I call this meeting to order and we will begin with the flag salute. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. Justice for >> Welcome this evening to our budget uh adoption date. In accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act, I wish to announce that the New Jersey Open Public Meeting Law was enacted to ensure the right of the
public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. Notices announcing the date, time, and place for this special meeting were sent to all concerned individuals, associations, and
posted on the district website in accordance with public law 2025, chapter 72. I'd like to do a roll call, please. Miss Conn >> here. >> Miss Kelly, >> here. >> Miss Kelly is participating remotely.
Mr. Cho, >> here. >> Mr. Gunderson is expected. Mr. Hanley >> here. >> Miss Justice >> here. >> Miss Mahita >> here. >> A quorum is present. >> Thank you. We will begin with agenda
item number four 2026 27 annual school budget beginning with a discussion of the board of education members. Are there any board of education members that would like to say anything? >> Yes, Carlos.
>> Thank you, Madam President. I do. Um, Madame President, colleagues, and members of the public, taxing our residents is one of the most serious responsibilities we have as a board of education. It is not free money. Every additional dollar we take comes directly out of summit families hard-earned
paychecks, and we must treat that power with discipline and respect. We cannot and should not arbit arbitrarily raise taxes. It is important to note that New Jersey state law places strict limits on how much we can increase the school tax levy through the adjusted cap calculation which must be certified by
the board of school estimate and to be clear not by voter referendum. Good intentions do not justify unnecessary taxation. That is why we chose to reduce the tax levy from the originally proposed 5.17%
down to 4.93%. When the final numbers showed less of a New Jersey state aid cut than we anticipated, we gave that relief back to the taxpayers. Rather than impermanently increasing the tax base, we reduced the tax levy based on actual need and fiscal
balance, not on the desire to spend every dollar we are legally allowed to collect. Some have suggested we should have kept a higher rate and simply found ways to spend the difference. But experience shows us clearly that spending more money alone does not guarantee better results for our
children. New Jersey already spends among the highest amounts per pupil in the entire country. Yet many of the highest spending districts produce far weaker academic outcomes, lower proficiency rates, and poorer long-term results than districts that spend significantly less
but manage their resources more effectively. Our commitment is to deliver excellent education through responsible stewardship. Raising taxes only when truly necessary and lowering them when we can do so responsibly. That is how we best serve our students and honor the
summit taxpayers who make our outstanding schools possible. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Maha. Anyone else, >> Mr. Madam President? and I'd like to speak since the uh fiscal year 2011 2012
budget which is inclusive of this budget we're voting on that 16 budgets and only in five of the years has the school budget uh tax levy increase that was approved exceeded 2% or more. So
hopefully the public should realize that the school board and the administration has always been very disciplined and fiscally responsible for the summit taxpayer. In fact, if we were to have simply been at the 2% statutory cap every year, the actual tax levy, even
inclusive of this year's proposed 4.93% and last year's 4%, the tax levy would be would have been higher if we were simply at 2%. So hopefully the history of our tax increases shows that the school administration even with prior uh
superintendent and prior school boards the history and the practice is always to be very fiscally conservative and disciplined and simply tax was what's necessary for the budget to achieve the mission at hand. Unfortunately the financial environment now and the last
couple years makes it extremely challenging and really almost impossible to meet the 2% statutory cap target. and hopefully the public understands where we where we need to be and simply we are where we need to be to achieve the mission of the SA school system.
>> Thank you Mr. Chow. Um also I would like to note that Mr. Gunderson is joining remotely due to um issues with the train. So thank you Mr. Gunderson for being on. We are just taking comments from the board at this time. Is there anyone else who would like to make a
comment? Mr. Hanley. >> Yes. Thank you, Madam President. Uh I'll reiterate comments I made last week. They'll be I'll give a version of the brief version. Uh but as chair of the operations committee, I'm extremely uh complimentary to the administration and
your efforts uh throughout this budget process, particularly superintendent Huff and business assistant business administrator Kathy Sarno. um your diligence, your transparency, and your efforts to uh to share information, to
dig into details, and to partner with the board and particularly the operations committee, allowing us to kind of go past the line a little bit, if you will, and stress test this budget in a lot of ways that was a bit atypical in my experience
uh in prior board uh roles. And I want to compliment you for that because it was a reaction and response to the public's concerns last year about the budget process. The administration and your entire staff took those concerns from the public to heart and you
responded extremely favorably. And so I'm quite proud of the efforts from this board, the operations committee and most specifically the administration at your efforts in what is a very difficult operating environment and one if you did
not uh hear the readouts from the operations committee throughout this past year. I highlight almost every meeting the challenges we are facing and the cost pressures we are seeing that are fundamental in nature and that will not go away anytime soon.
So, um I was on a lot of boards as as uh Mr. Cho mentioned in the in the last decade that came in well below cap. There was very good reason. Inflation was low and we could but it ain't anymore. And cap, as I said last week,
really the 2% number is not the guideline that should pop to our head first and foremost when we're thinking about these school budgets going forward for the next few years. So with that said, uh the committee uh delivered tirelessly. Uh we delivered all the things that we promised to the public.
Uh everything from doing detailed budgets of comparable districts. The business administrator's office conducted multi-year budget forecasts for better contingency planning. Um we did zerobased budgeting and and we accelerated the calendar process to have
more communications, more robust communications with the public. And I think it's evidenced by tonight. This room is fairly empty except for those that are obligated for the most part to be here. There's one or two of you that aren't, but but that says a lot, I think, to the superintendent and your
process and to the communications that the community is comfortable and happy. So, I'm quite pleased that we as a board have done more than our fair share of supervisory oversight looking at this budget and working to make sure it aligns with the entire needs of the
school district to put a sustainable financial product that is financially st sustainable educational product on the shelf for our residents and our taxpayers. So, I am extremely supportive and and uh and I ask the full board to continue their support as well as the
board of school estimate. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Henley. Um, for myself, I want to say that I believe this budget keeps our students in mind first and foremost and the well-being of our students um and making sure that we are
meeting the educational needs of the students in a way to keep up the excellent um school that we have and the excellent education that we give that our students. Um and also at the same time as a number of people have pointed out we've kept
the taxpayers in mind and we've really worked very hard um to make sure that we looked at every line that we were being very thoughtful about where we were spending our money extremely strategic about where we spend our money in order to keep our schools excellent but not
put a burden on our taxpayers any more than we absolutely needed to. Um so because I I just want to thank the operations committee um our chair Mr. Hanley, Mr. Metcha and Vice President
Kelly. They spent hours and hours of meetings um in order to really take a deep dive that as you just said, Mr. Hanley was really unprecedented um in this school district, but because of the challenging environment um was really necessary this year. And so I want to
thank you for all of the time and effort that you put into meeting and really digging deep into all of the details. And I want to also thank our administration and especially Superintendent Huff, but also our principles and really all of our school
teams that worked so hard to make sure that this budget was really keeping our students centered. um and also making sure that everything that we were doing was necessary in order to keep our schools excellent. Um so thank you. Are
there any other comments? Okay, so with that we'll move on to public comment. Miss Zeno, here are the public comment guidelines. Anyone wishing to speak shall first seek recognition by the presiding officer,
which is President Conn. Please come to the microphone and state your name and address in a clear audible tone. For the record, please do redirect all your comments to the board president and not an individual board member. Please remember to conduct yourself with
decorum and respect when speaking and addressing the board. Unless additional time is granted by the board president, please be respectful and mindful and keep your comments to three minutes or less. In addition, please note that this portion of the meeting is for public
comment and not meant to be a back and forth discussion. Thank you. Good evening, Diego Hoy Aral Court. It is clear that the increase in state aid about 150 $150,000 in a $90 million budget seems like a
rounding error. Indeed, it amounts to about $19 on average for every summit house summit home. For this reason, it is sad, truly sad, that this board decided to reduce the taxpayer burden and make such a show of appearing to be
fiscally responsible for saving the average household the cost of about 5 gallons of gas. You could have chosen to fund some important things with this money. For example, last year you cut 33% of teacher training, $32,000.
put that back into the budget would have cost each average summit taxpayer one gallon of gas. How about bilingual education? In the last year, $200,000 were cut from this valuable service. In sorry, in the last two years, $200,000
were cut from this valuable service. $120,000 in the last year alone. Do you know how many Summit residents were born overseas? about 19 19 19% per the census. Geminina estimates that 6% of our kids
about 240 students were born abroad with a further 37% born to at least one immigrant parent here in summit. I asked Kathy Sarno this morning sorry late notice for better information but I had to go with Gemini. Restoring last year's funding levels
would have set our neighbors back four gallons of gas. Going back to the funding levels two years ago would have set us back six gallons of gas. Last year, as you were cutting mental health support, tech support, teacher training, and so many classroom staff,
you did find a way to increase transportation by about $530,000. That is a full tank of gas or 16 gallons. I would like to request that at the next common council meeting when the council presents the city budget, the members of the board of school estimate
share what were the transportation costs related to athletics versus those related to other things for the past four years. I would like the city government to dispel the rumor that the only money that does not get cut is money for athletics. And lest my detractors accuse me of not
supporting athletics, let me be clear. These are lean times. We should strive to fund all three peer all three pillars, athletics, academics, the arts equitably to preserve the quality of our schools. In my opinion, we should always break out what we can along these three
three pillars to ensure equity and transparency. There are some edits. I'll send it to you by email, Miss Arno. Thank you. >> Thank you. Seeing no other public comments,
is there a motion to close public comment? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Madam President, just um want to ask Miss Sarno, for the record, state aid, my understanding is state aid has been
reduced the last two years 3% each year. Is that correct? There's been a net reduction in state aid the last two years by 3% each year. >> 3% each year. You are correct. >> Cuts, right? >> Cuts. >> All right. Thank you. >> Think ready for roll call
>> on the motion moved by Mr. Hanley and seconded by Miss Justice. Mr. Mahesa. >> Yes. >> Miss Justice. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hanley. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gunderson. >> Yes. >> Mr. Joe, >> yes. >> Miss Kelly,
>> yes. >> Miss Conn, >> yes. >> The motion carries unanimously. >> So, now moving on to agenda item number five, the approval of the 2627 school budget resolution. Miss Zeno, would you um read it out,
please? >> Yes. be resolved that the final budget be approved for the 2627 school year and sent to the Executive County Superintendent of Schools in accordance with the statutory deadline for review and approval. In the 20627
total expenditures, the general fund amount is $89,672,896. Special revenues is $838,949. their zero debt service for a total of 90,511,845. We're also receiving uh revenues in the
amount of 9,799,533, an equal amount of special revenues compared to expenditures for a total of 10,638,482. So the local tax levy amount to be raised for the fiscal year 2627
is 79,873 $800,7363 for a total of 79,87363. Further, it is resolved that included in the general fund appropriations, the Summit City Board of Education authorizes the approval of withdrawal from Capitol Reserve in the amount of a
total of $850,000 as follows for the following projects. 600,000 will be allocated towards the middle school new generator. 150,000 will be for the uh Summit High School hot water heater and then there will be
$100,000 allocated to architect and engineering fees for district-wide projects. Further resolved that as per NJAC6A23A-142D included in the general fund appropriations, the Summit City Board of Education authorizes the approval of withdrawal
from maintenance reserve in the amount of $50,000 for the Summit Middle School VCT tile replacement. and further resolved that the board of education includes in the tentative budget the adjustment for increased costs of health
benefits in the amount of 2,227 $227,000 161. The additional funds will be used to pay for the additional increases in health benefit premiums. read the next one. Yeah. Uh as a separate motion, the approval of travel
and related expenditure reimbursement for the 27 2627 school year. Whereas pursuant to NJAC6A23 col 8-7.3, a board of education must establish a maximum dollar limit for travel
expenditures as defined in NJAC 6A 23A7.1 etc. Be be it resolved that the Summit Board of Education approves establishing the maximum expenditure for the 2627 school
year not to exceed $1,500 for regular travel pursuant to district policy 6471. And be it further resolved that the Summit Board of Education approves establishing a maximum travel expenditure in the amount of $200,000
for the 2627 school year. The maximum travel expenditure for the current school year 2526 is 200,000 of which year-to- date 34,392 has been spent and 500 5586
is encumbered to date. >> Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Any discussion for the roll call? on the roll call. Mr. Mahcha, >> yes. >> Miss Justice, >> yes. >> Mr. Hanley, >> yes.
>> Mr. Gunderson, >> yes. >> Mr. Cho, >> yes. >> Miss Kelly, >> yes. >> Miss Conn, >> yes. >> The budget resolutions passed unanimously. >> And the last item on the agenda,
adjournment. Do I hear a motion? >> So move. Any discussion >> on the roll? >> On the roll. Call to adjurnn. Mr. Mahcha. >> Yes. >> M. Justice. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hanley. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gunderson. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Chow. >> Yes. >> Miss Kelly? >> Yes. >> Miss Conn? >> Yes. >> The meeting is adjourned. I call this meeting to order of the board of school estimates. We will begin Oh, sorry. Thank you. Um, I call this meeting to order of the board of school
estimates. We will begin with the flag salute >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
>> I'll be reading the Open Meeting Act. In accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meeting Act, I wish to announce that the New Jersey Open Public Meeting Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of
bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. Notices announcing the date, time, and place for the special meeting were sent to all concerned individuals, associations, and posted on the district website in accordance with public law
2025, chapter 72. On a roll call, Mayor Fagan >> here. >> Mayor Fagan is uh participating remotely. Miss Landman >> here. >> Miss Lassa Assena >> here.
>> Miss Conn here. Miss Kelly. >> Oh, she jumped off. Uh >> oh. >> She's not here at the moment, but we'll get her back on. >> Miss Kelly is expected. >> Okay. So, we will begin with agenda item
four, approval of the minutes A through C. March 27th, 2025, May 29th, 2025, and March 18th, 2026. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Second.
>> Any discussion? >> Sorry, back on. >> Thank you, Eileen. >> Sorry, >> that's okay. We're just uh doing the approval of the minutes. >> Madame President, I have a question. >> Yes. Since certain of us were not here for 2025, is it appropriate for us to
vote or should we abstain? >> You can abstain. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, um we are ready for the roll call. >> On the roll call. Mayor Fagan. >> Yes. >> Oh, I didn't do it. Okay. Miss Landman,
>> abstain. >> Miss Lasserina, >> abstain. >> Miss Conn? >> Yes. >> Miss Kelly? Yes. >> The minutes pass with two, three in favor, two abstaining. >> Thank you. Um, next we will have mayor's
announcements. >> Um, this is very quick and I just want to apologize for last minute switcheroo. I was intending to be there on in person um but have a family emergency which uh requires that I hop on a plane uh in the
near future. So, I apologize for not being there. Um, but I'm glad I was able to join you via Zoom. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Agenda item six, 2026 2027 annual school budget. Superintendent Huff, would you
like to give us the final school budget report? >> Yes, that would be turning it over to business administrator, interim business administrator Dorino. >> I'd like to meet
I'm reading the resolution, right? >> I'll read into the record the uh resolution before the board of school estimate. Whereas, pursuant to NJSA18A colon 227, the board of education of the city of Summit has delivered the 2627
school budget to the board of school estimate of the city of Summit. And whereas the total amount of the budget is 90,511,845 with the amount of $79,873,363 is determined to be necessary to be aortioned appropriated from local property taxes to support the said
budget. And whereas the board of school estimate does hereby fix and determine the sum of 79,873,363 is necessary to be appropriated for the use of the city of Summit public schools for the 2627 school year and be further resolved that the board of school
estimate previously determined and certified to the common council of the city of Summit that the amount of 76,123 $727 was necessary. That's 100,000 was necessary to be appropriated for use of
the city of Summit public schools for the 2526 school year and be further resolved that the board of school estimate does hereby certify to the common council of the city of Summit that the amount of 3861,003 is necessary for the use of the city of
Summit public schools for the period January 1, 2026 to June 30th. 2026 and the amount of 39,936,682 is necessary for the use of the city of Summit public schools for the period July 1 to December 31206
or a total amount for both fiscal portions of 77,998,545 for calendar year 2026 and be it further resolved that the secretary is hereby directed to deliver copies of this resolution which shall also serve as certificates to the
common council of the city of Summit and to the board of education of the city of Summit. >> Thank you. Is there any discussion um from the Bose members? >> Yes. >> Just going to read a brief statement.
So, tonight I'm voting to support the Summit public school budget and resulting tax levy for its residents. The year-over-year increase is significant, 4.93%. And I support it because it restores programs that should never have been cut in the first place. The average
homeowner in Summit will pay $344 more in school taxes. 200 of that will go directly to health care costs, leaving $144 to pay for increases in costs for everything else. Salaries, energy, utilities, transportation, and other goods and services.
Summit public schools are not immune to inflation, but investing in Summit Public Schools is also an investment in our community as a whole. Strong public schools enhance property values and make Summit an attractive place for families to live. Cutting too deeply last year came at a
real cost. Summer school teachers, 10 classroom aids, the district mental health clinician, five teachers and aids dedicated to students needing specialized support and instruction, and more staff were cut from the budget. Our students and their parents have been speaking out about the loss of this
support. We hear you. The 202627 budget reflects a necessary step toward rebuilding our school programs in line with our community values. We are restoring access to inschool PSAT which leads to scholarship opportunities. We are bringing back summer school in our
summit classrooms to ensure our students graduate on time and meet grade level standards. We are extending a special education program through high school, allowing impacted students to stay in Summit for their learning. We still have more repair work to do, including adding back a mental health
clinician and hiring classroom aids to support student learning, but we may need a few years to optimize staffing as we need to strike a balance between fully funding our schools and not overburdening our taxpayers. As a member of the board of school estimate, I look forward to supporting this year's fiscally responsible
investment in public education and taking a step in the right direction for summit. >> Thank you. Any additional comments? Yes. >> Thank you, Madam President. I plan to vote no on the proposed
budget. I appreciate very much the work that's been done by Superintendent Huff, Miss Sarno, our school principles, and their teams. Coming into the first public Bose meeting, I was feeling good about the draft budget, an austere budget focused on academic excellence.
We had the opportunity to review certain early materials and ask many, many questions, all of which were answered. From our prior meeting to this meeting, what's changed is that I've now had the opportunity to review the detailed budget and reflect on the better thanex
expected state aid. On the detailed budget, as Councilwoman Landman mentioned, many families have felt and expressed concerns about the cuts that were made last year, in particular to academics and the arts. the elimination of a new computer
science teacher, the elimination of existing technology coaches, in-class support professionals and so on. I understand these are tough decisions and tough economic times. We are working through it separately in the on the
municipal budgeting process as well. Yet, from the 2024 2025 actuals to the proposed budget for next year, the line item for school sponsored athletic instruction has gone up over that 2-year
period by about 9%, landing at just under 1.3 million. If I'm fortunate to serve on this body again next year, I encourage us to take a look at rebalancing the budget if it if it should be appropriate across academics,
the arts and co-curriculars and athletics. On to state aid. In the initial budget that was presented, we were prepared to go to the summit taxpayers with a 5.17 year-over-year increase with significant
economic headwinds and at a time when many of our peer communities are increasing their budgets by 6789%. We were coming in at 5.17 and that's a credit to the operations commiss committee, superintendent Huff, Miss
Sarno, our school principles and others. But then Summit received more instate aid than had been expected. In my mind, that is money intended for our students and meant to be invested in our schools. The first goal of the district strategic
plan is to quote prioritize the safety and wellness of our students and staff to support healthy, balanced, and productive learning environments end quote. I think this is a great goal. And now we have the gift of this additional
funding for our students. We know many of the kids are not okay. Social media pressures, AI chat bots, the threat of gun violence in schools, and so on. As part of last year's deep budget cuts, the district mental health clinician was eliminated. This was one individual
supporting the entire district, about 4,000 students. We were getting remarkable support coverage and yet the role was cut. We already ask our teachers and staff to do so much to wear so many hats. Here we
have the opportunity to complete the school roster by bringing a mental health clinician back or providing some other meaningful mental health support. Milbourne school has a school psychologist. The Soma School District has several social workers and psychologist.
Now, I am anchored in my own experience. When I was in high school, I lost a friend to suicide and I sought the help, excuse me, of a school mental health counselor and she helped me immensely. These could be some of the best dollars
that we invest in our schools and yet we are choosing to put some of them outside the school budget to get from 5.17 to 4.93. It is often said and bears repeating, budgets reflect values. For the aforementioned reasons, I do not believe
this budget is fully reflective of the values of our community. And so, as a representative of the community, I vote no. I acknowledge mine is a symbolic and not a deciding vote. My hope is that will encourage additional productive debate on how we are investing in the
success of our students. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Are there any further discussions by both members? Yes, Mayor Fagan. >> Thank you. Uh again, apologies for being remote, but um I just want to say that
we as the board of school estimates um represent not just the people that are directly utilizing the board of education services. We also represent the entire community, all of whom are paying taxes and some of
whom are seniors that want to stay in our town. And I think it's very important to understand that there's a balance um with regard to the expenditure that the board of ed um uh
utilizes every year. And I believe that under Rick Hanley's very able leadership, this year's process was vastly different than previous dysfunctional model for lack of a better word. I apologize, but um it's why I
appointed him to the board. Um, I trusted his expertise. I trusted his experience and I trusted the expertise of the entire board of ad to come to the best result they could for the students, the staff and the community. And I believe that last year um it was not a
budget cut by any means. By the way, just to be clear, um the budget went up almost four% last year um as well. and uh you know the the administration made decisions um based on what they thought
was the right um the right balance for all of those things. And if I if I may be so bold as to suggest that uh you know board of eds are are intended to
educate our students um and maybe refer kids and students to uh to mental health professionals and perhaps the the the um role of the board of education is not to provide necessarily provide those services directly. Um it's to identify
students who are in need of them and and to point them to the uh private sector where where that can be uh an extensive um intervention if needed. We have student we have guidance counselors and
the guidance our guidance department at the high school and the middle school um they're they are in incredible resources for our students and at the elementary schools it's a very handson very um intimate environment the the nurses and
the teachers I think are very well equipped to identify students who um suffer and struggle with mental health issues. And so I think that um identifying that as a key uh role of the board of ed is is a mistake. And so I
just want to put that out there. Um, I I also want to say that um, you know, I think that this budget is reflective of the priorities and that um, Superintendent Huff was very articulate
and um, assistant business administrator um, Sarno did a really great job of explaining um, the priorities of the board of ed uh, at the presentation of this budget a couple of weeks a or last week and I appreciate the work that the administ administrators have done, the
principles have done um to identify places where we can save some costs in a tough budget year. Um and so I just want to I just want to say all that in the context of I am supportive of this budget despite being having a hard time
stomaching a large increase in this budget. It's an almost 5% increase. It's something we've not done in this town before, at least in the 25 years I've been here. Um, so I just want people to understand that indeed it is a it's a
big increase and 5% of $90 million is a lot of money. Um, and it's a lot of money to the individual taxpayer and I don't take that lightly. I think it's really important that people understand that our residents understand that um, we value education. We know it's tied to
the the home values. Um but and and again I will say it until I till the day I die my kids have benefited from the school district and I know that we have an awesome product here. Um, and I don't want to sacrifice quality, but you know,
this is a very acknowledging that this is a very large increase and knowing that across the state this is a huge problem because of all of the challenges with healthcare and so forth, but but recognizing that the balance has been struck um to create a budget that is
cognizant of the fact that not every single taxpayer is directly benefiting from this. And so we have to balance that. Um, so I just I appreciate all of the work that's been done on the at the operations committee level, at the administrative level. I really
appreciate Superintendent Huff's uh you know um attention to this budget and uh I I will support this budget, but I I want to be on record as saying that you know this is not a nobody made any cuts last year. It was a large increase. And
by the way, it was a larger increase than we've seen in 10 years. Um, and part of that, and I said this last week, but I'll say it again. Um, part of that is because maybe perhaps there was too conservative an outlook on the prior 5 to 8 years, and now we're we're dealing
with the consequences of that. So, um, so I will support the budget. Um, I I'm stomaching a pretty large increase in the budget. Um, I did in stomach a large increase last year as well. Um, and I'm doing I I'm supporting it because I do
value the uh the services that our public schools provide to the community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Is there any additional discussion? >> Miss Cohen, I just want to add on the um on the point of the budget of of
prioritization. I want to again congratulate Superintendent Huff because every decision that was made in this budget and and and priors as well always does require his expertise, his administration's expertise and you know
we also take into account residents opinion and value their perspective on what's important but it is um you know the expertise of the principles the administration superintendent Scott Huff to make decisions that are objective and data driven And I think anytime we're
adding a role or evaluating a role, whether it be a a new role or an existing role, um he has, I think, done a really great job of understanding what is the impact. Is it is it one child? Is it 50 children? Is it 100 children? Is
it, you know, is it extensive for the longevity of a child's education? So, I I just want to commend Superintendent Scott Huff for also making hard decisions in this budget. Um that that really required a lot of diligence um and continued diligence from what I've seen as I've served on the board. Um so,
so thank you, Superintendent Huff. Um I I do appreciate the rigor that you have which focuses on priorities and continues to drive excellence in this budget. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any further discussion?
Okay. So, we will move on to public comment. Miss Zeno, could you read out the applicable rules? >> Yes, ma'am. Anyone wishing to speak shall first seek recognition by the presiding officer. Please come to the microphone and state your name and
address in a clear audible tone. For the record, please direct all your comments to the board president and not an individual an individual member of the board. Please remember to conduct yourself with decorum and respect when speaking and addressing the board.
Unless additional time is granted by the board president, please be respectful and keep your comments to three minutes or less. In addition, please note that this portion of the meeting is for public comment and not meant to be a back and forth discussion.
Hello, Diego Hu again. Um, first of all, a comment to Mayor Mayor Fagan. I'm sorry about the circumstances that kept you away and, you know, hope everything plays out for the best. Um, Mayor Fagan and I share that we have kids that we strive to educate in the academics, in
the arts, and in the athletics. And, um, I respect that, too. Um, I do want to go back to a really important point I made earlier. uh but I want to couch that in what I believe to be the role of this
board of school estimate. So we have a board of education whose role is to come up with the best budget for our students. Then we have a city council whose role it is to think about the overall tax levy for the citizens. And this board of school estimate has
members of council and members of the board of education so that those two priorities can get squared away. And it is important to develop tools for the board of education to be able to speak about numbers with the board uh with the
with the common council. And so I have a suggestion for that. I alluded to it in my previous comment, but I'm going to make it formally to this body which is to which it should really be um mentioned. And I think that uh Scott did a great job. Sorry, Superintendent
Huff did a great job um with the strategic plan and aligning behind the three pillars. I think everybody in the community understands those three pillars. And I think that by and large everybody in the community agrees that academics, athletics, and the arts are the three pillars of a phenomenal
education. And a budgetary exercise will by definition be about allocating priorities. And they're going to be kids who are going to be athletic. There are going to be kids who are going to be into science and um academics and um history and all that stuff and there's
going to be artists and we need to allocate amongst those three uh constituencies equally or not equally but equitably I should say and that brings me back to the cuts last year. The cuts last year was strictly
about academics and the arts. So I think that we need to take a look at the big picture. the employee benefits, transportation, regular programming, and break it up into three buckets. That's a way to understand whether we're being equitable or not. Okay? If we're
allocating one year too much money to the arts, we can stop the next year. You you cannot ever be perfectly equitable, but you you you can know which side you favored last year and you can course correct the next year. Okay? But you can only do that through transparency. So
strong recommendation look for academics, arts and athletics through for the budget. My other plug is for bilingual education. It's down 9% since 2024. That is 20% decline adjusting for
inflation. We have five or 6% of our kids who were born overseas. We have 37% of the kids have at least one parent who is um an immigrant. having had a child who is a graduate of
that program who in one year because he knew very well how to read in in Spanish I'll be very brief how to read in Spanish having he caught up in 7 months because the job was phenomenal cutting that is a a disgrace and it's not that
much money it should be put into the budget this year thank you >> any additional public comment Do I have a motion to close the discussion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any discussion?
>> Roll. >> On the motion to close public comments. Miss Landman >> I. >> Miss Lasserosina. >> Yes. >> Miss Conn. >> Yes. >> Miss Kelly. >> Yes. >> Mayor Fagan. >> Sorry, I was muted. Yes.
Thank you. The um public comments are closed. >> Agenda item seven, approval of the 2026 2027 annual school budget um as per the attached and as read out by Miss Zeno
earlier. I'm not certain if we need to read it again officially. No, we're good since we read it out earlier. Okay. Um so do I have a motion? So >> moved. Second. Any discussion?
>> Roll call. >> On the roll call to adopt the annual school budget. Miss Landman. >> I. >> Miss Lasserosino. >> No. >> Cena. >> No. >> Miss Conn. >> Yes. >> Miss Kelly? >> Yes. >> Mayor Fagan. >> Yes.
>> Motion carries. Four in favor, one opposed. >> And adjournment. Do I have a motion? So >> moved. Second. Any discussion? >> Roll call. >> On the roll call to adjourn the meeting.
Miss Landman. >> I. >> Miss Lasserina. >> Yes. >> Miss Conn. >> Yes. >> Miss Kelly. >> Yes. >> Mayor Fagan. >> Yes. >> Meeting is adjourned. >> Thank you all. >> Thank you. Thanks Melanie for running. >> Thank you, Miss Con. Thank you,
President Co, for running that.