close session. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> All right, we will be in close session. We'll be back at 7:30. No action will be taken. Can I get a motion to session? Second
fossession. >> Miss Brown >> here. >> Miss Bryan >> here. >> Mr. Allesandro >> here. >> Mr. Fus and President Langley here. We have a rise for the flag.
I aliance >> 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. >> Brian, would you read? The River Edge School District is a
partnership of students, parents, staff, and community members. We are dedicated to providing a supportive environment in which all students can reach their maximum academic potential while developing as responsible citizens who respect individuality. Our goals will be achieved because
curriculum and instruction are aligned with the New Jersey student learning standards. All decisions reflect the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs of preK to sixth grade students. Cooperation and ongoing communication exist between the school district and the community. School
administrators and the board of education work together to assess and adjust procedures in response to new mandates and the changing needs of the community. >> Thank you. >> Open public meetings notice. >> Yes. >> Pursuit to the open public meetings act.
Notice of this meeting, its date, time, and place have been delivered to the post office, municipal building, and the record and posted on the district's website. at least 48 hours prior to the time of this meeting. >> Thank you. All right, we'll move on to item B, the uh uh B1 public hearing on
the final school budget 26 27 Thank you everyone. Sorry for that delay. Um I would like to welcome everyone to the presentation of the public hearing the public as well as the full board. Uh, tonight is the 2627 final budget
for the River Edge Public Schools. >> On behalf of Dr. Bernice, our superintendent of schools, and myself, we just want to recognize and thank once again everyone who contributed to this budget. This was a massive team effort involving all our board members, the finance and
facilities committee members and our entire leadership team as well as all of our staff from our teachers to our administrators assistance. This is truly a collaborative and extensive process. The budget uh development process
started as early as the end of October. Uh this presentation reflects the same information that was previously shared with the full board during the tenative budget presentation with no changes. However, it is required to res to be presented during the public hearing.
So this is the purpose of the school budget. Um a school budget is more than just numbers. It is a district's action plan that balances legal compliance and operational support with our strategic alignment and accountability to to our
taxpayers. The mission statement is a critical component that drives the direction of the district's budget. Another critical component that drives the district's budget is the strategic plan. The strategic plan is a five-year
plan that consists of five goals. All five goals have a financial impact of the budget with some of the goals more heavily weighted to the financial components such as goal number five. Next, I'll turn it over to Dr. Bernice,
our superintendent of schools, as we um as we look take as he will take us through the academic successes um of our district that our district has achieved, showcasing the real world impact of the funding we are discussing today.
Okay, good evening everybody. I uh have the pleasure of doing the next three slides. Um and uh Christine Moran presented this last time in such a brilliant way. Um it's it's tough to top that, but there's a this is sectioned off into three parts. The first part is
basically um the the academic program, right? curriculum and how we support that curriculum. So, uh it's no secret that we've been shifting uh our mathematics instruction over the past two years. This is now in full swing and
next year uh we'll be on our own essentially for um that professional development. the the board over the past two years has invested um nearly $100,000 in professional development bringing the uh pre-K to6 teachers uh up
to full speed on uh the Amplify Math program and uh it's it's been going quite well even um initially there's always some apprehension to a brand new program especially after we this district has been using the same program for over a dozen years. Um however it
was time for change and uh the committee chose ampl well the results of the committee yielded the amplify desmos was amplify math and uh we move move to that in so far as literacy um English language arts has been on a a fairly uh
constant um I'll say shifting um ground over the past few years but I think one thing that is happening here river edge uh um very as well is that uh we've been using a kind of like a mix scanning approach and there's been um a large uh
effort to make sure the f of the fact that we were employing as many different strategies as we can in the components of reading and writing to ensure the fact that the students were getting a balanced uh approach to literacy which of course they are and then of course professional learning. These are some of
our um some of our professional developers. We've even doubled down on this in many ways using title funds to bring in other um speakers uh for both the faculty um and community members to come and and and engage in conversation.
So um those education that's that's program if you look at uh this next slide these are some of the things that I think make River shine the brightest. Um, and I I've often called it I've called it a lot of things, but when you
when you pull back the curtain and you wonder, well, why is why is this school district performing, you know, uh, so well, it's it's not that big. It's there's lots of reasons why and and excuses uh that we can make for not performing well. But when you consider the fact that we're we're sitting in
the, you know, number four ranked elementary school in the county, um I really do believe that these are the things that help River Edge clear hurdles that other districts struggle to clear and knock over time and time
again. these um after the afterchool programs, the uh G&T programs and the heavy investment that the district makes in um win uh the wind team is just
I want to say um a testimony to how seriously we take intervention and I do believe that when the multi-tered system of supports in this district is held up against any other district's MTSS access systems. Uh, River Edge will time and
time again shine as the brightest light on that tree or star in that constellation, whatever metaphor you'd like to use. We also uh still and continue to invest in things like Steam, um the Mayo
Performing Arts program. Uh we we add a new Zella this year for a digital resource for uh um teachers. I got to be uh judge this year in the final Shark Tank. Um thank thank you Mrs. Brown so much for appointing me to that position.
Um and then uh this year we we have invested and we will continue to invest uh greater in in the coming years in anell River ed sixth grade partnership uh better preparing them to learn together as um as classmates when they get to Riverdale. And then finally,
these are some of the other things that I think we do well. I would like to do some of these things better. Um, in so far as uh library media, world language, these are two programs that we that we do well, but we certainly could do a lot better. However, uh, with budget
constraints and the fact that this is um this is a a good budget, it's there. I don't think there's a such thing as a great budget anymore in in uh, education and certainly in the state as we are. uh we continue to lose state funding and and state cont considers us to be
overfunded. Uh it's a lot harder to bolster these programs with the staff that we actually need to adequately cover it. Um so uh where we do these things well we um there is room for improvement. I do believe that having um a one-to-one program gives the students
the greatest access to digital resources that we possibly can. And over the past few years, we've replaced the antiquated interactive whiteboards in the classrooms and um extended the onetoone program to uh students and teachers with new stuff. Uh last year, especially with
the delivery of 700 new Chromebooks to the district to the tech team's uh chagrin, but they got them out on time and and everything seems to be working well. And then finally, there are um components to uh River Edge that that
continues to be slightly different in the manner in which we engage families. I I went to uh Steam night. Mr. Langley was there. Um and uh there were 120 people who came out after school with their children to hang out and do some pretty nifty little hands-on projects uh
that were steam oriented. So I I just don't think you get that anywhere. That's in addition to um the math nights that we've been doing and the uh reading and writing nights that we've been doing. So there there are these these it's a continuous outreach toward the
families who uh use um use the public schools to educate their children and we're constantly reaching out and welcoming them back to the to school to go ahead and engage in learning activities with their kids. So, um uh these are the things that I think are
included in this budget and I think that they are things that continue to make River edge um shine far brighter than uh you would expect us to. So, uh Mr. >> Thank you, Bernice. >> Dr. Um, just to kind of put it in into
context, as a business administrator, you know, we kind of just see numbers on paper, but it is true, you know, testament to see what, you know, that budget and that those resources are providing to our students in in River Edge. Um, here's a snapshot of the
district. The district's overview defines the scope and scale of the operation that this budget must support. The district operates two elementary schools, Cherry Hill Elementary School and Roosevelt Elementary School, and it's roughly staffed uh by over 235
employees uh relating to our full-time part-time employees including substitutes as well as serving roughly about 1156 students, enroll students being taught in district. As far as shared ser services, uh we
maintain efficiency through these shared services uh for special education, cooperative purchasing for supplies, competitive energy services, which is our ASUS contract as well as interlocal agreements and joint insurance funds. And these all help to manage cost and
bring down uh cost savings to the district. As far as the budget, the budget is divided into three distinct funds. First is the general fund of operations. Um the special revenue fund is for our grants and our debt service fund is to
uh pay for our bond payments through approved referendums in the past. So I'm happily I am pleased to announce that the district's 2627 tenative budget that was presented at last board meeting success successfully passed the state's compliance review
with no findings of it. Thank you. Thank you. Um because the draft met all requirements and there was no internal changes that were necessary that came to light, we are moving forward with the budget um exactly as originally proposed
at our last board meeting. So this is budget areas of focus to highlight um specifically increases and decrease when it comes to taxes uh revenues and expenditures. The overall budget is increasing by approximately
$3.08 million. While we see an increase in local taxes and tuition, we are still facing a combined decrease in state and federal aid of over um just under 300,000. This budget includes maximizing all revenue sources such as um tuition
to offset tax levy support and state aid reduction. On the flip side, as far as the expenditures, our primary expenditure drivers, um, is roughly about our, uh, $610,000
increase in special education cost and a significant 1.46 million rise in employee benefits. In addition, there is a need to invest in maintenance and capital projects, which is based on the age of our buildings and infrastructure.
This budget includes an increase in these areas of roughly 970,000 which is being solely funded from the district's reserve funds with no tax impact. We are currently conducting a thorough evaluation of our capital needs
while structuring a financial plan to maximize potential aid and resource allocation for sustainability which is uh our strategic goal. Number five, looking at historical trends, state aid has fluctuated significantly
over the last decade, trending downward from its peak in 2024. The state aid formula was recently amended in 2018 and phased in over seven years. Districts receive funding on a per pupil basis with higher funding
levels provided for atrisisk students which is low income as well as English language learners and special education students. In addition, the state determines the amounts the amount of revenue that should be contributed
locally, which is considered our local fair share based on the community's fiscal capac capacity measured by property values and personal income. The remainder of the re revenue which is considered adequacy budget is funded by
state aid to meet uh what the budget that the state determines to be adequate for 2627. The state has determined that the amount of aid that the River Edge School District should receive is roughly about $1.34 million,
a reduction of $1.82 million. District reduction, however, was capped at 3%. And this will be monitored um as reductions are projected to um for future budgets. And that's what got us to the little over $3 million in state aid because
they capped it. Resident student enrollment has has seen a slight decline from 12:30 in 2021 to a projected 11:08 by 2027. Similarly, uh the onroll enrollment
shows also a downward trend and that's projected at 11:31 for 2027 fiscal year. In summary, the total operations of this budget year stand at a little over 29 million at 2959,103.
And the uh the first part of the budget is the revenues. So there's there's pretty much five buckets um that districts balance their expenditures uh with the largest budget uh bucket being local tax levy and then the second one comes in as state aid. Um, River
Edge does a very nice job be based on our uh level of of instruction and special ed programs. We're able to uh bring in uh students from other districts, other LEAs, and that's in a form of tuition uh revenue as well as
related services fees. So, here's the general fund revenue analysis. So it shows uh roughly about 14.1% total revenue increase largely uh driven by 1.62 million tax levy increase uh in
addition 544,000 in tuition revenue and nearly 1 million in capital reserve withdrawals. Um and I just want to point out the 1 million in capital reserve withdrawals was funded from our capital reserve fund to offset those capital
projects. And here's basically a pie chart as far as um the larger area. So taxes make up the larger portion of a a school district's budget. Um same thing with River Edge is roughly about 76%. And
then the next is state sources. That's state aid about 12% followed by tuition. So those are our three large revenue driven uh streams. On the special revenue side, uh the fund continues to support uh title
one through title four programs as well as IDA grants for students with disabilities. These grants are utilized to support current programs and needs adding value and not supplanting costs from the operation um of the district. Uh these these grants uh title one
through title four and IDA are federally funded. So to be uh conservative, the district budgeted roughly about 80 75 to 80% of that grant award. As more funds are, you know, as the final grant award is um provided to the districts typically over the summer and beginning
of the school year, we have the ability to appropriate those additional funds by board resolution and to spend down on that grant. Uh in addition, you'll see that there's non-public grants that we do receive. Uh currently we're receiving um a lot of non-public grants because
there is two nonpublic schools in River Edge. So there there's a form of textbooks, technology, security. Um there's a newer grant that started about a couple of years ago which is uh uh STEM. Uh what that is, we're just a pass through entity. So the state basically
acknowledges these gr uh non-public schools. The nonpublic schools go through a process of submitting funding. Uh based on that approval process, uh the River Edge as as the um I guess the uh LEA, the public school LEA, we basically provide a level of compliance
and accountability um for spending down these grants, requesting uh reimbursements from the state. So it's really a pass through through these no non-public schools. It's not a direct uh impact on the budget uh per se for you know resident districts being on roll in in River Edge or being sent out of
district to a private school uh for the disabled. Uh the other areas are local grants and donations. And here's the special revenue uh the revenue side. So basically as you see 26 27 there's a lot of decreases and that's
based on uh uh and that's based on the anticipated grant award being uh reduced 75 to 80%. However there's no you know confirmation from the federal government. Um in addition those local sources as you see um same thing with state safe state
sources that was decreased based on the anticipated uh non-public awards as well as uh local sources that we don't have grant agreements and and approvals yet. So that's you know that's zero. And the last fund is the death service
fund which you'll see remains pretty stable with a marginal increase of only $125. And as we go later in the presentation, uh I'll provide a a snapshot of uh when debt is coming off for, you know, a tax savings for the the
residents of River Edge. On the flip side, the appropriations, these are the four main areas, which is instruction, support services, capital outlay, and debt service. Uh we categorize uh these appropriations into these categories uh based on state
state compliance. uh the the larger the larger areas is directly tied to the instruction regular special education. Uh there's support services. Um a lot of it is student and instructional related that supports our our special uh needs students. And then we have our capital
ally to account for our capital projects. And then the debt service. Um on the general fund appropriations, this is a detailed analysis that shows that while regular instruction spending is down slightly, special education instruction and related services as well
as benefits are seeing a major increases driving the overall budget increase. And just to highlight the special education buckets is the is the ones that are directly tied to instruction. Um as well as basic skills or remedial
instruction is considered uh part of special education as well as uh related services extraordinary services. Child study team that's all part of the special education budget.
the capital outlay. That's that's um to account for our capital projects that are supported in our long-range facility plan. Uh the large part of this $1 million is the gym floor replacement and the bleacher replacement at Cherry Hill in addition with death service aid. So,
it's a portion of the debt service assessment that uh all districts have to pay back in the form of uh part of the debt service aid. It's debt service assessment. Yep. Um salaries and benefits remain our largest investment accounting for
roughly 82% of the total budget which is pretty consistent with prior year and as you notice even with health benefits increasing uh the percentage actually decreased and then this is the special revenue appropriations which is exactly the same
as the revenue side. So as more grants come you know we get awarded we appropriate it and it hits both sides and this is the debt service appropriations. So uh interest on bonds uh slight decrease as principle now is
being more applied to the debt. So now we'll dive into maintenance and capital projects and equipment and and provide a overview of the debt planning for future. So here's some of the maintenance and capital project just to highlight uh what the district has has done uh over
the past year and as well as going into 2627. Uh as you notice the district has completed numerous capital projects and maintenance projects. Um and I just want to highlight that all these projects have been completed with no tax impact uh to the taxpayers. So so all these
projects uh there was no you know tax levy increase that the district needed to do in order to complete these. we were able to do it either through uh capital reserve uh grant funds. Uh some of it we were able to get PTO donations.
So I just want to just kind of recognize this board for you know strategically um identifying you know capital needs and and um managing the capital reserves and budgeting uh those reserves to properly improve you know the facilities of the
district. Uh moving forward into 2627, we have budgeted for the gym floor and bleacher replacement at Cherry Hill as well as a new playground at Cherry Hill and a flooring uh replacement for six
classrooms districtwide. So now we'll dive into the long long-term debt of bonds. So our long-term debt is structured through 2032 with the total annual payments hovering around $1.4 million for the next several years. uh there was a
significant drop off in debt payment in 203132 as one of the refunding bond is maturing. As far as leases payable, this these are short-term um commitments. So we don't have too many uh leases on
hand. We have basically two. It's our postage machines which we lease out as well as our copers. And those are more strategic uh typically the useful life. they don't, you know, after five years of of utilizing copers and posters machines, it doesn't really pay to own and then, you know, the maintenance cost is is really high. So, a lot of
districts, they'll do a five-year lease and then at the end of the five-year lease, they'll do another fiveyear lease to bring in new copers. Um, also identifying the needs because, you know, needs today and then in five years, you know, the copers might be able to be reduced in size and and amount and the
number to save money. As far as the tax overview, uh we'll dive into what this budget how it impacts our residents of River Edge. So for a home at the average assessed value of about 718,000,
the total tax impact of this budget is an increase of 129,000 per year. So if your assessed value has fluctuated from previous years, the tax impact change will fluctuate from 129 with the annual
impact remaining constant at 5,681 for the 26 calendar year. The average assessed value for 25 was roughly 675,000. So So River Edge is going through a an assessment um and I believe
it's it's through a multi-year phase in. So if your assessed value you notice has increased from last year, then obviously the impact um might not be 129 depending on how your assessed value changed. If it went up or down, you know, it it
could um be impacted differently. Um however uh you know there's a form of tax relief that the federal federal government has um provided um and that has increased the state and local tax which is known as the salt deduction cap
to 40,000 for single and joint filers up from 10,000. And that's phased out um after 2029 to kind of you know help uh communities that are burdened with you know tax levy increases because of the cost of
you know the cost of living has increased uh drastically. Uh this provides tax relief reducing their federal tax liability. So now this is the budget schedule. What's next? So, as we sit here, uh
we're at the point of the the public hearing, April 29th. Uh following today's board board approval. Uh the budget resolutions will be submitted to the New Jersey uh department of ed county office in Bergen County for the final review. Uh the next step will will
be to submit the tax levy certification to the burough clerk for sign off uh with copies provided to the county board of taxation, burough tax assessor, uh New Jersey division of local government services and the executive county superintendent of schools. The district
will then work with the bureau to finalize the tax levy payment schedule. So um how river edge taxes work is it's basically raised on a calendar year for 26 and then the uh the burrow has a a calculation of how much of that will be
deferred into 2027 and they strategically uh pay uh set the payments structuring when the debt is coming due. So that will myself and the and the burrow will work out that schedule and then that will be presented at the next
board meeting for approval. Uh the detailed user-friendly budget data will be available to the public uh if they want to take a look at it on the district's website within two days from tonight. That'll be posted on our district website. And you could also contact myself as well as our
superintendent of schools, Dr. Bernice. If you have any questions with, you know, the budget data, um if you need some something clarified, please reach out to us. This is our email address. And now I'll open up the floor to the public and to the board for any
questions. >> Questions or comments from board members? >> Good other than say thank you. It was a great night. Oh, Miguel, you have something? Oh, go ahead. >> Yeah, I want to number one say thank you because I know how much work that is to
prepare a budget like that. I also wanna one of the things you mentioned was the PTO and their commitment to the district and how much they help with what they do. I also want to commend them on that because it is a lot of work and they do do a lot of work to help support the
district. So, thank you to them and to you. >> Anybody else? >> Awesome. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Thank you. All right, seeing as how there aren't any public comments, we'll move on to
superintendent report. >> Good evening everybody and thank you sir for that presentation really quickly always. I have a few things for you tonight. Uh we received a letter that I have attached to the um public
portion actually of the superintendent's uh report um from Kim Murray, acting assistant commissioner. the uh our special ed um department was uh subject to tier one
monitoring over the last um it's it felt like a long time but it was about six months and based on the review no further action is required by the LEA and this uh the letter that I attached that I have in my hand here um confirms to close out of that um evaluation every five years districts are subject to um
basically a desk audit for special education and um we're good no action plan life is good. So, I thought you should >> the board should know that. Uh that's a lot of work on on behalf of the entire CH child study team and the the teachers
um of special education. Um and uh it's commendable. Um I also have to report on the HIV grading for the district. Now, this is these are last year's grades. Um through the self- assessment, I attached the individual um schools grades that
are consistent with the district grades. Ultimately what they they break this down into I call them core elements right which is programs approaches and initiatives and then two core element two training on the board of ed uh approved policy. Core three other staff
instruction and programs. Core four curriculum and instruction on HMB related information and skills. Core five HIV personnel. Um core six school level HIV reporting procedures. And then course seven, oh there's actually an eight um HIV investigation procedures
and then core eight HIV reporting. So these uh these categories are um self assessed by the school that they're called school safety team um and it's a member they're members of the staff um
that are uh designated by um by principles and then myself to uh be part of the safety team. And then they go through each one of these elements and the uh related scores and they go ahead and they self assess and then we we submit that to the state
via home room and uh they say great. So uh the district right this year is the protection total was 74 over 78 which is fine. They that's what's posted to the website. These things have to be posted to the website in the HIV se section. So the uh each individual school has their
own section. U the district scoring is attached to each school and then the school scoring is scoring is attached um as uh to that school's individual HIV website. So, you can check that out if you'd like. In the end, um 74 out of 78
is a very strong um very strong score. It appears that perhaps we could they met five times during the school year. We self assessed a two out of three. We probably could meet more than that. I'm not sure how much more more effective that it would make the program. Um they
uh these programs are assessed through surveys, parent, teacher, student feedback and strategic planning uh survey. We really rely on the strategic planning survey for programs and approaches and initiatives in future years without the strategic plan. We might want to be more specific and with
more outreach to uh assess how we're doing um and then we can go ahead and and perhaps improve that score slightly. Uh let's see here. administration you're saying prevent oh their hib we didn't get training from the district attorney district's attorney last year we did it
um separately but maybe if we did that it would help improve that individual score so really very narrow um narrow places that we we can always room for improvement of course um but as it's measured u some very narrow things we can do to help improve the score I don't
think I would I wouldn't be thrilled if we got a perfect score I think that there's always some way we can improve um that's the HIV be reporting for 2526. That's regulatory. I have to do that. We have to put this date down on our um uh
QAC evaluation to make sure that we've done uh done that. Um a couple of other things. Uh the NJSLA uh is kicking off between now and and the next board meeting. We're starting with science. Uh fifth grade science of course um because only f grades 5, 8, and 11 are assessed
in science. Uh, so Monday, May 4th, starts the fifth grade science exam. It's two days for Monday and Tuesday. And then that's not an adaptive test. We talked about that before. Not an adaptive test. We take a break on Wednesday. And then Thursday and Friday,
reading for grades three, four, five, and six. Uh, that continues on f to Friday the 8th. So that that wipes out reading. Um, the following week on Monday, uh, 511, there's 90 minutes for writing. Writing. writing is a 90-minute one section writing. We take a break on
Tuesday. That gives us an opportunity to go ahead and do makeups for any of these. Um and then Wednesday and Thursday are the math 75 minutes each. Uh adaptive tests for both reading. Uh I don't think writing is adaptive, but for for both reading and reading and mathematics, they are adaptive. And then Friday the 15th, we're not testing, but
that's another opportunity to try to make up any of those sections of math that we have. We can continue to test um in the following week as well should students uh be absent. If they continue to be absent through the balance of the testing period, we simply they simply don't get a score, right? We mark them
as absent for the testing period and then we'll get a score. So very exciting um very exciting time for everybody uh students and staff alike. Um and we uh we I like to say we prepare every single day for these exams.
Okay. Uh I'll say one more thing about that. These are not the beall and end all of education. However, they are the beall of end and end all of how uh the students and district are are um I would say assessed up against standards. We do
learning standards assessment all the time, right? Almost daily. But the state doesn't get to come in and look at our at our assessments, right? They don't go ahead and there our uh benchmark assessments that we do through linkit. They're not published in the newspaper, right? That's not public information.
Those are student records. But this stuff uh not at the student level. You need an N of over 20 I think for any any student group. But it does get reported to the state and it is public. And we'll talk we'll be talking about these scores in October um when they finally release
those scores. So um I wish everybody their be uh their best on these exams coming up. Okay. The last thing I have for you, and I mentioned them in the in the budget presentation, but we the one of the things that makes River Ridge
kind of unique is the steam nights, the uh reading and writing nights, and then of course the uh the math nights. Um this year is a unique year because the country is turning 250 years old. we wanted to go ahead and to um uh we've
been encouraged uh to go ahead and and do this night as well um by members of the community. So we I went ahead and and I built a I asked Mr. Grimshaw who by the way is certified in social studies uh and was a social as a history teacher um social studies teacher uh to
go ahead and build us a essentially a social studies night. that first time we've done a social studies night but that meant that kind of was centralized around America 250. He went ahead and put together a task a team of quite a few people and they have activities uh
for uh the community to come back to school at the Roosevelt gym tomorrow night 6:30 I'm sorry 6 o'clock to 7:30 um hands on hands-on activities community connections creative projects and celebrating America's story that's happening tomorrow night Roosevelt 6
o'clock social studies night um if it's a success maybe we'll do it on the 251st birthday of the uh of the country. If not, um we'll we'll certainly do it this time and and see how it goes. Um in addition to this uh activity um the uh
River Edge 250 team which is a burrow um a burrow initiative has approached the district and they are going to in October they're going to secure um
I want to say static panels that are representative of New Jerseyy's uh uh contribution I guess to the revolutionary war effort and and all the things that happened locally. So those panels are going to be picked up by the
burrow and the America 250 or I'm sorry the River Edge 250 committee. They're going to be brought to the River Edge Cultural Center where uh we will walk some of our uh I think grades four and five are going to attend uh at various points during the week when the panels
are here. They have to be returned to Trent so they can go somewhere else. It's a traveling museum of sorts. Um but we uh are going to go ahead and have um it's it'll be an approved trip um because we have to walk and we're leaving the campus um and that trip will be approved by the board and then we'll
go ahead and have you know permission slips the whole nine yards and we'll walk the kids over. It should be a real good um a very interesting opportunity because not every district is getting the panels. We are. >> So uh >> what's the date? Do we have a date yet? It'll be throughout this this thing is
tomorrow night and then the panels are in October, but it's gonna it's going to be throughout the course of a week. Okay. >> Um and we're just I think we do have those dates. I think it's the second week. I think it's like October 5th to the 10th or something like that. But um it'll be on the approved trips list when we do the appro trip approvals uh later
in the year. That concludes my report. >> Great. Thank you, board secretary report. >> Yeah. Thank you, President Langley. So, I just have a few items to highlight to the public and to the full board. Um, some of information is great. So, the first item as part of our strategic goal
number five, which I highlighted in the budget presentation, uh we're looking to replace our um other playground at Cherry Hill. So, we received information uh that the grant that we submitted was approved uh by the DCA in the amount of
69,200. So, um so you know, we're taking the necessary steps to try to identify needs and cost savings for the taxpayer. Um, in addition, the the board and the district has has um provided a
contribution of roughly 75,000 which is in our 2627 budget uh to support this project. Uh the grant agreement is expected to be presented to the full board for approval at the next board meeting. So, that's the next step. So, I'm waiting for that. Once I have the
grant agreement, we have it approved and then we can move forward with awarding the contract and doing the project. Uh the next item is health benefit update relating to 2027 premium rate expectations for the full board. As you see in the presentation uh for the budget, one of the large drivers is
health benefits uh increase that were you know projected for next year. So, as reflected in the school employees health benefits program mid-year analysis that we were that I was able to receive, um there have been key concerns including
ongoing enrollment reductions, uh pressure on claim stabilization reserves and increasing costs associated with the New Jersey Educators Health Plan. That was a newer plan that came out, part of chapter 44. Uh based on the projections from AON,
which is the state's actuarial consultant, uh premium increases for 2027 are expected to be in the double digit range. Um however, no exact percentage increase has been uh approved yet. That typically that'll happen in like August,
September. The district will continue to closely monitor these premium rate trends and explore other alternatives. Um I know Mr. Sim mentioned it last board meeting. uh you know has the district taken steps to see if we could um privatize our our health benefits and
come out of the state which we have done. Um however because of our claims loss ratio um we didn't receive any proposals from from the private carriers but we'll continue to monitor that for any uh cost savings uh while still maintaining equal to or better coverage
for all employees. Uh the third item as far as capital maintenance projects, uh we currently, and this started last year, or maybe actually the year before, there were two boiler replacements at Roosevelt and Cherry Hill, uh schools. These projects are in the final phase.
Uh so the project's completed, but we're just closing it out with the vendor. Um it's basically like a punch list. Some of it is is uh reporting. Um so the architect is is in the process of certifying that closeout and and the final payment will follow. Uh file
following completion the district will proceed to submit the project to uh um for rod grant reimbursement because those were uh funded partially by the rod grant. So we're looking to get that reimbured back to the district. Uh
roughly it's about 40%. We're looking to get back um upcoming projects which I highlighted in the budget presentation, the Cherry Hill playground. So, there's some updates. Uh the Cherry Hill playground, as I mentioned before, uh we got grant approval. We're just waiting to receive the grant agreement. Uh once
we sign off on and we submit it to them and execute the grant agreement, then we can move forward and award the contract to the vendor. Um, as far as the gym floor and bleacher replacement as well as the flooring replacement at the six classrooms, uh, between both schools, uh, we had a successful bid opening that
occurred April 24th, last week. So, there was, uh, biders that submitted it. Uh, there is two items on the agenda to to award uh, the contract to the lowest bidder and for one of them, it's the second lowest because the lowest there was a material defect. So, that's G20
and G19 on the agenda. Um both projects there's some asbestous abatement that is required but we'll strategically you know plan accordingly. Uh funding for these for uh the gym floor and bleacher replacement is coming out of capital reserve which was
highlighted in the 2627 budget and the flooring replacement for the six classrooms is coming out of the maintenance reserve which is also part of the 2627 budget. That concludes my report. >> Great. Thank you. Any questions, comments?
>> Yeah, sure. >> Well, I guess we we can discuss it. We have to discuss it when we get to it. Okay. both the higher bid and the lower bid. >> So, uh for the gym floor and bleacher replacement, the lowest bid was um found by our attorney uh part of the review as
being defective. So, there's certain items that needed to be submitted. >> Um they didn't submit certain items. Because of it, we're going to be awarding it to the second lowest bidder, which is still reasonable. The price is still reasonable. is a little bit higher than the lowest bid, but it's not substantial. It's it's well under the
budget, the projection and the budget that the architect had provided. >> So 19. >> So So 19 is the lowest one. >> Yep. 19 is the lowest one for the flooring replacement. Okay. >> G20, as you um see in the resolution, it says the lowest uh vendor.
>> It's clarified. >> It's clarified. Yep. Yep. >> Great. Thank you. Other questions? All right. Presence report. Um, I did go to the Steam night the other night. It was fun. It was prek
through one. >> PreK through something like that. I was there with my little prek. She had a ball. She enjoyed it. It was fun. Um, it was a lot of people actually. It was more people than I expected this year. It was great. Um, all right. The only
thing I have on my agenda is I do I do want to talk about a retreat date. Um we do need to do that. Um one of the goals of the retreat we need to finalize if we are going to put a question on the ballot sometime in the future. What that
list of capital projects I think we need to agree on what is part of the ask like we need we'll need to finalize that list 12 to 18 months out from anything potentially going on the ballot. So, that would be the ultimate goal of the retreat. Um, and I considered throwing
in some stuff like Robert's rules or I think I had some other ideas for just general board ad ed education stuff that we could >> train. We could do a HI review. >> It's been a while since we've done one of those. We could do a review of HIP.
Um, so yeah, certainly. So, I think we did evening last time. Uh, we used to do Saturdays. You know, I my my thought was sometime in June, you know, before school got out and vacation started. Or we could also probably make
July work, although July gets kind of tricky. Um, so I can get some dates together and email them out and see what people think. Um, anybody has >> there's a program that >> Oh, like Calendarly or something like
that. >> Okay. And that might be an easy way for us to find. >> Yes. >> Yep. >> Or close to I can help you do that. >> Okay. All right. That would be great. >> Um yeah, that's all I had because I do
think we do need to finalize that list. Uh and I think it'd be good just to get together. It's been I can't remember when our last retreat was last year at some point. Remember when it was. Um so that's all I have. So I'll I'll be reaching out with those with some dates.
We can get that on the calendar. All right. Uh committee reports um curriculum and instruction. >> Uh curriculum instruction met on April 21st at 4:30 virtually with Mr. Langley,
myself, Miss Brown, and Dr. Bernice. Uh we discussed testing starting next week. Actually, everything I think Mr. Dr. Bernice already talked about the America 250 celebration tomorrow night. Uh we addressed some parent concerns and ongoing staff development
and that really was it. Test we talked about testing mostly. Um that's it. Our next meeting will take place May 19th. >> I'll report everything. So we did the budget
health took Okay. Um, can I have a motion for D3, please? Any discussion? >> Roll call, please. >> Miss Brown, >> yes. >> Miss Brian,
>> yes. >> Miss Allesandro, >> yes. >> Mr. Frius, >> yes. >> Mr. Con? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sim? >> Yes. >> And President Langley? >> Yes. >> Motion carries on D3. Um, can I have a motion for item E1, please? >> That's where
>> Yeah, we'll get we'll do motion second, then we'll discuss. >> Okay. >> A motion for E1, please. >> Um, >> um, move to move to address item E1 as dated. >> Yeah.
Discussion on the calendar. What was the change for you all? So we need >> there's uh as you know the statutory requirement for uh school year is 180 days and we build three snow days into the uh school calendar which is why at
the end uh in the original calendar you end up with three three hashmark days essentially that that could potentially be school days but we also could end the year early. Um in this case we had to use uh there were two actual snow emergency days and then
What happened this year was when we made the calendar last year, June 2nd was not on the list. So, we're using the third emergency day uh to um have June 2nd's election day and we have unfortunately there's voting in both of these schools.
So, for lots of reasons, it's not a good idea to have school that day and top three of those reasons are one it by having the voting here it does consume air, right? We need we use the spaces that we use for voting for lunch for recess for the god forbid it's snow it's
not going to snow in June but if if it's raining that day we need that space right and if there's voting booths in there >> can't do it so that's so um sheer physical space these pl these buildings are not big enough to really have an an additional activity other than um what
school is um the second issue and as a strong supporter of democracy I want people to be able to actually get here and vote in a timely manner. Parking is so horrific here on any given day. If there's teachers that have to basically
park in Orido and walk to Cherry Hill, it's it is uh it is quite a it's a task. So, um inviting folks to come and vote here during this the school day while the entire staff is here and already parked it just creates a a hostile
environment for for voters. Um the third thing is we it does present a security concern and we can't barricade the doors. Um so by inviting strangers into the building while the children are here, that's not something we ever ever
do. Um and I do not think that doing it on election day, especially in this uh um as you know, there's uh um this is not the greatest time in in American history for political violence. Um, and I don't necessarily see that happening
at a voting location here. However, um, we're also not allowed to, um, basically bolster security that day. We can't have police haunting the, um, the, uh, voting sites. That would probably be seen as some kind of, um, you know, voter
intimidation or something like that. So, it's not something that I'm even open to asking for or doing. And I don't think that that the River Edge police would would be open for either. In fact, I think they have rules about how far away from voting locations they really should be unless there's an issue. Um, so, uh,
for for reasons of space, um, welcoming voters to come and vote here, and then physical security, it's not a good idea to have, um, uh, anyone here, a school employee or student here on on election day. In fact, in November, as you know,
that's election day. Uh, we use it as a a professional day. I'm going to continue to keep that a virtual professional day. We've shifted the virtual this year because even though the students aren't here, if the entire staff shows up, we still have parking issue, right? Not to mention it's still
a physical security concern. So, um it's uh so we we shifted to virtual this year and it was I I I bounced in and out of uh the virtual meetings. It was wildly productive and the staff appreciated not having to come and fight for a parking space while people were also trying to
vote. So, I think that we're going to we've already started to plan that for next year. Uh, and that'll continue to be it should be fine. It'll it'll continue to be a thing moving forward. >> Sorry. >> So, some parents have reached out
concerned about the fact that the walk out is supposed to happen the last day of school for the clapout, sorry, for the sixth graders. So, is that walk out clap out still going to happen that Monday or are you going to reschedu the
clap out? >> So, I Friday. >> Yeah, I presented this to uh principles and and they they they want to keep it on the last day of school. The staff wants it on the last day. It it is the last thing that that students do and as sixth graders in the district to have that clap out. It's a nice thing that we
do. Um and they feel as if it's it's cheapened uh if we do it earlier. Additionally, um I don't like the message it sends necessarily that we're really going to end school on Friday and now Monday becomes this kind of bidigial
appendage that doesn't have any function. So um basically people come to school because of that. So I also want to encourage people to come to school for the full 180 days. Addition there's one other point to this that was always that was always on the calendar as a possible school day. Um and uh
I think in some cases uh there was an element of well it's either the maybe it won't happen right well maybe it did. So um I I where and I addressed um one parent who did um reach out to me as well um where I I kind of feel bad for
that student who may potentially miss that day. Um, I encouraged that uh parent that um no one is going to uh tell um families how to welcome their students out of school on Friday. If a
parent wants to find some way to make it special for their child uh leaving school on Friday um on the sidewalk, I pretty much have nothing to say about that. So I think that if there are individual families who are up against
uh you know a flight or a cruise or grandma's coming or hey their student just doesn't want to come to school on um on Monday which you know that's the prerogative of parent to keep their child home whenever they like would be an absence but uh for those for those
conditions I would encourage those families to do something special for their um child on Any other questions, comments? All right. Uh, roll call, please. On E1 only. >> Miss Brown?
>> Yes. >> Miss Brian? >> Yes. >> Mr. Alisandro? >> Yes. >> Mr. Prius? >> No. >> Mr. Cohen? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sim? >> Yes. >> And President Langley?
>> Yes. Motion carries on E1 only. >> Uh, can I have a motion for E items E2 and three, please? >> Move to approve items E2 and three as stated. Second. >> Any discussion? Roll call, please.
>> Miss Brown, >> yes. >> Miss Bryan, >> yes. >> Mr. Allesandro, >> yes. >> Mr. Frius, >> yes. >> Mr. Cohen, >> yes. >> Mr. Yes. >> And President Langley. >> Yes.
>> E2 and E3 carries as stated. >> Thank you. Um, can I have a motion for F3, please? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Roll call, please. >> Miss Brown? >> Yes. >> Miss Brian? >> Yes.
>> Miss D. Allesandro? >> Yes. >> Mr. Frius? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cohen? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sim? >> Yes. >> And President Langley? >> Yes. Motion carries on F3. >> Can I have a motion for G24, please?
>> Some move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Roll call, please. >> Miss Brown, >> yes. >> Miss Bryant, >> yes. >> Mr. Allesandro, >> yes. >> Mr. Frius,
>> yes. >> Mr. Cohen, >> yes. >> Mr. Sim, >> yes. And President Langley, >> yes. Motion carries on G24. Thank you. >> A motion for H22, please.
>> Approve item H22 as stated. >> Any discussion on this? >> Roll call, please. >> Miss Brown, >> yes. >> Miss Brian, >> yes. >> Mr. Allesandro, >> yes. >> Mr. Frius, >> yes.
>> Mr. Con? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sim, >> yes. >> President Langley, >> yes. Motion carries on H22. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion for I1, please? >> Second. >> Any discussion? Roll call, please.
>> Miss Brown, >> yes. >> Miss Brian, >> yes. >> Mr. Allesandro, >> yes. >> Mr. Frius, >> yes. >> Mr. Con? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sim? >> Yes. >> President Langley? >> Yes. >> Motion carries on I1. Thank you. Can I
have a motion for J11, please? >> So much. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Roll call, please. >> Miss Brown, >> yes. >> Miss Brian, >> yes. >> Mr. Alisandro,
>> yes. >> Mr. Frius, >> yes. >> Mr. Cohen, >> yes. >> Mr. Sim, >> yes. >> President Langley, >> yes. >> Motion carries on J1. >> Thank you. I don't have any old business. Is there any new business anybody wants to introduce?
>> I just have two things I wanted to um bring up. One, I was able to attend the art show last week at Roosevelt >> and um Mr. T did such a great job and the students were so excited to see all their work out there. So exciting. Um
they really take such pride in their stuff, you know, when they see it out there and people are looking. So that was a really nice event. I just want to thank her for that. And next week is teacher appreciation week. And I want to take a second to appreciate all of our teachers we have here. Thank you for all
that you do for this district. >> Thank you. >> Uh all right. Seeing as how there are no comments, um we're going to move into a second executive session uh to discuss a contractual matter and no action will be taken and then we'll adjourn the meeting
after that. Can I get a motion to move into close session, please? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you.