I'm ready when you guys are. Elsie, >> you're doing the monthly. >> It's on the right on the top of the agenda. Take off the motion. I'll second
the microphone. Good evening. I would like to call this meeting to order. May I have a roll call, please? Miss Capiello. >> Miss Barbell, >> present. Mr. Cohan, >> here. >> Mrs. Fonte Macki >> here. Mrs. Faria >> here. >> Mr. McDow
>> present. >> Mrs. Beni >> here. >> Mr. Nassa >> here. >> Miss Santana >> present. Mrs. Scott >> here. Board member Miss Kante Mackey, will you please lead us in the flag salute?
>> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you so much, Miss Conte Mackey.
Will you also please read the mission statements? Mission statement of Township of Union Board of Education is to empire empower and inspire every student every day. >> Thank you, Miss Please read the
Open Public Meetings Act statement. >> Good evening. In accordance with the provision of the New Jersey Open Public Meeting Act, the Township of Union Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place there are published in the Star Ledger and Union County local sources posted in the
administrative building of 2369 Mars Avenue, Union, New Jersey, filed with the township clerk, and mailed to all persons, if any, who have requested said notice. The board of education offers member of the public an opportunity to address issues regarding items on the
agenda or on any issue. Thank you. The board will now go into Oh, I apologize. Individuals need to identify themselves by name and address. Public comments are limited to three minutes. Issues raised
by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board. All comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate. Board ask all members of the public to be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Comments regarding students of the employees of the board will not be
responded to by the board. Madam President, >> thank you so much, Miss and excuse me for that. Um, first and foremost, I I would I want to say good evening to those of you that are attending in person and welcome. Um, the board will now go into executive session to discuss
personnel and legal issues and action will be taken. May I have a motion to move into executive session? Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? The motion has been properly moved by
Miss Scott Hayden and Mr. McDow. May I have a roll call, please? Miss Capiello. >> Mr. Cohan. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Conte Mackey. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Faria. Yes, >> Mr. McDow. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Mani. >> Yes, >> Mr. Nasta. >> Yes, >> Miss Santana.
>> Yes, >> Mrs. Scott Heden. >> Yes, >> Miss Harbanel. >> Yes. Good evening everyone. Thank you for being here this evening. May I have a motion to move back into our public regular meeting? >> So move. >> Second.
This motion has been properly moved by somebody, Miss Kahen and seconded by Miss Santana. May I have a roll call, please? Miss Capiello. >> Mr. Cohan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Conte Macki, >> yes. >> Mrs. Faria, >> yes. >> Mr. McDow, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Bonitzi, >> yes. >> Mr. Nasta, >> yes. >> Miss Santana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scott Heden, >> yes. >> Miss Carbonel, >> yes. >> May I have a motion to approve the following minutes? So moved.
Second. >> This motion has been properly moved by Miss Mani and seconded by Miss Faria. May I have a roll call, please? Miss Capiello. >> Mr. Cohan. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Conte Mackey. >> Yes. Mrs. Faria. >> Yes. >> Mr. McDow.
>> Yes. >> Mrs. Benezi. >> Abstain from October 14th work session and executive session. And yes to October 28th. Mr. Nasta, >> yes. >> Miss Santana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scotty, >> yes. >> Miss Carbonel,
>> yes. Next, we will have our communications that are reflected on the operations and personnel agendas. Good evening everyone. I would like to take a moment to thank you all for being here tonight. As we begin the public
comment portion of this meeting, I want to th thank and remind everyone that we value your input and appreciate your time and effort in sharing your thoughts and concerns. We ask that all comments be respectful and constructive as we aim to foster a
productive dialogue that benefits our community and the work we are here to do. Each speaker will be given three minutes to address the board. Please remember that while we are eager to hear your perspectives, we are unable to engage in a discussion during this
portion of the meeting. However, your comments will be carefully considered by the board and if necessary followed up on. With this said, do I have any cards? Yes. Um, with this said, um, I invite Miss
and Margaret Shannon to come up. >> Second Thank you. >> Good evening, Miss Jeff. Please come up. >> No, take your time. Go ahead. Right. Well, but you still have three minutes.
While Miss Jeff is doing that, I do want to welcome uh our student liaison for this evening, uh Mr. Nick Bertoi. Did I >> Bert Berti? Thank you. I got it right.
One of our seniors. We're very excited to have you here. and um we're excited to hear your presentation. So, thank you. >> Okay. Um Virginia Jeff, 236 Brighton Avenue,
East Orange, New Jersey. Board President Carbonel. Good evening, board members, staff, and the public physically and virtually. There is a concern and comment on 12 grievance negotiations legal committees
in the resolution L1 approved settlement agreement. The October 17, 2025 Tuesday evening work session meeting was very alarming in that the board attorney interjected and usurped the role of the board
president regarding contract negotiations. This is not the first time that the board attorney has gone outside the role of consultant at a board meeting. The board attorney is a consultant whose primary function is to give legal advice
to the board only and has no authority to override the board president who is the presiding official at board of education meetings. that there is a settlement in place for the Union Township Education Association should make all future bargaining unit
negotiations for all other bargaining units resolved swiftly in a timely manner that will not have harmful effects for employees, students, parents, guardians, and the community. Adverse drawn out negotiations are
detrimental and will never be forgotten for all that are affected. This type of negotiation erodess morale and degrades confidence in education. That's my statement. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Now we'll proceed to the superintendence report. So, uh, before I pass it over to our student liaison, Nick, I just wanted to reflect on I'm going to keep this going. So, we kind of see the fluctuation in our enrollment during the year. As I
explained last month, which has me a little bit concerned about our budget um based on the October 15th date, we're already trend up a little bit based on uh over a month. So, uh we're going to keep uh identifying where our enrollment goes. Normally during a year, it does go
and and increase along the way. Um I just wanted to give a shout out to our IT department. Um this year, one of the new things is uh the covers. we uh uh as in committee with the uh uh leadership under Miss McKenzie uh in operations. Uh
it's something new we're doing. Um so we're we're we're continually trying to um reflect on um how we uh utilize but distribute um our Chromebooks because it is costly and it's a a big cost to the district. So, we're talking about things
like making sure they they stay where there's not as much damage, uh, which there's, uh, more to come, uh, as we reflect on on that as well. Uh, but, um, thank you. It's a a big undertaking more than than, uh, we realize it.
Um, next I would like to ask uh Ann Margaret Shannon and David Arminio to come up uh to just talk about a little bit about the 250th um uh the student that uh won for uh the logo.
Good evening. Uh the 250th committee was formed oh close to a year ago and we've been meeting monthly planning for next year's semiquinn centennial the 250th anniversary of our country. The
committee's mission is not just about the country in the 250 years. We are trying to focus more on Union's 250 years of progress from Connecticut farms to where we are today. And part of that
was to do different uh events along the way. We have many planned for next year. So keep a lookout. I'll be here reporting every month and telling you what's coming up. But one of the events that we uh had or two events for the
students from last year was to write an essay about Union and we had three winners in that. And then we had well we need a logo for the 250th anniversary of our town. and we put it
out to all the students and the judges decided that the winner this year would be Julian Dantis from Jefferson School. >> I want I wanted to uh thank you. I wanted to ask Mr. Zurker to come up and
join us too because Julian's in his class. But yeah, some John is a longtime uh employee of the board. He's retired now but still working. And uh Julian, you can come up be I just wanted to say
that um working with the town uh being able to give kids cash prizes. Uh working with the town and the board is something that the UTA that's probably the top of my list anyway. You know, tonight because of all the issues going on with hunger in the world and this
being American Education Week, we decided to have a food drive outside and give away free hot dogs and things like that because we are really truly uh we're so glad to be part of this community. So, to be able to help our students uh here, he's a very good artist. So, hopefully this will help him
with his art supplies. But, Mr. Zurkin, did you want to speak about Julian in your class? Um, you know, I when I found out that he was such a good artist, um, we needed a new sign for our Halloween parade. And who did I tap into? Julian.
And it was amazing. And I still have it displayed in the classroom. So, very proud of him. >> Congratulations. >> Did you want to say thank you to everybody or say a few words? >> Uh, say thank you. >> Thank you. Uh just so you know it's his logo that
he created is up there on the >> on the screen. >> Yeah, sure. Madame President or the board, do you any comments before I move on? Sometimes I rush. I I don't want to uh
>> congratulations. >> How about the >> uh sure? >> Yeah, maybe. >> Let me know. So, uh, again, um, a lot of stuff part of my, uh, presentation. I don't go too deep into everything, but as you could see, uh, there's some information on
the, uh, bilingual ESL world language. Um, some of the things going on, classroom celebrations, as well as adult classes. So, make sure if you're if I'm not going into things, uh, you know, reading everything that you check this out. It is posted online. But uh want to
get over to uh our student liaison. I'm excited to hear all the good stuff going on that he's going to share. Um also uh this month TU's attendance initiative. Congratulations Connecticut Farms 96.61. Those that don't realize we're doing a
big push on attendance. It's the state has really put an onus on the districts to get parents involved when their kids aren't coming to school regularly. So uh again that's awesome. 96 uh.61 61 uh%. Um but overall we're seeing a a better
start to the year attendance-wise with our our care teams and stuff like that. Right. >> Good competition. >> Yes. >> So congrats. And next, Nick, I'll pass it on to you. >> Hey, I am good. >> Yeah.
>> All right. So, first off, we have the marking period one honoral. We had principal honoral which is uh students received all A's. We had 232 students. Uh we had high honoral which was 622 students which was all A's and B's. And
for high honoral we had 118 students that received all A's, B's and one C plus. Uh right here we have um a club fair. Many students got to uh see many clubs that were offered at the high school.
Here are um some of the fall sports. We had the girls volleyball team and impressive the girls soccer team that finished 136 and three. Uh they made it to the section 2 group four tournament. They won their first game versus
Philipsburg one- nothing and they were eliminated final game verse in a shootout one- nothing off penalty kicks. Right here's a play that um many many people were uh interested in. It was sold out in uh two days.
Right here uh from the fall we had the football team and the uh boys soccer team. Here are um some of the individual sports we have at the high school athletes of the month for um September and October.
Uh during the fall, we got to see some big big achieve achievements at the high school. We had senior Isabella Runa who finished her high school career with over a 100 goals and had over 13 goals alone in the month of October. Jir Hall,
a running back at the high school, finished the season with a thousand rushing yards and over 14 rushing touchdowns. >> WOW. >> Going back to football, we have um three of our guys who are expected to play at the next level. In the middle, we have
senior captain Ouie Ignasen, who's uh committed to Temple University. On the left, we have Elijah Green. He's a sophomore with six division one offers. His top two are Syracuse and Yukon. On the right, we have David Johnson,
another sophomore at the high school. He has four division one offers. His top two are Duke University and Boston College. >> Um for the middle school uh sports in the fall, very impressive. The football team finished six and two with a new
football coach. Had over 150 school athletes. And the boys soccer team for the middle school had an undefeated season 13-0. Here's a little winter preview. We have uh a new basketball coach, which is huge for the school. He's also uh at
the high school for the special education department. Um, right now for the wrestling team, we have three wrestlers, all returning from last year, who are ranked all in the top 20 of New Jersey. >> Um, right here we have the boys and girls swimming team who was very good
last season. We have track who had four state champions, eight state places, and cross country was division champions. On the bottom, we had wrestling who finished 18 and n last season. They had six region qualifiers and were division
champs here. Uh we had the turkey splash in Albury Park for the special needs here for Halloween. Uh really good day at the high school. Um, we had tape uh Mr. Iker. So, all the students just had
fun with that. Taping Mr. Iker up on the wall and all the staff participating Halloween costumes. We had Veterans Day uh for the township of union honoring our first sergeant. Here are some of the student uh section
our fans from the theme football games from the Friday nights for the football games. Um, some of the events we had, uh, senior sunrise in October where all the seniors came on the football field around 6:00 in the morning. Uh, it was really cool. We had a bonfire and, um, a
movie movie night. And then to finish it, uh, we had two alumni games. We had alumni day for basketball and we had alumni day for football. Thank you. Thank you, Nick. And those that don't
know, Nick's joined us tonight. During the year, Nick will be wrestling a ton of matches. Go out and join Nick for one of his matches. Uh, our wrestling team is doing very well in the last few years. And Nick is just one of our phenomenal wrestlers. So, uh, thank you
very much. >> Thank you. >> Any questions, anyone, or keep moving on? comments for first of all phenomenal job and um should I get an autograph now or later
just in case? Just in case. >> Um where you know what are your plans? I know that you're a senior. What are your plans after high school graduation? >> Um well wrestling is not my only sport. I do football and baseball.
>> Oh. Um, so right now, um, I'm just going to probably wait after the wrestling season to see, um, what other, uh, scholarship and schools I could I have a couple of division two and, uh, division three for wrestling, but um, after I look to plan to, uh, be in college and
my, uh, major for criminal justice. >> Wonderful. Wonderful. >> Well, many blessings to you. We're very proud of you. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else? No. >> All right, Dr. Van. >> So, as we move on with the monthly presentations,
>> is your family here, >> his uh grandparents >> and his mom? >> Yeah. Let's have them take a picture. Yeah. And we do that as part of our Let's get up and show some love. >> Memorialized this evening. >> Oh, yeah. Mom, Dad,
>> we're taking a picture. >> Keep it rolling. You guys want to stand? >> I can get you. Get a family one first. >> Yeah. One more. >> That's a special iPhone. Thank you again.
>> Thank you. >> Thanks again. Thank you. >> Thank you again. >> Thank you so much. So, as we shift to our monthly presentations, we have uh another two great presentations tonight. Uh Miss
will be up next. But first, uh Miss Hart. Um the title is great, special projects, because Miss Hart, as you see in her presentation, she's kind of helping out everywhere. Uh she's going to highlight some of the main components of things she's doing, but uh uh you
know, lot to Good evening, Miss Hart. Thank you for being with us. >> Hi, everybody. >> Um, I um my arthritis is kicking up, so I'm going to sit. I hope that's okay. Uh, I am Anne Hart. A lot of you don't
know me from looking at me, but I have emailed most of you last night. um the parents because the report cards came out. Basically, if it starts with hello everyone, it was from me. Um I am a self-proclaimed math geek and computer
nerd. I've been employed by the township for um over 30 years, which is more than half my life. And um I have worked as a math and computer science teacher. I have been the computer room. That's what they used
to call it when not everybody had a computer. The computer room uh data coordinator and scheduler for the high school. Then it became the middle school and the high school and then it became K to 12. Um I've been a supervisor for uh
math, computers, the librarians at one point. Don't know why as a math teacher, right? and um I don't know something else and I have been a director for uh a
long time. Uh department of special projects people don't really know what that is but basically I'm a district resource and I take care of things that don't fall within a specific department. I
offer support, training, guidance and solutions to everything that everybody needs. you need something, people say, "Who do I call?" And somebody usually goes, "Oh, ask Dian Horn. She'll answer you." And that's me.
Um, I do have a vision and a goal and a mission. And basically it is to um uh focus on compliance to make sure that all the data and information is
organized and submitted to the state or the feds or the county on time and with no errors. Okay. So what do I do? Well, here you go. This is my job. off the top of my head. I kept thinking of other things
while I was sleeping, but let's break it down because I'm not gonna sit here and mess with all that. Although, I do like my picture. Uh data and reporting. I report to the feds, the county, and the state. Um and anything the data that they want
to know or that anyone else wants to know, that comes from me. Next, uh state In the state of New Jersey, we have New Jersey Home Room, we have New Jersey Edsert, and New Jersey sleds. Home room
takes care of a lot of the basic information. My biggest ones are the ASSA, which is the application for state school aid. I've been doing it since 1999. And um New Jersey Cusack,
I'm a big part of that. I'm in a whole bunch of different departments when it comes there. the CDS and the school register summary at the end of the year for New Jersey Edsert. I take care of the uh people applying for their certifications, getting the
mentors, getting them ready to go to apply for their certifications and I just uh you know make sure everything's on track. Um and then NJ Smart, which has become NJ Sleds,
which is now a cloud-based system. It has a strong data governance and it's designed to meet the everchanging policy and compliance needs. I got that off the internet. It's real. It's like new new. It's like
a month old. The NJ sleds. Um, I take care of the Genesis student information system, the SIS, and basically anything that is in Genesis about a child, about
their grades, about a teacher, the education part, um, the syncs with other platforms goes through me. It hurts my brain. front line. I take care of the student
504 maintenance. I take care of the district subs. The staff attendance goes through there and then syncs over to schoolify which is next. Uh professional de development and certified certified staff their evaluations
and that is has moved over migrated over to um uh schooly which is next. Um I'm a big part of uh personnel and schoolify or schooly is
our staff management system. I take care I've set everything up. I implement I'm and maintenance. I take care of all the user accounts from our end. I take care of the substitute data and their payroll.
Um I made everything into electronic time sheets. And now I have I have and I'm setting up pretty much done all the evaluations, observations and professional development. Uh next is my factotem
because I am a math teacher at heart. So I had to throw in some math words. Uh uh I have many diverse responsibilities. I take care of student teachers. I set them up with their I work with their colleges. Some of the colleges that
we've worked with recently are up there. Um, I've set I set them up. I make sure they're doing all right. I try to get them with a cooperating teacher that will balance them out and they'll work well together.
I take care of the employee portal, the teacher grading portal, the parent portal, and the student portal. Um, so if anybody has a problem logging on or getting into anything like that, they email parent access, which is
basically me and we get everything set up in there. Um, my favorite part is the support and assistance where I help especially students. If I get a student who emails me and they're polite and they're sweet and everything, I'll just
go all out to whatever I can do to make whatever they need good. Um, as I said earlier, I'm the go-to. I'm the problem solver. You say, you know, I need these stats. You call me and even if I don't know how to do it, I'll figure it out and I'll get you it
usually within the same day. Uh, good. Oh, and there we did the circle. What's new in special projects this year? We are now at the employee portals being 100% um integration.
Everybody who receives a paycheck is employed by the board of ed has an account. We have the onboarding setup for the new employees. We have um the payroll and their direct deposit, their tax statements, their contracts, their documents, electronic
time sheets, the healthc care tab is in there for them, their attendance, their uh we're setting up well, we set up a couple swipe stations where everybody will use their ID to swipe in and out of buildings. And now the evaluations
um which is the next one. I think I skipped something. Um all the evaluations are now in schoolify. This is for everyone no matter what they do. We used to only
have um certified staff, meaning teachers and counselors and things like that. But now I have it set up that everyone will get um observed through SchoolFi. I was able to save us by setting this up into SchoolFi and
setting it up ourselves. I was able to save us about $65,000. A little bit more more if you count what it would have cost somebody else to set it up. And uh Right. And um like I said, the new system takes care of everyone. So we'll be evaluated
um through SchoolFi and the evaluations are now stored in their employee portal which everyone has and they can go through and um look up look it up anytime they want, see how they're doing and see what's going on. I am almost
done. Uh, the last thing that's new is the that NJ Smart has become NJ Sleds. It's supposed to be streamlined, but right now it's freaking everybody out except for me because I figured it
out. Um the sleds it's uh it's there's a new module for staff vacancy where the districts will keep track of their open positions and you know how they're looking for people, how many people applied for it, how many people you um
you know you're you're hiring. Um, we were able to successfully submit with zero errors so far the staff vacancy, the student management where we get their SID numbers, their state ID numbers, and the staff management where
we get the SMIDs which are staff member IDs. Currently, we're working on graduation appeals, the state assessment submission, and the performance reports. Any questions?
>> Wait, I want to put my thing up again because I love this. >> Thank you, Miss Hart. And and as you guys know, we highlighted, I think a couple months ago, that we uh successfully uh passed CQAC. A lot of the compliance stuff that never made it to the CQAC
visitation, it's automatically all data behind the scenes. A lot of that it falls under uh Mrs. Hart and making sure that the data is getting uploaded where it didn't come back where we lost points on QAC in certain areas. And then the other thing I wanted to also highlight
is and Miss will will definitely uh um possibly touch on this in the future is that new module staff vacancy states again uh they come along and and and starting to connect the dots. You know with all the issues budgetary in the
state um you know some of the stories you're hearing on the news and stuff about how short districts are. the state could really see number one what obviously everyone's budget is but how many vacancies you have. So they could also kind of see statewide how many vacancies we have in different areas. So
it's interesting that the state went to this. This is brand new and it's interesting to see where they go with it. But uh Miss and I have been kind of talking about uh what's the going to be the difference in the future now that this component is being uploaded to the state. So and Miss Hart,
thank you. Uh uh as you said, you do help out a lot of people throughout our district. I know the board might have some questions, so you're not you're not running away yet. So the board might have some questions. Anyone? >> First of all, um you know, after you retire, you should take a a show in
comedy because you're very very funny. I love the the way that you presented all of this. Um but I'm going to begin with my colleague, Miss Santana. >> I'll be quick first, but I wanted to Something so small, >> something so small as Chromebook covers
that are now on the the Chromebooks is going to save a lot of broken screens. So, thank you for that with with for the IT department. Um I recently saw it on on one of my ch children's um and I said, "Where'd you get that? Did I buy that?" And they said, "The school." So, it it's just part for the course that it
came up here. It was excellent. And Miss Anhart. So over the years, right, I've always So, oh, Anne Hart does this. An Hart does this. Thank you for that lovely presentation that kind of puts it all together uh on all that you do. Uh so my thing something similar. It's
funny that um Madame President says that uh I want to make sure that we what if tomorrow you win the lotto or if and when you retire there is somebody that can everything that you do kind of like step down because when we are in these
great organizations what we want to do is make sure that when I leave somebody's here to to keep it going in the same momentum that we currently are. So Miss Anheart squared right make sure that that we're looking for that of course that's Dr. Benquista's job. Um, but thank you for all that you do. Thank
you for that great amazing presentation and now we have to kind of bottle you up and and and share that knowledge with all. And then um, Mr. Berilotti, thank you so much for being here. That great presentation. I blinked and you grew up. Thank you so much for all that
you do. Football, baseball, wrestling. I'm excited to see this year and for many, many more years. Thank you, baby. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. and more importantly that you're going to study criminal justice. Okay, that's the one that stuck with me. Um, Miss
Hart, thank you so much for um a very lively presentation and giving us a better glimpse as to the things that you are responsible for within the district. Um sometimes we hear titles um and even when you even read a job description
it's hard to conceptualize all that takes place on a day-to-day. So um this gave us a bird's eye view as to all the responsibilities that you have under your um you know job domain. Thank
you. Um very very quickly I I do have a a question. So the output, you know, and I I don't know if the public is aware, one of the things that you do is make sure that we remain um accountable to the standards
set either at the state level or federal and that could easily impact um our funding in some cases. Um but you're not the sole individual inputting data.
What how can you talk a little bit about the process that you engage in with the individuals that input the data when that data may be missing or is inaccurate because it does impact the
reports that you provide which later impact our NJ smart reports our New Jersey um performance report that many individuals look at when they're trying to move to a particular particular town >> and um recently we we know that we're in
a cap because of attendance. So how do you make sure that whatever we submit is as accurate as possible and do you co and my second question is how do you coordinate because I saw here crosswalks with it and HR
talk a little bit about that as well if that's okay. >> Okay. Um well I the schools I guess if we're going to talk about attendance they enter every day when the children are absent. I'll go through I'll make sure that
everything was posted that the attendance was there. When I go to do the reporting I mean again I don't enter the individual attendance. >> No I I'll give you a hypothetical. Let's not use that one because we're already dealing with that. Let's say hypothetically
um the course roster report I I'm sure it still exists under sled um link tying every um teacher and student to a particular course. Sometimes there may be uh a cell that doesn't have that
data. How do you go about scrubbing the data periodically to make sure that we have the data that we need in our system so that once it's uploaded? We are playing to win, I guess, for lack of a better word. >> Right. Right. Well, I keep an eye on it
all year. I I watch through it. There's reports that I can run where I can look and honestly, I've been doing it for so long that I can spot things that are wrong. Um but most of like say for the course roster it's to make sure the kids are connected
to the correct teacher. So that's one of the things I do in the Genesis is I make sure that if someone goes out or someone leaves or someone new comes in that I take um I make sure everything's uh inputed and coded correctly. So, while I
don't always do all the input myself, what I do do is I go through and I make sure that it was in there. I check the um the uh agendas for the people coming
and going, people on leave, people on this, make sure that matches with who's responsible for that data, for that, you know, for that grade, for that class, for whatever. Um things like that. It's basically just keeping track of it. You can't let everything build up until
June. If I look at it all the time, then I know what is important and what isn't. Um for It's good. >> Okay. No, I need to answer. >> Oh, yes. >> Okay. And then for um
>> your collaboration with other >> my Yeah. Yeah. Well, everybody knows I'm there. Anybody needs something, they reach out. They they come through. If I notice something's wrong or if something looks a little funky, then I'll give them a call and say, "This doesn't look right. I don't think this is right. I
ran the report and it's not coming out correctly." Um, uh, Vinnie's right across the hall from me, Mr. Ratino, the director of HR. And if I look and I'm doing a staff
management report and something looks a little weird, then I reach out and Vinnie and I figure it out together, you know, but we they you get errors. Um but they're identified and we're able to see them.
>> Well, thank you so much, Miss Hart. Um and thank you for being here tonight. Oh, I I more than enjoyed it. >> Thank you. >> I know so many of you for so many I mean some of us actually worked together >> a hundred years ago. >> I'm dating yourself. >> But uh
but um yeah, no it's it was very lovely. I thank you for having me and if you need anything aart twunschools.org shoot me an email and I'll take care of you, >> right, Mrs. Mackey? didn't know. >> Well, and I have to say that's the thing
I think I highlight the most. She does so much. She's in like the glue to a lot of different areas of our district. But the the one thing I appreciate is when I come to her and I say, "I need this or how do we figure this out or what's wrong with this?" She's not afraid to jump in and and help. even though it
might not be tied to specifically one of these things and and you know some things you can make with that a lot of fluff and it's pretty and that a lot of this stuff is compliance. It's it's not. Some people might think it's boring, but it's so crucial to the success of our
district. And without having someone that's thorough, uh, that could figure things out that could it's tedious work sometimes and mistakes happen when people don't like dealing with tedious work, but like those state reportings. When we find out that we upload it, it might not seem like a lot to someone.
When we upload a report to the state or federal and there's zero errors and it was accepted, that's huge. Um, it's not always that districts. It's that easy. But Miss Hart's experience and like she said, you get to know these things. Um uh but we've had conversations that were
brought up about uh doing so much and making sure we have people uh uh to always be able to step in and and and pick pick up a piece of it if we need to. But thank you again for all you do. >> Thank you so much. Thank you, Miss Hart.
And I have promised that I will not retire. >> She has a way to go. >> So, uh, next, uh, I don't know if it's going to be, uh, what was it? Jeopardy last time or, uh, but she's going to
still, uh, make it creative and fun. Miss uh, if you could come up and share your presentation >> right here. I got both for you. Which one? I'm a lefty, so hold on. >> Take the pen. >> Good night.
Good evening. Good evening. I'm Yolanda school business administrator for the district. Um I was tasked to provide um an overview of the um one of the pillars of the business um office. Um
the business office is the cornerstone of an organization and we are providing at least from my purview the fiscal and accountability. >> Which one? The center. >> Okay.
and I will not be briefly before you. Um the business office core functions uh are managing the payroll, benefits, purchasing and contracts, risk management and insurance, food service,
fiscal management, budgeting and our compliance and reporting, payroll and benefits. We need to ensure that all our employees are paid accurately and on time and also to ensure proper taxes and deductions are
withheld. We are in collaboration obviously with payroll I mean um personnel because the information once a employee enters into the district all that demographic information is all entered by human resources and payroll
extracts that information. um from that database. So it is very critical that the two departments um collaborate benefits. Our districts offer a variety of plans. Um, Fair View is our um,
broker and we're constantly working with them on strategizing on how to improve and to maybe um, strategize and encourage employees to possibly uh,
move to maybe a more practical or more cost um, effective plan. Okay, next is the purchasing, risk management and accounts payable. Uh purchasing is how we procure to buy
these supplies and material and equipment and things of that nature. Um the procurement process involves uh making sure that the vendor is an approved vendor have a W9. um as well is going through the uh
requisition uh by getting a a uh proposal um and then it actually turns into a purchase order. Uh we produce about 4,000 or so um purchase orders in a year. Um our budget is roughly 180
something uh million dollars. I personally like to sign almost all of the purchase orders because it helps me to identify what really what we're purchasing and to do a lot of spot checks um before I approve. So you're
looking at dates, times, proposals, amounts, making sure that the vendor is an approved vendor. There have been a couple of times when vendors are saying they are part of say a cooperative or a state um approved and we find out they're really not. Um monthly you see
the report the state uh monthly we have our accounts payable person check in to make sure um those vendor contracts when they expire find out how um have them to uh renew. So there's a lot of checks and
balances that we do um in the uh purchasing um area. Uh insurance we have a lot of insurance. We mainly talk about the main common one. You got the health insurance, but we also have many other, as you can see, the various different
coverages. Um, you have your um liability, cyber, property, um, equipment, crime, terror, um, and, uh, workers comp. Uh, year to date, we have we, um, reported roughly 55 total
workers comp claims. Today, we only have two that are still out of work, and I believe there are two teachers and two custodians, I believe. two and two. Um so that's a lot of paper um work that we um do accounts payable. Uh that's very
critical because that is helping us with our cash flow. So we need to see on a month basis how much we are um paying out. Um each piece of paper that we uh purchase order that we uh attempt to pay, we have at least four or five
pieces of paper. We have to make sure the goods are received. We have to make sure we have the proposal. We have to make sure we have an invoice itemized. Um and we need to have uh the vendor vouch. Um a purchase order is considered
a contract. Uh so it is binding. Um and uh we try to make our payments on a timely basis so that we can properly um it impacts our cash flow. This picture I kind of like because it's like never a dull day and I'm sure I'm
not the only department where at any drop of the dime we're doing multiple uh things. Uh so other uh task and responsibilities include uh charter school payments and that's managing and putting that together. We have roughly
11 charter schools of uh roughly 47 students that we're paying. Uh that budget amount is close to $900,000. Um Aiden Loom, which is a reimbursement to parents for their students that are
in um charters. Most of them are non-public. Uh we have roughly 595 uh students that attend our nonpublic. We have two non-public schools. Um these are reimbursements
and uh we're paying each um parent 1,177 uh for the school year. We also have choice schools. We have two choice schools. Um in addition to that uh debt service, we have bonds and uh currently
we have four outstanding debt bonds totaling roughly $19.4 million. uh we're due to uh knock one of them off 2029 and then the latter one will be 2040.
Okay. Uh then we have other items uh opal request and then uh we have food service. food service. Um, Pmptonian is our food service um, food management and they
oversee our kids um, the nutrition program. We have roughly 5,000 uh, breakfast and lunch meals that we prepare on a daily basis. And then ultimately it's the budget budget development and oversight
business office. We try to pull together um a forecast or project what our state aid and our tax levy revenue will be each year. Um we know uh typically we do flat because of the things that are
going on. Um, we just feel it's more conservative to budget flat. What happened? Okay, here we are. Um, so we're at this point in time, we're really at the beginning of the budget season uh
development. Uh, the budget season starts with the um enrollment on October 15th. We do see that we have lost some students at this present time compared to last year. Um so that is going to
impact our state aid. We just don't know when. Um the next phase of the preparation is sending out the instructions enrollment. Uh we want to know what the um staffing looks like and um their non
salary uh budget items. Then we move into we will be meeting with the principles department heads in the beginning of uh December. Uh there's a budget committee where we make sure all areas are identified. We'll have the
IT. We'll have the grants person obviously. We will have our assistant superintendence operations and TNL um the superintendent and myself buildings and grounds and transportation
at the table um to discuss the needs and we want to make sure everyone's at the table uh when we're discussing programs are they going to be at the school not you know that is part of our our our process
um from there Um, and that process can be several times going back and forth. Um, just trying to see what is best for the district overall. Um, then the
public um budget hearing will be in March of 26. Then in April, we will adopt and then we implement Okay. And also we have a lot of uh like Ann
said too, we have a lot of state and federal reporting and like she said, we collaborate with each area. Some of them overlap, but we have a set of a lot of um reporting that um the fiscal and
accounting um has to submit as well. And I just listed a few of them. Extraordinary aid, e-wig, e-wig is an application of home room. And that program allows us to draw down our reimbursement from our fund 20. Um,
chapter 44 is the health, you got the budget, that's home room, and then we have our summary sum of auditors. So at the end of the year, we have an independent auditor come in and assess
our processes to see how efficient we are, make recommendations, and we've been doing pretty good keeping our um recommendations have been under say two to three uh recommendations from our
auditors. So we're proud about that. >> Minimum. >> Oh yeah, that's minimum. Yeah. for $180 million. I think you know we're we're there's still a lot of work to be done proving processes. Um and that's what we
look for to try to improve. So overall we're overseeing those critical areas to help support our main goal which is our um to ensure that our students um and staff have um be successful. Thank you.
And and the other thing I just want to reinforce as Miss has said, we're starting going through the a lot of budget meetings coming up and those that probably do know. Um we go through it's an extensive process to build an accurate budget for the following year
yet we don't really know our numbers from the state until March fe end of February >> last Thursday of February. So a lot of things could change from February when you get your numbers which like last million last year you know we lost a lot
uh to having to have it fully approved in a short period of time. So you have to be ready really to to change on a dime to shift if the anticipated money isn't what you you thought. So there
it's stressful I could tell you uh working with Miss and the team. Uh but it's also it's it's difficult at times because it's you're you're you're projecting you're estimating and sometimes you're hoping you stay flat and you don't and that's why I keep
honing in on our there will be an impact on our enrollment of October 15th even though we're growing. It's not if we could get back to the number we ended with last year, but it's that October 15th number that people might not realize and there will be an impact in
some area of the funding just based on that one little identifying mark. So, uh I know the board probably has some questions >> or comments. >> Great job as usual. Um I do miss the Jeopardy presentation. I'm not going to
lie, but um um excellent job in making this make sense because it's very technical. Um like Annne Hart, it's work that's done behind the scenes that keeps the district moving along. So kudos to you, Miss And kudos to you even more for saying no sometimes.
>> Um one of our major responsibilities is to remain fiscally solvent. >> Um and you help us in that endeavor. So, we're very very grateful to you. >> Um, Miss um, I saw here I do have
one question that, um, the final budget will be submitted, I guess, to the county in March, March, April. So, in March, it's a tenative budget. So what we pretty much do is have a we put the budget together as a draft and we have a
um a contingency because like Jerry said between the final budget which is in April we have literally maybe two and a half to three weeks to submit that final budget. the budget app, which is part of the New Jersey home room, is comprised
of maybe a hundred different um sheets, per se. Um and you're talking about over 3,000 um account ledgers. Um so, and there's a lot of ticks and ties that have to match. Like
he says, um we're gratified when we um have no fatal errors. um you know but yes we have two and a half weeks uh to submit the fully um approved balanced budget and so we need to have uh a
couple of scenarios based on the um you know >> preparation for that >> correct >> and it ultimately is approved by the county superintendent's office >> it's approved by the board first and then it's submitted to the county county will review it make their
recommendations or you know and um ultimately approve the budget. >> And um just I think I know the answer, but I want to make sure that everybody else does. >> In your presentation, one of the things that you talked about was enrollment. And if I recall correctly, our numbers
have dropped by a couple hundred. >> I think it was close. >> Yeah. Right. Um how does that impact our budget if we remain in the future for or for next year? So, so in a sense, part of the funding
formula is based on your enrollment and they only take that snapshot once a year. So, it's always that October 15th of who's enrolled in your district. So, last year we were uh I think it was like approximately 180 students higher.
>> So, I don't know specifically I can't answer specifically. It's >> but it's going to impact the budget. >> Yes, it is. the more students you get obviously more state state aid >> state aid >> for that area what the calculation is you know >> and it's complex because um they break
the students down to so many different categories and it's a weighted average um so yes we're anticipating >> some impact >> yes and we meet with um as a matter of fact Jerry and I have to meet um not only with the auditors but with the
county uh mid year to see how we're fairing and what is our expectation uh for the future. Um so again, >> we're absolutely next um actually in two weeks. Um so there's a form that they want us to fill out and we're just going
to have a conversation on various different areas where we think we may fall short. Um they may offer some recommendations on how, you know, um to balance the budget. Um but we all know it has to balance.
>> Absolutely. So um we have to think there and and part of the challenge is so many areas within the organization you know everybody's vying for their district >> for their their their expenses. So it
comes very challenging when we have to you know reduce um or possibly cut. Um so then that's where the heads come together, the ELT team, um the supervisors and everyone to try to see what is the best for the
district and um based on that, you know, we'll determine what we feel uh might need to be reduced or cut. >> Very very thank you so much for that explanation. Um, and I know that that that's compounded
>> when those students that left have a particular classification >> or belong to one of those special categories because that means title one, title three, IDA, >> there's a a host of different areas
where we're impacted. Um >> I know last year um because of the transition the federal aid was delayed in being um informed to the districts. Is that something that we have under
wraps or do do we think that that's going to happen again? It's still early. >> It could it would probably happen, but they already kind of put us on notice that in the change of offices governorship >> that anticipate like some delays with that. Okay.
>> Because a new governor's coming in, >> you know, there might be some information not given out as if the same person. >> And I know that there's been a couple of articles written about the controversy in New Jersey with the new funding for formula. So, I know that they're looking
at that very seriously >> and they offered a platform where you could >> survey >> submit uh your thoughts in a sense of reflection on and and I know I definitely I put mine in. >> Yes. >> Don't know if it'll help but
>> we're such an unique district where uh our our town so the part of the funding formula is also how well your township's doing your your community. It's >> not just a district. >> It doesn't necessarily mirror where district's at when we're at almost the
60% about 56% last I checked pretty reduced numbers. >> So um it doesn't necessarily come out in the funding the needs of the the schools in that sense. So I think the state's really trying to look at it and also the cost of special ed. They're looking at that as well to see if there's a
different way that they could fund or or give additional funding for that. So it'll be interesting to see where the state goes. But I know for us being unique in a sense um I think we sometimes end up on the tail end of it. But we keep advocating and fighting.
Luckily over you everyone has seen we have uh legislators and and people that that >> that advocate for us >> very hard in advocating >> absolutely >> the things we need. So we're going to keep that going as well as anything we
can to try to get the state to see that it doesn't It's not one size fits all in a sense. >> Yes. Well, thank you so much. Thank you, Miss and Dr. Benquista. Excellent present. >> Thank you, Miss I appreciate that. >> So, um I'll go through and finish up
quick because I know uh these presentations do uh we spend a lot of time on. They're very valuable for people not just to see who's doing the work, uh putting a face to it, but some of the things that are going on. I just want to highlight um I'm going to continue each month picking a little bit
of part of our strategic plan and remember this is a three-year plan. So you're going to see areas not maybe worked on yet. Um and there is the dashboard. I'm I'm going to hit in on the teaching and learning uh part tonight. Um you know, but there's our
targets and you see we're making we're progressing. I'm not going to go through and reading it. One of the things is uh I wanted to highlight is the that 1.2 2% of grade levels common assessments because I think it's very important to highlight that um if I did this next
month that 38% current is even going to be probably a good chunk higher uh because they're going to be having uh in the next few weeks uh more completed but um I'm going to try to keep highlighting there is a dashboard like I said that we
can reflect but uh just so you see we're we're we are going back to our strategic plan and making sure we're we're staying in tune in touch with it to see where where uh our district's going. Um and like I said, some of the areas that we might not be touching on today, we it's
a three-year plan at this point and we could pivot along the way like we said when we were creating it. Um but we are showing progress in in all the areas. So that's that's great. Uh as I have to do uh report and affirm.
So, uh, hip incidents to report for that period of, uh, November 12th to the 18th, um, met the criteria two at Bernett, unfounded, two between Battle Hill and Hannah Caldwell, excuse me, and inconclusive, uh, at Union High School 2,
starting to get no voice. Uh, firming for him for the period of 29th to November 11th, October 29th, there was three. two at um met the criteria, two at the high school, one at Bernett, unfounded, one at Connecticut Farms.
And real quickly, last month or last uh meeting, we spoke about uh you know, really doing a lot with the community with the food banks, with uh holidays coming up. I'm happy to say that so far 23 turkeys have been donated. Uh we are
starting a we're continuing with the food drives. We're trying to support also the living word church as we our district supported a lot and we're going to highlight uh I know the Connecticut farms uh as well food pantry. So we're we're supporting a lot of entities in
union for the and I know Miss Shannon mentioned it as well. Uh uh there's not enough of us that could um help gather uh food. The food pantries are running lower than they've ever have. So the I love the aspect of the community in in
many aspects. What I cared about was when I was looking into this is that it's for our comm like as much as we can to to really give back to our community because we have a lot of need here. So, we're going to highlight try to get every little thing we did and show what our community educational community did
for the community uh next month. So, I'm really excited about that. But with the holidays coming um you know and being thankful for the holidays, we we want we want to try to support it as much as we can. and we're continuing to to to do that throughout our district. So, thank
you to everyone uh staff community for for joining us on this uh endeavor. Um some highlights for November. Again, I'm not going to read through it, but you guys could go back later and and look at the full presentation. I have to say the veterans uh program was was
excellent to be a part of. Um, and I'm I'm happy uh that one of our uh as well is uh not just somebody from the community, but they highlighted a lot of great uh wonderful uh people that served and one of them was uh uh Sergeant
Shaml, which does a phenomenal job with our students. I'm happy to say we're we're trending in the in the right direction. Uh when I say connectivity, um connecting with parents, it's it's at least someone from that household. Um, and if not 100%, we're very close to
100%. Uh, being connected. Um, so it it's it's really getting there. And out of some other districts that went to Parent Square at the same time we are, we're we're way above them in in the roll out. So again, I want to thank everyone. Um, you know, with Thanksgiving coming up, I I appreciate
everyone's hard work and and dedication to our school district and just thank the community for everything we do here, not just within our schools. So, Madame President, um you know, that concludes my uh presentation for tonight. >> Very thorough.
Dr. Benquist that if you will permit me um and I think about this every month um and I never do it because we're so jam-packed all the time but there there are two additional people before Thanksgiving that I do want to recognize
um that are behind the scenes and really take care of us and that is Miss Diane Capiello Hello Diane. Thank you so much for being the glue that holds us all together. So,
thank you. We appreciate you. Um, and the other person is Mr. S. Terza. Yeah, S. I see it in your eyes. The bags under your eyes. um how tired you look but you never say
no and you're there for not just the district but the entire community and I just want to say thank you from all of us. Um anybody else feel like recognizing someone or well if you think about it we got another month or two
before the holidays. Um and um happy Thanksgiving to all of you. God bless. And um aside from food, um that's even secondary at this point. Just be with somebody that you love and that loves you, I think is priority. Um if you have
to eat a plantain, share a plantain and a piece of cheese. As long as you're together with people that really care about you, I think that that's what's important. Um I hope you spend it with family and loved ones. And happy Thanksgiving to the board. Um thank you.
Next month we will have in my promise to continue with the presentations. My successor will probably be doing the same thing, but uh we will have presentations from special education and the multilingual supervisor.
Um so we're looking forward to that as well. And this is all in in the with the goal to continue to educate ourselves as well as the public. Um
now we're going to move into the education and student discipline committee chairs Miss Mani and Miss Faria to present the resolutions that will be voted on tonight. >> Hi, good evening everyone. Just wanted to give a a few um overviews of some of
the motions that we're going to be voting on. A lot of it is just permission to either receive funds or apply for additional funding. Um but we do want to and thanking someone um Miss Cazoa who really just goes above and
beyond to always make sure that we that we have additional funds. Um specifically there is one here. I believe it's E5. um where abruptly a program was ended, but luckily the state of New Jersey I think had additional funds and we're one
of the few districts who are able to tap into that. So that she's always finding a way to maximize every single dollar into our district. So just really wanted to thank her um for all of that work and her team. Um everything else is pretty standard. um in case there's any
questions about the educational foundation application is just to make sure that all of the uh foundation scholarships that are being asked by teachers are aligned to our strategic plan. So that was the only addition to that application. Um and then all of the
affiliation agreements there are really um supporting new employee or new um personnel or who's looking to advance their degrees or get a degree related to teaching or mental health. But it's also helping our district because these funds
are being come are coming out of grants and just putting additional support staff in our district while we're supporting them to move forward. Good evening. Thank you, Miss Fia, for um the explanations for the um resolutions.
Um E1, E1A, and E8 were voted on uh last week's meeting, and E1-1A is just forformational purposes. So, upon recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, the Education Student Discipline Committee presents the following resolutions for the
board's consideration. And madame president, I'd like to um pass them in block if >> Okay. So E1-1 through E10 except for the the ones I mentioned before. >> Thank you. Any discussion,
>> Miss Santana? >> We voted on that already, >> right? Um I I do want to second Miss Gita. Um and Miss Kakosa Isabella um is a pleasure to work with. Um she's in every
committee education committee meeting and um she recently um served as an interim principal at Kowami and did a phenomenal job. Um we got great feedback. No, Livingston said I apologize.
Um but we got wonderful feedback from both the parents and the staff. So thank you to her for the work that she does. Um we also had another interim that I wanted to give a shout out to Miss Lorenzo as
well who was doing dual jobs. So um these individuals do their their work and they also help us in other areas. And um I was remiss I didn't say thank you to her. So I want to make sure that I take that opportunity tonight. Um any
sec seconded? >> I second. >> I apologize. Miss Manise. Uh this motion has been properly moved by Miss Many and seconded by Miss Faria. May I have a roll call, please? Miss Capiello. >> Mr. Cohan. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Conte Macki. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Faria. >> Yes. >> Mr. McDow. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Miy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Nasta. >> Yes. >> Miss Santana. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Scott Hayden. Yes, >> Missel. >> Yes. Next, we will have the fiscal and planning committee chairs, Mr. Cohan and
Miss McDow, to present the resolutions that will be voted on tonight. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh most of the resolutions on the fiscal and planning report are standard. Uh there is a motion to accept a uh New Jersey
school improvement group safety grant F11 and uh as mentioned in Miss Coon's presentation the approval of the budget preparation calendar uh F-16 and I'll defer to Mr. McDow to move the
resolutions. >> Thank you Mr. Cohan. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the fiscal impairment committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration. And I'll pass these in
block. Uh they're F1 through F16 with the exception of F7 and F-15 which were voted on and approved last week. Again, that's uh F1 through F16.
Uh and lastly is the uh uh the list of legal services paid as of October 28th, 2025. >> Thank you so much. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? This motion has been properly moved by
Mr. McDow and seconded by Mr. Cohan. May I have a roll call, please? Miss Capiello. >> Mr. Cohan, >> abstain on F11. Yes. On all other items. >> Mrs. Conte Macki. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Maria, >> yes. >> Mr. McDow,
>> yes. >> Yes. >> Mr. Nasta, >> yes. >> Miss Santana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scott, >> yes. >> Miss Carbonel, >> yes. Next, we will have the settlement negotiation in negotiations committee
chairs. Miss Antana to present and sorry, chair Miss Antana to present the resolutions that will be voted on tonight. >> Thank you so much, Madam President. So upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the legal committee presents the following resolutions for the board's con consideration. First, we have L1
approved settlement agreement between the Union Township Education Association and the Township of Union Board of Education regarding perk docket number CO-2023-157. And we do have a second settlement agreement that we are walking on. Who's
going to provide me that wonderful verbiage? the home instruction. >> It's on. >> So, board members, um the grievance in question was discussed in close session. It is resolving a grievance at the board level filed by the UTA
regarding um Is it? >> Yeah, it's um grievance number 2024-2025-7. It deals with stipen uh compensation amounts. >> Thank you so much. And I hand that over to you, Madam
Chair. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? All right. This motion has been properly moved by Miss Antana and seconded by Miss Faria. May I have a roll call, please? Miss Capiello. >> Mr. Cohan, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Conte Macki, >> yes. >> Mrs. Faria, >> yes. >> Mr. McDow, >> yes. >> Mrs. Miy, >> yes. >> Mr. Nasta, >> yes. >> Miss Santana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scott, >> yes. >> Miss Carbonel, >> yes. Next, we will have the operations and
technology committee chairs, Mr. Nasta and Miss Conte Mackey to present the following resolutions that will be voted on tonight. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you. >> Uh operations and technology committee upon
recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the operations technology committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration. 01 uh security drill bus and evacuation reports. 02 approve camp invention uh
the Jefferson school. 03 improve notification of asset change of status. 04 was uh approved on a November 11th work session. 05 approved request from Township of
Union for the high school parking lot. 06 approved request from Legacy uh which is a drum and bugle core uh performing arts to use uh the facilities at the
high school and then T1 approved recycling of equipment. >> Thank you so much. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> This motion has been properly moved.
>> I apologize. Where are so we just wanted to talk? >> I apologize, Miss Counc. >> It's okay. Um, we just wanted to bring attention to the legacy um request at Union High School facilities. This is a major um initiative that focuses on our
children um in the municipal arts and our students. There'll be students coming from other Thank you. I don't know. Normally I'm loud. Um there'll be students coming from other districts and it's a it's a wonderful program. Um and we're very excited to have it here at
Union. It's going to be two days and the great news about it is our children get to be a part of it, our musicians free of charge. So it's something that will be will will help them, you know, grow in their musical careers and their craft. but it also brings awareness to
our community and the wonderful work of our musicians in district and to show union um where we are. So, we're excited to have this coming into union um and it's going to be amazing and can't wait to hear the outcome of it.
>> Thank you so much, Miss K Mackey. Is this part of the discussion? Yes, >> it's not part of the discussion, but I think it's important to note that it is being led by one of our own um employees here in the district, Carlos. So kudos to him for even bringing a program forward to u make it so that it is um
something that our children and other children in other communities can benefit from. So thank you. >> You read my mind. Carlos Esaval, one of our security guards. So um it was so it was so nice to hear him so passionately talking about this initiative and how it
would impact our students. So I'm excited to also attend and check it out. Thank you, Mackey and Mr. Nasta. This um is this motion has been properly was it was there a second? >> Yes.
>> I Okay, I just want to double check. Um this motion has been properly moved by Mr. Nasta and seconded by Miss Conte Mackey. May I have a roll call, please? Miss Capiello. >> Mr. Cohan. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Conte Mackey. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fore. >> Yes. >> Mr. McDow.
>> Mrs. Meni. >> Yes. >> Mr. Nasta. >> Yes. >> Miss Santana. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Scott Hayden. >> Yes. >> Miss Carbonel. >> Yes. >> Next, we will have the personnel committee chairs, Miss Scott Hayden and
Miss Inenna, to present the following resolutions that will be voted on tonight. >> Thank you. >> I'm just going to pass them. Did you want to talk? >> No. >> Oh, okay. Thank you. Uh uh upon first u madam president um may I pass them in a
block please? >> Of course. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. Upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the personnel committee presents the following resolutions for the board's cons consideration. We're going to start P1A and I'm moving it in an entire block all the way finishing at
P7. I pass it to you, Madam Chair. Thank you. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any discussion? This motion has been properly moved by Miss Santana and seconded by Miss Scott Hayden. May I have a roll call, please?
Miss Capiello. >> Mr. Cohan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Conte Mackey, >> yes. Mrs. Faria, >> yes. >> Mr. McDow, >> yes. >> Mrs. Miy, >> yes. >> Mr. Nasta, >> yes. >> Miss Santana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scott Heden, >> yes. >> Miss Carbonel,
>> yes. There are no policies to present this month. So, we're going to keep moving it along. Um, now we will have the residency committee chairs, Miss Banishia, Miss Varia, to present the non- voting resolutions. Got it. Okay.
So, um, upon recommendation of superintendent schools of residency committee presents the following resolutions. Although there is not a vote um from October 28th, 2025 um we had uh three students I guess this
is um for the year um transferred voluntarily when they were found to be non-residents. Thank you so much Miss Mani. May I have a motion to approve the bills list? >> Is there a second?
>> Second. >> Any discussions? This motion has been properly moved by Miss Scott Hayden and seconded by Miss Antana. May I have a roll call, please? Miss Capiello. >> Mr. Cohan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Conte Mackey, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Furia, >> yes. >> Mr. McDow, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mani, >> yes. >> Mr. Nasta, >> yes. >> Miss Santana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scott Heden, Miss Carbonel, >> yes. Now we move on to unfinished business.
anyone? No. New business. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, thank you. >> I'd just like to um acknowledge that, you know, we meet here in this beautiful theater and the activity, although it's only been open for five months, the activity in this theater is picking up.
Uh last month I had the pleasure of attending the classic play Our Town which was here for a little over a week. It was fantastic. It's a it was a professional troop of professional actors and uh they are also going to be
running as you might have seen on the marquee coming in tonight next month. It's a wonderful life. But the highlight of of my attendance, this is my second trip here this week, was Saturday night uh for the Unions Got Talent show.
>> And I told the organizers that they're not charging enough money for the tickets because the quality of the performances was just superior. And I'm happy to report that many of our students were involved in the show. show opened with a group of high school
students, students from Union High School that formed a group called Yield and we saw their live performance debut on this stage on Saturday night. Uh but the show closed we might have noticed uh in
I'm sorry Nick's report uh that there was a a high school show this weekend. Well, two of the performers in that show, as soon as it was over, rushed here and they were the last two performers, uh, Alexa Cruz and Sophia
Sophia Kabayos. Sophia closed the show and she won the top prize because she blew us all away. >> Uh, so it was a really great performance, great experience, and I'm sure that we're going to be seeing lots more performances in this space, uh, musicals, drama, and all kinds of
things. And I just I want to make sure everybody's aware of it so that we can all patronize uh the performances. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Cohan. Um, anyone else new business?
>> Well, and I know Mr. Cohen, did you give them a shout out last week, but um I was also thoroughly impressed with the Veterans Day um ceremony that was held here as well. Um, and I I do want to give a shout out to our veteran, our
very own vet veteran, um, Bob Johnson for putting it together. Um, it it was just very emotional, very heartfelt, and the stories were just phenomenal. So, um, thank you to him. And Jerry, the ROC
teacher that was recognized that day, >> Shiml. >> Cheryl. Sergeant Shimlu also want to give him a shout out um because he I'm always impressed and I'm honored to say that I belong to you know the Union
School District when I see our o our OTC excuse me um troops um do the you know participate in the different events. Um so kudos to him for serving our country, for keeping us protected and once again
giving back by giving back to our students. So thank you. Um anyone else? Um Miss Faria, as it was mentioned before, um as many of you may know, this week is American Education Week. So, I just wanted to send out a sincere thank you and
appreciation, gratitude to all of the schools, educators, administrators who are opening up the buildings and really welcoming student um parents and to kind of see the day in the life. Um I unfortunately was not able to attend my own, but I know that kids at the
elementary schools are working on special projects to kind of really highlight what they're learning about. Um but they're still going on. So, I encourage the parents if they're not aware to check parents square because those messages have been coming out and it's a great opportunity for us to get a glimpse into their day. So, thank you to
everyone. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Yes, Miss Gahu. >> Um, and also want to say thank you to all of our education support professionals. Tomorrow is your day. I want to say thank you for what you do every day for showing up in each
classroom, and each educational space that services our children. Thank you for what you do. I hope you have a great education support professional day in which I call essential school professionals >> and madame president real quick wanted to highlight under uh Miss McKenzie's
leadership and Mr. Ino. Um, you know, we we made an onus to bring back our subs and I count it real quickly. Um, we're not going to stop. We're not going to stop. But, um, over a short period of time, we did a job fair, uh, I think it was last week. Um, and we're going to
continue those, but we're added 34, I believe, if I count it correctly, approximately 34 subs just in the first few months of school. So, we're going to keep striving because that that is something we need to support our students as well. But, um, you know, we we'll get there. We're going to keep
keep advocating job fairs and the board improve uh approved the higher rate. So, I think that's drawing more uh people to our district. So, thank you. >> No, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. We just have to keep at it. Every district in New Jersey is challenged by
the lack of applications that they're receiving. I know I speak to individuals in other districts. Um, but we have to stay the course and do our best. So, I appreciate that. Um, and Miss Patrico, thank you so much for
the magazines. I do want to give a shout out, and she's not here tonight, and I could not attend, but I did want to. Um, Miss Lip Science event um because she also um does a lot of fundraisers that help benefit the teachers and classroom resources. So, Miss Livstein, wherever
you are, thank you. Um, now we go on to comments from the public. in order. Okay. Mr. Good evening, Mr. Peter Leon. >> Leone. >> Good evening.
>> Uh, good evening. Um, so tonight I'm just going to be brief. I have been speaking in front of this board on and off for a few months now. And when I have something to say, you know, I'm going to say it, but tonight I'm going to be brief. Um,
I know that there is a meeting coming up to settle our contract, and I'm really hoping that this contract is settled, that the board meets in good faith. And if nothing else, think of your staff and
you have 850 plus people that are counting and relying on you to settle this contract. They are tired. They are exhausted. They are filled with angst over this. Uh people constantly talk to
me um about this. I don't have answers. I would love to have an answer. I would love nothing more than say, "Hey, guess what? It's settled. We have a new contract." So, I'm asking the board, your team, to please settle this contract. Let's get this done. Uh, let's
get this off people's mind. That's number one. Number two, I am a product of the ROC at the high school. So, uh, as part of that legacy, it is no, no, no, no, I'm not here for me. Um, I just love to hear and see that our program is
going strong. Um, and it it um, it it's wonderful just to see that what they're doing, how they are honored. So, I always look forward to that. Um, as many of you maybe know or do not know, I support the arts in this district. Um,
so I'm glad to I'm pleased to see the um bugle um I left the paper there, but you know what I'm talking about, the >> the legacy group coming. Uh, so that's great. Maybe this will lead back to um music education being widened into our
elementary schools like it used to be. Um, so again, I just urge you, please settle this contract. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Miss Alion. >> We're praying on it, too. Miss and Margaret Shannon.
Good evening. >> And Margaret Shannon, 2591 Spruce Street Union and UTA president. As mentioned earlier, the UTA is happy to be an integral part of this town. Uh the UTA is happy to have donated the prize money
for Julian tonight, but also another student prize at Union's Got Talent. We do like to make sure that we do honor our students. The UTA is also happy to have donated food to the union's food pantry and provide hot dogs tonight.
And after working with the board of ed on December 7th, the UTA will be very happy to say the contract is settled. >> I thought it was the second. >> Said the second. >> Oh, I thought you said the seventh. >> Oh, I said the second, but maybe it wasn't clear.
>> If we're going to manifest, let's manifest, you know, accurately. But thank you, Miss Shannon. >> No, no, I don't mean it like that. We don't want to miss the date. Second, right,
Miss Natia Lopes. Good evening. Welcome. >> Good evening, Natersia Lopes, 871 H3 Road. >> Welcome. >> Um, I haven't been here in a little while. Um, one of the last times I was
here, I heard talk about consistency in schools and buildings. My son is in his last year of high school and you guys again switched the principal. I mean I don't understand and most of the kids
don't understand the vice principal they had it's going to go to Livingston school. Great job. I mean I I don't know what to do. Um also you talk so much about how great our teachers are and yet we're still here
with no contract for our teachers. I think that's pretty sad. Pretty sad at this point in time. We're looking at next year's budget and this year is not settled. It's just, you know, disheartening.
>> Thank you so much, Miss Lopes. >> Next is Miss Jeff. talking just um Virginia Jeff 236 Brighton Avenue East, New Jersey. Board President Carbonel. Good evening board members,
staff, and the public physically and virtually. The October 17, 2025 Tuesday evening work session meeting was very alarming in that there was a violation of the open public meetings act and the board attorney interjecting and usurping
the role of the board president. This is not the first time that the board attorney has gone outside the role of consultant at a board meeting. A the open public meetings act. The board held this public meeting in a conference room that can only hold a
small amount of people. This conference room does not have a post-it notice for room occupancy limit. The conference room table can seat about 16 people reserved for the board members, administrative staff, and the board attorney. There were seating to
accommodate a little more than a dozen members of the public. However, there was in excess of 30 people that were denied access to that meeting. It is the responsibility of the board of education to have public meetings accessible to all members of the public.
No member of the public should ever be locked out of a public meeting because of the inability of the board of education to accommodate public access and participation. B. The board attorney. The board attorney is a consultant whose primary function is to give legal advice to the
board only and has no authority to override the board president who is the presiding official at a board of education meetings. Two actions from the board attorney that are not allowable. one making a motion to go into executive session. This is outside of the legal
services contract. Motions are reserved for board members only. The board attorney is not a board member and therefore cannot make a motion when in doing so was injecting himself into the meeting in overriding and usurping the role of the board president. Two,
collective bargaining and negotiations. The B board attorney initiated unsolicited statements about the status of contract negotiations with the Union Township Education Association and giving legal advice to employees in
regard to contractual employee status. Upon hearing these utterances, I immediately requested recognition by rising my hand and saying point of order repeatedly until I was finally recognized and stated the board attorney is a is a consultant who is not allowed
to make motions. C. And this is executive work session meetings. Future considerations. One, location that is able to accommodate the public. The board has many facilities available with parking to accommodate the public. Two,
recording of meetings. The current system is inadequate. Inadequate as it can only record audio on an outdated system that has a history of not recording meetings. >> Excuse me. Your time has expired. >> Live streaming. >> Your time has expired.
>> The live streaming could be done and should be done. >> Thank you. >> At the work session meetings. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Jeff. I just want to double check. It's 236 Brighton Avenue, East Orange, New Jersey. Right. Thank
you. All right, I think that those are all the cards. Miss Brunmeer, um I was watching a movie and I thought of you and I just love what you do with the kids and I meant to say that earlier, but um thank you.
Thank you for caring so much for our little ones. Um and Miss Patrico, you know how I feel about you. Um to totally um respect what you do and appreciate you. Um
I believe this meeting um we do not need an executive session by the way >> um motion >> move to >> happy Thanksgiving everybody >> all the way here there and everywhere
>> and Miss Jeff to you too on your travels back um motion to adjurnn. So moved. >> Second. >> No. >> Ah, I could see that. I could see that. >> Good job, Nikki. We're going to give her
credit, too. >> Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Motion to adjurnn. >> I heard some people say >> I >> I. >> All right, Mr. Cohan. >> Mr. Cohan.
>> Yes, >> Mrs. Yes, >> Mrs. Faria. >> Yes, >> Mr. McDow. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Beniti. >> Yes, >> Mr. Nasta. >> Miss Santana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scott Hayden, >> Miss Carbonel, >> say something and clarify.
>> Carbonel, >> yes. >> And Mr.