What's up? It's a state championship team. It's like four adults >> and they're all the parents. >> What's this? >> Christmas card from the ball. >> Oh, thank you.
>> I want my kid to make this. does travel soccer for um surf >> and I want him to do >> there there won't be a team by the time he >> don't make me mad. >> I'm just saying. >> Should we remind them? >> Yeah.
>> Please vote. Yes. >> Can I have a motion to resume the public session and exec? >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any or abstensions? Before we resume, are there any students that need photos for extra credit or
credit for a class? Come on up. [laughter] >> We learned our lesson. >> Try to stay for 10 minutes, though. >> Should we tell them to stay for a little bit? >> They're done. They can leave. We're done. Yes, I'll take the picture.
They really could. >> Like, why are they >> They're good kids. >> They're good kids. Yeah, they're not. >> Well, then we have to cut our STEM program. >> All right. Uh please stand for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of
America to the stands nation. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes from the November board meeting? >> Move. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> N or abstensions. >> Board President report. So, good evening
everyone, parents, students, community members, and staff. Thank you all for taking the time to be here tonight during this extraordinarily busy time of year. It is truly difficult to believe that we are already at the end of the year. December always offers a moment to pause, reflect, and appreciate all the
outstanding accomplishments from the past several months. As a board, we remain grateful for the the continued partnership among our families, students, educators, administrators, and community members who work together each day to support our schools. This time of
year also highlights the dedication and care shown across our district. Whether through classroom instruction, extracurricular activities, performances, athletics, or countless behind-the-scenes efforts that keep our schools running smoothly. These collective efforts make a meaningful difference in the lives of our students
and reflect the strength of our school community. As we look ahead to the new year, we remain committed to thoughtful planning, open communication, and and responsible oversight of our resources, always with the goal of providing the best possible education experience for our students while balancing the impact
on the residents of the community. On behalf of the board of education, I' like to wish everyone a happy holiday, happy and healthy holiday season. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to working together in the in the new year. One quick note before I pass it over to Dr. Piso on Thursday. and he'll probably touch on this. There
will be a budget session here right here in the media center. I encourage all the students, staff, families, community members to attend and be a part of that uh that town hall environment, you know, that evening. And now pass it over to
Dr. Pisa for the superintendent report. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. President. Um well, first I want to start off with uh with thanking the uh the Robinsville High School Executive Council. I had the honor of meeting with recently and um
really was uh something much appreciated and I know it's a it's a rapport that we're going to continue and we have some we're able to discuss some great ideas. Without further ado, I'd like to ask you to introduce yourselves and do your your reports.
>> Thank you. Um my name is Isabella Canuli and I'm the executive vice president. Hi, my name is Cararthik Dandin. I'm the executive vice uh executive president. >> So this month is our winter spirit week. So we started this Monday which the day
was movement Monday. >> Uh Tuesday uh which is today was awkward family photo Tuesday. >> Wednesdays is jerseys versus Jersey Shore. Uh Thursday is uh USA versus camo day where the seniors and juniors uh
dress up in USA colors and freshman and sophomore are in camo. >> Friday is tacky sweater day. >> Um and next Monday is morning Monday where you just dress up cozy pajamas. >> And then Tuesday is the clash of the classes day. So we just wear our class
shirts because it's pep rally. Uh along with pep rally students have started from each grade participating in during after school hours to practice the dance routine which will be performed at pep rally and the routines are judged by students and the grade that's
uh in first gets points for their clash of classes points. >> Um the winner sports that will be recognized during the pep rally are wrestling boys and girls basketball winter track cheer ice hockey swimming and band. The performances and showcases
that will be taking place are the class dances, varsity cheer, Rada, and the basketball tournament. >> We and the other executive council's me council members had the opportunity to formally meet Dr. Piso. We would like to thank you for your commitment uh to
always being open to hearing students perspectives. We appreciate your ability to collaborate with us to make up great ideas for our legacy we will leave for our future council members. The annual door decorating competition continues with teachers following the theme which is movies. Students will also have the
chance to vote which door they like the best. Um for Pond Road, uh this week is their uh winter spirit week. Students and staff will dress up according to the following. >> Monday is pajama day. >> Uh Tuesday is favorite jersey day. >> Wednesday is ugly sweater day.
>> Thursday is Hawaiian. >> And Friday is leisure. And additionally, their winter pep rallies are next week. So some of the activities they include are the choir who sings the national anthem and they will also sing various seasonal songs. The wrestling team will be introduced
and demonstrate some drills. And our the girls basketball will be announced and they will demonstrate their three-point shooting and ball handling skills. >> Um the boys basketball team will also be announced and they will also demonstrate their three-point shooting and ball handling skills. Um, and there will be a
sneak peek from the middle school production of Shrek. Uh, PBSIS leaders and students, students of the month will also be recognized. There will be a staff uh sla staff/ student volleyball game. And there will also be relay races
between students and staff. >> Um, moving on to Sharon Elementary School. They hope everybody enjoyed a restful and memorable Thanksgiving holiday with their family and friends. And on Wednesday, November 26th, their first grade students gathered in the cafeteria to celebrate their annual
Friendsgiving. This tradition continues to bring students and staff together in the spirit of gratitude and community. They extend their sincere appreciation to all families who contributed um and helped make the celebration such a positive and joyful experience for the students.
On Tuesday, December 2nd, members of uh Ponderro Middle School 8 eighth grade class visited uh the Sharon fourth grade students to teach a peer-led lesson on kindness. This meaningful collaboration allowed older students to serve as positive role models while fostering a culture of empathy, respect, and
connection across our schools. They appreciate their partnership with their middle school colleagues and community members. Sharon School's fourth grade student council had a special opportunity to meet with Dr. Piso who visited to learn about their work as student leaders and to share his own educational journey. The students asked
thoughtful questions and discussed the importance of leadership, service, and being positive role models within our school. Continuing their commitment to community service, their student council members reached uh beyond the classroom on Tuesday, December 9th by visiting Rose Hill Assisted Living. Students
spent meaningful time with residents demonstrating kindness, empathy, and true spirit of civic engagement. Thank you. Thank you. >> Hey, thank you very much. Great job and I look forward to our next meeting. Next up, I believe we have a
representative from uh the Sharon PTA for the the PTA report. Hey. Um, do we have someone for the uh the REA report? >> Oh, sorry. I didn't see you. Uh, Mr.
Estrada. Thank you. >> How you doing? Good evening everyone. Um, I'm Donald Shadow. I'm the second VP chair of the REA Union. I'm honored to stand before you this night to share some of the few great things that are happening in our schools. First up, the science national honor society had its
first STEM induction ceremony alongside the math and comp uh science. We honored about a 100 students overall with a wonderful turnout with parents and families. Uh second, the Robbinsville High School's band program, grades 5 to
12, presented their winter concert Sunday of December 7th. The 250 students have worked hard for the first part of the school year as of to present a afternoon full of music, family, and fun. The next concert will be on Sunday,
May 3rd, beginning at 1 p.m. will consist a variety of selections, including patriotic music organiz uh recognizing the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And on a personal note, my
sixth grader daughter has been singing around the house all month long because she is in the choir. So, it is a great program. Along with the band from Robinsville, um Robbinsville Middle School, seventh and eighth grade choirs and the Robinsville High School performed their winter
concert with over 300 students on stage. The coral uh program of Robinsville put on a wonderful evening of coral music. The upcoming Robinsville High School Tribe Music Honor Society is hosting its annual Java Jam on January 9th at 7 PM
held in the Commons here at the high school. This is an event where encouraged to catch up with friends, play some music um uh made some music events where encouraged to catch up with friends, play some music, enjoy some jazz band and the re RHS chamber choir.
The admission is free, but the coffee and desserts are available for purchase. And if you never attended a Java Jam, you don't want to miss this. It's going to be a latte good time. >> That was that was my own joke.
[laughter] >> Latte. >> Sorry, my kids was watching. So, all right. The Spanish The Spanish Club at Sharon Elementary School, fourth grade. The fourth grade Spanish club is encouraging engaging cultural
exploration program designed to introduce students to the richness and diversity of Spanish speaking world. Each week, students travel to different Spanish speaking uh countries beginning with a fun pre10 plane boarding experience and receiving a passport
stamp for every new destination. During each session, students learn key facts about feature country and its geog geog geography, tradition, and cultural highlights. They are also introduced to a famous
artist native to that country, viewing samples of their work, presenting and hands-on art activity as such as coloring masterpieces or creating artwork inspired by the artist style. To deepen the cultural exper appreciation,
students learn a traditional song and dance from each country and frequently compete in a relative craft that ties into the experiences together. The Spanish club encourages creativity, global awareness, and enthusiasm for the
world cultures while providing students with a meaningful, memorable experience as extension beyond the classroom. They have sent some u pictures of their recent trip to Spain where they made uh castinets and used them to learning how
to dance the flamingco um learned about um Pablo um Pascaso and drew self-portraits using his style of uh art. And last but not least, the Red Cross letter. During the government
shutdown in October, the Red Cross Club collected 895 pounds of food for our military families shared with um they would like for me to share this letter they received from the American Red Cross. Dear valued donor, on behalf of the American Red Cross Service of Armed
Forces and Joint Base of Meguire Dicks Lake and Navy weapons station Earl team, I would like to extend a heartful gratitude for your generous support. Your donation of 895 pounds of food on October 8th, 2025 played a vital role in
helping provide essential supplies to service members, veterans, and their family in times of need. Thanks for your kindness, we're able to ensure no military families um at the JBMDL and NWS Earl goes without nourishment
and care they deserve. Your support directly and contribute to our mission to prevent alleviate suffering while improving lives of servicemen, veterans, and their families. Whether through food, funds, or time, your contribution makes a meaningful difference in the
lives of those who serve our nation. Thank you once again for standing with us. Together, we are building a stronger, more resilient community. And that's that's the end of the report. >> [snorts] >> like to to jump forward a little bit and see if Miss Avery could come up for the
next presentation. I want to make sure that we recognize a person that's been a big part of our organization for a long time. Good evening everyone. Um I was honored today to be asked to talk about um Dr.
Nicole Rossy Mpower. Nicole is the longest tenur administrator in our school district right now. She's been here for 28 years. She started in the mid 90s in what? In a hallway in at Sharon Elementary School
as an elementary school teacher. She had some unique opportunities there um to loop with students that are now out in the world doing wonderful things. Um after that she was a supervisor in our school district. She was the only
supervisor in our school district when this high school opened. She worked with central office to make sure that we were in good shape with this high school opening for every curriculum, for every course and was instrumental in all those
levels of launching Robinsville High School first in the hallway at Pond Road and then here when the building opened. After that, Nicole was the assistant principal/thletic director at Robbinsville High School.
When I met Nicole in 2007, she was about nine months pregnant with Owen, who's now 19 and an electrician apprentice, and was out that first summer, and started with me in 2007, my first year
as my assistant principal and athletic director, athletic director. Those were very interesting times here in Robbinsville. And I will say that Nicole and I together for those first probably 11 years of the high school before we got another assistant principal wore a
lot of hats. I can say a lot of things about this building, about the rituals and traditions that our students here now see the benefits of were from her creative mind. I give her tons of credit for going
above and beyond for the kids of this school district. And it is my pleasure to recognize Dr. Nicole Mpower in grateful recognition of 28 years of dedicated service, steadfast leadership, and unwaving commitment to
the student, staff, and community of Robinsville. [applause] [applause] >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you. >> Is she retired? >> I think so. extra credit. [laughter]
>> [applause] >> Yeah, there you go. [laughter] The next item I'd like for um the NJSIA Central Jersey Group Two Sectional Champions, our own high school boys soccer players. If we have representatives here, if they could be
recognized. >> Come on, stand up. >> All of you. That's great. [applause] Congratulations on on a great season and I'm going to ask the board to come. We'd love to take a photo with with uh
>> with our champions here. >> Do they want to [applause] Thank you. He didn't want to say anything. Really? >> That's weird. >> What's up? >> What about like words from the captain?
>> Words from the captain. >> What's happening? >> Hey, we have um we have one more uh you know, special recognition. Um, we would like to thank uh uh Be Kind for their donation. Do we
have Tina Carera here? Oh, great. So, let me tell everyone a little bit about you. Once again, Be Kind demonstrated remarkable generosity by providing $25 to every free and reduced uh price lunch student for snacks beyond the typical
school meal. This year's contribution supported 331 students and totaled $8,275. As our free and reduced population has nearly tripled over the past years uh few years, Be Kind has remained a constant source of compassion and
support. Thank you. >> Hi, good evening. Thank you for having me here. Um you are probably well familiar with Be Kind. And for whoever's left in the audience, I'd like to share a little bit about myself and what we do and then tell you about why we took on this initiative this year. My name is
Tina Carera. My family and I have been Robinsville residents for over nine years. My daughter started uh kindergarten and is now uh at Pondro Middle School as an eighth grader. Be kind is also a Robinsville nonprofit organization. A lot of your high schoolers may be familiar with us
because they get some of their volunteer hours with us. Um, but it's really a nonprofit that looks for ways to improve the community and to engage the community members in giving back. Um, for those of you in the audience who may not know, um, you're in the fortunate
population, if you're not part of the school district and many school districts reduced lunch or free lunch program. um that's really for students who come from families who are below a certain income level. And so they are given free meals at school. And so for a
lot of those kids, that may be the best meal or the only meal that they're getting that day. But what it doesn't allow for them is to um get snacks. And um using my own eighth grader as an example, snacks are like a joy of the
day. Um meals are kind of like, yeah, whatever. But if she can have her purple bag of Doritos, it's it's already a better day. When Be kind learned that we last year, uh, last school year had 289 students who were on that list, um, we
were really surprised. And so we leaned in to our community and asked for donations so that we could put $25 in the account for every student. doesn't sound like a lot, but when people are already struggling in their own homes,
it takes a community to raise that much money. And so, we were able to do it last year and this year over the summer, we reached out to our community of volunteers and said, "We want to do it again this year." Uh, to be frank, we didn't hit the goal that we set for ourselves. We didn't even know how many students we were trying to raise money
for. And then once school started and we got into fall, we learned it was 331 kids, which is uh 42 kids more than last year. So we were far from our goal. Um but as has uh always been the case, the
community stepped up. So we asked our group of volunteers, can you give? Whatever you can give, we'll take it. So, while I'm here on behalf of Be Kind, I'm really here to thank the community because we were the vessel that was able to collect the money, but we had over
109 people donate. The lowest amount was $10. The highest amount was 750. So, every little, you know, people who are used to raising funds, we say every dollar counts. Literally, every dollar counts. Um, and we're grateful because I
think what this does for students is kids want to feel like they're just the same as every other kid. They don't want to be different. And so when you're in line and you see the kid in front of you buying a bag of chips, the kid behind you getting a pack of cookies, if you
can then do that because of the $25 in your account, you feel less isolated. You feel like you're part of the community. and the dignity of choice makes a difference in how they see themselves as a Robinsville student. So on behalf of Be Kind, thank you to
people in the community, maybe people here in our audience who donated money so that we were able to put this forward and we are just very thankful for people who always step up. Um Be Kind gets to be the face of that generosity in these settings, but we couldn't do it without
um our community members. So thank you very much. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you for the great work you're doing. [applause] >> And next we have our own Miss Ratundo to uh do a very important presentation on uh safe NJ. And I turn
it over to you, Mr. Ratundo. >> Good evening, Dr. Piso, Mr. McCree, M. DeFazio, and the board of education. Thank you for having me this evening. I'm presenting on behalf of the Robbinsville Principles and Supervisors Association. Tonight, I'd like to
introduce Safe NJ, a new tool we are implementing to strengthen student safety and wellness. We're going to begin with a brief twominute video highlighting the Safe NJ app. Hi, I want to share about a new way students and families at our school can
get free emotional and resource support through an app called Safeen NJ. Once you download the app, you and your family can use it anytime, anywhere, when you have a need. The Safeen NJ app has three buttons that connect you to support and could even
save a life. Each time you need help, you can decide what kind of help you want to get. Safe. NJ keeps your information [music] private because we want students and families to know. It's okay to need help and there are safe and confidential ways to reach out for support. Let me explain the options to
you. The first button is resources. It lets you and your family see where you can get resources like food, clothing, and shelter available in your area. You can also use resources to find [music] good advice or self-help tools for handling difficult topics like dealing with
anxiety, depression, breakups, and how to help friends during hard times. This not only boosts our community's resilience, but also improves their overall well-being. Our investment in mental health resources strengthens [music] our community, making it a safer, more supportive space for all.
Clicking on Second Floor will put you in contact with a local counselor. When you reach out, you immediately get a response from trained mental health counselors. You and your family members can chat or call for free with a trained local counselor anytime, 24 hours a day,
7 days a week. They're here to help you go from feeling overwhelmed to feeling okay and in control. These conversations are conducted on a secure platform, ensuring privacy [music] and safety. By clicking submit a tip, individuals can choose to seek assistance for
themselves or anonymously report concerns and life-threatening behaviors about others. Remember, using Safe NJ is a way of taking care of yourself and others. We all have times when we need support, and that's okay. Download the app and
encourage your school community to use it whenever they need a little or a lot of help. No one should have to be alone during hard times. And with SAFENJ, we can make sure help is just a click away. To learn more, please visit us at stopitsolutions.com. If you have any questions, please
contact us at supportstopitsolutions.com. SAFENJ is fully funded through a stop school violence act grant, so it does not cost our districts any money. Um, safe NJ is not a replacement for existing safety protocols, but an
additional layer of support. It provides students with another way to report concerns and seek help, particularly when they may feel hesitant to come forward in person. SAFEN NJ also improves how we respond to concerns. After school hours and on weekends,
building administrators and I will receive text messages or phone call alerts, ensuring time-sensitive information is not missed. And when appropriate, reports can also be escalated directly to the Robbinsville Township Police Department for rapid
response. When we return from winter break, students in grades 5 through 12 will be asked to download the Safe NJ app on their cell phones. All parents and guardians will also be encouraged to download the app. And during the week of January 12th, the technology department
will load the Safe NJ app onto schoolisssued Chromebooks for students in grades 5 through 12. We will closely monitor activity across all grade levels from January through March and will evaluate expanding implementation to our fourth grade students. Through Safe NJ,
students and families can call or text with a 247 crisis counselor, submit anonymous concerns, and access important resource right at their fingertips. The safety and well-being of our students, families, and staff remain as tap priority. Overall, the past several
weeks, I had the opportunity to present safe NJ at our faculty meetings across all three schools, and I want to thank our staff for their thoughtful engagement and strong commitment to student safety. We're also grateful for our partnership with the Robbinsville Township Police Department. Chief
Swanheart has fully been supportive of this initiative and I want to thank our school resource officers for their daily presence, the relationships they build with students, and their dedication to keeping our schools safe. Most importantly, Safe NJ empowers students by reinforcing that their voices matter
and that help is always available. So, thank you to the board of education for your continued support and thank you to our community for working together to keep our students safe. Any questions? >> What's the green? Uh >> oh, this is for mental health awareness. >> Mental health awareness for this month.
>> Well, I always wear it. >> Okay. [laughter] >> Yes. Any other questions? >> Did you survey the kids? Do you do you feel like they're going to be using this? Did they give you any indication that this is something that they would be honest about? they would use readily. What we find through the counseling
department and um our student uh services department as well is that often after hours and on weekends is when they are with each other as friends and typically as a friend that's a struggle with do I breach their
confidentiality and then do I go to a trusted adult and our message that we consistently send is to act acknowledge caretel always tell a trusted adult because as a friend, you're in a role of friend. You don't need to be the role of t carrying that on for someone else and
be their therapist or their parent that we need to tell an adult. So, we find that their cell phones, as we know, are attached to them. Um, and if they have resources either for themselves or for a friend, they are more likely and more inclined to do that in a confidential
matter rather than feeling that they are breaching their confidentially here. If something concerning presents itself, then it would um send a text message to administration or it would notify local
police to get involved in the situation. Would parents also be alerted that something is going on? >> Sure. So currently um students and families um if you've experienced it, students are on their schoolisssued Chromebooks and if they go on their school is Chromebooks and they do a
Google search, an automatic if something is concerning, an automatic email goes to the building administrators and myself. Depending upon the time of day, if it's during school hours, a school counselor or the case manager will check in on that student and talk through whatever might be potentially going on
depending upon the topic at hand. We always then of course reach out to the parent as well to keep them involved. Currently, if a search happens after school hours or on the weekends, the same process happens. If we're checking our email, building administrators and myself, we call home immediately and we
reach out to them depending upon the level of concern. If we're not able to get a parent, we then call the local police and they do a wellness check to ensure that. With this system, what we love about it is that it goes directly to our cell phones. is not relying on us to check our emails as that's
concerning. We want to be able to respond in a time-sensitive way. So, of course, it will come to us depending upon um they have screeners through safe NJ. They will then decide depending upon what the protocol is and the level of concern. Does it go to the school or
does it go directly to the police? And then of course, parents are always involved in that process. Uh just quick on the change management like to get it executed and in their hands. How much of it are we expecting parents just to be involved in versus
registering at school under your like >> Sure. So um we had a lot of behind the scenes just to get us to this point. Um and so when we get back from winter break it will be in person. So for instance at Pawn Road Middle School through advisory um we'll be pushing it out and everyone at that time as an
exercise get your cell phones out. will be downloading this um presentation with the video will also be pushed out to parents as well to ask for their assistance because even though as all adults and parents like we need resources and so we were able to as a
school district also load those resources from the surrounding community in Mercer County and it could be random it could be from dating to grief to you name it there's a wide variety of resources that parents so even if you're not a parent of a grade 5 through 12.
We're encouraging all parents in the district to then download it because it's a really great resource for everyone. >> 100%. >> Awesome. >> Any other questions? >> I love it. Just another layer of resources for the kids. I'm really I'm really pleased that you're doing this.
Thank you for taking this on. This is going to be important. >> Yeah, we're really excited about it. Um, and we're excited about launching and then implementing part of our side of it as the school is there is a database that we're able to log into and then monitor activity. So, um, we're looking
forward to just hopefully seeing that students are using it. >> Yeah, very well done. Thank you. >> Um, on behalf of the Robinsville Principles and Supervisors Association, I would like to wish our students, families, and staff a healthy and safe winter break. Thanks for having me.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> All right. Thank you. I think this is just a is another layer to help our our students and I know how much work you've you've put put into this uh initiative and so many others. So, thank you for
this but also so many of the other great things you do for our students. Thank you. And next I wanted to do a uh just a quick look at we've been um the information that we've been talking about in regards to the
budget development and presenting potential options moving forward. We've spent uh the month of December really defining what some of the challenges are. Just wanted to take a minute to show everyone where we are in regards to
this. It's gonna tell me where it says superintendent. See, it's right here, right? It's when you first go on, you go to my page and then from there, you just go head down
and don't like the touch pads. Just want to show where some of the information is because we do the um the article each month. Here's where the uh the article that's in the Robinsville Advance each month. Uh the board questions and then you get here at the
very bottom. go to here. And here's where we're going to be putting all of this this information on here. And here was uh an introduction that we did with uh with PON TV. You see uh Mr.
Fazio and I and her team. So if you want to uh see that presentation. So we're going to be putting all this information here. We're going to be reaching out through multiple avenues, but I just wanted to uh to show where that is. And of course,
yeah, we have um we have here in with the budget update, we have here have I can't I should let me do it on here so I can actually see it. And here's some of the different this different information that we had. We'll
be posting in all of these tabs. So, we have um will be more to come on this, but this is where we'll be able to find all the information housed. And is this where the presentation is?
And here's the presentation. >> I can't see where where you started from from here. >> Okay, thank you. I really need to start wearing my regular glasses and not the just the reading glasses. Um,
so again, what we're what we're um looking to do here, but before I get into this, I wanted to mention I did also promise there would be an update each uh meeting in regards to the crematorium. So, I was in communication with the township today and things are
still moving in a positive direction. uh maybe a little bit more slowly than we would like, but I am still cautiously optimistic that we will be able to come to a resolution that will um you know work for both the uh both the the vendor
and for the um and for the the community. So, um I think the uh township's doing an excellent job in regards to trying to come up with a uh with a fair settlement that we would be uh pleased with. So, hopefully uh we'll have more to come uh fairly soon. So, I
do think we'll I'm very optimistic um as we go forward and I I don't think we could ask for uh a better representative than uh than mayor elect Todd and and everything that uh was done by our previous mayor as well in regards to getting us to this point.
Um, I wanted to uh also speak about we have coming up the uh budget uh the um the the public input session on the 18th this week on Thursday at 6:00. Uh we're going to be putting out another message
tomorrow morning trying to clarify what the meeting is about and what we're looking to accomplish. uh doing uh doing speeches and getting information out and us conveying uh information, you know, we do here at our our board meetings, we
do through the outreach in regards to our uh to the article I write each month. I do that through going out and visiting and meeting with people. Uh but what this meeting is on Thursday, it isn't about, you know, what we think. It's about what our community thinks.
So, what we would uh what we're going to do is we're going to have um anyone who would like to speak come up and speak about anything in regards to their concerns moving forward. This this is again it's not about us coming out and and saying what's going to happen. We
are in the process of developing options to address the problems that we've presented over the last several months. And um we have our survey also that that comes up on our website. we we ask you to complete the survey and we have
student voice that we reached out to. We're we're looking at uh those six different areas in regards to the survey and this is another piece of that and and that piece will be people coming up and and sharing what their their feelings are. Uh I'll be up there with
my two assistant superintendent. It'll be the three of us and we will we'll take notes. We're going to have a live stream so we'll be able to uh to gather as much information as we can. Like I said, we have not presented a solution yet. So, this is about hearing what what
our community has to to say. So, uh some of the things about how we're going to structure it is we're going to have three minutes for for each speaker. Now, the reason why we're doing that is if we had 50 people who wanted to speak, want to make sure that everyone has a chance
to speak. Um so if if someone comes up speaks for three minutes and we go through everyone who wanted to have an opportunity to speak then we'll start over again. Uh so we're not trying to we're doing the three minutes just so that we don't exclude anyone by the from the process by having someone
maybe have a lot of great things to add to the conversation but keeping someone else from having an opportunity. So we'll stay as late as we need to stay after we go through all the speakers. will go through again. If we need to go through a third time, that's fine. We're here to hear what the community has to
say. This is not about anything other than us getting whatever information we can to uh make the best decisions we can in regards to what we what we propose for the community's consideration. And just want to, you know, explain what
what when I talk about presenting plans. Well, staying on the track we're on, I we've we've documented where that leaves us. Now, we're we're speaking about some things that are uncomfortable. Obviously, nobody wants to have any of these
negative impacts. We all uh came into our field as administrators and our you know and our our dedicated board members. We all we all share one one one feeling about why we why we're here. We're here for kids. We're here to do
positive things. Uh but at the same time, if we have a uh budget cuts that are imposed on us by the realities, it's our responsibility to let people know what the possibilities are. It is
not something we'd like to do. Uh we're going to uh you know present options, but ultimately whatever option is taken will be determined by our voters. And um that's why I I I know that there are people who were upset. Um but I think
people would be more upset if we made these these cuts without having having uh shared that information first. Um and and also uh ultimately everything that comes down to a vote and uh if you
disagree, we're not we're not here to influence the vote. We're just here to present options. It's completely up to each individual to make the decision that they are comfortable with and it's it's our responsibility here from administration to present to the board
uh to go forward with something to be considered by the public. But like I said, we don't um we don't determine the path. We just present options. So, what I'd like to do is is go go by and and talk about in this presentation today um
some information in regards to some challenges and I have a listed here, but we're going to go through that in more detail and u doing more with less and and quantify some of the savings that we're that we're doing. One of the questions that that I've received as
I've gone around, I've been speaking with our uh with our teachers in each in each building. I've spoke to many to many members of our community. Um, and I think a great question's been asked is, well, we we've done things with with
solar panels. We've done things in regards to our our our uh health benefits. uh why is it um why is the deficit why do we keep hearing this this this amount of $2.2 million if we're doing all of these great things?
Well, what we did is we put together a list of what all of these not not all we put together we a representative list of some of the things that have been have been done to save save resources and um like I mentioned the uh the health
insurance fund has been a has been a major cost driver in regards to a drastic reduction. We were ahead of the curve in regards to um to making some real prudent changes there. Uh, you know, we talk about the benefits of the of the preschool program, the great work
that goes on there, the solar panels. I think it's phenomenal that that solar project and, you know, as rates go up, we have a fixed amount. So, we're we're doing really well there. I think we have 400,000 as our estimate of the savings at this point. Um, facilities, rentals,
uh, changes with transportation, um, different, uh, different things in regards to how the school lunch program is delivered. Um, we go on and on. I'm not going to go read off of this list, but this will all be housed up on the website. Now, all of this on the top where you see that the green bar, all of
those items, those are recurring items that benefits us every year. So, that's over $5.1 million. But we also wanted to quantify uh some of the things we did that were, you know, you one-time things that were savings that that are that are
built into where we are budgetarily. And so we talk about things like the like the Rod grant we talk about in regards to uh to capital, talk about um you know some of these other um some of the other uh changes that are listed here. Um I just wanted to mention that uh but I
really would rather focus on what we're talking about with the recurring costs. And here uh here's how it's represented on a bar graph. And I know a lot of this is almost like a it's difficult to see as you could see with me trying to get everything started today. So I know it's
difficult for you to see out in the audience as well. But um we wanted to make sure that we had this information posted and available. And when we make when we post something and make it available, we don't put it up there and and say here's your answer. If if you go and see this and you have a question,
pick up the phone, send an email. I received two emails from community members today and they uh within a very short period of time they had a a a complete uh answer from from what my perspective was. They may or may not have agreed with what I what I've said, but at the end of the uh at the end of
the message was please let me know a convenient time that we can speak. So the same is true of anything that we present here. If you'd like uh if you'd like to speak with me, to Mr. McCree, uh to Mr. DeFazio to any member of my of of
my team here. We are here to serve the public the best we can and come up with the best decisions. And the more you share with us, the more that we could be uh appraised of things that we should know and and look at. So when you call us, it's not it's it's nothing other
than an opportunity for us to not only um answer your questions, but an opportunity for us to learn about the different feelings in the community. um something that's that's posted on social media. I can't answer. I can answer if I could speaking one person to another
speaking in small groups. We'll answer any question. We're an open book. I've had times um in my career where I had people come to my office and I went step by step through every question they had. I'm willing to do that here as well. And I know I I speak for for Nick and
Christie in regards to that as well. Okay. I want to kind of break down some of these numbers, carry some of this this forward. Um, every year we have a financial proformer. We're looking at basically what we're um what we're dealing with each year. We're dealing with about $2 million. Um, looking at it
in more detail with some of the um some of the other challenges that we have. We're at almost $2.2 million uh short. So that that's that number that we've been talking about. But if you look below what the actual deficit would have been, that two uh that 2.2 almost
million dollars plus remember we're saving f over $5.1 million a year. Those are just the recurring costs. We're not talking about the one oneot changes that we made. Um with the um with the 5.1
plus million dollars, we would be not in a deficit of 2.2 million. we would be in a deficit of over 7.3 million. Now, we're not. Okay, I want to be very clear about that. Would have been. Okay, this is not where we are. But I if we're
going to address the challenges we have, it's not only about issues with revenue, although that's a piece of the puzzle. It's about what we can do to be more efficient. And uh we do make every effort to be more efficient to take every opportunity we can to um to
mitigate what this impact is. So we need to look at both sides of the equation. So really wanted to to share um where we um where we are, what we've done. So you can see this has been a major difference. We would be uh having a a really uh difficult conversation if we
were dealing with 7.3 million instead of 2.2. So both are both are difficult but 7.3 that's that would be uh astronomical. Um and and there are districts in that situation now and um going to brag a
little bit. I think that that what what separates us from those districts is to a large extent the great work of uh Mr. McCree, his team, our administrative team and the great support of our board of education. I think we've we've we've we have ourselves in a position where we
have an issue, we have a challenge, but it can be addressed. Uh when you're at $7.3 million, your options really get to be uh very limited. What I wanted to show here is on this slide, and we're going to have again, this is something
needs to be looked at closer. The um that line, the straight red line you see going across, that's the cost per student. uh for the state average and this is we're we're quoting the the last year we have complete numbers for so we're using hard
numbers here these aren't estimates um but the state average for um for the cost per student is uh $18,41 that's where that red line is now we mapped out where each district is in
Mercer County I know there was concern about well why are we looking at two districts now let's look at them If we look at all the districts and we see how we're all going up over time, taxes for schools are always going to be expensive. I'm not trying to sugarcoat
this and saying that this is easy. It's difficult for all communities. Uh but if you look at the line in the very bottom, that's um that's where we are. So every every other district
uh has a higher uh per student uh cost that they are that they are addressing. So um I I like to put things on on these line graphs. I think it really exhibits where we are now. This slide I thought was
interesting because well we we we can we can clearly uh exhibit that we um are spending less per student than every other district. But what does that mean? So I put this together
looking at what our achievement levels are and the achievement levels of each one of the districts in Mercer County. And what I compared that to is we we set it up in a graph to to compare it to what our
uh what our funding levels are compared to our achievement because ultimately we're about achievement and that's what we're looking to do good do good things for kids. So if you look while um while our per student cost is the lowest
um you could see that and that's by that green line going across. This is just the information from the previous page carried forward and now put into a bar graph. You see, we're we're exceeding where you would think we would be projected to be. And that's because of the great work of our educators and and
our great team here and the the the unwavering support of a phenomenal board of education. Um so, um I did circle a couple of these different districts. We do have other districts that while their um while their financial support is
higher um their achievement levels are higher. Uh and those are u some of the some of the districts that we've talked about before. But we also do have a district that is very uh comparable um
to us in regards to achievement levels. But what's not comparable is what the uh local contribution is. Taking this same information carrying it forward. This one is from left to right. The highest achieving
districts we have Princeton, uh West Windsor, Hopewell, Robbinsville. Uh us in Hopewell in regards to achievement. I think we're we're usually pretty close. So, um I think you could say that, you
know, you you we're kind of um you know, kind of almost indistinguishable. I think that could flip one way or the other way as you go years forward. But if you were to look at the cost per student for 2324, our cost per student was $15,668.
Hopewell getting almost the identical results that we're getting. their um their cost per student was $23,174. That's a staggering sum. Now, we could say, and I I know I compared to different districts, and we could debate which districts to compare to, but I
think a great comparison, probably the most apt comparison would be Hopewell. And this is not to knock the great work that's going on in Hopewell, but I I think we really need to commend what our what our educators are doing here um with dealing with this um with this
challenge now here. And there's just way too much information here. I know that. So, so anyone who's who's interested in this slide, please please look at it um on your own and and give uh give one of us a call if you'd like to speak further.
Um in this slide, the third from the bottom is Robinsville schools and this is um this is administrative costs. We often get um we often have heard about well we have too many administrators here. Well,
so we we wanted to do a uh do a study to kind of see exactly where we are. It turns out that we're third from the bottom. And this is if you um you know if you equalize um the uh the way we uh
we measured this um we are a however you look at it we're we're very low staffed in regards to administration. Now the question might be what I would have would be well why are we third from the bottom? Why aren't we last? because I think that every resource should go to
as close to our children as possible, right into the classroom, right into these great extra activities we we have. Well, we did decrease one administrator and if you were to update this information, we would be last. And remember, I talked about how we need
to do uh things with savings um and and we need to keep finding uh ways to to generate revenue to uh cost avoidance We also need to keep ourselves lean in regards to administration. When we talk about uh about any possible adjustment
going forward, it has nothing to do with administration. Uh if it was a if it was a matter of eliminating one administrator and all of our problems would go away. I I I think that would be it would be a very easy decision for me. Uh because
kids come first. Uh it's not unfortunately. if so, um, this is the actual information. We we cite where it came from. Um, so I I just I don't even like bringing this up because I want to focus on what we what positive things we
can do for kids. Um, but I just think this is something that we just needed to uh kind of tease out and speak about because it is something that comes up so often. And last, and I cannot believe that in 2025, we're we're looking forward to
2627 and talking about about sports in our in our beautiful town. Um, the reason why I share this is is we we have and it's been a burden on our community members. We have drastically increased fees. Uh, we did that because we were in danger of maybe collapsing some supports
for this year. talking about going forward, we have some dire predictions, but this year we had to struggle to be able to keep these these programs running. And what this chart exhibits is how much it costs the district in regards to each sport is one of the
charts is up top. And on the bottom, the individual sport um cost per athlete. So that we show that even though we've assessed these fees to be able to maintain sports, they have not completely captured the cost, it's still a major cost uh of what we're doing and
we're left in a position um as we build the uh the budget going forward. That's the reason why we've we've needed to include sports in the discussion. And this is incredibly painful for I know I could 100% speak for everyone up here. This is not something that anyone wants
to do. But again, the the fiscal realities are is that we need to look at um at what we would uh at what we would need to cut. And unfortunately,
uh sports clubs are, you know, are going to need to be part of the equation. I would I would love to say, um I've had people approach me and say, "Well, why are you cut looking to cut sports?" I'm not looking to cut sports. I would love
to expand sports, but the fiscal reality is if we don't have the revenue to match the expense, we can't. We're not we're not a agency that's able to uh overspend our budget. We need to match a revenue to an expense. If we don't have the
funding, we can't do it. So, I don't look at it that we're looking to potentially cut sports. I'm looking at this as being imposed on us based on the limits of our budget and we need to uh we need to have a budget that works for us not only for 2627
but also we need to have a plan to go forward multiple years in the future. And and that's what we're trying to develop to bring forward to our community to consider. And again, it's only to consider. It's an option. It's a possibility. We're not we're not here to
go and and and say anything other than what the facts indicate. Everyone has the right to their vote and u whether somebody votes yes or no, we still will do whatever we can with the resources we have to have the best schools possible.
But as we see from some of these charts I went through, we are a phenomenal district. What more could we do? And um I think what we're looking at now is not something that is grandiose. We're we're looking to preserve what
we're doing so that we can get into a position to go to the next step to really um do even even more going forward. But what we're looking at now is addressing our our issues in 2627 and 2728 to get us to a better day down the
road where we can get back onto the path of building uh building on what is already a great district here. But we're at a crossroads. I wish I had better information to
share. I I in my year here um I now say a year almost exactly a year I've been here. This is such a phenomenal community. The possibilities are endless. Hear us out.
Consider whatever option we put forward. Be a part of of sharing your opinion so that we can incorporate it into what we do. And let's be the let's be the district that we can be. We we're a we're we're a district that has has done so much, but
we can do so much more, but we can only do it together. And and the way we do things together is to speak to each other. Um to come out to public hearings. Now, I don't when people come to a public input, I'm okay if somebody disagrees with me.
Turns out that people don't always agree with me. I'm okay with that. That makes us better when we hear a a an opinion that's different. But what we need to do is we need to look at the same sets a set set of facts. We need to ask tough questions and we need to prioritize and
and see how we're going to go together as a community. Um but but an anger doesn't serve anything. Um what what serves is is open open discourse is listening to each other and and don't
ever hesitate to ask a difficult question. But understand um you have a group of people up here who who who love our students, love to do good things for for you know for young people and we want to keep doing that. That's what this is about. We are
here to to present to present options based on what we see. If we don't point out if we don't plan point out a path forward, um we haven't upheld our haven't upheld
our obligation to um to doing everything we can to uh to let the community be in a position to make whatever choice it makes. just want um we just need our community to make u the best decision for them
and whatever that is. We'll do the best we can for for your uh for your children, for our students uh every minute of the day. We want nothing more than success for all of our students. And that's my presentation.
>> Any questions? >> Yes. >> Um I have two questions. Can we go back to the financial proforma slide if possible? Dr. Piso, if you wouldn't mind just taking us through this slide a little bit. Um, you know, from my
understanding, I was trying to think through I think what this slide is showing is 65 million is our operating budget. So, if you could just take us through like each of the lines and what they mean, I think it's a really helpful slide to understand where the deficit is
coming from. Um, and you know why we're in why we have the actual deficit that we do. >> And and absolutely great question. I should have went in in greater detail. That's that's why I don't worry because I know with our board members are always going to get me back on track in regards
to sharing the best information. Well, what um what we're looking at here is the operating budget of of 65 million. That's that's without the uh debt service. Um I think the important number for me is
4% um inflation and personnel costs now in many districts in New Jersey and I and I think we've we've had that that pattern as well where where districts are going going yeartoyear um but our our agreements with our
bargaining units don't go year to year they go multiple years. So when we talk about um about inflation, that's a piece of it, but the biggest piece of this is personnel and um personnel should be the biggest piece of this because we're in
the people business. So I I I think that's that's understandable. Um but that that being the cost driver, if you look at what the standard uh what the increases are contractually and the step increases and the increases across the board for
everyone, um you're talking about uh an estimate of about a $2.6 million increase each year. Okay? And and this is not something where um well just spend less. these we have to we have to uphold our contractual obligations. So
that's that's important to understand. Now we also talked about the uh state funding. Now this is this is the change we're talking about. So now the change in state aid, not the state aid uh is forecast to be going to go down almost $300,000.
So now you have that 2.6 million, the 295,000. Um that's how you um that's how you develop this this deficit. We're also there's other items that we're able to quantify which brings us up to the uh 2.2. And you say, well, okay, well, we're raising taxes. We we pay a lot in
taxes. And you do. Absolutely. Everyone pays um school taxes, us and and and other communities in New Jersey and throughout the country. It's it's a big uh it's a big challenge. But with the with the tax cap, we're only able to
raise in uh for this uh this year projecting uh uh 936,000. You could see there's a massive deficit there. So I I you know, we all often have different thoughts about well the money is not being uh you know could be
handled differently. We could cut something. This is a this is a a a hole in the budget each year that we need to fill. It isn't optional that we that we pay our personnel costs. It isn't isn't optional that we we need to uh we need
to increase what we pay vendors for various services. Um it's not optional for us to uh uh provide mandate uh mandated special education services to our to our students in need. These are these are all items that we need to
address. It's not a these aren't optional items. So when you're when you're talking about 2.6 six and the ability to raise 936 plus then the state piling on and and and cutting us down further. The these are
some some substantial challenges. Now, what is a we talk about that 295,000 state aid cut and I know there's always a hope that it'll go up, but it's a smaller percentage. would need to go up drastically to really have a a very tangible input uh you know uh impact on
our on what we're trying to put together here. Uh but a 295,000 budget I I I noticed that everything goes up every year. I think we all in our personal lives we see about about inflation and the impact it has on us. So when we have inflation going up and state aid going
down, it's really it's really not a 3% cut. It's really a 6% cut if you're looking at a six 7% cut in regards to what our true expenses are. Um so that's what we wanted to uh to exhibit here and then kind of add on about you know how
we've tried to mitigate uh this challenge by by some of the great work that's been done here much of it that predates before uh my arrival. So I you know I thank those who came before me in regards to the work they did. Um but the these are the numbers. Um,
nothing here is really in debate. >> So, real quick, Dr. P on this one. Thank you for going through that. Two questions. Um, what percentage of the budget is personnel? And two, the, you know,
what is driving the the state aid cut of 300 thou roughly $300,000 a year? >> Well, well, we had and and I'm I'm not going to turn this over to Mr. McCree. I know this is something he's he's spoken uh about before. There was a guarantee that it wouldn't be cut more than 3%.
So, we're assuming that's what they're doing. There is always a possibility that it could be cut further. We have a new governor coming in. I'm I'm optimistic going forward, but um that's not even though we have that 3% guarantee, I'm not so sure that's a
solid guarantee. So, that could be um that's based on our best thinking at this point. Also, there's been uh concerns in regards to we don't have as much in regards to uh federal monies coming in, but um every dollar counts. That that's always the potential for
that being jeopardized with some of the um some of the things going on with the federal department of education now. Um, so yeah, when um with state aid, I don't see it getting better, but it could get it's more likely to get worse than
better in regards to their support of our schools. >> But, you know, is there is there something we can do to address that, right? What what what are we deficient in that we're getting cut? >> Well, I think that we always have to fight for whatever for our fair share in
regards to uh to aid. >> Okay. Uh I just don't think that um I don't think that's going to come to fruition. To say that uh I do meet with our with our neighboring superintendent. Uh I know we are politically active in regards to advocating for schools. I I
just don't I don't think it's something that could could solve our problems. I think Nick, if you wanted to step in about about some of the other impacts in regards to our local contribution and how that impacts state aid. >> Okay. So, uh, good evening everyone. So,
one of the first questions was how much is staffing? I mean, just like most districts, it's twothirds. It's the vast majority of of your of our budget. We're in the people business. We provide a service and educate children. Um, so that's where most of our money goes to.
Um, the calculations, we've been talking about this for years. A few years ago, the S2 funding formula switched, right? It it's based on value of your town as in your property values. Now, everyone's property values went up because of COVID, but also your district income.
That's your tax returns. Uh unfortunately, in this town, the tax returns have dramatically increased even though the growth has hasn't increased as much. I'm talking six to 10 12% per year for numerous years after years. Because of those calculations,
um the state says you can afford to raise taxes more. Now the problem is you're only limited to 2% of the local. So they tell you to raise more but they only they don't give you the mechanism to
the state is saying we should our local fair share should be $17 million more which is a staggering amount. Um we receive around $10 million I think 10.1 in state aid. Um,
and this year, last for this year's budget, they said they should only have given us 4.7. We should have been cut by well more than $5 million in one shot. Uh, we were fortunate once again by the
skin of our teeth that they passed a new rule. You will not lose more than 3% in a year. So that's where the $300,000 loss came from. So, if you recall, the first time we were shocked um as as as a uh citizen of the town said the state
pulled a rug under us because we were supposed to get about 2 million more. And then they said, "Sorry, we should have cut you two million, but they froze us." The next year we we estimated if they don't cut us, it's again by the skin of our teeth. And they didn't. And the next year, what's going to happen?
Oh, we're definitely going to get cut. And then they froze it and said no more than 3%. So that's three years in a row we've been very very fortunate. Um so I estimate that we will continue to lose those. Um and this is where I had said before well what happens if they they
can make us whole? I mean think about it that would have to they would have to double the state aid for everyone across the state or unless they change the formula again. Uh doubling the state aid would be another 12 billion and in and we don't believe the state has those kind of
finances right now. Uh we have a new governor coming in. Um so we'll see how that takes us. Um but those are the numbers and those are the assumptions what we know right now. They said they're continuing to cut us 300 grand. I can only raise 936,000. Right? So right off the bat I can only
get $600,000 more and a simple 4% you're 2 million short. Now we have more detailed proformas but that's a lot of information. >> So we just kind of say it's it's 2.2 million. It's in that ballpark figure that we have to come up with year over
year over year as we've been saying year over year over year. >> Now it does fluctuate but it is a constant trend. It is a trend >> and and and you know as as Mr. crease is
is alluding to. There's a lot of peril out there and I don't I don't know if we can if we can look, you know, to the outside to to solve our problems. And um you know, that's uh >> you know, that's something that we need
to incorporate into anything that we bring forward to the to the board for their consideration and >> and and possibly then going forward to the community for your uh consideration. Uh we're at we're at a perilous time. I do um I do think that state governance I
I don't think that they have the resources. I think that we we I'm sure the governor would love to help us. I I don't think they have the ability to help us to the level of what we need >> and especially when um when when our the
way they assess our what our local contribution is and what it should be. um as in in that situation, I think when you're looking at formulas changing, >> I think if the formula changed, it would get worse for us, not better. >> Yeah.
>> Um the other thing I just want to say, we're not the only district, right? This is happening to many, many districts, including those in our own county. >> Um last year, many of them got hit with a cut. Um, so when the state said 300,000 for us, it was actually a saving grace when we knew the
number should have been about 5 million. So they're starting to go through that too. They're going through their reserves. They're going through that pain. Uh, we just got there earlier. Um, but we also took it head-on and acknowledged it and took some action as to be react and be proactive as opposed to reactive. So um, that's a great thing
for for all of us because people aren't talking about this right now. They're going to be waiting till February and March until the state aid numbers come out and they're going to be struggling to find an answer within weeks to get it in. >> Dr. Google had a question. >> It sounds like in in the conversation
that we have um an issue with [snorts] our revenue production. Um what percentage of our revenue is being raised by our local taxes? And then the second part to that question um is where can people find information because
there have been questions kind of circulating and comments circulating about you know uh the spending piece. So if somebody were interested in knowing more about how much we're spending on particular items, where can they h find like a very detailed
explanation or description of all of our spending as a district? >> I'll I'll take that. So, uh, for transparency, we post all our audits. Uh, we post a lot more than most districts do. Um, and and you can Google that, you can ask for it. Um, you can
email me if you can't find on your website. I'll send you the hyperlink or actually we'll just put it on on this uh, and the more we put out. Um, so all our audits going back and there are hundreds of pages. You can go into the details going back a decade or so are posted.
>> Great. Um and then you had a question part was what percentage of our revenue right because it sounds like we are on like our our revenue is a concern right and we're not able to keep up with the revenue that we need in order to fund so what percentage of our revenue is raised
by local taxes versus state aid versus um >> so most of our local re most of our I think it's about 90% is raised by the local tax levy. >> Thank you. people think like okay >> whereas other townships right it's um different split >> it's much different and so it depends on
your wealth of your town um some towns are 30 to 40% you know local and 50 to 60 state >> so if the state changes their formula they get impacted much much more than than we would um we are once again kind of fortunate that we're at that higher
number because you control can control it more but once again it's 2% of 80% of are our our numbers. So I don't want to get too much into it, but if it's only 900 grand is is easier >> put into it.
>> Yeah, I'll make a statement statement and then ask a question. I think what I'm seeing is certainly not a spending problem because I think it's well demonstrated that we have come up with lot of ideas to cut what we did from a spending perspective where we are actually saving over 5 million. Not that
you know that would actually fill a gap because this is not a one-time this is recurring and this has been happening from a long time and we'll continue to do so right but I think the problem is revenue and what I also do not see here a bit more to add is you know the 11% increase in our insurance or you know 8%
increase in the transportation cost you know if you add all that and then we say we're only raising 2% in the revenue there's no way that we could be able to catch catch up at all having said that go back to the slides on the administrative efficiencies Uh the slides show Robinswell will likely be
the lowest in the administration cost per pupil in the in the in the county next year. Can you explain what that means operationally and what risk we face if we go any lower with the um
I I think that that when I always like to run lean and I said I I always think that that you know we have to prioritize what goes on in the classroom. But um when you when you cut back on administrative costs too much,
um you end up having having errors because of um because you have people stretched too thin. And then you need to address those errors. And and it's always um kind of in life if you get things right the first time, it it's um
less expensive than trying to fix it later. So you always have have to uh have that balance of are are are you going to have are you going to have a gap somewhere? Now we're fortunate with the people we have um that uh we are
have been able to maintain things uh but without having redundancies built in uh you really um it it could be problematic. Uh but again, I would rather address what we're what we're doing for kids than what we're doing to uh for that. If we need to work, you
know, I think our people work very hard. If they need to work harder, that's a better solution um than to not prioritize the uh the classroom. Uh but there is a point where you uh and I think we're close to it. There is there's a point where you you're going to do more harm than good by uh by
reducing further. >> Thank you. And one last question is on the audits. I know it is posted. I think it'll be good for us to actually pull that into the main page which you actually you know showed us and I would also suggest that some of the terms in there get explained better. Like for
example unallocated fund what does that mean? Or surplus what that does mean reserve what does that mean? Because I think most of those particular terms get very much misunderstood to an extent for a layman and you know which kind of makes it feel like oh we have ample of
money right which is not the case and I think those terms are very accounting terms and sometimes when person actually read through that they don't understand what that so it'll be very good for us to actually explain those terms as we post the audit. Thank you. >> Yeah. No, I was just going to say, you
know, for their accounting terms, but also in terms of school, they're also very different than normal accounting terms as well. So, it's a very niche thing for educational budgets. So, I just want to add that that if that makes sense for you. >> Yeah. Um I and I I think that um
when you talk about about surplus, um you know, there's different words that we need to use to be in in compliance what the external auditors do. Um it's always our intention to maximize our resources. So what does that mean? At the end of the year, you don't spend
100% of your budget. Um you seek out uh opportunities for savings along the way. And if you generate those savings, what happens is you're able to then apply it to the next year's budget. When you apply fund balance to the next year's
budget, in effect, what you're doing is you're refunding the taxpayers because you don't need to tax for that amount. So when when when you see surplus in a budget, it means that you know you know wow our are our people uh you know we're able to really maximize the resources
under under spend or or be able to obtain revenue from other places. This is not like an what we what you see is what you get with the um with with the levy. It's not really this isn't a levy issue. um but with different funding sources that we're able to to maximize what we do and then be able to bring it
back into the budget as either applied fund balance or apply it to a capital fund so that we can get work done for our buildings to be able to support our student needs and then be able to capture aid on that work that's done so that so it rolls rolls forward. So, so I
I um when we see uh when we see a surplus, it's um it's something that's that's a positive, but it's not something that just happens by accident. It's something that that happens by design by by us being as efficient as we possibly could be. But having said that,
even when you look at those numbers, it still doesn't bridge the gap to where we need to go. Um, but it does keep us fiscally sound in regards to what we're doing um, year-toear, but it's not something to just close a gap. >> I'm sorry, you had a question.
>> Hi. So, I would like to ask the question that I hear a lot. So, we have been talking about budgets very openly for a few years now. Actually, I can remember
being in uh pond and talking about a $1.7 million deficit. We already knew what this was. We already knew this was coming. The two questions I typically get from the public and I try to answer them the best I can. So, I want to ask
them here so more people can hear my answer. So, the first question is, you raised taxes two years ago. Why are you raising them again? Why why aren't why didn't this cover
what we needed? And the second is, are you going to have to keep coming back to us every two years with a budget deficit and keep taxing us if we can't seem to solve this problem and we keep coming back with a gap?
Well, I I think that there's there's a misconception in regards to I know I I know that um it was a tough time with the public question. I I just read about it. Don't have that firsthand experience, but I did research what happened. And from from what I
researched, the first time that uh the district put out a public question, it was pitched that it would be something that would um would address our needs for I believe it was two years, maybe maybe maybe three. Um and that was voted
down. Um I think that that then when they um when the uh when when the district put it forward again, they put it uh they put in a much lower rate and the promise was then it was only a one one time one-year solution that it
wasn't anything long-term. I think the real need at the time, looking back and researching uh some of the information from that time, I think the real need was probably around $7 million and I think it was shaved down to uh under
five and then to just about two and uh that so it was by no means a solution to a long-term problem. Now, you know, flash forward to where we are now. We're in a different situation now. We've talked about um about us being $5
million below adequacy, and that's last year's number. That's not this year's number, but I think that's a that's a big number to wrap your your head around. Um so I I try to kind of stay um on that. Now, what is that going to do? Um we're not we're not here to overpromise.
that gets us through two years and and that gives us really a a legitimate chance to move forward. It means that we're able to keep what we have now and you see from our achievement levels, you see, you know, the efficiency we have,
we're able to keep that on track. We're able to plant some seeds for a for a better day. And then when our debt service falls off the following year, then we would be able to offset that debt coming off the books with some
additional capital projects, but not for that whole amount. About 5 million's coming off the books. Uh we would be able to still address our plant. um but then maybe uh also do a do a second uh piece in regards to addressing our
operations budget and um with some of the things that we've talked about uh we are looking at other initiatives to be able to generate revenue in regards to partnerships and I think if we can get through these next two years between the
debt coming off some of these aggressive initiatives we have some of the great partners we have some really great people in this town. Uh some great leaders in the township. Um I think some of some of the ideas that we would like to explore, uh I think if we're looking
at all of these different pieces, I think that we could pull this together that we can go um where we can we can look at at having a little bit more of a long range plan, not a yeartoyear or an every two-year plan. But having said that, as long as you have a deficit is
that's as large as what we have, um I could not I I wouldn't promise that we're not going to ever do a public question again. Um I'm already talking about the offset with the debt. Um that deficit needs to be addressed. And what we're looking to do is to fill the hole
for a couple of years at a time. We're not looking to do a seismic shift in regards to addressing our problems. Keep in mind, we left $10.6 $6 million on the table in regards to not raising the levy, leaving bank cap there. So, we're
not making up that $10.6 million with $5 million. Uh we're talking about the the expected local contribution that we're 17 million below. 5 million is not not going to to have the same impact of that
that full 17 million. We want to do this as a partnership. We don't want to go and look and say this is the money that that's needed and we're going to take care of everything. No, this is this needs to be a combination of factors working together. Um when when we're
looking at adequacy of $5 million that keep us that keeps us on the path to getting to where we need to go, but that is by no means um the end of our mission in regards to what we need to do. I wanted to mention there was another
question. I thought it was a a great suggestion uh about the uh linking the uh board uh the um our audits. Um the audits are all linked are under uh Mr. McCree's uh portion, but we're going to do a link between because we want to
have all the information housed in one place. So that was a great suggestion. We're uh we're definitely going to do that. And also uh when people look at financials, school financials a little different than than the rest of the world. We do, you know, schools are unique. If you we're not saying look at
the financials, it's all there. You know, there you go. Um if you look at it and you have a question, call up Mr. McCree. Um and he'll walk you through it. And uh I think the more information that we're able to share, I'm very proud of the work he does. I'm very proud of
the work that's been done financially here. Um there's nothing um uh there's nothing we don't want to share. The more the more you ask, the more we can provide uh the happier we are. So so please um please explore that. We'd love
to uh to speak with anyone interested. >> So Dr. PZO, I just want to summarize what you just said based off of um Amanda's question. So to to understand her first question, she was asking about, you know, why didn't the public
question get us further than what we needed it to get us? Um, and my understanding is that what we actually the amount that we needed was more than what was approved. Right? So that >> the amount that we approved, the $2 million really only bought us about a
year and a half. And now we're back to needing more money to be able to get us through the next two years where the debt falls off and then we will need to look at what does long-term planning look like for us after those two years.
Um but that's what we're looking at. Does that is that a very shortened summary of what you just said? >> Yeah, and I said I went back to this slide again. Um you know that that deficit remains and so we're we're constantly there. Um now are there
things now short term our enrollment has has gone down gradually we do see that trend continuing for a period of time a lot of houses being built. >> Yeah >> there's some new developments and um I I
think that uh that as this town grows I I think that we we have a new opportunities. Um so these these are all are all parts of this. I'm not saying that a building opens and that and that we get a windfall. It doesn't work that
way. But um when a when a building opens uh these a uh you know we look we get we look to be made whole in regards to what our anticipated uh expense is. But I do think that as you bring in uh more houses um then you're adding to the tax
base. Not not so much a pilot. I don't want to get into all the details of it but um as the town grows it will have a positive impact. So, all of these factors coming together, I think that we're in a um we're in a situation, like I said, I I believe if we can get through these these two years, these
pieces coming to together, I think that we could have be in a much better place three years down the road. It's not going to be easy. We're we're doing this um I said, we're keeping this uh what we're the numbers we're talking about, we're keeping as tight as possible. We're not looking to have any kind of
margin for error. We need to hit every mark. uh but we will if we're given that opportunity >> and the goal would be to maintain >> at this point these next two years we're looking at maintaining with the one caveat being um is that um you know we
we have talked about different p plans in regards to pathways and developing programs. I do think that we could um we could start uh start planting the seeds in regards to how that we develop that so that when we get to that next phase
that we're ready to go and then start phasing in anything that um that we do in regards to a pathways program. It wouldn't be all at once. It would be something that would go year to year. Um so I do think that that there's always room to prepare um but major seismic changes um are are not in the offing for
the next two years. Any other questions for Dr. Piso? Thank you, Dr. Piso. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Board Secretary and Business Administrator's report. Dr. Mr. McCree. >> Good evening. >> Uh, everybody has a copy in front of you
of the tentative meetings for next year. Uh, just please review these over over the next couple weeks. get with myself or Mr. Delegrade uh if you have any concerns about these uh dates that we've picked. Uh we will approve these at the reorganization uh meeting
um coming up. Uh the we basically copied last year's and took a look at it. The only really big date that sticks out is March 17th for the preliminary budget adoption. It's on St. Patrick's Day. So, I'll wear a green tie uh and celebrate
while we talk about money. Um, now this is based on the budget uh calendar from the state. It's not published yet. So, there's a deadline that we have to fit. So, you know, we could shift it a day early, a day later, but I have a feeling it's going to be this timeline. We'll
we'll adjust that when those come out, probably in January, February, and move that. Of course, summertime, you know, uh we we'll address that as we get closer to the summer to see what everyone's schedules are, if we have a quorum or not and change those dates. So, if nothing's standing or blaring, um
that have has an issue with um that's uh then uh we'll put this on the reorganization agenda. But that's it for me. Uh any other questions? >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. McCree. Board committee
reports. uh at policy. Miss Leman, >> thank you. The education policy committee met on December 9th. Um the following board members were in attendance. Barbara Gold, Amanda D'Angelo, Art Howard, Tanya Leman. Also
in attendance were Dr. Pizzo, um Christy DeFazio, and Lauri Vatando. Guests included David Fusco, and Megan Tenery from the RPS curriculum department. So, we've reviewed key instructional and policy terms, I'm sorry, items,
including the 2627 Robbinsville High School program of studies presented by Lori Ratundo. Megan Tenry provided an update regarding course offerings at the high school through TCJ dual enrollment. During the gradebook discussion, Mr.
David Fusco provided a thorough analysis of marking period 1 grades from the 23 24 year, 2425, and then 2526 school years with data demonstrating consistent scores over the past three years. The committee conducted second readings of
the Freedom to Read Act and revised policies on resource materials and public complaints. Additional discussion included feedback on the 26 2026 committee meeting schedule, review of future ready survey responses, and planning for the community town hall
this Thursday, which will be livereamed. Correct. Great. Um, action items included approval of the second read policies and the high school program of studies on December 16, 2025. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Leman. Any questions or
comments for ed policy? Not see any personnel. Mrs. Vanda, >> the personnel committee met on December 9th at 5:00 pm in the um CSA office with virtual access provided through Zoom. The meeting was chaired by myself, Nadia Bandukta with all
committee members present including Tanya Leman, Barbara Gold, Anthony Ray, Superintendent Dr. Pizo um HR manager Lisa Tremor and assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Christy DeFazio as well as assistant superintendent Nick Mccree. No members
were absent. The committee began by discussing preparations for the December 16th personnel items. The group then reviewed several job descriptions presented by Lisa Tremor, including those for RS CST positions, the draft um accounts payable clerk and a tech intern
role. Superintendent Pizzo provided an update on the HR audit that was conducted by a consultant Rebecca Gold for the Robbinsville School District on November 2025 and the committee discussed several key findings from the report to act upon and
Tremor also delivered a certification update regarding professional staff. Uh more exciting was midyear tenure recommendations that were reviewed and my uh doc uh Miss Tremor and Dr. Dr. Piso noted that these items will be included in the upcoming personnel
report to be announced at our public meeting. Um, so with that, I would love to congratulate and I see at least one person in the audience. Um, to congratulate our distinguished staff members on achieving tenure. Uh, Georgin Johnson, director of student services,
if you want to stand up if you don't mind. Awesome. Congratulations. uh Lisa uh Fiman SLP Sharon Elementary School and Butler nurse at the Pondro Middle School. I don't know if either of
them is here, but congratulations to them as well. Um the committee then considered the 2026 meeting schedule and discussed whether continuing to meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays um and to remain effective. Dr. Dr. Pizzle also shared that the response totals for the future
ready survey that was sent out and encourage everybody to continue to fill out received 219 responses 115 from community residents as well as 24 from our staff. Um finally, Dr. Pizzo reminded the committee of the upcoming community town hall which was just
mentioned and we highly encourage community to join that. action items were confirmed including approval of the December personnel spreadsheet and the accounts payable clerk job description both due for approval on December 16th. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Manuta. Any questions,
comments for personnel. Okay, not seeing any uh business. I'll read them for Dr. Piro. So, uh the business committee met on December 11th. I was joined by the chair Dr. Piro, um board member Arthur Howard, superintendent uh superintendent Dr. PO
assistant superintendent business and business administrator Nick McCree. We reviewed several facilities updates. The LED lighting project at the high school is moving forward under a PSCG program uh with a projected 6.6 payback and strong incentives. The program continues with a 5-year payback via on bill
repayment at 0% interest. A comprehensive facility study uh from architects and engineers have been completed outlining long-term building needs under uh rental fund projects. The district continues the search for a facilities rental manager for summer
work. Preparations are underway for the prek bathroom renovation at pond uh at the pond school in 2026. On the finance side, we reviewed the bill the monthly bills list and discussed health broker services which will begin which will be going out for an RFP. The administration
presented budget projections and key performance indicators at both the district and county level. We are bringing forth the 202627 budget calendar for approval tonight. We also discussed uh next year's committee meeting schedule to assess whether the current re uh structure remains
effective. The committee discussed future ready uh surveys. A community town hall is scheduled for December 18th which all board members may attend in nonofficial capacity. We also received an update on the annual audit which is nearly complete and will be presented in
January. Uh, importantly, there are no audit findings and the district will be allocating additional funds into capital and maintenance reserve. In transportation, the district is upgrading its routing software for the next year to improve efficiency and security updates. The pilot of uh front door security uh strobes continues as we
await quotes for additional units. The district also participated in a quarterly OEM meeting with the township. The next business uh meeting is still to be determined in the new year. >> Any questions or comments for business? me. >> Okay.
>> All right. The Robinsville Board of Education Community Relations Committee met on December 11th at 6 PM in the CSA office via Zoom. Um committee members in attendance included Miss Nadia Bandukta, myself, Miss Christy DeFazio, Superintendent Dr. Patrick Piso, Mayor
Elect Mr. Mike Todd attended the meeting as a guest along with Mr. David Fusco and Miss Megan Tenery. Mayor elect Mike Todd provided a detailed overview of the film ready certified opportunity including its potential benefits and requirements.
Community members engaged in discussion and asked questions which were also addressed by Mr. Todd. Mr. Fusco presented a gradebook analysis to the committee. The review included the documents titled grade distribution analysis and the RHA RHS
gradebook [snorts] data. Committee members discuss observations related to the grade distribution data. Mr. Gizo, principal of Pond Road Middle School, provided an update to drop off concerns. The update included changes that have been implemented, outcomes
observed to date, and ongoing efforts to maintain a safe environment for students, staff, and families. The committee discussed the effectiveness of the current committee meeting schedule in preparation for the 2026 committee meeting calendar. An update was provided on current participation levels for the
future ready survey, including 299 parent responses, 298 Nice job, guys. 298 community resident responses and 38 staff responses. Plans were shared regarding the community town hall scheduled for
Thursday, December 18th at 6 PM. We hope to see you there. >> Thank you, Mrs. D'Angelo. Any questions or comments for uh community relations? not see any any leazison on reports. >> No, just an appreciation for um mayor uh
mayor elect Tom Mike Todd who joined us and shared revenue opportunities for the school which is deeply appreciated and um hopefully a start of a strong partnership. Yeah. >> Yes. We um on the 22nd of November,
there was a meeting, but it specifically was to nominate new board members to the higher NJSBA organization, and there hasn't been a meeting thus since. >> Thank you. Anything else in the committees?
Nope. All right. Uh public comment on agenda items. Time be allocated for public comment at this meeting. Members of the public wishing to address the board of education on agenda items must state their name, municipality, and the group, if any,
they represent. A member of the public shall not be permitted to speak until he or she is recognized by the presiding officer. In accordance with district policy 0167, each comment shall be limited to three minutes. No participate no participant may speak more than once. No dialogue between a speaker and the
board and or superintendent shall extend the three minutes uh provided herein. Live streaming of the meeting shall be view for viewing only. The public will not have the ability to participate in public session uh comments unless they are physically present at the meeting. Although the board encourages public
comment, the presiding officer can interrupt, warn, and or terminate a participant's statement, question, or inquiry when it is too lengthy and may also interrupt and warn a participant when the statement, question, or inquiry is abusive, obscene, or may be defamatory. Moreover, the presiding
officer can request any person to leave the meeting when the person does not observe reasonable decorum. In adherence to protocol established by the New Jersey School Boards Association, the board will use the public comment period as an opportunity to listen to resident concerns, but not to debate issues or
enter into question and answer session. Issues raised by uh members of the public may require review and investigation and may or may not be responded to by the board or superintendent during the meeting. All comments may be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate.
Can I have a motion to open public comment on agenda items? That's items H, I, and J in the agenda for 30 minutes. So move >> second. >> All in favor? >> Any naysay or abstensions? No. Okay.
Public comment on agenda items is open. >> All right. Um, good evening, uh, Robinville board of education. My name is, uh, Cheyenne Chatterjee and I am a student here at Robinsville High School. And obviously the issues with budgets has become very prevalent even diffusing
around the student population. And I think one really important aspect as I think I've I have come up here before representative of Science Olympiad in extracurricular for Robinsville High School. We saw that on the um on the figures shown in the presentation that we saw sports but I didn't see much
information regarding extracurriculars by individual club or such information. Is there anything we can expect specifically to see how these clubs may be impacted in terms of financially like maybe a graph or a sheet or something
that sort of helps quantify the impact that will have on our Robinville club associations? Um we um we did do a breakdown of the clubs and the potential impact on the last uh presentation I did. So that that is available online. And if you have any
questions, please give me a call. Um stop by the office, whatever it is. I I'd be happy to share any information you'd like. >> All right. Thank you so much. Have a nice day. uh Matt O'Grady 329 Gordon Road. Um I'll try to keep it to your three minutes. So
um one I want to thank the board members here for being volunteers and your commitment to the district. I would tell you as a former board member who spent a decade on the board and I've lived here since 1999. This school is famous uh for running
with sticks, glue, duct tape, and WD40. So, we've always been finding creative ways to fix holes in the budget. This is nothing new to Robinsville. Um I heard a lot of discussion tonight about state aid. And I would just implore every board member here, the solution to
fixing our budget problems are in your seats. Okay? There used to be a time and place where budgets went to a vote and most budgets in Robinsville were voted down. Uh then they came up with the 2% cap and I don't need to be a math wiz,
but inflation at 4% and a 2% cap, you're always behind the eightball. So, uh quick history lesson, we did not get in this financial hole overnight and we're not going to get out of it overnight. And what I would ask for this board and
the administration is to be super focused with a unified message because if we start pitting groups against one another, who's going to lose this? How much are you going to lose? What am I going to lose? We will get nowhere. Okay? So, I don't want to move out of
Robinsville. Um, I'm okay paying my fair share. I understand that there are senior citizens. I understand it. There are people in different economic situations, but if we do not fix his school budget, it'll be tumble weeds. Because the one thing that wasn't discussed tonight is valuations. Because
when valuations start to go down, your tax revenues immediately down. Okay? And do not count on the state of New Jersey to help you. Okay? I'm glad that it was a 3% promise. I would not count on that. And um I don't remember who here was on
the board this spring, but we had a chance for a one-time increase. We have to go to cap. Going to cap is the bare minimum. Okay. And I I hear you um Dr. Piso about making promises. This is not
going to be a one-time thing, and this doesn't address your capital needs. So, I hear a lot of people talking about our debt rolling off. I can tell you that these buildings and facilities, I haven't seen your capex report lately, but you need a lot of money just for that. Okay? And yes, student enrollment
has been going down. I expect it to go up with the new housing coming online. And oh, by the way, with the new housing, you're at risk students are increasing. Okay? We haven't had enough teachers here since 2016. We cannot fire teachers, and you need
money to hire teachers and retain teachers. Without teachers, the school system is zero. So I implore you, use your power. You were elected. Do the hard work. Go to CAP and continue to do that until we can find efficiencies
elsewhere. Thank you. Any other public comment on agenda items? Not seeing any. Can I have a motion to close public comment on agenda items? >> Second. >> All in favor? And these are extensions.
Okay. Um the superintendent recommends that the board of education approve the following personnel educa ed policy and business action items. Can I have a motion? Some second. Any discussion?
All right, Mr. Crease. Miss Bandukta, >> yes. >> Dr. Gold, >> yes. >> Miss Hildangelo, >> yes. >> Mr. Howard, >> absent. M Leman, >> yes. >> Mr. Nandon, >> yes. >> Mr. Ray, >> yes. >> Fiero, absent. And Mr. Oldberg, >> yes. Motion passes unanimously. Thank
you. >> Thank you. >> Is there any old business? >> I have some old business. Um, tell me if this is new business and old business and I'll hold on. We received a a packet
last board meeting of all sorts of um parent and student input about grades. um we addressed it in some of the um committees, but I wanted to address it more thoroughly that we went through
every single comment. We pulled out every single question that was in there. We discussed it thoroughly and we will be collecting data. We did talk to Mrs. DeFazio. I did talk to the other um
administration about getting answers for that and um the response is that it is coming. We just need to collect a little bit more data and dig dig in deep. Um so it's not that we are not addressing it. We just want to address it really well.
Um and we really thank everybody who gave that input. We really um appreciated having that document to read through and think about. So thank you. >> Um I'll piggyback on that one. I think you know I went through the aggregate
data that was actually posted in the committee which I saw which was good. Uh but we're still hearing the concern as you're as you just you know said the one thing that I would like to understand is if we don't if we're not seeing much changes with what it was before number
one question which comes to my mind is why did we change the grading system? I think I know that there is there's a good answer to that but you know piggybacking on that again is how should we reconcile the system level findings with student level experience because at the end of the day we here to actually make sure that the students feel
comfortable. Um I want to see what are the steps that we have put in place to ensure that the students feel comfortable with this particular grade. >> Thank you for your question. So yes we did go through this um in ed policy as well as community relations. That's the first layer of really looking at this
data and you know taking it to that level. Um we've also ran through this with some of our administration. Mr. Fusco, our assistant director of steam um really took a deep dive into marking period one data over the course of the past three years including this um past
marking period. Um so that's the first phase of really analyzing the grades. What we did gain from this this whole shift and I know this has raised quite a bit of concern across the board was consistency and that's what we wanted. We wanted to every student to experience if they're for example just for example
with a specific course um student A in algebra 1 versus student B in a different algebra 1 class. We should be able to speak to what their grading experience is. Um and we did accomplish that through this process. So, as much as we had our teachers involved across departments designing these grading
profiles differently, what we can attest to is all building administration can speak to what's happening within these courses. Um, as well as our counselors that are heavily involved in grading as well, too. Um, we also now have um students having similar experiences, which we couldn't really speak to
before. Um, another piece of this is streamlining what extra credit looks like um and additional um opportunities that students are awarded. we can speak to everything that's happening within those experiences because they're clearly outlined. Now, um there's more work to be done. Of course, the work is always endless when we're talking about
just student achievement and performance as well as experience in general. Um so, we're continuing to collaborate about uh common assessments, common rubrics, um and common grading practices. And we want to ensure that our not only our staff feels confident in these
practices, but our students as well. Um so in meeting with building administration um in particular Miss Avery at the high school, we are planning um an opportunity for our students to meet with us to discuss their concerns um after the winter break. So we want to give everyone the
chance to recharge, you know, take this opportunity over winter break and then reather our thoughts to revisit this um come January and then of course leading into additional presentations um coming down the line as we edge our way into market period 2. So, more to come from
us. Um, again, we're always open to opportunities to discuss this further with any parents or students that have concerns. So, please feel free to reach out. >> Thank you. >> Any other old business? Any new business? >> Okay, a couple of questions on the
survey. Um, I was actually going through the survey and the survey mentioned something around district initiatives in one of the question. And I think one of the community member reached out to me saying that hey I'm not able to find what this district initiatives are. Is there a link to that particular
material? So it'll I know that probably the community member has probably emailed so it'll be great to actually get back to them around you know what those district initiatives are which is mentioned in the survey and it'll be good to just post that as a link somewhere. That's number one. Number two, um when we collect this particular
survey results, I would like to understand how will this be reviewed? Uh specifically, it would be helpful to understand how respond response patterns will be considered and what steps will be taken to ensure that data reflects the broader community and there is no
bias. Um and how do we actually take that out? So speaking on behalf of the initiatives when it comes to the survey, it's really just really ensuring that our communication plan uh is in place with parent square and everything that we're working through. Um a couple initiatives
obviously the the roll out of our programs across the district um with the new reading programs are do you feel you're informed on those areas? um when it comes to um social and emotional health uh PBSIS that we have running both at the elementary level and the middle school level. Do you feel as if
you're informed on those level of initiatives? Um you know always there's there's opportunities for revamps. So you know we are clearing up with our websites as well too with communication on that but we really wanted to get a pulse on how does the district feel in general with the communication pieces
with understanding initiatives. >> Thank you. The second part of the question, how are we how are we trying to make sure that the results which are coming out of the survey, we're taking out the bias and can we explain how how do we ensure that the results are not
skewed to some extent? >> Yes. So the survey is still open as of right now when it comes to um we we want as many community members as possible to be able to complete the survey. Um after the winter break, we will be taking deep dives into that um across departments um across buildings to ensure that we're
really taking a deep dive. Um and we want to share out that experience. A goal would be for January, but at the latest February to share that out to the community. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other new business?
Okay. Uh public comment on school matters. Can I have a motion to open public comment? I I won't read the whole uh discourse again, but uh on school matters for 30 minutes. >> So moved. Second. >> All in favor? >> Any extensions? Okay. The mic is open
for school matters. Kanara, 10 Olivia Road. Um yeah this was regarding the survey form itself. Um so if you look at some of the questions um for example if there are parents who do not have kids in the school system uh
they should there should be an option for them to minute they say there's no kids at the school some of the leading questions there should be a not applicable option for them because now if those people feel that uh do we need any extracurricular activities I mean
how good are those I don't know I'm just I don't remember the questions and now if they think that answering as to those questions might increase whatever the property taxes I don't know how they think they might not they might answer it kind of in a negative way which might
impact the survey right so I don't I did not see that not applicable when uh for for there should be an option when somebody says I do not have kids in the school system um for them it doesn't matter whether the programs are good whether the sports are going to be there
or extracurricular going to be So are you going to change the survey because that can skew the survey results and the second thing is um I can create multiple email addresses and also take the survey in a different direction.
So the Google sheet might not be a good uh way to do a survey. I think you should look at survey monkey or some other um professional survey tool so that it looks at the IP address and it will not allow multiple questions from the same resident. Using Google sheet or
any shareepoint is not a good way to get a survey and then the sample size can be like duplicated too. Thank you. So, uh, Matt Orady, 329 Gordon Road. Um, just dubtailing on the survey. Um, you know, I think it's and I've heard a lot
of comment from people in the community. Um, and I've worked on surveys obviously in the past in in your role. um we need to simplify the message and simplify the questions because a lot of people read some of those survey questions and they immediately said well what does this
have to do with our budget deficit and our fiscal problems. Um so you know I think that part of the the issue and it's been an issue for a long time. It was probably an issue when I was on the board too. We have to do everything we can to demonstrate credibility and when
we mix messages uh in a survey in a presentation um you immediately are starting behind the eightball. Okay, we need to get everyone's buy in. So in my opinion and I do agree that the survey results can be manipulated because people can change
email addresses. If we have 15,000 residents here and we only get 500 surveys, then I think we can all agree that the value of those results is probably not that good. Um, I understand the purpose of the survey, but I I think we need more direct
conversation and it's not my board, it's not my meeting, but I would say in these troubled times, I would put public comment also at the beginning of the meeting instead of backloading them both towards the end because you can tell most people have left. And again, we
want as much engagement as possible. People are worn down and they're worn down at a national level. They're worn down at the state level. Local is the only thing that we can impact. That's it. And we got to defend local or we won't have local. And you know, I said
it earlier, I'm just going to reiterate it. Um, you cannot eliminate extracurriculars here. No one will stay. There'll be for sale signs on these on these yards for years. Okay? That is not a community. So, when people hear that,
they say it's a scare tactic. And again, we lose credibility. So, we have to really be careful. I understand we owe them the whatifs. What happens if we don't get the money? What if state aid gets cut? What if valuations go down? I get all of it, but we need to just be
honest. You can't go a decade without going to CAP and then wonder why you don't why you have a funding problem. So, I I just really would implore everyone to be as straight and as simple as possible because people have ADD.
They don't you you go on for 20 minutes, they heard the first three and then the rest of the message is gone. So, um you know, I I I'm going to help as much as I can, but it's got to come from up here. And they need to believe that it's
genuine, okay? that it's not a a piece of band-aid or or you know tape here because it's a real problem and it's not going to be fixed with one budget and it's not going to be fixed with one survey. So, thank you Christine
Christine was this Christine Woolak 511 Reed Lane. Thank you. I echo what um the two um parents before me said. I have a few other comments. I'm not sure I understood the purpose of
the survey. I would like to understand and I think our residents want to understand how the survey results are going to drive a strategy for closing the deficit. You just mentioned it was about gaining
information and understanding. the timing of it would suggest that it has a much greater meaning and I think you should be transparent with what exactly you're trying to to glean from it and then how how does that drive a strategy? We have a time element here that needs
to be considered and if the first tax increase didn't pass, we perhaps need to anticipate this is a multi-stage implementation. So, I'd also like to hear more perhaps uh later this week
How will the survey drive a strategy and then what's the timing that you all have envisioned so that we meet the goal in the time in which it has to be met. Thank you. >> Any additional public comment? Not seeing any. Can I have a motion to
close public comment and adjourn the meeting? Mote >> second. >> All in favor? >> Any extensions? >> Thank you everyone. Have a good evening.