Everyone, I would like to welcome you to the May 28th, 2025 board of education meeting. We are calling the meeting to order at 711 p.m. We apologize for the late start. We had some technical difficulties. Now, if everyone would
please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. To the flag of the stands, one nation, indivisible, liberty, and justice for all.
Thank you. A reading of meeting notice. The New Jersey open public meetings laws were enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the
provision of the act, the Verona Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published in the Star Ledger, posted with the Township of Verona and the Verona Education Association. Postings of this meeting setting forth the time, location, and agenda were posted at the Verona Board
of Education Office and at the Verona Public Schools District website. Copies of today's agenda and resolutions have been made available to the public via the Board of Education website. Mr. Cruz, could you please call attendance? Sure. Mr. Walker, for the
record, Mr. Walker's absence today. Uh, Mrs. Ferrar. Mrs. Prrisc here. Mrs. Rosella here. Mr. Boone here. Uh, we have quorum. Thanks. Thank you. Can I please have a motion for the approval of the meeting of our
last m the minutes of our last meeting on May 13th. I'll move the minutes. Second. So moved by Miss Prrisco, seconded by Mr. Boon. Any discussion? Mr. Cruz, can we please have roll call? Mrs. Fra,
yes. Mrs. Priscoll, yes. Mrs. Roselle, yes. Mr. Boon, yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Moving on. Um, if we could have the superintendence report for Miss Peter Zeppi. Good
evening. So, uh, on this agenda, there are two, uh, grants that I want to draw your attention to. one uh we spoke about a little bit um a few weeks ago is the trees for schools grant uh where uh I co-wrote with um Mrs. Thomas Carol
Thomas of Verona Shade Shade Tree Commission. We're asking for $60,000 just a little under $60,000 to plant 45 shade trees um 21 large and 24 medium at all six schools, the Civic Center and Liberty and Freedom Fields.
Um this is a grant that's uh partly out of um Sustainable New Jersey and uh in collaboration with the um College of New Jersey. We also have on the agenda this evening approval for funding for optimal
comprehensive universal screeners or focus uh competitive grant. Um and this is a grant offered by the Department of Education um to support uh local education um uh agencies in adopting and implemented implementing highquality universal literacy screeners that align
with universal literacy screening criteria outlined in the department's guidance to meet the screening requirements in K through three according to the new law. And we're asking for $6,630 for that. um was exciting here over the past uh
the end of last week and and Tuesday of this week. Uh we had Imperfect Phil. For those of you that don't know who Imperfect Phil is, um I'm sure um if you had students at our elementary school, you would have heard uh about Imperfect Phil. So Sue uh Steinhardt um author of
the Imperfect Phil books and mother to Imperfect Phil uh who is a giant Burmese mountain dog. Um, uh, so Bill is imperfect because he failed out of therapy dog school. And the teacher, the therapy dog teacher, uh, said to her,
"Uh, Phil is perfect as he is." And, um, uh, his mom Sue started blogging from the imperfect Phil perspective. And those blogs were turned into a book that has since sold about a thousand copies. and they've been making their way to
different um uh classrooms across the state of New Jersey um to uh promote uh um to reinforce positive classroom community, self-awareness, identifying emotions, empathy, and communication skills. And um although the kids did
report that Imperfect Bill was stinky, he was a hit. So um and he was just beautiful. Uh on Tuesday, June 3rd, we have Future Hillbilly Day at Hillbillies Day at the high school. Um also known as New Student Day. This event is uh more
than just a tour and or you know sometimes you have move up day and you follow your schedule. This is an immersive experience rooted in school spirit connection and belonging through games, student le performances, panel discussions, and interactive activities. The high school administration's goal is
to help each student feel confident, informed, and inspired as they begin their journey as proud Verona Hillbillies. Um, some highlights of what students are going to experience. Um, live performances and competitions with that will highlight the energy, enthusiasm that define uh uh high
school, a smooth transition. Um, trained upper class mentors will guide students throughout the day, offering support and building connections. celebration of the school's traditions, a dyn a dynamic showcase of clubs, athletics, arts, and leadership opportunities that make
Verona High School unique, and um building of community through shared experiences, new friendships, students will begin to feel at home in their new community. So, it starts um with arrival at 8:30. They will have uh the campus adventure bingo challenge, a student
panel for tips for success, Q&A with the uh Vern High School teachers and counselors, hero connections and icebreaker games, clubs and sports expos a 9th grade reflection panel, and the ultimate hillbilly spirit rally
before the students are dismissed at 2:30 between 2:30 and 2:45. So that's new for the high school. Um we also have our AAPI celebration or uh excuse me um that is was uh planned
by um our three Mandarin teachers Mrs. Yang, Mrs. Ho and Mrs. Kin and um Mrs. Peter and I helped out but they did the yman's work amazing work um that
they uh planned. So we will be having um performances second uh sounds of the drum from Korea. Um this Barona students and teachers Yangji dance, the peacock dance from China, the fan dance from China, rhythms of the
valley breeze with palm fans. Ulu a traditional hoola uh duo from uh Hawaii. um beautiful matchmakers. Um Raza Jazz, Mongolian dance, fan dance, uh master chose Italian uh will be here to break
some boards and then uh finally a finale. Um it's uh should be a really nice night. That is on May 30th at 7:00 at the high school auditorium. And last but not least, we have uh just a a quick staffing update.
It's that time of year. We are in the process for grade one at FN Brown for that bubble section tenure tenure track position. Demo lessons are being scheduled at the middle school. Uh we h we had made an offer to um a teacher um
for sixth grade math um who turned us down. She's uh got an offer closer to home. She lives down you the Jersey Shore and um we are accepting uh we had made us uh I'm sorry our special
education opening at the middle school we made an offer to a candidate and it was accepted. Uh so that will be on the agenda for board approval on June 10th. At the high school, we are still looking at um looking for a social studies andor
a business education teacher um for the financial literacy sections. And unfortunately, the state did not extend the uh a law that allowed us to um hire a retired teacher. So the uh the fix that we have in place currently at the
high school with Mr. Weber teaching financial literacy will not uh be available to us next year. So we are uh we need to go back to the drawing board with uh finding a business education teacher or social studies teacher and that's my report for this
evening. Thank you. Um moving on. Uh Mr. Cruz, can we please have the business administrators report? Good evening everyone. Uh as we approach the end of the uh fiscal year, the business office is um in the end of year
preparations, finalizing our financials, closing out and laying laying the groundwork for a smooth transition into the upcoming school year. On tonight's agenda, we are presenting uh the March uh financial reports, including uh the
board secretary report, uh treasures report, and the transfer report. And they're all in agreement. Uh, additionally we are submit um we're submitting under resolution E6
uh there is a uh the new price list for the 202526 uh school year which uh has a modest increase of about 10 10 cents. Um there's one item that's actually 15 cents. Uh and before I I I go into the
um nutrition committee um there is also a certification of implementation that is part of our 2020 324 audit. Um there are three audit findings. Um and this certification certifies that the
recommendation has been implemented um as suggested by our auditors and is now part of uh the district's uh standard operating procedures with um uh the as a result of our RFP um uh
renewing the contract with Ponian uh we are we have formed a nutrition committee. Uh the committee um will be meeting early next month and to begin to begin uh conversations with Pmptonian on
uh recommendations on on nutrition and and making those recommendations to the board for the 202526 school year. And that concludes my report for this evening. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Um, so moving on to my favorite report, the student report. Ryan, if you could let us then. Great. Uh, good evening. Okay. So, um, this past Memorial Day, uh, the VHS marching maroon and white participated in honoring our courageous
veterans in the annual Memorial Day parade down Boomfield A. Uh, and the chamber choir also performed the national anthem and America the Beautiful for the ceremony as well. Uh VHS's annual creative arts night is uh taking place in the gym right now and it uh will go till 900 p.m. and it's
showcasing a wide range of student artwork from studio, digital uh and STEM art classes and alongside various other student created media including um musical performances and uh I definitely encourage everyone if they have a moment after this meeting to just check it out.
It's great. It's lively. There's so many people there. The music's great. It's great fun. There's stands like you can get if you really wanted to you can get uh your face painted you can get uh painted stickers whatever whatever is your forte but uh
in athletics uh yesterday both the boys tennis and baseball teams uh played state tournament matches against mountain lakes and McNair ac academy respectively and uh the girls track team won its second consecutive state sectional championship last week and
further more. Many of our VHS students have been commended for their achievements. Uh Jackson Pope and Kelly Barrow were recognized as 2025. Karen Fuchello, Essex County Scholar Athletes. Uh Victorian Isabelle Lambert was honored as a NJIAA scholar athlete.
Danny Imbrieno Imbriano was honored last week by the Yogi Bara Museum and Learning Center uh for the SEC best teammate award. and Marggo Dcasta was Verona's recipient of the Men of Essics Award, one of the county's oldest and most prestigious awards for student
athletes. And last but not least, prom is uh next Wednesday, June 4th, and this year's prom will be held uh at the Legacy Castle venue in Pompton Plains. That is all. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um moving on uh to our committee
reports. Um we had education this week. Okay. So, I will just share some of the highlights from our education uh committee meeting. Um to begin with, we discussed the uh enrichment program for grades K, I'm sorry, grades 1 through six. Um
parents can expect to see an academic enrichment program guide in early 25 or September of 25 I should say, for that school year. um which will as typically does it'll break down kind of uh criteria and plans for the
program um for grades one six. Um at this point there were 304 Verona High School students who took 618 AP exams. So congratulations and good luck to them. Um as far as a high impact tutoring that has continued. There were
200 students who were serviced this year. Um, as we've been discussing, the HMH into reading pilot um is continuing that will be presented in June. So, we can expect as a board to hear about um
how that's going and to make a decision on that. Our splash program, I'm sorry, splash learning program will continue over the summer. So, that too is supporting students um who could benefit from additional support uh over the summer outside of the ESY program. So
has nothing to do with that, just additional services. Um, Miss DJeppy discussed some of the things that happened um this month um out of the dreams and nurtured heart approach grant that Miss Simmons had applied for and received. Um and
then the final thing is the uh HBW and BHS teachers received additional um professional development from the Rutgers grants that we also received for the community- based learning. Um so there were four full days of training for that for the teachers which was
excellent to support our life skills program. Um and then there is also um work starting to happen now for an action plan being put together for the 18 to 21 um program and the life skills which is wonderful and that was it I
think. Great. Thank you. Um moving on uh finance committee did you guys meet? Yes we did. Uh there's not much additional to say beyond uh Mr. Cruz's discussion. Um I will call out one additional
um notification. Um they were in the process of uh removing the documents uh and uh rescanning them. Uh and this will ultimately clear up a couple of u small
rooms for potential instructional space in the high school. This is going to be going on during the summer. Um there should be a decent amount of space uh once these uh files are taken care of. Everything else stands as Mr. Cruz uh had reported.
Great. Thank you very much. Okay. And now we are going to move on to public comments on agenda action items. Um uh please know that the public participation portion of the meeting affords an opportunity for the
public to share their comments about school related topics. By law, administrators and board of education members are not permitted to publicly discuss personnel matters. Student discipline or other issues requiring requiring confidentiality. While we may not respond to comments during the
meeting, all input is that is shared with the board of education is taken very seriously and helps inform future deliberations and work by the board of education and its committee. Answers appear in many forms including but not limited to email, superintendent, committee reports, board statements,
FAQs on website or after public comment is closed. Anyone from the public wishing to speak on any any agenda action item, please approach the bench. Once recognized, clearly state your first and last name for the record. You will have three
minutes to address the board. There will be no cross dialogue during this public portion. If there is a question that can be answered, only the superintendent or board president can respond and will do so at the end of all comments. You will be granted one time to speak and there
is a total time limit of 1 hour for public participation. Please note there will be no back and forth and we request that you remain respectful. Thank you. Good evening. Uh Matt Perna, 32 Hillrest Terrace, and I'm a dad of a current
landing first grade boy. My question Sorry, this is uh is can you identify the portion of the agenda that you're speaking to? My question specifically on A9. Um I was looking for clarification on the abolishment of the supervisor of
STEM position. Um given I think the world's focus on STEM and moving in that direction, the district's adoption of things like VC, is there a reason why we're eliminating this position? Um, and
is there a non- STEM sort of like version of that position? Is that position also being eliminated? And then who is going to sort of fill that gap? Do you want me to answer that now or?
Yeah. Uh, so no one wants to see any position get cut. Um certainly um as a former director of curriculum who uh worked hard to bring supervisors back into a district seeing that but um as this um board knows and as the public
should know by now uh we are in a very large money uh issue and um the way RIFF and non-renewal or actually RIFF works is it has to do with um uh there's a lot of legal
ramifications in ripping certain positions. So in this case, this position was um of the administrators the position that we felt as an administrative team that we could absorb the best in terms of we are
starting with uh the so the other two positions is a a supervisor of special education and a supervisor of humanities. Going out um next year with a new program in literacy um from kindergarten through uh fifth grade.
um cutting a humanities uh or ELA supervisor uh at this time would not have been um advantageous. It also would not have gotten us in terms of salary to where we needed to be to meet the budget. Um who will pick that up? Um
luckily uh I was a um science supervisor in Livingston for 13 years and um was also a science supervisor when I was director of curriculum in in Kolan. prior district and Dr. Miller uh is a math specialist. So between the two of
us, we will pick up those uh portions of um uh the STEM supervisor uh position. So I does that answer your question? Okay, thank you. What else? Okay, seeing no one else, we are
going to close public comment at this time. Moving forward uh to discussion items. Does anyone on the board have any new or old business they wish to discuss? No, I just want to comment on Ryan's uh for the Memorial Day parade
about the marching band. It was like marching. You guys were marching down Main Street, USA. You guys were phenomenal. It was there. You guys do such a great job. So, um to the choir and to the marching band, thank you for being there on uh such a important day.
Thank you. Um and then moving forward, do we have any correspondence? So starting with um a letter from Ann Min, the executive director of Tony's Kitchen, and this is a thank you. Uh, it just says, "Dear Verona Public
Schools, on behalf of everyone at Tony's Kitchen, I want to express our heartfelt thanks for the generous gift of $490 from your National Honor Society fundraiser, which was received on 52325. This donation will will be put to good use as we work toward creating a food
secure community in which everyone has access to nutritional food. Our core mission is to provide food to our neighbors in need in ways that respect their dignity, improve health, and foster independence. Thanks to your kindness, we are able to take nutritious food to where our
neighbors are with neighborhood mobile markets, Tony's Grill Food Truck, and deliveries for those who are unable to access our other services. By providing healthy meals to partnering organizations like schools, senior services, libraries, teen programs, and medical groups, we make certain that when a need is identified, it can be met
with comfort and dignity. Creating these connections between daily gathering spaces, and the food support system moves our neighbors toward food security and peace of mind. Your commitment to helping others directly impacts the lives of so many and we are incredibly grateful for your partnership in this
mission. Once again, thank you for your compassionate support. You are our strength. With warm regards and MN, executive director and the second piece of correspondence um um is from Mr. Mark Work
work and uh his uh uh letter reads, "Recently my good friend, fellow hillbilly and graduate of VHS class of 1965, Joel Yanowski visited the Verona board of ed in person and spoke to a woman by the name of Lois. I believe
both Joel and I have been aware of the civic slight that occurred many years ago when William Bucky Hatchet was supposedly honored at the HB Whitehorn Jr. Athletic junior high athletic field with a boulder and a plaque placed in the rear
right corner of the complex quite out of view of anyone attending an event at the field. In contrast, beautifully carved wooden signs announce the entrance to Doc Golt's baseball field and the Thomas Cileto football field at the high school in full view to everyone. I'm writing
this letter to support Joel's request to rectify this sad situation and erect an appropriate sign honoring Bucky. least we forget that Bucky was a magnificent athlete at VHS, arguably the best ever, all-American in both football and basketball, as well as senior class
president while at Ruckers, and an outstanding teacher and coach at at VHS. Bucky Ha Hatchet deserves more than a rock. Sincerely, Mark Warcraft. Thank you. And then moving forward uh to our action
items. Can I please get a motion um on personnel items A1 through A 22. So moved. Moved by Mr. Boon. I'll second that. Second by Miss Prrisco. Any discussion?
Seeing none. Uh Mr. Cruz, may we please have roll call? Mrs. Ferrar, yes. Mrs. Prriscoll, yes. Mrs. Brazella, yes. Mr. Boon, yes. Motion carries.
Thank you very much. Um, moving on to uh section B, education. Can I please have a motion for B1 through B10? I'll move that. Moved by Miss Prrisco. I'll second. Second by Miss Ferrer. Any discussion?
Um I just have a quick question for B for B6 the bilingual child stud is that to support families in a child study team for okay anything else okay can I please have roll call please yes
yes Mrs. Frisah yes Mr. Yes. Motion carries. Okay. Thank you. Moving forward to athletics and co-curricula. Can I please have a motion for C1 through C4? So moved. Moved by Miss Prrisco. I'll
second. Second by Mr. Boon. Any discussion? Hearing none. Can I please have a roll call? Mrs. Fra? Yes. Mrs. Frisco? Yes. Mrs. Friselle? Yes. Mr. Bill? Yes. Yes. Motion carries.
Thank you. And then moving on to finance. Can I get a motion for E1 through E8? So moved. Moved by Miss Krisco. Second by Miss Ferrer. Any discussion? Can I please have roll call?
Mr. Spar, yes. Mrs. Friscoll, yes. Mrs. Frisella, yes. Mr. Boon, yes. Motion carries. Okay, great. And then finally in governance and policy, can I get a motion for F1? So move. Moved by Mr.
Boon. Second. Second by Miss Prrisca. And any discussion? Seeing none, can I please have roll call? Mrs. Ferrar, yes. Mrs. Prrisco, yes. Mrs. Brazella, yes. Mr. Bill, yes. Motion carries. Thank you.
Then moving forward, public comments. Um, please note that the public portion of the meeting allows the public to share thoughts and comments about school related topics. By law, the law administrators and board of education members are not permitted to publicly
discuss personnel matters, student discipline, or other issues requiring confidentiality. While we may not respond to comments during the meeting, all input shared with the board of education is taken very seriously and helps inform future deliberations and work by the board and its committee.
Anyone from the public wishing to speak on any matter, please approach the podium. Once recognized, clearly state your first and last name for the record. You will have three minutes to to address the board. There will be no cross dialogue during this time. Um,
if there is a question that could be answered, only the superintendent or board president can respond and we'll do so at the end of all comments. You will be granted one time to speak and there is a total time limit of 1 hour for public participation. Um, again, please note there will be no back and forth and we request you remain respectful. Thank
you. Hi, Cassidy Pera, 32 Hillrest. Um, good evening. After the previous board of ed uh meeting and in light of additional information provided by the board of ed superintendent and township, I had some additional comments
I wanted to share tonight. As suggested by certain members of the board, parents reached out to the town council to share our concerns with the collapsing of this third section as landing as well as for clarity regarding pilot funding. I would first like to note the drastic
difference in response that was received from not only the mayor but multiple members of the town council. Not only were they more than happy to speak with any concerned parent offering up their time and personal cell phone numbers, a meeting was set in an open forum by the
mayor and deputy mayor to present on pilot funding as well as answer any and all questions we had. This included offering up suggestions as to how we could continue to advocate for our children. In hindsight, perhaps offering the same opportunity would have been
much more productive way to address our concerns and answer questions rather than multiple disjointed email exchanges. To be honest, not having this comp now having this comparison, I am disappointed in the lack of response from certain board members which
included personal emails that went unanswered. I do not I do want to thank Mr. Boon for taking the time out of his weekend to meet with my husband and I. I would also like to note that at the end of the day for most of us this is our first experience with the board of ed and I wish it had been different. After
both meetings it became clear that both the board and the township have fingerpointed in regards to transparency and desired to meet more frequently in regards to the tight budget and other issues. For two groups whose success highly impacts the other, it's
frustrating to learn they don't act more collaboratively. I hope that moving forward, this relationship can change. In regard to the collapsing third section, it is disheartening as a parent to know that despite the known challenges of this class, this was still the decision that was made. And while I
appreciate the reassurance from the administration that they have complete confidence in the teachers ability to manage larger classes while continuing to deliver highquality instruction and support, this decision has nothing but a negative impact on all those involved. I
also can't help but wonder when would the third section be warranted. The unwritten rule had always been 25. If that is no longer, at what number do we say, okay, that's the line. When there is no obvious educational benefit to this choice, I leave you with the
question, why are we waiting for our children and teachers to fail before we step up and help them? I thank you. Thank you for your comment. Anyone else? Hi, good evening. Sarah Okconor, uh 41
Floyd Road. Um, I want to thank you for your open ears tonight again regarding the collapse of the current first grade uh section at Lanning from three classes to two for the upcoming 2526 school year. While many questions and concerns have
been discussed or a few items left uncclarified that I'd like to address tonight. Um, first I'd like to address the general response to the concerns of these class sizes next year, which has overall been have faith in really good
teachers. I think we all have faith in our teachers, especially at Lanning. Our support of them is part of the reason why we're here asking questions and raising concerns. Several of us have been in contact with Mr. Freed to not
only share our concerns but also discuss ways we can support our teachers and work together to benefit our children. We know this decision is out of their hands and we know they're going to do their best with the hand that they're dealt. Um and I was actually discussing
this issue with somebody removed from the situation and she said maybe this won't be as bad as you think. And while I think there's a lot of truth to that, um, because we do have faith in our really good teachers, the reality is it
won't be as good as it should be for this group of kids whose class sizes are increasing significantly. There is no educational benefit to this change, especially considering that this group has been split into three for two years at such a critical age.
We know enrollment is fluid and families moving in and out of Verona is common during the summer especially. Um I would like to know your projections as to how high in numbers you're willing to allow this the classes to get before considering a threeclass split. Again,
um the only response to this question has been board policy 5120, which allows the superintendent to assign newly um registered students to schools based on enrollment and available space. Um so my question is if a few students in this grade level happen to move out, will
those numbers be replaced or will the class be capped where it is now? And basically what is your projected cap for this class since numbers seem to be the identifying factor and not individual
student needs. Um I thank you for your time and I thank you in advance for clarification. Thank you Matt Pera 32 Hillrest Terrace. Uh good evening everyone. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the last meeting I was out of the country for work. Um, but
I was able to catch up on the last several meetings um using the replays, which was actually incredibly helpful. And then I was um some parents were kind enough to send me the user friendly budget summary as well as the more detailed version. Um, after spending time going through each of those
documents just to get a better understanding of the difficult budget dynamics, I did have some questions for the board and the administration on some specific accounts. And just to be transparent, some of those questions did come up in my conversation with Mr. Boone this weekend, but I thought for
the benefit of the broader group, I could sort of reshare them. Um, first, we have a fairly substantial amount of money, $800ish th,000 in the unrestricted general operating budget. I appreciate the group's effort to keep a
wellunded operating account to handle cash flows as well as unexpected expenses. Given that this account is forecasted to be at the same funding level at the end of the school year next year, I'm curious if this account could be used to help partially fund a new
teacher position. Second, and related to the first, um we have an estimated 2.3 million in the capital reserve account. Understanding that this account is used to fund projects like the HBAC uh upgrades that were in the finance
committee report earlier in the agenda. Um is there room in this account where a line item transfer could be made to the operating account to help fund that teacher position as well? I understand funds in this account in the account may be allotted to future projects which have already been decided on. But is
there room to allocate the funds differently or even delay a non-critical planned project? Is um also related to finding room in the budget to help fund a new teacher position? There's a healthy $650,000 maintenance reserve. Is it
absolutely necessary that we hold such a large amount here? Does the capital reserve account not have any ability to help support unexpected expenses throughout the year or would th that financial burden fall entirely on the maintenance reserve? Um I don't doubt that these three accounts are well
funded without a lot of hard work from everyone up here today um and years of prioritizing the financial health of the district. That said, is there a way we can put our heads together and get creative to help fund that third second grade section at landing next year? In
doing so without materially reducing any of the accounts I mentioned, um, in the meeting with the mayor and deputy mayor, it was mentioned they have directly helped fund work in the schools outside of the shared services agreement in the past. Is it possible to ask the town to help support financially support some of
the future maintenance projects which could help again free up additional funding for this third section? And I just want to say I'd be happy to to help work with anyone here on this or other budget issues. Just providing sort of like an outside parent perspective. Um if you think it would be of value,
please feel free to reach out. I'd be happy to help. Thank you. Anyone else? Hi, how are you? Um, my name is Stephanie Pogarellic. I have a son who's also at Lanning. Um, and I just wanted to say a few things. You mentioned earlier imperfect Phil visiting the
elementary classrooms in the hopes of fostering a positive classroom environment. Do you know what happens to foster a positive classroom environment? Manageable classroom sizes. Lanning parents have asked what options were discussed to stay within budget for the
2025 2026 school year before a frontline teacher was cut at a school that needs the resource. We still haven't received a comprehensive report or answer to the options that were discussed before a teacher was removed at Lanning. The Verona Board of Ed website has a whole
section dedicated to diversity, equity, and belonging. I would like to know how the decision to remove a teacher and combine two classes, classes of 26 children each was the equitable decision when this grade at landing has the largest number of 504s, IEPs, along with
the lowest state testing scores across the Verona elementary schools and has been openly described as being energetic by the principal. It just doesn't seem like the equitable decision to me. A few people have mentioned that this decision was based just on numbers. I I'm not saying that the Forest class doesn't
deserve a third teacher. Um but I do want to point out that they only have three additional students than we do. Um so taking into consideration again the IEPs, the 504s along with our state testing, I feel like those things should have been considered.
There's actually as of next year 57 students and at Forest and there there's 51 at Landing. So it's more than three students. Okay. Um I'll have to take a look because the numbers that you provided us with earlier there was a difference of three and I know one of
the kids that I you might have set scheduled to go to forest has actually requested to remain at landing. I know you can't speak about specific children but that actually just makes it more difficult for us to prove our point. Thank you.
So do you want me to if you would like. Yeah, just um so there was a question about 25. Um first of all, this board has never had and currently does not have any um classroom limits uh in their in their class size policy. I wrote a
policy after uh my first year here uh that you referenced earlier um regarding uh giving the superintendent uh the ability to place people outside of their jurisdictional school. Um and in that policy it says um the 26th student. So I
think that's where the number 25 is coming from. So the question is as students are moving in uh over the summer which does happen uh obviously we get people moving around people move out move in. Uh at this point, it would be
my recommendation to new uh new students entering the Lanning area uh that they would be placed if they come in as rising second graders that they would be placed at Forest where there are uh where there's room in those much more room in those classes. That's what that
policy affords me. Anybody that um registers after February 1 doesn't get to the choice of a home neighborhood school, I can place them. I would place them at Forest because that's where the classrooms are the smallest in that grade level.
Um so and with regard to um some non-critical projects, I'm going to let Mr. Mr. Cruz speak directly to this, but the bottom line is in order to get to the budget that we have, we cut those projects. There's taking capital reserve
to fund projects that were cut out of the budget. Um and and we don't spending capital or maintenance reserve on something that's a lasting cost year after year as a teacher salary would be is not good practice. So we that's for like a one-off. It's for a furnace, etc.
Pulling money out of a reserve account that's destined for uh maintenance and repair and um uh capital uh projects on buildings that are all about 100 years old. uh is is not really a a prudent
move and I wouldn't suggest that we do it. Um so did you want to say anything in addition to uh yes so just uh clarification on uh capital reserves of uh 2.3. Absolutely. The the board has uh and
administration, we've been working diligently to get where we are with that capital reserve, but it's not it sounds like a a big amount, but it's really not for a school district with a $50 million budget. Uh 2.3 million in capital
reserves will get us uh the additional HVAC that we need in order to be 100% um HVAC connected. Uh so one of the things is uh we have that pending rod grant where uh rod grant is covering 40%
of the cost on almost u anywhere between uh the estimate is 1.3 1.9 million uh so a million of this uh reserve will have to go into that project and then we have other uh pending projects uh that will
uh need that uh for example HBW spoilers um they are constantly in need of repairs So that is one area that we'll probably be looking at. Uh another area is the uh the high school field. Um we
we have the press box that is actually uh kind of like on its last leg. So we definitely would have to use uh capital reserve funds in order to address that. Uh and then eventually the turf field will have to be replaced. So um so these
are uh these are all capital needs that the district will eventually need and uh the reality is that that amount uh 2.3 is is definitely a a nice size to support us in getting there but it
wouldn't be something that um that we could do. The the other thing is that uh the board per um uh New Jersey administrative code um the board has to request anything that comes out of
capital funds to be approved um by the county. So the county has to approve it and basically it it does have to go for capital needs. Uh the second part the maintenance reserves gives the board a little bit of flexibility. So maintenance reserves um just because it
says maintenance reserve doesn't mean it just has to go to maintenance but um as uh superintendent DPI stated these are for one-offs. Uh so in the case that there is a situation where there's an additional cost that we weren't expecting and we would have to transfer
funds from facilities into another let's say an education line item. We will have the board will have that option with the maintenance reserves. So, um, in that same sense, um, when I got here 4 years ago, we only had $89,000 in maintenance
reserve. Right now, that almost $700,000 is actually a nice little cushion. It's not a lot of money, but it is a cushion to protect us, especially on the rainy days. So, for example, on personal finances, we always say it's recommended to have three to six months of expenses.
You don't you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. This is actually our rainy day fund. six almost $700,000 it um and hopefully with the next if there is a surplus which um as I reported previously um the likelihood of
us having a surplus on the expenditure is unlikely the only area that we're seeing possibility of a surplus for the end of this fiscal year will be in our revenues uh that's where we will will actually build our cushion to carry us in the future years that um we're going
to actually um hopefully stop the bleed, but it it is going to financially we are going to feel the the pressure that every single district around us is feeling. Uh the good thing is that we're definitely in a better uh stable um
fiscal operating sense, but we are going to continue operating in in any case to to make the the the smallest impact in the classroom. And as you see in the agenda, that impact is on non nonclassroom positions and hopefully um
continue operating as as we are um with the the staff and and and and the operating personnel that we currently have. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cruz. Um moving forward, can I please have
a Why do I have a resolution to adjourn? Do I have a motion to adjurnn? Some move. Moved by Mr. Boon. Second by Miss Prrisco. All those in favor? I. Thank you. Uh that would be the end of
our May 28th meeting. The next regularly scheduled public meeting will be held on Thursday, June 12th with confidential session at 6 pm and 700 p.m. public session in the Verona High School Learning Commons. That is Thursday. um not our usual day on Tuesday. Thank you
very much and have a good day.