Okay, good evening everyone. We have quite the agenda tonight. So, we're going to get right into it. I'm going to call the meeting to order. Pursuant to the open public meeting act,
public notice of this meeting has been given by the board secretary in the following manner. One, posting written notice on the official bulletin board at the Vorhees Township Public Schools administrative building on August 4th, 2025. Sending written notice to the Courier Post on August 4th, 2025. Filing
written notice with the clerk of Vorhees Township on August 4th, 2025. And posting on the Vorhees Township Board of Education website on August 4th, 2025. Please rise for the pledge of >> allegiance 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. >> Word secretary, will you call the role, please? Mr. Rice >> here. >> Miss Mon >> here. >> Mr. Rosen
>> here. >> Mr. Rosner >> here. >> Mrs. Ruer >> here. >> Mrs. Smi >> here. >> Mrs. Stewart >> here. >> Miss Kettover >> here. >> Mrs. Watson >> here. Hey, we are going to move into the
public hearing on the 2026 2027 budget. I am now opening the public hearing. Can I get a motion to open the public hearing on the 2026 2027 budget? >> So moved. Ruer >> second. Get over.
>> All in favor? >> I >> I Good evening board and members of the public. I'm going to turn this slightly. That doesn't mess anything up, does it? Okay. Since it's a public hearing, I don't want to have my back to you guys. Um, and everybody can see the
presentation, too. Okay. So, we're we're going to do the presentation which is very similar to the one that was done in March. But before we get started, I'd like to read a statement. Uh it's regarding the transportation changes that were made. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge and express our sincere regret regarding the concern and
stress experienced by families as a result of the recent transportation adjustments associated with closing the budget gap for the 2627 school year. We are grateful to our parents and guardians for their feedback, engagement, and willingness to collaborate with us throughout this
process. Your input has been both valued and impactful. Based on the concerns shared, we conducted a thorough review in partnership with the local police department and determined that several of the streets initially identified for the removal of courtesy busing due to their distance of less than two miles
will continue to receive transportation as they present hazardous walking conditions. As a result, those routes have been formally designed as ha sorry formally designated as hazardous and district policy has been updated to ensure that accurate and consistent
information is applied moving forward. While we regret the inconvenience this process has caused, we want to assure our families that decisions are now grounded in verified data and student safety remains our highest priority. Additionally, we would like to extend our understanding to the families on the
12 streets that will transition back to Osage Elementary School. This adjustment is necessary to alleviate enrollment pressures at ET Hamilton Elementary School and to ensure that Victory Common students can be appropriately accommodated. To support a smooth
transition, Mr. Cranmer and the Osage Elementary team will host an information session for affected families on May 27th, 2026 at 6 p.m. where they will share details about the school community and answer any questions. We appreciate the continued partnership of our
families and remain committed to approaching all decisions with transparency, care, and a focus on what is best for our students. Thank you. Okay, we'll start the actual budget presentation now. Okay. So, as we started the budget, I
mean, the budget process is like a year-long process, but we really get into looking at the numbers in January. So, step one of the process, we look at the revenue side and the expenditure side, and we kind of take worst case scenario for revenue where we look at things pretty much staying flat. Flat
state aid, 2% tax levy, and other revenue items like interest and miscellaneous staying the flat from the last year. And then we look at the best case if you want to call it that appropriations where there's no reductions to any current appropriations. All requested items are
included. Uh contractual salaries are rolled forward and we anticipate the increase in health care, transportation, utilities and insurance. Uh for a lot of contracts, uh the state gives us the CPI and that's how much the contracts can go up for transportation. For healthcare,
we always have to wait to get those numbers from our um school's health insurance fund. So at that point we didn't know what it would be. In doing that scenario we had a budget gap of 6.2 sorry $6.4 million which is sc a scary place to start but we know that at that
point we start looking at all the pieces and chipping away. So step two we analyze revenues and appropriations for possible reductions. Um I handle a lot of the revenue side. Danielle Cury, my assistant business administrator handles a lot of the appropriations side and uh
so we both kind of tackled that. Um so what we did on the revenue side we looked at interest the actual interest that we earned in 2425. So we increased that budget amount. So that made the revenue side higher. We also included in our revenue budget the rental income
that we get at ECDC from Gibbsboro. And we also leased the two buses that we got with um COVID money. We lease them to TNOl and then they drive them on our routes and also on um Eastern's routes. So that increased that side of the budget. On the appropriation side of the
budget, we reviewed all line items and reduced wherever we could wherever we could reduce based on actuals that we had in 2425. We adjusted salary lines for the announced retirements that we knew at that time, which is probably around J late January, early February. And we adjusted the health care and
other insurance to reflect the actual provider rate increases. So we're part of what's called a GIF and part of a shift. the they're like joint insurance pools. The shift is the school's health insurance fund. We're not part of state health benefits and the GIF is a joint insurance fund of many school districts
as well. So, um the state health benefits is going up 31.9%. Uh we're not part of that. We're part of the shift. Ours went up based on experience rating of 16%. So, still high but a lot better than state health benefits. Um the the burden of that is
really in the budget because with chapter 78 uh the premiums that the employees pay is a percentage of their salary uh a percentage of their premium and then chapter 44 it's a percentage of the salary. So when it goes up 16% it
doesn't really affect the employees it affects the budget. So that got us down to a 30 a $3.8 million budget gap. So then back to the drawing board again. Step three, um, we said, "Let's make a list." We did a spreadsheet of any possible cuts that we could come up
with. We meet in in cabinet with Dr. Hackett, Mr. Moscowitz, uh, Dr. Aliggria. We look at anything we can think of, and we have a whole list of items, price them out, and say, "What can we do that would have the least impact on staffing and instruction?" Because we care about instruction. We
care about everything, but we don't want to impact that if we don't have to. So, what we did is we said, "Well, you know what? we can allocate some utilities and transportation to PIA. So preschool that budget is a separate budget altogether. We get state aid state aid money for PIA
and you are allowed in their budget requirements to allocate utilities if it's in that building where they're situated which that's pretty easy to understand when you have a building for them. And also transportation we can allocate some of the transportation to that grant money. Um also we have
enterprise funds which are CER and food service. We allocated some of the utilities to that based on square footage. We also uh we we have some items that we lease purchase which is just another word for financing. So we will finance HVAC equipment like large
dollar items. Um a lot of technology we finance. We do it over the the economic useful life of that asset. It could be three years, it could be five years. So I looked at how it was all falling over the next five years. And this year next year were high and then it kind of drops off just based on the timing. So, uh, we
were going into a new lease purchase for replacement of iPads. And again, they divided it by five years. And so, I approached them and I said, can you maybe restructure this because I'm trying to make mine even each year and make two low payments the first two years and then higher the last three. They said yes. So, that was approved
last last board meeting. And then I approached one that we were already with for HVAC and uh computers. And I said, you know, we still have it over the five years. I just want to change my payment structure. They agreed that's on the that's on the agenda tonight under 18.34. So what it does is it evens out
the hit to the budget. It doesn't change the overall amount that we're really paying, but it takes it from like $1.2 million this year to 928,000. So it just kind of pushes it down, not not kicking the can down the road, but just evening it out so each budget year is more
stable. So that got us down to 1.79 million. And at that point, we did not have state aid yet. And everybody hopes for large increases in state aid. You hope that you don't get a cut in state aid. Um state aid was released um a couple weeks later than usual because
whenever there's a new um governor, they give the governor two more weeks, which is only fair, I would say. Um so the state aid numbers instead of being released the very two days after the budget address like which is usually the last Thursday of February, we got those
state aid numbers March 12th. Um, and we had an increase of $5,795. So really, that's kind of like a flat state aid. It's a little bit, but not that much, but again, anytime it doesn't go down, we're happy. So, um, that reduced the budget gap to 1,786.
So then we're like, okay, now what do we do? There's also mechanisms in this DOE calculations for what they call banked cap. So like the year it happens, it's an adjustment. If you don't use it, it goes into bank cap. And some of the areas that they have this calculation
for are for health care and enrollment. So because our health care went up even though it's less than the state health benefits, there's a calculation that figures out how much did it go up from last year. What's the 2% increase from last year? How does it compare to state health benefits? What's the lesser of
the two difference? So ours came out to 1,916,8 $680 for the health care cost increase. and the enrollment increase. They look at your enrollment how it's going up. They weigh it. It came to 54,000. So we had a potential adjustment of 1,971
which would go into bank cap or we could use some of it. We said let's close the remaining gap of 1,786725 with the healthc care adjustment money because our biggest increase was healthcare. It was about $2 million. So it only is right to to kind of offset
that with this adjustment. That's why the state has it there. And I don't know if you've read the papers or seen any of the other news, most districts in this in probably in the state, but in this area I know have have used this adjustment as well because healthc care is just so high. Um so that's where a
lot of the districts are at this point. Okay. So then we had a balanced budget. Now between the the uh public between the meeting in March, we have to get the budget approved to submit to the county. They they review it. They approve it. It comes to this. This is a public hearing.
If there's any changes between the approved budget by the county and what we're presenting tonight, it has to be mentioned in the public hearing. So, in working with um what what I read my first statement about the transportation changes, um we had read our policy. We
wanted to um we wanted to tighten up things where we were not transporting courtesy busing. Um, but in the meantime, we did get feedback and we did meet with the police and determine that some of this busing that's two miles or less is really crossing or they the
student would have to travel on a hazardous road, which was not in our policy. Like one of the roads in particular was Ashton. That was not listed in our policy as a hazardous road, but when it was brought to our attention and the police said yes, it is hazardous. And it's the hazardous definition could be it's windy, there's
blind spots, maybe there's no sidewalk. There's various reasons why something would be labeled hazardous. So we we added that to our policy because we said the police say it is. We believe it is. It was never documented that it was. So we said we need to reinstate those three
bus routes. And then there were some other ones involved too. So when in doing that we then had to come up with the hole, you know, because as you're putting those those routes back in, you have to you have to come up with a difference. So this slide here shows how we came up with the difference. Um they
we had more retirements from when we started the process to now we had some more retirements. So these represent two retirements. Uh the state requires us when we budget for an open position we have to budget at step one. That's what they make you do. So you budget at step one. If someone leaves the difference is
the breakage. So by two people leaving we had breakage of these two amounts. The 49,42 the 36,00010. And we have to designate the line item that it came from. These are account numbers that we that Danielle and I recognize and that we have to go into our budget software, change it and
resubmit it to the county um showing where the changes happened. The other changes in transportation and it has a P on the end of the account. That's because it's preschool transportation. So, one of the things we've been working really hard at and it's our registar and also our coordinator of transportation.
They've been working very diligently as the preschool registrations have come in. The cut off for preschool registration is May 1st. So it's really kind of after the fact of the times that we're looking at. So what they were doing is looking at um the preschool route consolidation geographic
placement. So if a student lives like in the beginning the students just went like first come first serve and then we had the new school was finished. So they might be crossing town the town to get there. So at this point they're saying if somebody lives near near Crescent they're going to assign them to Crescent. If they live near TLC they
assign them to TLC. So they're really trying to make the bus routes shorter, more condensed. So that they've done that. They're still working on that. So there's root consolidation, geographic placement, and the retirement breakage. So the Prius school has alleviated
162,701. So the combination of those three things then went in went into the regular transportation line, which just doesn't have a P on the end. Um, so from the state standpoint, those two accounts collapse. They just see it as transportation. They don't see it as preschool or regular. We see that
internally. So, that's how we were able to balance the budget again after putting some roots back. But these are things that we need to change in the online budget. It doesn't change what we're voting on tonight. It just changes line items and that's required of us to go in and do that. So, I just want to
make sure everybody knew that. Plus, I'm required to read that into the record. All right. So then that leads us to um how we the tax levy piece also in the state calculations they come up with a fair share of of local tax levy for
every district and it's based on the ratables in your town and the income in your town over like an average of maybe three years. They have a whole formula for it. So based on that, they say that Vorhees Township School District or Vorhees Township should contribute 61,871474
in the local tax levy. But there's also a calculation of how you get there. You can't just raise taxes some enormous amount of money in one year. You can't. There's a formula for that. So the maximum our levy could be is 56,535 951. The the normal 2% got us 54
million. The adjustment that I mentioned for health care is 1,786. So the combined tax levy is 56,351522. That's that bottom number. So that's the tax levy that we have included in our budget. And I'll talk more about that in
a minute. But that's how we got to that number. It's the 2% plus the adjustment for healthcare. Okay. The next page is the tax impact. So you'll see last year the tax levy was 53,494899.
This year it's 56 351522 an increase of 2.8 million which is 5.34%. That is the percentage on our budget like from one number to another. On the tax bill that it's a different percentage based on ratables of the township, but it's just this district's
piece. Like when you get your tax bill, there's other pieces to it. A county piece, I guess, an eastern piece. This is just our piece. Um, so the tax rate went up 4 cents. The average house is assessed at $455,56. So the impact if it was just a 2%
increase would have been $11743 a year. But with this added amount that we put in, it's $18,942, which is an increase of about $72 over the the normal 2%. Um before we get to questions, I just
want to mention um that the budget that we'll be voting on is item 5.6. Uh there were copies out for the public if if you wanted to look at them and the board has it also. Um and what it just mentions is it has the general fund total of 66,4848062,
the tax levy, the special revenue piece, that's really grant money. So any grant money we get is that number. So the total budget with the general fund and the and the special revenue is 75,994106. And we also have to mention that again we're using the healthc care cost
adjustment of the 1,786 725. And we're also doing withdrawals from Capital Reserve to do some projects only two projects this year for $200,000. We're putting in a new playground that's split funded um at Oage and we're doing some
more hard surface flooring replacement of carpeting for 60,000. And our maintenance reserve, we're taking 44 454,199 out of that. And that just goes to offset required maintenance. There's only $91 left in our emergency reserve and that can only be used for two
things. It could be used for security items or health care costs. So, we're putting that towards healthcare. And we also have to do a motion to approve travel regulation, travel amounts and that really represents uh professional development travel. So these are required things that we have to put in
our motion and we turn this into the county as well. So the reason why I'm reading it is just because it'll be in the record and they will they'll know I covered it and it's also in the agenda. So at this time um we we thank you for your time and we will open it up for questions. I believe we do questions of
the public first. Okay. So, we will I'm going to go back to my seat. Um, but we can open it up to questions from the public and then I believe we do questions from the board. But thank you very much. Thank you. >> Thank you very much for that presentation, Miss Haley. Uh, we're now
going to open for public comment on the 2026 2027 budget only. Seeing none, I will now open it up for board comments. Um, I'll go down the board
row. Um, Miss Smite, any comments man, Miss Cover? >> Yes, I do have a comment. Thank you. Yeah. >> Um, good evening everyone. I want to begin by acknowledging the creativity, diligence, and expertise of Miss Haley
and her team. As a community, we are not unscathed with this budget, and I will speak to that in a bit. But I urge you to look at neighboring districts, cutting programs and services, eliminating staff, raising taxes, in some cases more than sevenfold. We are cutting no programs, no services, no
staff. And our tax increase, while real, is far lower than our neighbors. That is not an accident. that is the result of skilled expert administration and thoughtful financial planning. I wanted to name that clearly before I say anything else. That said, I would be remiss not to speak to the impacts of
this budget on some key stakeholders. Our taxpayers and the parents, guardians, and families of Warheis students on the tax increase. I wish we didn't have to do it. I really do. Taxes have been flat for years, and I'm proud of that. But I want to acknowledge that we have been repeatedly told we do not
pay our fair share as a community. So flat state aid this year I personally considered a relief because in my view it could easily have gone down. The state aid formula is a labyrinth shockingly opaque even to the brightest financial and mathematical minds and I will be the first to say I do not count
myself among that group. It is always guesswork. I'll use this moment to make a clear plea for more simplicity and transparency around this process at the state level. But I digress. Where we landed was a binary choice. Cut programs services and staff or raise taxes. I
stand be behind the choice to raise taxes, though not without some heaviness of heart. On redistricting, the reassignment of some Hamilton families to Oage. To those families, I am truly sorry for the disruption this causes. I want you to hear that I am fully present to the real and painful consequences. I
don't want to relitigate the past, but I will make this commitment. I will advocate strongly for students to be zoned for the school closest to where they live and that we do not redistrict students unless it is clearly an exigent circumstance and there are no other viable solutions. It causes too much
upheaval and is an unnecessary interruption in a child's educational journey. I apologize from my heart on the courtesy busing issue. This has been resolved and in my view very favorably. I want to apologize to every family that experienced confusion,
unclear messaging, and distress as we work through it. Thank you for your grace and patience, even if you're willing to give it retroactively. I do stand by the idea of prioritizing programs, services, and staff, but want to acknowledge that losing busing is a hardship that goes beyond inconvenience.
Taking a benefit away, even in the absence of the legal entitlement to that benefit, causes pain, and any decision to do that should not be made lightly and must be made fairly and equitably. I support this budget holding two things at once. Heaviness because these decisions affect real people, my
negatively, my neighbors, my friends, and my community. And conviction because I believe this budget represents the best available choices in an extremely unforgiving and inhospitable economic climate. Thank you. I don't think anybody could have said it
more beautifully. Um, I ditto is the best thing that I could possibly say. Um, I I do want to say, um, personally, I have a sibling who is a teacher in
Cherry Hill who was cut because of the budget cuts. And um, I am personally feeling how traumatizing that is. And even if you end up tenured and you're in a different role, it's not the same. and cutting computer science and Spanish things that
these these children need quite frankly is devastating to the community and I am so incredibly proud that we made the right decision in Borhees. Um I I know it's not easy and I none of us ever want to raise taxes but if it means that we
get to keep our teachers and our programs and our kids safe in school then then so be it. Um, so I I just I cannot reiterate enough how incredibly proud I am of of this decision, no matter how hard it was. And I want to also say thank you to Helen and her team
and to the finance um the finance committee because this was a lot of work. Um it was a lot of meetings. It was a lot of time. It was a lot of creativity and I am immeasurably thankful and grateful for the great minds um that I put on that committee.
Um um I I did it I I picked the right people because they did an amazing job. Um all right, any other board comments? Mr. Rosen, Mr. Ros, >> everyone said beautiful things and I
agree with them. Thank >> and there's nothing left for me to say. >> Great. Thank you all. Okay. Can I get Right. We're move. Wait, am I missing something? Um, >> right. Okay. Can I get a motion to close
the public hearing on the 2026 2027 budget? >> So moved. Rosner >> second. Monion. >> All in favor? I >> I >> now we have >> now we have to do this, right? >> Uh we have
>> No, no, I'm done. >> We have to make a motion to vote on the actual budget, >> right? Okay. >> All right. Um can I just use this? Sorry, I'm working my way through this. Um yes. >> Can I get a motion to approve item
number 5.6, 6 the budget for the 2026 2027 school year and all of the information attached. So moved. Bunion. Second. Cut over. >> Online voting is open. The motion unanimously passes.
Okay. Uh, we're going to the second executive session, right? >> Yes. So, we are not leaving for this executive session, but we will be taking the second. Moving to district reorganization. Can I get a motion to approve all of the items under district reorganization?
>> So moved. Rosner. >> Second. Ruer. Online voting is open. Motion unanimously passes. Can I get a motion to approve the minutes from the March 18th, 2026 regular board meeting, both regular and
executive session, please? >> So move Stuart. >> Second cut over. Online voting is open. >> Motion unanimously passes. I get a motion to approve the minutes of the April 28th, 2026 special board
meeting, both regular and executive session. >> So moved. Rudder. >> Second. Rosmer. >> Online voting is open. There are eight yeses and one abstension from Mr. Rosen. Motion passes.
Items under information. Um, no further president comments, fire drills and safety drills are on the attached. The harassment, intimidation, bullying report on the attached as well as suspensions. Uh we had a bunch of OPER requests
which have all been clo all but one has been closed out which was received the last one was received more recently. Um maintenance project board secretary. Okay. Thank you. Um as usual our buildings and grounds department was very busy over spring break. So we always thank them for everything they've
done. Um Mr. Higs has provided me a list a list of the items that were completed. Uh there were five new classroom HVAC units were installed at Signal Hill. The paging intercom system at VMS was replaced with an upgraded unit. Multiple sections of concrete were replaced at
Osage. Gym equipment inspections were completed for all the buildings in the district. Glass replacement was completed at ET Hamilton in the main office and HVAC filters were replaced at all buildings in the district. Um I also wanted to thank uh Miss Cury and Mrs.
Mady and my entire business office staff and helping with the budget. It really was a big task and everybody had a hand in it. So, I really appreciate your hard work. Thank you. >> Thank you. Superintendent report. >> Hey, thank you very much. Good evening everyone. I want to echo the sentiments
of Miss Haley and Miss Kettover um regarding transportation and like to extend my sincere thanks to our parents who reached out to us uh with their voice. They voiced their concerns. We heard them and we took immediate steps to investigate. Their engagement helped
us to refine our data and keep our commitment to safety very strong even as we navigate fiscal challenges. By formalizing these hazardous designations in our policy, we now have a solid databacked foundation that keeps student well-being at the forefront of every
budget conversation. And on that same note of prioritizing our students, I want to address the redistricting of the 12 streets from ET Hamilton to Osage. I understand the weight of this change and I extend my sincere regrets for the disruption it causes. Our goal is to
ensure that class sizes across the district remain conducive to highquality teaching and learning for every child. And I encourage all of our families to attend the Osage uh session held at Osage on May 27th at 6 p.m. Flyers will be distributed very soon to those
parents. And I also want to acknowledge that this week is teacher app appreciation week and I see many of our staff here this evening in my favorite color red. You look gorgeous. Uh so during this week we celebrate teacher appreciation week a time to recognize and honor the lasting impact our
teachers make every single day across the Vorhees school district. Our teachers demonstrate unwavering dedication, creativity, and care, shaping meaningful experiences that support both academic success and personal growth in every single student.
In times of change and challenge, which we are definitely experiencing, the role of teachers become even more essential. Every lesson taught, every word of encouragement, and every moment of patience contributes not only to a student achievement, but also to the
development of confidence, resilience, and a sense of belonging. I thank each and every one of you for all that you do each and every day. You I am just honored to serve as your superintendent and I'm here if you need anything. Thank
you so much for all that you do. And oh, I'm sorry, Miss Donley is going to come up. She has a brief report on um our NJDOE HIV school district uh grades report. Stanley, >> very brief. We'll emphasize very very
brief. So, good evening board of education members and community members. Um I reported in October the data that goes along with the um self- assessment for the anti-bullying bill of rights, the the HIB grade is what it's called.
Um but we got it back from the state. It was submitted in October. We received it back in April and it needs to be posted on the website. So, we already presented on the report itself. We just want to take a minute to show you where you can find that. So, if you can see on the district website on the homepage and on
every school page, kind of in the middle of the website, there is a box that says HIP mandates. If you were to just click on that, thank you, Ashley. And then down towards the bottom, the district grades determined are
listed and I have three years that are posted up there. So the 2425 was the assessment that was completed in the fall of 25. And it gives each school plus the district grade. The highest that you can get is a 78 and our district overall was a 77. So, if you
were to look, you know, in your spare time and you want to go through all this wonderful information, you'll find that it's broken down by school and and the district is up at the very top. Okay. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you very much. Audience participation. Anyone wishing to address
the board, please approach the side table on the right and write your name and address on the login sheet. While the board is limited in its ability to respond to the public on matters involving personnel, litigation, negotiations, and attorney client privilege, the board will now hear comments from the public relating to items on the agenda for this board
meeting. Comments are limited to three minutes. The board will not take action this evening. You will be native notified at some later time by letter, electronic mail, telephone, or in the context of a later board meeting of any action the board does take. Okay,
moving into the business portion of the meeting. As we move into the business portion of our meeting, we want to recognize that it may appear as if the board takes action with very little comment and in many cases a unanimous vote. Before an item is placed on the board agenda, it is thoroughly reviewed by the superintendent and
administration. The superintendent then presents the recommended action to the appropriate board committee and works with the committee to ensure that the members fully understand the recommendation. Once the committee is satisfied, the item is placed on the board agenda for discussion and action at the public meeting. Board agendas are
made available to board members several days in advance of the meeting, giving us ample time to review the agenda and have all of our questions answered. Further, we are kept up to date between meetings on the ongoing work of the administration and the important issues in the district. All of these efforts
ensure that we are well informed and prepared to take action at our meetings. Moving to the policy committee report and action items. Miss Branch Stewart, can you please provide a policy committee update? >> Certainly. The policy committee met on
April 28th for an hour. Dr. Hackett, Mr. Moscowitz and board members Monica Watson, Jason Bryce, Crystal Munan, and I were present. The committee discussed and recommends full board approval for all policy items on tonight's agenda, which includes two first read policies,
including policy 8600, transportation, several missing policies and regulations from our vendor audit for first read, and policies and regulations to be abolished based on them being inapplicable to our district or addressed in other policies or regulations. In regard to the missing
policies and regulations from first for first read from the audit on the agenda, I specifically note that our review of policy 7424 bed bugs is not in response to an actual district issue with or outbreak of bed bugs. We are simply
recommending adoption of this vendor suggested policy to remain proactive and arming our nurses and staff with procedures and tools to handle this type of issue. The committee reviewed no second read policies this month and will meet again on June 2nd. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Can I get a motion to approve all of the items under policy? >> So move Stuart. >> Second. Rosner. >> Online voting is open. Motion unanimously passes. >> Miss Freder, can I get an uh academic
excellence report, please? >> The academic excellence committee met on Monday, April 27th for about an hour. It was myself, Miss Kettover, Miss SM, Miss Branch Stewart, Dr. Hackett, and Mr. Moscowitz. Um, we had a lot of good conversations.
We talked about promotion and retention policy. Uh, currently Borhees does not have one officially on the books and we talked about potentially implementing one moving forward. We had a discussion about common district programs. Uh which
schools participate in the same types of activities and which schools we which pro which excuse me which activities we would like to see and all schools. We discussed technology and the district's position that technology is intentional
and balanced within classrooms. There has been a creation of a fine arts club at VMS and the committee fully supports approving this new club. We discussed a reduction in assessments for grades 3 through five. Moving forward, the
committee reviewed the sheltered instruction training plan for staff for the 2627 school year. We talked about se uh summer school and how many classes there would be and students in each class. And then examples were provided
by the district of lessons taught to students on internet safety. Our next meeting will be Monday, June 1st. Thank you. >> Thank you. Can I get a motion to approve all items under curriculum?
>> So moved. Rosner. >> Second. Brother online voting is open. Nothing's coming up. So I can voice it. Yes. Oh, here it is. >> The motion unanimously passes.
>> Mr. Razner, can I get an update on the personnel committee, please? >> Yes. Uh, the personnel committee met Thursday, April 30th. In attendance, myself, Miss Watson, Miss Ruer, Mr. Rosen, Dr. Hackett, Mr. Ma Mosquitz, and board council for one topic. We spoke
about the re the recommendation for the director of buildings grounds. It's we we uh would like the board to approve the hire. That's at 17.6 on the agenda. That person is replacing Mr. Matthysse. We had a the VTAA level 4 grievance. Our
recommendation is to not to deny the VTA grievance 2026-01. We also spoke about the transfer of students from ET Hamilton to Osage and our recommendation is to approve the transfer of those streets due to capacity issues at Hamilton. That is
all. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Uh can I get a motion to approve the items under personnel? >> So move. Rudder. >> Yep. >> Second. Rosen. >> Online voting is open. The motion unanimously passes.
>> Miss Manion, can I get a finance committee report, please? >> Yes. The finance committee met on Wednesday, April 29th at 6 p.m. for 90 minutes. In attendance was Julie Kettover, Jacob Rosner, myself, Dr. Hackett, Helen Haley, and Danielle Kenny. We discussed the reszoning of
streets from ET Hamilton to Osage, the parent responses, student and family impact, origination of current circumstances, and current overcrowding. The committee recommends the students be redistrict back to Osage as that is the appropriate school for these streets. We also recommend a policy be considered to
ensure redistricting in the future keep students at the school closest to their home whenever feasible. We discussed the response from Vorhees Township regarding future housing development proposals and potential impact on student enrollment. Impacts are generally three to five years out. The committee recommends continued communication to ensure
appropriate and timely planning. We discussed maintenance RFPs for time and material bids based on new state law requirements. We discussed budget updates including tax rate increases borne by surrounding districts with Vorhees tax impacts being significantly
lower than the majority of other towns. no loss of teaching, staff or student services and restoration of previously reduced courtesy busing for both ET Hamilton and Signal Hill due to the hazardous road designations. Preschool busing will now mirror the remainder of the town with student enrollment being
at the location closest to the students home which enables us to realize savings. Additional savings have been achieved through new retiree announcements. The committee recommends approval of the updated budget. We discussed the long range facilities plan updated for 2026 2027 which determines
the maximum amount that can be in the capital reserve account and potential future projects the district may need to consider. The balance of our capital reserve account is now 1,881,000. We discussed progress payments for current construction projects including sewer project the VECDC and the ROD
grant projects. We discussed the food service RFP responses. It is proposed to remain with the current vendor and maintain current meal prices. We discussed the renewal of service contracts. We discussed the donation of $10,000 by ET Hamilton PFA to cover the
cost of busing for field trips. And we discussed the submission of grant applications for the focus continuation grant and the schoolled filters program for filtered bottle filling stations and filtered faucets. Our next committee committee meeting is on Wednesday, June
3rd at 6 PM. >> Thank you very much. Can I get a motion to approve all of the items under finance? >> So moved, Rosner. >> Second, Stuart. >> Online voting is open. Motion unanimously passes.
>> Can I get a motion to approve all the items under transportation? >> So moved. Van >> second cut over. >> Online voting is open. Motion unanimously passes. >> Get a motion to approve all of the items
under buildings and grounds. So move manion >> second >> online voting is working. >> No. No. But I my vote is yes. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Motion unanimously passes. >> Moving to public comment. Anyone wishing to address the board, please approach the podium and write your name and address on the login sheet. If you are attending via Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature to be acknowledged. While the board is limited in its
ability to respond to the public in on matters involving personnel litigation, negotiations, and attorney client privilege, the board will now hear comments from the public relating to any items. We'll now hear item. You understand what I'm saying? Okay.
Comments are limited to three minutes. We'll hear any uh comments. The board will not take action this evening. You will be notified at some later time by letter, electronic mail, telephone, or in the context of a later board meeting of any action the board does take. Good evening members of the board. Um
good evening teachers, parents, and community members. I just wanted to briefly follow up on regarding um concerns I raised in the March board meeting. Um after that meeting, I had the opportunity to speak directly with um superintendent um Dr. nearly hack it and I appreciated both our professionalism of that conversation,
willingness to acknowledge that there were areas where policy review may be needed. Um, also want to say um that I left that conversation feeling positive um that the district is listening and taking these concerns um very seriously. Um the issues previously raised involved
how extended uh student illness and excused absences are handled in practice, particularly when students return and are immediately expected to complete quizzes, tests, or significant assignments covering material they missed while absent. I also raised concerns regarding consistency in makeup
work opportunities, grading fairness after medically documented absences, and whether students are being given a realistic opportunity to recover academically after missing extended instructional time. Again, I just want to acknowledge tonight that I appreciate the superintendent taking the time to
discuss those concerns directly with me. I also want to raise an additional operational concern involving morning drop off procedures at Vorhees Middle School. Um, students are marked late after um 8:25 a.m. Um, and u many mornings the parent drop off line itself
is still backed up with vehicles attempting to enter the school. In those situations, families who arrived um on time may still end up receiving a tardy because traffic flow into the building has not cleared. I would just ask the board and administration to review whether tardies occurring under those circumstances should be handled
differently and particularly uh when the delay is caused by school traffic conditions rather than student lateness. And I propose um three possible solutions. Uh, one can be using the time a vehicle enters the drop off line as the cutoff rather than the time the
student physically reaches the door. Another can be to designate a traffic cutoff monitor near the entrance at 8:25 and once a car passes that point before cutoff the student is counted on time even if unloading occurs later. And um the third is assigning staff to monitor
and timestamp vehicles entering the drop off area after a certain point each morning. Um, and again, I raise these respectively and constructively because I believe small operational adjustments like this can improve fairness and reduce unnecessary frustrations for families. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much. And I first thank you for your service. Um, second, uh, thank you so much for coming with solutions. I that's I mean amazing. I love that. I'm sure Dr. Hackett loves that. And thank you for acknowledging
that she does try and meet with all of the parents. It's I it we often tell her that she works way too hard, but um but it's it's really nice when we get the feedback that she's actually meeting parents and hearing them and and that you feel heard. So, thank you so much for your comments. >> Yes, thank you. I just wanted to say
that directly in front of everyone to acknowledge that. >> I appreciate it. >> Good evening, everyone. >> Evening. My name is Michaela Black and I am a mother of a 5-year-old son diagnosed with level one autism and ADHD
currently at ECDC PreK4. He is classified as a preschooler with a disability and next year he should be entering kindergarten in this district. Due to limited spa uh special education options, we are being told our only viable option is an outofd district
placement at a cost to this district of roughly 55,000 a year. All because there is not an appropriate indistrict placement that meets him right in the middle. And my son is not an outlier. Districts AC across New Jersey collectively spend hundreds of millions
of dollars each year on out of district placements often because in district programs have not kept pace with the evolving needs of students. This is not a human issue. It is a fiscal one. Right now, there's a missed opportunity to build programs that could support many
ASD and ADHD students starting in preK3 right here in Vorhees. This school year, we were given two options. Inclusion, which was extremely overwhelming and unsupported and more or a more restrictive pullout program designed for
significantly special needs. All types of programs were denied for my son. There is no true middle ground and as a result my son has made little meaningful progress. He has experienced turmoil, significant stress and dysregulation in environments not made for him. Our
family feels this impact every day. We have been told repeatedly not enough staff or funding and that his profile is too new according to the director of special services. But our children and their needs are not new. What is missing is infrastructure to support him.
Research is clear. Outcomes for autistic children are shaped by their environment. When the environment is supportive and appropriately designed, children succeed. I am asking respectfully and urgently, please, that the district prioritize the development of a program designed around nervous
system needs, smaller class sizes, less stimulating environments, and a focus on special skills and emotional regulation led by trained staff. I also want to express my strong support for the proposal emotional regulation impairment class right here in Vorhees. I urge you
to prioritize it with clear timelines and commitment, please. Neighboring districts like Eve Sham already offer a program like this starting in kindergarten. This is not theoretical. It is already working. Without appropriate indist
programming, families like mine are being asked to make lifealtering decisions in a matter of weeks. We have less than six weeks to secure placement for ESY. Time is not on our side and my son deserves to learn here in district along with his peers.
We have an opportunity to not just support him but really lead the way for many many other students in need. Thank you very much for your attention. >> Thank you for your your comments. Can I also ask that you send those comments to directly to Dr. Hacket along with the um
the emotional regulation impairment class that you referenced from Eve Sham just so that we can have all of the information in. >> Yes, there is actually um a a job posting for an autism class for emotional impairment currently that's open right now in Vorhees. So I'm
speaking in support of that and yes to Eve Sham, I will certainly forward you that as well. Thank you. Thank you so much. Good evening. Um, I wanted to thank Helen once again for the budget because like uh as spoken, we can see a lot of the districts are um in turmoil. Um,
congratulations to Mr. Higs for his position. Congratulations to the three three retirees, Miss Sharon Robertson, Mr. Tim Hassel, and Mr. James Jordan. Um, I wanted to thank the administration for the morning treats. And I wanted to do a thank you to the um parent groups
because our school had treats every day lunches and I'm aware I'm sure all the other schools have. So a big thank you to all them. I'm thanking all the teachers as some of the teachers in here my children actually had. Um but the parent group really went above and beyond and I'm sure they're thanked
enough as it is but um wanted to give that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, seeing no other comments, um, on behalf of the board, we all want to congratulate and welcome Mr. Higs. You have very big shoes to fill, but I'm sure you're going to do an excellent job
of it. We are very excited to welcome you and give you any support that you need in your new role. Um, we also want to to provide congratulations to the three retirees. Um, and there aren't enough thank yous in the world. um to extend to all of our teachers. We
definitely have the brightest and the best. Um and our children are so incredibly lucky to have the type of educators that care so deeply about our children as if they were their own, even when they are total pains in the tush.
Um, and I I I think that it is a testament that we wanted to make sure that you were all um protected and that's because you are such incredibly quality educators. Um, so thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you to
all of our um faculty and parent uh organizations. I know um specifically many of them that spent tons of time putting together um all of those treats and and um special uh gifts for all of you. Um and it was to show you that we
we care deeply and we want to let you know that we are incredibly appreciative. Any other board comments? Okay, we are going to go into executive session. Um,
matters involving personnel including but not limited to the employment appointment, termination of employment, terms of conditions of employment, uh, evaluation of performance, promotion of discipline of any public officers or employee, and specifically the superintendent's evaluation. Uh it will
be at a minimum an hour. Uh but don't hold me to it. And we will return to close out the session. So can I I have to make a motion to go to executive. Correct. >> Correct. No action will be taken after executive session. Um can I get a motion
to adjourn to executive session? >> So moved. Rudder. >> Second. Stuart. >> All in favor? I >> I like what to do. >> Can I get a motion to return from
executive session? >> So moved. Rosman. >> Second. Rudder. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Our Sorry, did you capture that? Okay. Our next meeting will be June 8th, 2026. Um, and it's our last one for the year
or for the school year. Um motion to adjurnn. >> Motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I. Awesome.