I was five years the school finance committee chairman of the New Jersey school boards association and now I'm an executive VP for the whole state. I study the formula. I meet with
legislators. There were hearings last year. Okay. This year they put in one-year budgetary components to try and help schools. We are not the only one. But last, please don't get us wrong. Don't get me wrong. don't get the
board wrong. We are not trying to make excuses, blame anyone, or hide anything. If anything good comes from tonight's budget public comments, it is that we hope that residents realize that there are fiscal factors that are not in our
control. And despite that, we carefully come up with a balanced budget to be responsible stewards of your tax money. We are required by law to provide our school children with a statemandated adequate, thorough, and efficient
education. We are passionate about what we do and are always thinking about putting our kids first. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Next on the agenda, public hearing and final adoption of the 2025 2026 school district budget. Dr.
be resolved following motion identified as items A be approved as presented. Second. Mr. Secretary, can you please take the role? Dr. Connors, yes. Mr. King, yes. Dr. Nelson, yes. Mr. Patel,
yes. Miss Rivers, yes. Miss Smith, yes. Miss Stafford, yes. Mr. Sado Cowan, yes. Miss Jerry. Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Personnel and labor relations. This is Nancy Sado. Be it resolved that the following
motions identified as items A through D be approved as presented. Second. Mr. Secretary, can you take the role? Dr. Connor. Yes. Mr. King. Yes. Dr. Nelson. Yes. Mr. Patel. Yes. Miss
Rivers. Yes. Miss Smith, yes. Miss Stafford, yes. Mr. Saken, yes. Mr. Cherry, yes. Motion's carry. Public comments from the floor. The board of education recognizes the value of public comments on educational issues and school matters of the community
interest. In support of this position, the law establish a period of public comment at every board meeting. Individuals wishing to speak must state their name and address. Comments are limited to three minutes duration, but an individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard. The board may
require that the individuals registered prior to the meeting uh beginning of the meeting. Participants may submit written material in support of their position. All statements and all questions shall be directed to presiding officer and no participant may address or question board members individually. All speakers
are required to express themsel to in a civil matter with due respect to dignity and privacy rights of others who legal rights may be affected. Please note, while it is not the board's intention to stifle comments on the matter of legitimate concern to the school community, the public should be aware
that if their statements violate the rights of others under the law governing defamation and or invasion of privacy, they may face personal liability to the injured party. If speakers are uncertain of their legal ramifications of their comments, the board urges them to seek guidance beforehand from their own legal
advisor. The floor is now open for public comments for everything outside of what wasn't asked in the budget. If there's a question you wish to ask and I see no one moving to have a motion to close public comments at this time have a second. All in favor? Public
comments closed. Next we'll have fiscal plan fiscal planning and operations. Dr. Connors here resolve the following motion identified as item B A be approved as Mr. Secretary can you take the role? Mr. Chair, not to over elaborate but just to
draw attention this is an example because it came up tonight about um no debt and the fact that we have capital reserve. So, this is an instance of where we're using this capital reserve to accomplish a project in our schools and we're not having to ask the taxpayers for any funds. We're not having to go out and take any additional
debt. This is money that has been saved and is being utilized to execute this project. So, it just was a timely thing to uh to note. Thank you so much, Mr. Alive. I'll call the RO. Yep. Mr. King, yes. Dr. Nelson, yes. Mr. Patel, yes. Miss
Rivers, yes. Miss Smith, yes. Miss Stafford, yes. Dr. Connor, yes. Mrs. Salgado Cowan, yes. Miss Cherry, yes. Motion carries. Curriculum, Mr. Patel, we resolve that the following motion identified as item A be approved as
presented. Second. Mr. Secretary, can you take the role? Mr. Patel, yes. Miss Rivers, yes. Miss Smith, yes. Miss Stafford, yes. Dr. Connor, yes. Mr. King, yes. Dr. Nelson,
yes. Mrs. Salgado Cowan, yes. Miss Jerry. Yes. Motion's carry. Old business. Anybody with any old business? Everything else is um the next information session. Um next information session for
um updates on the uh superintendent um search is going on. Um, I'm Nancy Salvado Cowan and I am leading the charge in finding us a new superintendent. Um, I was uh had the
pleasure of helping to hire our interim. We are currently going to be closing our um application process I believe tomorrow. Um the next date that um we will be convening will be I believe it's
March the 13th. May I'm sorry, May the 13th. Sorry about that. May the 13th in order to um review all the applicants um and sort through them as a board. Um and then that will give us our opportunity to place people if we want to interview
them. as far as this past week on Tuesday the 22nd there was a session available for all to attend um believe it was Tuesday night um in order to have a a claim or a stake um in how we go
forward in hiring our superintendent. Um unfortunately only nine uh individuals attended that. So we will get the information from those nine individuals only. But you still have an opportunity to go on the website for New Jersey
school boards who is helping us um with our uh superintendent search. There is a survey you can complete and you can submit questions that you would like to ask as a representative of the community that we will take into consideration when we're interviewing our um
candidates. Thank you. Thank you. Uh any new business? Madam President, as usual, I'll make a plug for um In our packets, we received the 2005 spring sports senior nights and um having children who
played sports and I hear the other people out there have children playing sports. Uh please take a look at that um calendar and I believe it's tomorrow. I mean Saturday, Saturday, April 26th, the baseball is at Columbus Park for a
senior night. So, um, softball is, uh, Monday, April 28th. So, please try and get out and, um, so that Gary can take a lot of great pictures and, uh, of our of our of our students and our athletes and, uh, we the public sees that, uh,
board is in support of all of our students. Thank you, Dr. Connor. Um, I have one more thing, Madam President. Um, I had the uh pleasure of uh attending the color run last night um for our MLK
students and it's a new um way of fundraising for our PTOs. It's um coming back in fashion now that um we no longer have the constraints of you know a pandemic. Um so um MLK did really really
well. We had a fun time. Everybody got really powdered up and um it really made me smile. We raised a lot of money and um Nwood um school will be having one as well. So come out and support the schools for the fundraising
um and so forth. Nwood also had a great event um which was the uh tricky tray and um I was very excited and moved to have uh participated and won myself a pocketbook. So yeah,
but it was it was a great event. We raised a lot of money for the schools and the PTO's and all the parent volunteers, the band parents, the choir parents, all the drama mamas, all of them are out there um you know doing what they can in order to defay costs
coming from the school district by raising funds for their particular variety of children. So thank you. Thank you, Nance. Just want to thank everybody for coming out tonight, coming out and letting your voice be heard. We're here. We're transparent. You have any
questions, don't hesitate to reach out to the administrators. Um, they will answer your questions. They we have no problem with that. We support you like you support us, but everything we do is in the best interest of our students and everybody wants to
make sure that we have well-rounded students who will be able to sustain their own personal life once they are grown. Um, thank you again. And at this point, can I have a motion for an adjournment? Motion. Have a second. All in favor? I New York.