We have somebody there, right? >> Yeah. >> And >> Gabrielle said that she was going to send somebody here from their side. See if they show up. I said, "Oh, we we welcome anybody coming. That was a good thing we did.
>> Yeah. >> Oh, and by the way, I had a bound copy of the strategic plan. It did go out. >> I mean, not this one, but I had the other one was talking about. >> Oh, you did? Okay. >> Yeah. So, we did we did it. >> I'd have to look at my stuff to be sure,
but >> so you're not going to see it. >> You're not going to see it. Unless it's on the live cam. >> This the one we all got. >> Lynch. Thomas.
>> We're good. >> Hello. Hello. >> I'm anxiously awaiting my agenda. Thank you. >> Are you really? >> Yes. Because I want to write all over it. >> When you change this. Oh, I should have told you. Um, I'm gonna have um Chantel.
Did I tell you that? No. Do instead of personnel and labor, it should be Chantel, not me. >> Okay. >> Going forward. >> I should have told you before before you left here. Sorry, that was >> Hi, G.
How are we this evening, my love? >> Good. >> Hello. Hello. >> How are we? Did you end up going to the Super Bowl since we're out there? >> No. I was only out there two days. >> Oh, yeah.
>> Let us travel. No. >> No. They kept us busy. >> I bet >> there's no time to play. Sir, how are you? Hey, nice. I think so. You ready?
>> I hereby call this uh meeting to order. Salute to the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
>> Thank you. Um, can we take the So, uh, the role. >> Miss Cherry, >> private. >> Dr. Connor, >> present. >> Mrs. Hawk, >> present. >> Mr. King, >> here. >> Dr. Nelson, >> present. >> Mr. Patel, >> here. >> Miss Rivers >> here.
>> Mrs. Sado, >> present. >> Miss Stafford, >> present. >> And nine present. >> Thank you. Hereby hereby be it known that the Piscatoaway Township Board of Education has compile
um compiled complied with the notification requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act for the announcement of this meeting date and place on April 4th, 2025 in the following manner. Posting of the public
notice on the posting board for the board of education at the administration building. Email notification to the newspapers serving Piscataway, the home news tribune, and the courier news. Email notification filed with the
municipal clerk and the municipal building on hose lane. This meeting is being digitally recorded. This recording is not an official record or supplement to the meetings to the minutes and 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 sessions. Be it resolved that the board adjourn to executive sessions for the purpose of review and discussion of personnel
agenda litigation HIV monthly reports and other matters pursuant to the law NJSA 10 cop semicolon 4-12B mo motion to >> so moved
>> second >> all those in favor >> any nay Okay, we are journ to executive session. Get be resolved that the board reconvenes public session. Motion to reconvene. >> So move.
>> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any nay. >> Okay. We will now move on to our student presentations. So tonight's student presentation comes to us from Arbor Intermediate School.
Students in Arbor's Gifted and Talented Art Program are creating a digital art pro project focusing on famous quotes from notable figures in African-American history. Here is Principal Heather O'Neal to tell us more.
And we'd like you to actually face the audience. >> Yes. Um, all right. Good evening to all of our families, to Mr. Glover, Mrs. Cowen, and to the board of education. Thank you so much for being here tonight
and allowing our students of artwork to share their hard work with our RGC student led by our teachers has been able to explore our expression through a variety of visual media throughout the school year. For this
particular project, students chose a quote from an inspirational figure known for their historical or cultural contributions specifically for Black History Month. They chose to visually represent this quote for digital art. And the students were able to experiment
but also research and show leadership to their peers. Uh as the rest of the student body created their own design to all be displayed um throughout our main hallway, which is actually under way. Um so we're hoping by the end
of the month we have an entire hallway filled with 550 students hard work. Um so to share a little bit more about the project I'd like to announce or I'm sorry introduce our twoth two of our fifth grade students J and
>> Wow. Turn around. Show them. The artist The something. Thank you for listening. We do have a video that shows all of the student artwork, which a lot of it's all hanging up at right now.
All right. Thank you so much our intermediate students. I have a bunch of certificates here for all your great work. We appreciate you guys all coming down here tonight to show us what amazing uh art and really pivotal work
you guys are doing, especially in reference to it being Black History Month and making sure that these um individuals that had strife and exhibited such
things that were really difficult in their life and they were able to overcome just like we all may have difficult times in our lives here on this earth especially now, right? and we can overcome as well. So, they're inspirational and we know that you as our students here at Arbor, you guys are
inspirational. So, thank you for coming down. Okay. And we have certificates for each and every one of you. I am going to hand them to your principal because she can probably see your name very very well. And uh when you come up, please make sure that you give myself that a
handshake as well as Mr. Glover. I know he probably wants to say a couple words. Superintendent Glover. >> First great work, our teachers, our school
leader, most of all to you. This is what across the world. public speaking is about all the aspect of parks in our district to make sure our students have access for your leth All right, we'll start with
Meganer, Mommy Hwami. I need to CHANGE MORALES. PATEL, SAHU, SAVALA, AURORA, TORONTO. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Make All right. >> All right. Your parents got all that here and smile. Good job, ladies and gentlemen. Good job. Okay, thank you so much.
Um, thank you Arbor students. Thank you everyone. And um, we know that it's uh, you know, school night. So if you all need to make your hasty exit, we won't stop you. Everybody's got school tomorrow. And we appreciate your time
tonight. Thank you. What was your >> What? Okay, so we have our student representatives report. I see Derek Lopez uh right
>> start off with the Spanish Honor Society and Pastry Alliance GSA. They both have been selling their Valentine's Day candygrams across all lunches. They've been doing a great job basically just getting out and making like more light for their clubs. Uh
future fresh mentors are now getting involved. They had an interest meeting with a very good turnout. Uh they had current mentors speak and also Miss D the leader. They learned what it takes to be a mentor, what they responsible for and what they are getting into. Similar like on the freshman seminar
track, freshman seminar classes finished their cultural door decorating competition. Uh if any of you guys stopped at the high school and walk around, you can basically see a bunch of different countries represented throughout the, you know, hallways and stuff like that. Uh they all did a very good job. You see portraying the
countries, uh highlighting key aspects of that. Course adisements start Monday and they end tomorrow. Students have been sitting down with their teachers to talk about next year's classes. You know, they have the option taking honors, APs, regular classes. After that, the students will pick their electives and they will have the meeting
with the counselors. ICA will be hosting their annual international study March 27th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. in P cafeteria. PHS girls track and field team did an amazing job at the NJSIA stage sectional group for chicken this
past weekend and even won some medals. Yesterday, guest Dr. Tom Connor came to speak with students about his career in chem. He has a PhD in chemistry and 42 years of experience in his field. National English Honor Society Read Across America event will be taking place March 6th and they will travel
across all of Kway Elementary Schools to teach Costa Rican kids. On a different note, although this is not like school affiliate or school associated, as many of you probably already know, a bunch of Pisc High School students have been planning a peaceful protest um in support of immigrants and people who
have been harmed by ICE and ways. The support is greatly greatly appreciated and encouraged especially from everyone here. We've been working with the high school Miss to basically kind of keep us on track, make sure that we're in compliance with the school's guidelines
and stuff like that so we won't get in any form of trouble. Uh the protest will be taking place after school. We'll be expressing our first amendment right. Like I said, we'll be doing this peacefully. We will leave school grounds around 2 and start walking to the municipal building. We have also been
working with township like the mayor, the council members and stuff like that and they're greatly appreciated and they're help to the cause. >> Thank you. Thank you so much, Derek. >> Okay. Well, also with you. >> Yes, absolutely.
>> Derek, before you leave, first of all, good report as always and thank you for and this is please communicate this to your peers. >> This is a very sensitive time in our country. It's a time where I'm always excited to see young people stand up and show their voice. I'm very happy that
you have been working in collaboration with your high school principal and the team as well as your fellow teachers and central office to make sure that you do it the right way and also get your point across. Please know that as a superintendent I stand united with our students and exercising their voice. I
also stand united in making sure our students get the voice across many platforms. An idea was given tonight that I would love to bring forth to you as a student representative where you could even take this a step further after the protest and reaching out to our local our state assembly and your
senators of the state of New Jersey just so you can continue to demonstrate your support. So, thank you very much and great job. >> Thank you. >> Good night. >> So, um president's report, it says here
the um budget preview presentation. Am I doing that first or my remarks first? >> Do your remarks then I'll do the presentation. >> So in my remarks I have a few pieces. One of them is actually alluding to um also what uh Derek said um and what um
Superintendent Glover u mentioned as well there. As we gather here today, I I just want to take a moment and pause uh for the profound loss of human life in connection to ICE enforcement. not only families torn apart and displaced
through the acts of violence, but every person in our country who has lost their life, mothers, fathers, nurses, um so many others who whose absence leaves a void um that can never be filled. We hold secret
um the inherent worth of every human being. We recognize that no person can ever be illegal. We are all human, each deserving of dignity, compassion, and the chance to live without fear. These
aren't just statistics or policy debates or, you know, political statements. These this is just human reality. Um, these are real people with real families who love them, real dreams that will never be realized, real communities
that will forever be changed by their absence. Let us remember them today and let them let that remembrance move us towards a future where every life is valued and protected. We just take a moment of
silence for those who have lost. Thank you. On another note, thank you to the Piscatoaway Education Foundation for everything that they're doing to support our students and our schools. The Ed Foundation recently awarded more than
$18,000 in a grant monies to eight of our schools to fund projects conceived and designed by school administration and staff ranging from a family literacy program to hallway to a hallway and schoolyard makeover to a table tennis
curriculum for fizzed class. The Ed Foundation raises money throughout the year with spirit wear sales, raffles, community events, and the funds go towards scholarships and grants. Their biggest fundraiser of the year is coming up. And that's right, at the end of this
month, you all can come on down to the designer bag bingo. Chicky tray and fun will be held on February the 27th, very soon. Get your tickets now at Our Lady of Fatima Cafe. This event raises nearly
$20,000 last year. So, I urge everyone to get your tickets because you may be not able to purchase a ticket at the door. Buy in advance. The tickets go fast. Help support the mission of our Piscatoaway Education Foundation and our
teachers. Our teachers in our district, they write beautiful essays and and grants for monies that they can't get from the regular, you know, funds for special projects that passion projects such as gardens and and these great
events that that they have um special interest in. So, this is how we're able to get those funds through amazing fundraising. Um, I want to wish you all a joyous Black History Month to the entire community. Our schools are marking the
contributions of African-Americans um to our community and our nation with a wide range of celebrations, ceremonies in the classroom uh in the classrooms and at large. For a full school list by by the schools, go to the website at
piscatoawayschools.org. Black History Month. And my final announcement is in reference to one of our very own Dr. Tom Connors. As most of you know, Dr. Tom Connor is currently serving as the executive officer for the
New Jersey school boards. Um he is the statewide two 2025 to 2027 vice president for finance. This currently is a one-year unexpired vacancy has come up for the vice president of legislation and resolutions. I'm happy to announce that
as of January 30th, the New Jersey school board's board of directors meeting, in addition to his role as VP of finance, Dr. Connors, was appointed as the interim vice president for legislation and resolutions. Double vice
presidents, go Dr. Connors. Basically, what does that mean? It means that in addition to his role as the vice president for finance, Dr. Connors will also take the interim chair for the legislative committee for resolutions until they're able to fill that um position. Thank you, Dr. Connors, for
and your years of uh dedicated support not only to this district, but to the state of New Jersey and all of the school boards in New Jersey. Thank you. >> All right, that's my president's report. We will now go to our budget preview
presentation. Good evening everyone. Um so no in town it's no uh mystery that last year was a difficult budget year for the scoutway schools and unfortunately we have some challenges again this year and so the board was uh very interested in
making sure that as soon as possible we shared some information. Typically we don't do our full budget presentation until the March board meeting and that will remain the case again this year. uh I'll do a presentation and the board will approve for submission the tentative budget but we wanted to get a little ahead of it to kind of share some
information with you that really helps to shape uh the budget creation process some of the challenges we're facing this year so uh trying to get the information out early and often so uh what's the pre budget presentation here what's our focus and agenda first
point I want to uh point out we have new governor who took office. Uh the reason this is important is it's really going to compress the time frame for preparation of the budget. Um anytime there's a new governor, they tend to delay the release of their state aid and so it will push back our timeline. Uh
but the budget will still be completed and submitted in March. One of the challenges that we faced last year and this year is a component of all school districts budgets is state aid. And in last year and this year's budget
cycle, the calculations have been very unpredictable. That just adds increased challenges for all school districts, not just Piscatoa. When we talk about balancing the budget, the the key number on the revenue side that helps to make it work is the tax
levy. And the tax levy comes from the homeowners in Piscatoaway. So, uh that's the property taxes that you pay. and it's an important component of our budget. We want to make sure that we're messaging why we're doing what we're doing, why the tax levy is what it is,
and what types of programs it supports. We've had some significant expense increases. Uh salaries and health benefits are our two biggest categories in our budget and in particular, health benefits have uh gone up significantly, not just in Piscataway, but really
throughout the state and country. And the other piece of this presentation is to really uh highlight some of the things that the board has accomplished over the years with the tax levy that we've had and and a lot of the things that you see in the schools that we feel and the board feels are a positive
environment for our students. And lastly, we'll talk about some of the solutions we're we're undertaking to try and bridge that budget gap, if you will. Um a little bit of a sneak preview of things you may see in the budget presentation next month.
So, uh, state aid just I I try not to get into the weeds. I'll try to give you enough information just to understand what's going on. So, state aid is a calculation that they apply to all school districts across the state and they did make a couple of changes last year which um our pro we are optimistic
that over the long term are good but anytime you make changes there's growing pains with it. So um they changed the way equalized valuation and district income factor into the equation. Um they changed the way special education is accounted for in the calculation of
state aid. And the other factor that impacted us this year is they took a deduction in our preschool uh money. Uh I'm sure the community is aware we have a very robust preschool um education program here in Piscatawa.
fluctuating multipliers. I I'll merely say again, I don't want to get too into the detail in this particular uh presentation, but it's a component of state aid and they change from year to year. And when you have that, it leads to unpredictability. The good news in the changes they made for the last year's budget cycle is they
did cap the increase or the decrease in state aid. And in our particular case, that was helpful because our state aid was cut and the the cap limited how much state aid that the the board of ed suffered. The increases and the decrease caps are
unfortunately are not in the law. Uh they're on individual annual budget language. So one of the things we're hoping for is that in this coming year they keep those caps in place to help smooth out the unpredictability of the formula. Our
enrollment in Piscatoaway uh has been fairly steady. That's that's what this chart tries to illustrate. We had been on a on a downward trend. Um you know going back to just precoid it was slightly higher, dipped a little bit, but overall it's been relatively steady
the last number of years. This is anam this is a history of our state aid. So, we were getting an increase from 2122 to 2223, a slight decrease, and then we had a nice big increase in 2425.
But then in the current year we're in, we lost $800,000. And as you'll see in an upcoming slide, that 800 is only 800,000 because of the caps I mentioned earlier. Okay? So, our state aid is trending downward. So in 2425 we were considered to be
fully funded. Okay? There was no discrepancy between what the formula calculated we should get and the actual amount we got. So we were considered fully funded. And then in the current budget year we're in. All of a sudden the formula calculation said we only
should have gotten $13 million. They gave us nearly 26 million. So now we're considered overfunded. So, if those caps that I mentioned earlier were not in place, in theory, they could have cut $ 122.7 million out of our budget,
which would be significant, >> right? >> Okay. So one thing that the state formula does is they calculate what they think our budget should be for the uh the amount of money spent on the education of our children and they call that the adequacy
budget and their calculation for the current year is 149 million. They then calculate of that 140 million how much should the taxpayers in Piscatoaway be paying versus how much should the state give us? Well if you look at 2425 they
said that we should spend 38 million on education and the taxpayers should only pay 125 million. So the state should kick in nearly 13 million. All of a sudden this year they said, "Hey, our formula says Piscatoi should
spend 149 million and guess what? Essentially all of it should come from the taxpayers." Cutting the state aid down to zero. That's a big drastic swing in one year. Again, thankfully the caps I mentioned earlier meant they only cut our aid by 800,000, but it has the potential. And
what we have to do as a district is we have to look at these trends and anticipate them forward. And while a few years ago we may have been getting state aid increases, now it looks like we'll be getting decreases. So if this is what the formula says, the
taxpayers of Piscato should be contributing the actual amount that the taxpayers of Piscato are paying is only 100 just about 110 million. So we are 39.5 million below how much the state thinks that the
taxpayers of Piscato should be paying towards education. This isn't David Olivera's opinion. It's not your board member's opinion. It's a formula that the state has prepared that they apply across the whole state. And we think that's really important to understand.
So, when the board authorizes a tax levy increase like they had to last year for the current budget cycle, current budget year we're in, it's to try and a provide thorough and efficient and excellent education for our students and also to get in line with how much money the
state says the taxpayers should be contributing towards that education. And so if we have an increased levy in this current budget cycle, which will be for next year, again, the part of this presentation is to explain why why the board members are faced with that difficult decision. I can promise
you nobody up here takes that decision lightly. They're residents just like you are. So any increase that they vote for, they're voting for money coming out of their own pocket as well. Dave, >> can I just pick one point? Can we wait till the end? Can we wait? Okay. Thank you.
Um why is the local share increas increasing faster than the adequacy budget? And the adequacy budget is again is how much the state sends says we should be spending. Um it's based on weighted enrollment the budget and the increases have been largely due to you
know the they're just annual inflationary adjustments upward. The local fair share how much the taxpayer should be paying is based on two things. the value of property and how much income the residents of Piscatoaway are earning based on the tax returns that you submit.
Both of those figures have been trending upwards in Piscatoaway. So the numbers say that Piscati Piscataway is becoming more wealthy. I know you may not always feel it in your pockets, but that's what the numbers that the state
has is telling them. So this is just aart. This is Middle Sex County, okay? And what they do is they compare the average value of homeowners property in well, I've compiled the table to compare the average value of homeowners property in Middle Sex
County. And Piscatoaway has the seventh highest property value for individual homeowner residences. So the value of your home, which is what determines your property taxes, there's a seventh highest in Middle Sex County. Ordinarily, that's a great thing, right? Everyone likes the value of their house
to be higher. In in the case of a state aid calculation, that impacts the property tax calculation and it impacts the state aid calculation. This is what uh I termed a wealth analysis. If you recall a couple slides
ago, I said again the state aid formula is based on the property values and the income of the residents of Piscatoaway. Once again, the data that they have show that Piscatoaway Township residents are
very high in median household income. Okay, fifth highest in the county. All right, there's a lot of data on this table, but that's one of the key things I wanted to point out. Fifth highest median income for Piscatoaway residents. Your fifth highest in the county of Middle Sex. So
again, this is just providing information to try to make sure as many people as possible better understand why the numbers come out the way they do when the state crunches their formulas to calculate state. So knowing this, knowing that the
property values seventh, Piscatoaway seventh highest in Middle Sex County, the wealth analysis, fifth highest median income. When the state does their formula for this year, and we don't have the numbers yet, we won't get them for a couple of weeks. In our mind, as we prepare the budget,
our best case scenario would be flat funding, which means we have no reduction in state aid. Okay, that would be the best case. The worst case would be that the formula is run similar to the current year we're in, but they don't have those caps in
place that I talked about. And if those caps are not in place, we're looking at a $12 million reduction in state aid. That would be devastating. what we're hoping for and you know what I think will happen because I think new governor Governor Cheryl um is aware of
this formula how it works and the impact it could have and I'm optimistic I can't promise anything that something along the lines of caps will be in place and if that is the case based on the way the formula looks to be trending again our state aid reduction would be capped at
about 800,000 if those caps are in place much more manageable for us to make the budget work next Either way, no matter what, the tax burden on the on the homeowners of Piscato is going up and we have to plan for a number of different scenarios.
Okay. So, uh on a tax levy, again, just for your knowledge and to be aware, 74% of the budget is coming out of the taxpayers of Piscatoaway out of your tax levy. the taxes that you pay as property taxes. That funds 74% of the expenses that the board of education spends on
our students. It used to be 80% 10 years ago. It's gone down and it's going to be trending back upwards. State aid over those years has increased from 16% to 18% of the budget. The tax levy can only go up 2% a year. So, there is a cap in place. There are a
few exceptions that allow you to go higher than 2%. That's why last year taxes went up more than 2% because there are some exceptions to account for certain factors. We'll talk about uh the main one of those in just a minute. That being the healthcare cost exception. Uh if you read the paper,
whether you're talking about public education or even private sector, health care costs seem to be rising pretty uh uncontrollably uh all across uh the country. So, in particular, uh, public
education sector in New Jersey, every school district is battling the challenge of how to deal with the rising health care costs. When those costs go over a certain amount, there is a uh what's called a waiver where potentially the school district can raise the taxes above 2% in
order to pay for those healthcare cost increases. Okay. The state plan for health benefits is going up 32%. Unfortunately, our projected increase at this moment is 35%.
Um, that's unsustainable over the long term and even on a single year. It's extremely challenging to to deal with. That 35% increase translates to an $8.5 million increase
in expenses, which is an extremely large number. Um the the waiver I talked about allowing us to go over the 2% tax levy is 7.7 million. So um there is room to help cover some of this health benefit
expenses. But when I say that all that means is that we're able to raise the taxes higher in order to help to pay for the health benefits expenses. It still comes from the taxpayers and residents of the scatterway. This is just some data on, you know, health benefits. What are some of the things driving it? So, in the current
year, we're already $3 million and it's now even closer to four million uh through January. Over budget. Over budget in the current year that we're in. Couple factors here. Uh a couple years ago, the state uh created a New Jersey
educator's health plan. They were hoping it would stabilize cost increases. We have not seen that. It has not helped in that regard. Employ contributions are no longer increasing. Those have also stabilized. So employees do contribute a portion of their salary towards the health
benefits, but they were trending upward for a while, but due to um partly due to this new plan, they've stabilized. So when that when the expenses keep going out up, but if the contribution piece is flatlined, that increase the district has to pick up.
You know, a couple of the things we're still diving deep into the data to see how we can address it. I'm sure everybody has heard of and knows what GLP1s are. Um, your Wobbies and your Zepbounds and what else? You know, there's a few different ones. Um, those
have been driving the the costs in in healthcare plans and very high out of network billing rates. So, we're looking at options to try and address some of these factors. Okay. The board is actively uh looking at things that can be done to mitigate this trend.
um bank cap is is um quickly if if we don't raise the taxes to the full amount we're allowed in a given year, we're able to save that and use it in a future year. Okay. The district has $266,000 left in bank cap. It's expected that we
will use that in the in the current budget cycle. In the scope of what we're talking about, it's a relatively small amount of money left. So, I won't belabor the explanation of it, but um that's what bank cap is. I do think it's important to note again
bank cap is increases that the board chose not to pass on to the uh residents of Piscato. And over the last 10 years, there's been $4.4 4 million of tax increases the
board could have passed on to the taxpayers, but they did not. And that money has is gone. That that money is not available for us to raise the taxes by that amount. I only bring that up to show that over a historical as painful as the current year or two may be over a
longer term period, you know, the board has been very diligent in trying to keep the taxpayers in mind, not just take every dollar that's available on the table and when possible not increase the tax levy to the full amount that they are allowed.
We always like to point this out. Since 2324, the school district has no debt. Okay? So, we have no borrowed money. We do not have any debt service tax levy. That is not a part of the taxes you pay. The tax levy entirely funds the operations of
the district from year to year. Over the last 10 years, the average tax levy increase has been 2.1% per year. Again, I bring this up just to hammer home the point that we've tried to be prudent with the dollars. Nobody takes
it lightly when we ask for an increase in the tax levy. Unfortunately, at times we have some expense challenges and and that's why your tax bill may have gone up more than you had hoped in the current year and potentially it's going to go up more than you would have hoped in next year. Uh but over the long haul
over a 10-year period, our tax levy increases average 2.1% per year, which is average modest. I I have a chart here that we can compare. So the orange line is the 2.1% average.
The blue lines are during that period we went over that average only three of the 10 years. And then you can see seven of the years we were below the 2.1 average. >> I'm sorry. Dave, can I just And so in the majority
of the years, those were the years that we didn't even take the 2% because we didn't need it and we didn't just take it just because that's when we banked. Correct. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Again, this table is a illustration
um of the 2.1% is your black line. and I picked out a couple of factors um to compare it to. So the yellow lines are the total tax levy. The orange lines are inflation. Okay, so in this given year as an
example, you know, inflation is what 8%. Our tax levy went up just under 4%. The blue line is what our negotiated contractual salary increases, okay? Which is a key component of our budget. We're a people driven business,
right? Teachers have to be in the classrooms to educate the children. Okay? It's a key component of what we do. So again, you can see where the average is compared to some of the other factors. Again, this is uh this is only four
years of data. Uh I did not have going back 10 years of data, but this is the average tax levy increase over the four-year period. You can see Piscato is middle of the pack over the last four years. 2.7%. There's certainly some districts below us, certainly some above us.
Um I'm happy I don't live in Oldbridge the last four years. Um 9.6% per year average increase the last four years. >> Okay. So that's all the the tax levy, state aid information. Again, a little bit of
a background, uh what we thought was important again for this presentation because we're not going to get into the actual tax levy increase projection and state aid because we just don't have that information yet. Stay tuned. Come back in a couple weeks and we'll have that. But we wanted to highlight was for that 2.1% over the last decade, what are
some of the things that the board has accomplished with that tax levy increase? So again, the community is aware of, hey, these are aside from our great teachers servicing uh educating our students and all the programs that go on, what are some of the other things
that we've been able to accomplish with this 2.1% per year. So we've done $33 million in capital projects over the last 10 years with another 11 million slated for completion
this year. That adds up to 44 million in capital projects. That's work done to our buildings where our students come every day. And we've done that with no bonded debt. I said earlier there's no debt service tax levy, which means we have no bonded debt.
>> Is that unusual in other other towns? >> Um many other towns have debt. I'm not going to say we're the only uh school boards in other towns. I'm not going to say we're the only one that doesn't, but um yeah, a lot of towns have debt. And each year at our audit presentation, which Dave Ganon was here a couple of
meetings ago, he tells us what the uh maximum amount of bonded debt we're allowed to have as a school board. >> Mhm. >> I be honest, I don't remember that number, but I I want to say it was over 300 million. >> That's what we would be allowed to have in bonded debt. >> We have zero.
>> Thank you. Um, four or five years ago, the board considered a referendum, opted not to do it. Okay, that's how we have zero debt. On that referendum list, there were $12.3 million worth of projects. We've
been able to do them through the capital reserve included in this year for about 9.2 million. I just point that out to show that the estimated budget in the referendum, we were able to do it for $3.1 million less. again, efficient use
of the taxpayer funds. We also did, we wrapped up a couple years ago, a $15 million ESIP project that is not included in this. These are $15 million worth of upgrades to our buildings that will be paid for with
energy savings over the next 18 years. I'm not going to read all these. I'll just let them scroll up slowly. These are all the projects over the last decade that have been done with capital reserve. Again, no bonded debt, all within that 2.1 2.1% tax levy.
Whichever school your child goes to or has gone to, you've been touched by at least one of these uh projects. Okay, which ones are we working on now? This $1 million, this one is is actually done. The acoustical upgrades at the uh
Susan B. Anthony gym at the high school. If you've been there for a sporting event, uh that was part of the complete essentially redo remodel of the the gym up at the high school. We put in the gym bleachers as a part of that project.
Nearing completion is this project even though some of the most of the stuff is actually done already. The last space to reopen to the public and we expect a grand opening soon is the media center and the esports gaming room that we created at the Skyway High School. Uh a
lot of these other spaces are already in use. Um if if Derek was still here, I'm sure you could comment on the the cafeteria space. We added a cafeteria nook. There's a brand new nurses suite on the Susan B. Anthony side. engineering classroom, computer science classroom.
We're nearing the final stages of a brand new public address system at the high school. Uh new phone system, public address system, and clocks and speakers throughout the high school. We will be replacing the entire roof at Quivaltown Middle School this summer.
And we are adding new solar panels. We took off the old Piscataway was an early adopter of solar panels. We are removing the existing solar panels at the high school in Quibbletown. They have already essentially aged out and we are replacing them with new solar panels. The board is very committed to uh green
energy, efficient stewardship of the environment and so we will be replacing those solar panels. And I mentioned earlier, we have a robust preschool program in Piscatoaway and we will be doing a remodel of the classrooms in the upper half of this building and adding more preschool
seats. So we will essentially be able to fully we will be near our full universe of students that want preschool seats will be will have free preschool in the Piscatoway school system. Capital reserve. I talked about how that's how we pay for it. We have
maintenance reserve which is what we use to uh maintain our buildings. Again, more of the accomplished. I talked about preschool. When this is done, this building we will be able to accommodate up to 800 students including our uh special education students.
We will be the 18th largest preschool program in New Jersey projected to be and fourth largest non-abbid nonab the former Abbott districts are your large urban districts Newark Patterson Trenton Elizabeth there's a list of about 30 of
them when you set them aside they have often robust preschool programs when you set them aside they get a lot of money from the state and have for years we will be the fourth largest uh school district in New Jersey for preschool free preschool for this is just a note that there are
preschool costs that our regular budget has to pick up. That's been part of your 2.1% tax levy increase over the last decade. What else have we added? School safety officers. You see them, the yellow shirts in every school building.
We had uh some special needs specialized purchases um that have really increased within our budget and we service all our students and there there's just some higher needs and higher costs that get absorbed in the budget. Again, this has
been within the 2.1% over the last decade. Our bus route expenses have gone up significantly during this time, especially postco. Again, all absorbed in the tax increases we've had.
Substitute staffing. We've added middle school sports. A decade ago, there were very few middle school sports programs. Now, we're up to middle school uh middle school sports. We have multiple basketball teams. We have a football program, multiple volleyball teams, a
really robust program. That's a $470,000 line item in our budget. Now, utilities have gone up. I'm sure you've seen your own PSEG bills the last uh year or so. And charter schools and charter schools have been uh the expenses we pay for
charter schools have gone up the last couple years. So earlier I had tables that talked about the wealth and the income in Piscatoaway. Um, and this slide here talks about how much we're spending per student.
Scatteraway is the 20th, ranked 20th out of 23 school districts in the amount of money spent per student. What that shows is the efficiency of what we're doing with the dollars. And it's also a contributing factor as to why the state is saying, "Hey, more
should be spent on the students." And unfortunately, where does the more come from? Property taxes, tax levy, residents of Piscato. Okay. Salaries and benefits. I talked about it. We're a people business. Okay. It's 75% of our budget.
This is uh $2.2 million increase projected for salaries next year. And this just talks about some of the additional staff. We we we always have requests for additional staff to service certain student population needs that we must comply with by law.
Okay. Special services program increases. So now we're going through what are some of the the the factors contributing to the budget discussions we are currently having. So what are we going to do about it? Uh we are going to increase the use of our maintenance reserve on the revenue side
to try and help mitigate the tax levy increase. We're looking at different sources of rental income. Uh community education is a is a robust program in Scatoaway. They use our buildings. We're looking at sources of rental income um to help
compensate there. We kicked around subscription bustering rate uh but we decided that's not a viable option for next year. I did want to leave it up there just to show we're looking at all possibilities. Um, and we feel that because we raised the rate a
couple years ago, uh, we don't see that as being viable for this year at the current time. This last piece comes up a lot in town and I and I wanted to include it in here. Pilots. If you don't know what pilots are, um,
so when there is a development project in town, the the builder can negotiate if the township is agreeable, nothing to do with the board of education, if the township is agreeable, they can negotiate an agreement where instead of paying property taxes, they make a pilot
payment and those payments are kept almost exclusively by the township unless they choose to share it. township uh in Piscatoaway thus far has not chosen to share any of the pilot revenue. So instead of those properties
going on the property tax role and and contributing towards the property taxes that help fund the school district, they are essentially carved out. Okay? And those funds are at the exclusive it's about 95% for the township, 5% for the county unless a different agreement is
negotiated. $632 million in assessed property value is off of the Piscatoaway tax roles, meaning they're not paying property taxes. They're not helping to fund the schools. Uh they are contributing their pilot payments and those are going via
the township. Okay. 7.1 million in pilot billings uh this uh in the most recent year and we're getting zero of that. This is an estimate. If that $632 million was on the tax roles, so if they
were still part of the property tax base that's used to calculate property taxes, the average homeowners taxes would be about $254 lower than they currently are. Okay. So, it does have an impact uh the pilots and how they're used in in
each town. Um there's legislation to give school boards more um involvement in how pilots are allocated to get a slice of the pie, if you will, to help fund school board budgets. Uh that legislation has not passed, but it is uh up for discussion
>> with the pilot. Is it not true that we get also the um some of the land portion of those of those um properties. Okay.
>> I believe the land portion does stay on the books. >> That 632 million based on the information we were able to gather is the building assessment component. Um to the best of our knowledge. >> Can I can I just make that comment that I was going to make before?
We are the school board and the municipal government is the municipal government. They are the taxing authority. So property taxes are real contentious issue. And there was a figure there that think
about this. Our state is telling us that we should be raising $149 million in this town in order to in order to to meet all of our needs, our advocacy budget, but it's only 109.
So, I'm a numbers guy. That's why I'm so involved in the state. And that's where the issue and the rub is with people all over the state between municipalities and school districts. Municipality is a taxing authority, not the school district.
Issues like this right now, this one big issue, you heard that I'm not becoming the vice president for legislation. New Jersey school boards pilots are a big issue. If towns would share some of that pilot money and put board of education
members with a seat at the table when they negotiate with developers, we can work together to close that gap. >> Yeah. >> And that's what I was point I was going to try to make because it puts our business administrator, our superintendent
as the representatives of the school in in in in a tense situation with the town. So, we're looking at all these ways and I just wanted to make sure people understood that we don't set the taxes. We ask for our tax portion, but we're
not the taxing authority. And I just wanted to make that point. So what are some of the and these are not you know ironclad numbers yet but what are some of the solutions we're forced to uh you know consider as I said earlier we're people doing business so
in essence when you you have to find money to to bridge a budget gap you have to talk about staffing okay so that that will be a part of the conversation this year staffing has always been great about trying to minimize the amount of individuals affected we try and do it through
attrition and vacancies and really trying to achieve those savings in that mechanism. We're looking at scheduling in the schools. You know, are there are there different options we can consider to try and make the schedules more efficient?
Are there expenses that are currently in the regular budget that we can allocate to the preschool program? Because the preschool operates within its own little silo. We're looking at transportation. you know, can we run our transportation routes more effectively? Can we combine the routes? Are there buses that can
hold 54 kids and they only have 18 kids? You know, can we combine them with another route? And so this is this is a table here just an illustrative sample of what we're faced with at at the moment. So we do
two sides. You have your revenue side with the projected tax levy increase, the use of bank cap, maintenance reserve. That number is actually going to go up. I this slide needs to be updated. Healthcare waiver, this has not been agreed to by anybody. It's it's amount
to be used. It has not been finalized. But on the revenue side, this is what we're looking at. A $6.2 million increase. What are our expense increases at the moment? Salaries. We have some new staff requests that we think we're going to have to accommodate to meet New Jersey
standards. The health benefits, I mentioned this number earlier. Couple of other factors. So, we have 12.2 million in expense increases, 6.2 million in revenue increases. That's a $6 million shortfall. So, that's the gap we're
looking to to bridge. We have been already and we will continue over the next couple of weeks. And this is the timeline I mentioned, you know, the next couple of weeks. We expect the the state aid is going to come out in mid-March. >> So,
>> thank you. >> Good job. >> We hope you found that informative of laying the groundwork of why we are where we are. And uh there'll be a more detailed presentation with our exact financial numbers next month. Thank you for your attention, Superintendent Glover.
>> First of all, thank you. Good job. Thank you. I want to first of all say I appreciate our students being patient, our parents being patient. Recompant superintendent reports. There are a group of students from the
high school recognize one of our entrepreneurs who is a student at Harvard student administrative team come forward introduce this young man and share a little bit about his qualities and something he's been doing very something that should be applauded for a
young such a young age but our administr explain >> unless you don't um um we have um our fifth grade student Joey Stylish here. Joey is um a very
talented soccer player actually. Um but he's here tonight being recognized for um a business that he started where he makes his own greeting cards um for any occasion that he um that might come his
way anyone might need. Um but what's most important is that about 20% 20% of his profit is donated back um to children's hospital >> but we wanted to just recognize him um
and his business and his charitable work that he um has been doing recently brought to our attention. >> Hello, my name is Joey and I'm a fifth grader at Arbor School. I came here to present to you about my business, gold
ribbon cards. I make custom cards for friends, family, and neighbors. I made this because I wanted to donate. I wanted to make my own money and I wanted to give like make things for people. So, here's a quick
quick slideshow that I made for you guys to see about my business. So what Joey did come on back up Joey mom's been patient come I think the picture >> what Joey didn't show was the check that
he donated. You want to talk about the check that you donated? >> Yeah, I was there that treated me that I gave handed over the money to, she gave me a big So, so that's why all over social media.
>> So, I'm going to tie this back to the presentation that you just saw. Not only just because family structure Joey comes from, it's also about when he comes to the school, he's able to be creative and use his talents and that's a result of what we're able to do in our town. So, Joy's
the smart genius behind all this work, but it also takes as I say to make sure that he's successful. Joey, on behalf of the board of education, I'm sorry, back to Joey. >> I want to say thank you so much as a pediatric nurse practitioner. You see my
bag over there? I work with children every day, Joey. And I've worked at Robert Wood Johnson. I currently work at um uh pediatric practice, very large practice here in New Jersey. and what you've done in order to help children is
beautiful. And who doesn't need a great card? Trust me, I'm buying some cards from you before you leave today. Thank you so much, Joey. Great job. >> Superintendent, I want to say thank you for your hard work. continue to continue to support you and your
family in this endeavor. I'm sure happy. >> Good job, Joey. Good job. >> That's all right. >> Jeff McGomery joined a picture. I like things a little bit has to get back
homework. Madam President, assistant superintendent instructions recognizes the talent of our students. Our students have so many talents which I'll talk about tonight students who have significant talent in
the arts you have a talent that you express your creativity in ways you should celebrate when those talents take you to places in the state of New Jersey as winners even
better tonight. recognize a group of students. These are musicians very patiently waiting as well. I know you have early >> Chris. Don't beat up the thing was in my way. You saw that?
>> Yes, I do. I want I want to make sure I give you fair reports. I want to play tonight. I want every student want to say a word or two
more than happy. So we had six students this year that were selected for music educators association high school ensembles. We had three students in the orchestra students choir and one student who played both concerts
invited back so highful and the high school for sponsoring them and to their families for running them all over the rehearsals and All right, we'll start with >> Joy. NATHANIEL.
These are all our choirs. AJ Kyle Congrat. a word or two. >> I I will say that I will admit that really prior to becoming the high school principal, I knew very little about the
arts. I appreciated them. Um, as I go to our concerts and I hear our kids sing and play, I I and I'm not just saying this because I'm biased. I am. That's okay. But I so impressed with what our students are able to put out there, whether it's through voice or through
instrument that I say this all the time. Uh, and I think that's rubbed off because as somebody who was all sports and no arts growing up, I will admit that I now have a daughter who is in the choir and the band. So I'm now also a band and music parent. Um, so that is a
whole another animal that we can spend a long time talking about, the parents and the work that you guys put in. the what you guys are able to accomplish. I hope you take that with you once you leave high school as well, whether it's professionally or just as a hobby um for other people to enjoy
because it truly brings me joy listening to you guys sing and play. I really like I look forward to coming to the concerts every year. I sit in the back and I quietly text Mr. This is amazing every time. Um so congratulations to you guys and keep doing what you're doing.
I know say the level of proficiency and excellence the bar is set so high here in Skyway and that's largely because of our educators and our parents. Thank you so so much for all that you guys do and
art changes everything. Thank you. >> Everybody look here and smile. Sorry. >> Yeah. >> Okay. All righty. >> I'm not done.
>> No, of course not. >> Principal Bzano, forgive the students if they're a little tardy tomorrow. >> Forgive me if I'm a little tardy. >> I didn't even see you. I >> have a good night everyone. there. The superintendent's report.
This one's probably one of our more meteor ones, but I want to say this once again that if you have not taken a look at this, and this is more for the public, if you have not taken a look at our superintendent report, it's it just it captures the essence of what's the
this this district's about. Please take a look at it. It's just a snapshot. There is so much that comes across my desk every day. Every school in our district is putting forth great great great information. Please stay on top of what's happening. I tie it back to the
budget. The struggle that we have right now in the executive cabinet is when we start talking about what we may have to remove, it's like I always go back to how is that going to impact teaching and learning. >> How's that going to impact parents who have to make decisions on where where they send their children for school?
Because this is what makes our district unique but also sets us apart from other districts. I say this with all due respect. If you take away any aspect of what we do here, our district isn't the same. >> If you look at that back banner, it says
we inspire. We can't inspire if we don't have the resources. >> So, it's important. So, this is a plea to everyone. This district is diverse. This district reflects what America's about. We talk about we're a district of we have immigrant families in and folks in our
district who are passionate about their students getting a high quality education and you can tell by the list of names and what they've gone on to do that Piscatoaway has been the launch for so many of our students put a period there speaking of recognizing the Piscatoaway own I want
to now take another opportunity to ask Dr. Dr. Gray, please stand. He didn't know about this. Dr. Gray is going to be recognized by the Rucker Trio, Hall of Luminators. Dr. Gray, come forth, my my friend. There's
no podium. Last time I checked, he's a he is an alum of Piscatoway. >> Yeah, that's >> he has gone on to represent he went to a great institution down south, North Carolina State University. We'll talk about that one only. Won't mention the
other ones. He he and he came back and he came back and he began his educational career and he was a leader here. But in addition to that, he's also been instrumental in making sure that the students are able to connect to those resources once they leave the
district. He's been a great asset to the district. And on Thursday, February 19th, Ruckers University will be recognizing him as part of the McNair alumni, exemplifying the transformational power of the Ronald E.
McNair Postbachelor Achievement Program, emphasizing academic achievements, but also for the support and mentorship that you do for you. >> I'm not going to read his bio, but he's your own. Let's give a ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR >> CONGRATULATIONS.
AMAZING. >> All right. >> Anything you want to say? >> I just know it's got that's all work to come out and support young people. And I just have a wonderful group of colleagues
to work with that makes and I love this with all my heart. I continue to do this as long as you allow me to do so. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. That's great. >> As I keep saying, so this is only my
third board meeting, but I connect the dots. So, it was important in how we do things in order to connect the dots. So, we we always lead with students and recognizing the voice of our students. And tonight, Arbor, who sometimes gets a negative rap, but we had two students
come from Arbor tonight. Two groups of students, two several students, but two groups, right, for very different reasons. We tied it back to our budget. We talk about how do we sustain the work that we're doing, but put the students at the center of all of our work. We talk about make sure that we allow these
students to have a launch point and Piscatoaway has done that for so many. And here Dr. Gray comes back and he's been a part of the fabric of our district for so long. So, thank you again. And so, I'm going to I'm going to finish this off by saying that I know our principal from the high school just
recently left, but on the cover of the superintendent report, our AP honors courses have been recognized. 2024 2025 Scatteraway High School earns AP honoral. This is a national recognition.
I immediately had banners made. Asked principal Chris Balszano to have banners made. So, we're going to create this hall of honors for everything that happens for our students and our staff we recognize. >> So, we're going to just like we do for our athletes, we're going to do it for
all those other academic areas. I want people to walk the halls and say, "Wow, you celebrate everything." We sure do. It's also a good advertisement for us. It markets our district. So, Think about these three A's, academics, athletics,
and arts. I'm trying to come up with a catchy phrase because that's what we're going to be about. And we've had success in all those areas. So, when you come to work in our district, you're coming to a district where our standards are definitely high, but your voice matters. You're not muted, and you ain't have a talent or a perspective that allows us
to expand what we're doing for our students and our staff. Last two points before I close out, Madam President, board members, is that this is Black History Month. And I I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about all the great accomplishments that have happened within our own township, state, and
region. I'm going give a little historical fact. I'm going to implore you. This ties into Women's History Month as well. If you have not seen or learned research about the military group of women called 68,
there's a movie out and sometimes movie doesn't capture but actually read about the great accomplishment accomplishments of the women from the 68 World War II. It speaks about what black history is about. It speaks about what it means to be a part of being an American when
America doesn't always see you as an American. And in today's climate of what we're living, we have to remember to tell the stories. The Dr. Kings are always going to be important. The Rosa Parks are always going to be important, but talk about those folks who do the
everyday heavy lift and don't get seen in Piscatoaway. I want us to always remember we see everyone. And it's not just for the month of February, but we see them. So that those students that come before you know what the right images
are and how they uphold themselves. What's beautiful about having Dr. Gray as an example of someone who came through Priscatoaway, he can come and talk to his students. I did everything you did and look what I have today to show for it. Look how I'm being recognized. So when you come and work in Priscatoway or when you are watching and
thinking about what we do and you say, "Oh, they don't do this, they don't do that." I have a larger list of things I can tell you what we do and it's free mostly. It just means your child has to show up and we'll give it to them. Last part is for I said it earlier to
our student rep and I say the student voice. I'm I am disappointed to turn the news on on a regular basis and see just the the tone and tenor of this this country. I I often watch C-SPAN and I look at our
congressional conversations. Do we see each other as a human being? Do we begin our conversations in a civil manner that if we may have discord and disconnect that we still can find common ground? It pains me to see people killed on TV and we kind of just move on like life is
still just regular normal. It's not normal. What I hope as superintendent and I hope as a board we collectively show our students that we want them to exercise their voice in the most peaceful and positive way. But it doesn't end with just a protest or a walk up and down the streets. And if you
want to learn anything from Dr. King and the work that he's done is that protests also must be met with legislation. and legislation, you have to have a pen in your hand. So, use the power of your voice, students, but also use the power
of the pen or the power of the keyboard to get your point across. Because I'm going to tell you what moves legislators the most when they offices are flooded with letters and information. Then they start asking questions and they start moving a little differently. And you
have the power of the voice right now in your hands. We do as well. But children truly move this country in ways that people cannot only can never imagine. Thank you, Madam President, board. That concludes my report. >> Thank you very much, Superintendent um Glover. We will be moving on to
personnel and labor relations. It will no longer be myself. Uh that's typo there. It will be um our vice president, Miss Chantel Cherry. >> Be it resolved that the following motions identified as items A through E be approved as presented.
>> Do I get a motion? motion. >> Second. >> Can we um have a roll call? >> Dr. Connor, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hawk, >> yes. >> Mr. King, >> yes. >> Dr. Nelson, >> yes. >> Tal, >> yes. >> Miss Rivers, >> yes.
>> Miss Stafford, >> yes. >> Miss Cherry, >> yes. >> Mr. Salgado Cowan, >> yes. >> Motions carry. Madame President, before we move on, with that being done, can we welcome our new newly hired members to our community
so that you can see them and we can put a name and a face. And I'm going to let our director, Miss Colleen, introduce our new our new employees to our district. And as you are being introduced, you get a chance hopefully, you see what we're about and you see the district that you are coming to work in. >> I was wondering who these nice folks
were there. I kept waiting to find out who these cute people were there. So this is Michelle and this is Jason and they are new substitute safety officers. They came to join our team. >> Wonderful. Welcome. WELCOME.
>> Thank you for coming in. >> Thank you so much. >> Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. and welcome. >> Welcome. >> Thank you so much. I thought they were like parents or
something. >> So we are up to committee reports. We have actually four committee reports and the first one we're going to have is from Miss Loretta Rivers for policy. Uh didn't get printed on the paperwork but Miss Loretta Rivers for policy.
>> Thank you president. I will uh I'll start coughing with more. All right. Thank you. So uh we did have our meeting on January the 15th the policy legislative committee uh was my
first one and I appreciate being selected as the chair this year. Also, we stated that the committee meetings will be a safe space for open and respectful dialogue and deliberation. The committee approved and updated versions of policy 0142.1
which is nepotism to be placed on the board of education agenda for the first reading. And then moving forward, the committee requested that the complete text of existing policies and regulations be provided alongside with proposed Strauss SMA revisions so that
members can compare them in preparation for each year. The committee next discussed a revised reversion revised vision revision of policy and regulation 1552 which is sexual harassment. Mr. Rub explained
that these were substantial overhauls by sharp estimate to incorporate the requiredments for title 9 as well as title 7. The two federal statutes providing sex discrimination. The committee did table the discussion for
consideration on these revisions until a subsequent meeting to to allow members additional time to review them. Also, uh we did do some updates for uh policy and regulation 2530 which is resource materials 2535
library materials and 9130 public complaints align with requirements of the freedom to read act did explain that the act establish an orderly procedure for consideration a request to remove books from district
libraries to assure a deliberation process and avoidance of unconstitutional viewpoints of discrimination. The committee also t this on these revisions as well to allow to follow further review.
Um the committee also proposed revision policy 9160 which is public attendance at school events 9700 special interest groups addressing use of school facilities by outside organizations and individuals for
promotional purposes. Thank you, Superintendent Glover, for attending the meeting. And also, Superintendent Glover expressed concern that the proposed revisions may be in need of further tailoring to avoid barriers accepting acceptable
activities. After further discussion, the committee determined to wait further recommendations from the superintendent to address the underlying concerns in an operational feasible manner. Also, Mr. Ruben briefed the committee on the recent act bill regarding the use of
internet enabled devices. The department of education will provide guidelines for district policy to limit the use of these devices with appropriate exceptions for um legitimate educational purpose needs of the
disabled students and emergencies. So we will be um doing a policy review for that one as well. Also, our meeting, our next meeting has been changed from February 5th to February 19th due to scheduling conflicts and we
do allow the committee anyone from our Piscataway community to join our group. So, if you would like to join our group, you're more than welcome. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Rivers. Um, next we will have Dr. Tom Connors with fiscal planning and operations.
>> All right. Well, everybody's got the copy here. Um we've met twice since the last meeting. So since um I will not read the January report, but I will start with the February because it includes things from the January. The fiscal plannings and operations committee we met uh Wednesday, February
4th to discuss the 2026 2027 budget, facility, capital projects, and more. And on the budget, um the committee reviewed the preliminary budget draft information uh worksheet and we discussed the revenue challenges, the reduced state aid, tax levy increase
options, staffing request, health benefit cost increases, special education cost increases, and staff reductions. Uh and you heard the presentation tonight. Facility capital projects. Biscato High School interior alterations. Biscato High School staff
with the assistance of students are halfway through the stacking of books in the media center. The esports room uh computers are uh imaged and now awaiting placement. Other furniture and equipment open items are
being addressed. A grand opening is anticipated for the end of February or early March. the uh Skyway High School intercom uh PA clock system and system testing and training has begun and network troubleshooting is ongoing. Some additional locations for the phone
speakers and clocks were identified. Quivaltown solar panel decommissioning bid award is expected on February 12th. Uh removal of the solar panels will take place from March to June. Quibbltown roof. The Quibbletown roof contractor has been working on contractual paperwork and has submitted the permit
to the township. Scatterawaway High School and Quivaltown solar panel installation. The district held a call with the uh Scottway High School roof manufacturer to discuss warranty repairs to the roof. The visit is tentatively planned February 9th. The solar panel installer is aware of the schedule for
the preliminary work to be completed by the other contractors. Fellowship Farms preschool alterations. The contractor is completing contractual paperwork and a work schedule. Mobilization and demolition will start soon. New Jersey
school business legislative update. Uh Dr. Connor's me provided an update on legislative impacting curricular updates, cursive writing, uh student health and safety, cell phone policy, and student uh student health referrals,
singleuse utensils, K through 12 schools were exempt, and a chronic absenteeism absenteeism task force that were passed into law. Uh I also noted bills that did not pass in the last legislative session
and the pending appointment of the new commissioner of education. Her name is Dr. uh Locks. Um and she's the acting until she gets um uh you know affirmed by the legislature. Uh on this just I wanted to say two
things is that there have been real uh there's been a legislative session last week and there's been real movement on a couple of things. The first one is very pertinent to tonight um especially the budget meeting is that uh you know committees are meeting and there's a
senate committee and urban affairs committee and they have now a sharing pilot revenue with schools bill and it's very pertinent because um again as I just I'm the interim vice president for legislation resolutions of New Jersey school boards. Um this is really
important because you can see how much money uh schools um are not getting uh from municipalities in these agreements. So this whole bill is about requiring municipalities to share certain revenues from the payments and move taxes with
the school districts. Um and so that's going to be hopefully we'll move now into the assembly. And I just want to make it also um because the superintendent mentioned about you know writing letters to your uh assemblymen and so on so forth. At the Martin Luther
King celebration uh fellow board member um Pashant Patel and myself were able to talk to Assemblyman Danielson district 17 specifically about these pilots and I had told him that there's going to be a bill in the Senate. So could you please
be on the lookout for in the assembly and if we can get that support I mean we've got the president of the raw board of education here he knows how in how critical this issue is. Um the last thing I wanted to mention is that that we have been the beneficiary in the past
of what's known as school development authority or a regional operating district grants and it's a way in which the state legislature bonds money and then we are we can apply for it for communications for safety. Our district
in the past had gotten a lot of money for from the school development authority where it's a 6040 proposition where we get we pay for uh 60% at state gives us 40. That's how we got the cameras at the high school. That's how we updated the phone system. That's why
we've done so much and David was here at that time. So, Senator Ruiz in the Senate is intro just introduced um legislation to fund school facility upgrades. And so, she's getting on the case of hey legislation, we need to bond
more money so that local school districts can take advantage of this. Remember, we are not just the fi, you know, we're not the finance committee here. We're the fiscal plannings and operations. So, we're worried about facilities. So, that's really good news. Okay. And last uh we had a business
office um update and it was on about our investment account and the committee reviewed the current balance of our January 2026 NJRM which is the New Jersey asset management system. We found a way David is in charge of that and we all approved it where certain funds can
be invest invested and we get return on uh return on that and it can be used against capital projects which helps our position again of not having to go out and bond uh money that will end up in debt service for taxpayers. And madame president that is my report.
>> Thank you. Thank you so much Dr. Connors. Next we have culture, climate and community relations. We met on Thursday, January the 27th, 20 uh 2026 to discuss positive messaging, community partnerships, wellness initiatives, and
more. Positive messaging. Gary Miller shared a slideshow of the monthly themes, quotes, and marquee images for November, December, and most of January. The November themes were give thanks, gratitude. December was generosity,
giving, and January was Muslim Heritage Month. In December, we also did the holidays. Uh, marquee images included happy holidays in December, Muslim Heritage Month, Martin Luther King Day in January, upcoming
months themes. Um for this month we have black um history month and uh we have happy Ramadan in February. Women's history month is coming up as well as Eid Mubarak in March. Did I say that
right? Okay. Um community partnerships. Dr. Grace shared information about our various community partnerships including junior achievements high school heroes teaching lessons to the third graders at Nwood in December and at Randolph Hill School in January. Mr. Miller shared the
slideshow of the Nullwood event um which I was able to attend which was fabulous. High school heroes will be held on February the 6th at King School, February 12th at the Grand View School and February 20th at Arbor. 40 students
from each middle school will attend the Junior Achievement Inspire Career Exploration Fair at the Middle Sex College on December the 10th and 11th. Affinity Federal Credit Union hosted a financial reality fair on January the 12th at Piscatoaway High School. About
170 students from the personal finance classes learned about budgeting, but by being assigned a career with a monthly salary. They navigated the expenses of a car, housing, cell phones, insurance, gym memberships, pets, etc. The fair
will return on February the 24th for a new set of students. So last year we were able to bring this uh partnership in as a new partnership and we piloted it for one uh event and went over so well that we were able to bring it back
this year for two uh sessions and also incorporate it with our curriculum um with the classes of the personal finance. So it really does work well um and getting the buyin with the teachers is just an added benefit. So that's
really making sure that these uh partnerships are really solidified in more than just one way. So Mr. Miller shared a slideshow of course from the fair. The NAACP
and the AAT&T are hosts uh at a Black History Month event on February the 19th and a group of 40 students from Sataway High School Black Student Union Club will be participating. Wellness services. The committee
discussed at the Haven family nights and the possibility of having a presentation from the Scataway Community Outre outreach commission on that evening. The committee will meet with the representatives from the Haven and the commission to discuss possible
collaboration. The committee discussed the support that are available to our students, particularly if they or their families are experiencing any challenges based on issues taking place throughout our society. Old business. The committee
is continuing to explore the idea of possible community garden in the district. One of the members uh applied for a grant. The committee will continue to strive to attain various attend various events throughout the school
community. In new business, Mr. Miller shared a slideshow presentation about activities of the Piscatoaway Education Foundation, including information about February 27th's designer bag bingo and turkey tray and schoolbased grants
the foundation awarded to eight schools including Arbor. And that is my report. Curriculum. The curriculum committee met on Monday, February the 2nd, 2026 to discuss ELA updates, ESL updates, PHSMEIES and more.
ELA updates was uh discussed by Janine Albanese. The district administers the birth benchmark assessment and K through8 with study sync and open court. As Miss Albanese met with her team to create questions identifying patterns as the grade level data is reviewed and how
to address challenges. ESL updates was discussed by Glennisha Gerard Moran. There are 639 multilanguage learners in the district. 40 students exited the English as a second language program districtwide after testing in October.
WIDA access is an annual English language proficiency assessment for grades K through 12. English learners students must score a 4.5 to exit the program and results in form instruction and placement. The district applies for
a bilingual waiver for Spanish, Gerati, Arabic, Udi, and Korean Korean. Uh, every year a proficiency test for kindergarten has been revamped and revised. Digital results are available on June 18th and hard copies are on July
7th. Results are due to the families by July 31st. There is an assessment in place in preschool to help identify students as they are coming into kindergarten. Exploring the NWA map was discussed by Rebecca D. Students in grades one
through five will take the NWEA MAP assessment three times this school year. This is a computer adaptive assessment that zones in on current student understanding, adjusting questions based on student responses. This measures achievements and growth over time and
supports instructional planning. Miss Dayton shared an example of the assessment with the committee and an example of the report that goes home to the family. It includes RIT scores where a child is right now, academic
percentile compared with students nationwide, and fourth percentile progress over time. Ruckus Math Circle was discussed by Frank Lubaliski. The program is run by Ruckus professionals and offers acceleration and expansion of math topics for m middle school and high
school students. The district hopes to bring this to our schools potentially as an afterchool program. PHSME and parent resources was discussed by Kelly Chilakis. The PHSME include focused curricula with a narrow focus on
specific career path in or major. It's like a school within a school offering access to all the program Piscataway has to offer. Students declare interest in the eighth grade, register for the level one course in their desired academy, and then apply during their freshman year
with assessment taken with assessments assessment taking place in their level one course. All academy opportunities are available for all students. They help students with making decisions about their career and provide a resume for college applications.
Include business which is finance path, marketing path, engineering, health science, performing arts, dance in instrumental music, vocal music, theater, visual arts, drawing/painting, photo design, graphic design, animation
and ceramics. Digital video editing was discussed by Chris Arabando. The district seeks to modify this course to a semester course which would increase enrollment. The hope is to offer this as a dual enrollment course with William Patterson University and pair it with
TV1. AP business with personal finance was discussed by Robin K. This course is a projectbased career/technical education course. It gives student a strong foundation in business regardless of future path. Students learn the fundamentals of business and managing
personal finance. Social media marketing was also discussed by Miss Kay. This proposed semester elective would be projectbased and focus on the fastest growing industry in New Jersey and for the use of AI. Students would use AI tools to build a social media presence
for their CTE school store. End of course assessments would demonstrate the skills students have learned. Honors designation for engineering business dual credit course was also discussed by Miss K. The district plans to elevate
engineering courses to an honors level, creating college level courses based on the PLTW curriculum, which are being taught at the college level. The district has a dual enrollment agreement with Rochester Institute of Technology. Courses include honors introduction to
engineering, honors principles of engineering, honors architect in civil engineering, honors capstone. The district is elevating business courses to honors level with a dual enrollment agreement with Syracuse University. They are the same courses being offered at
Syracuse University. Honors marketing two honors introduction to financial accounting. Course name change co-op education to workplace readiness was also discussed by Miss K. This course prepares students for work during and after high school with a focus on soft
skills. Course final grade student option changes to pass or fail was also discussed by Miss K. This course has projects designed by individual mentors and would change to a pass or fail course instead of a grade. And that
concludes my report. Okay. Thank you. That's very very great information from the four children committee. Thank you so much. No, I mean I'm serious. That was a lot. Thank you so much. So that's the end of our committee reports for all of you who are
still with us out there. Um the committee reports are here for you to uh to understand what it is that we do in our committees so that then we can go ahead and make these motions and actually do the work of the board. I
will ask to approval of the minutes from Miss Loretta Rivers. Yes. Resolve that be approved as submitted the organization and business meeting on January the 8th, 2026 in executive session January 8th, 2076. >> Second. Mo.
>> Do I have a motion? >> Motion. Second. >> Thank you. >> Special meeting January 12th. >> I think we have to do the yay and the nay. >> All in favor? Any opposed? >> Okay. >> Special meeting January the 12th, 2026.
Motion. >> Second. >> Okay. And everybody say >> I. >> And are there any opposed? >> Okay. Great. Public comments from the floor. >> I'm sorry. >> I was going to say
>> uh No, we won't be skipping. We're going to take the whole meeting as as it's supposed to be. So, public comments from the floor. The board of education recognizes the value of public comments on educational issues in school matters of community interest. In support of this position, the law establishes 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 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 the presiding officer and no participant may address or question board members
individually. All speakers are require are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy rights of others whose legal rights may be affected. Please note, while it is not the board's intention to stifle comments 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 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. Is there anyone here? Um, can I get a motion to close
>> public comment? Second. >> Okay. No favor. >> I >> Okay. Anyone opposed to closing? Is that okay? Okay. Okay. We will move on to fiscal
planning and operations. Dr. John following motion identified as items A through H be approved as presented. >> Second question. >> I was um first C approval of security
and technology. Uh I just didn't know that we approved other schools >> non the nonpublic schools. uh the ED service commission administers it for us and they send us the information and we approve it on our agenda.
>> We're kind of the steward for those funds. >> Okay. And uh for E the approval of the members of agreements with Ruckers for the state university is that for graduation. >> Do we normally put an amount in there or
is that something that we have a partnership with? >> No, we we've never put an amount in uh historically. Um the sign of partnership they do charge us um not put in an amount. I can tell you it's been increasing every year. >> Okay. And then you said F too. Say F.
>> F this too. Um for the disposal of all the equipment. I know David you said sometimes you put them on other outlets. These are just old or >> Yeah. These are things
>> we've determined we don't think they have any value. uh in the finance committee it it came up is there any salvage value with any of this stuff in the past there has not been um somebody brought up about the value of precious metals so we're we're kicking the tires
again but um we don't in the past we have not seen any value in getting rid of stuff that's so clearly old enough so it's been a a break even we're just happy someone took it off our hands >> and I know my e is different from our uh draft so the for the bidding
How long did that How long was the bidding for? Two months or how long do they do that? >> Uh, this one was out roughly a month. >> Yeah. >> So, we would have got that before in the January meeting like they it would have been in January's meeting like they were looking for stuff.
>> Um, I think the bid opened after the January meeting. >> Okay. >> Or not not the bid opening. The bid period began. >> Okay. >> After the January meeting, the bid opening was just two days ago. >> All right. Thank you. Any other questions?
>> Okay. >> Uh, yes. Can we hold the roll? >> Mrs. Hawk? >> Yes. >> Mr. King? >> Yes. >> Dr. Nelson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Patel? >> Yes. >> M. Rivers? >> Yes. >> Miss Stafford? >> Yes. >> Dr. Connor? >> Yes. >> M. Cherry? >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Salgado Con? >> Yes. >> Motions carry. Okay. Policy. Um, Miss Loretta Rivers >> being resolved that the following motion items identified as item A be resolved as presented. Second.
>> Yes. Um, okay. Can we take the vote? >> Mr. King. >> Yes. >> Dr. Nelson. >> Yes. Mr. Patel, >> yes. >> Miss Rivers, >> yes. >> Miss Stafford, >> yes. >> Dr. Connor, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hog, >> yes. >> Miss Cherry, >> yes. >> Mrs. Salgado Cowan,
>> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Um, curriculum. Pashant Patel. >> We resolved that following motions identified as item A through GB approved as presented. >> Second. >> I have a question. >> Yes, Mr. Rivers. Yes. for a did we
receive those funds already or we apply for those funds? >> These are carryover amounts. So, this is stuff that's left over from the previous uh grant fiscal year and we have to get authorization to apply them to the
subsequent year. >> So, what happens if we don't apply? >> What would happen? I'm sorry. >> They go away. >> They go away. spend that money. >> Yeah. So, they're title funds and they need to be utilized or um appointed to
the next year or they will be gone. >> Is this um E for the authorization to apply for advanced placement for the international bachelorette? How many students would have been maximum to do that if we you know given
that opportunity how many students could could utilize that? >> Well, we don't have a cap. >> Okay. >> So, it's open. >> It's open.