Good evening and welcome to the Tuesday, April 28th, 2026 business meeting of the Wall Township uh public school board of education. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> Mr. Smite Sunshine announcement and roll call, please. >> Yes. This is the wall township board of education meeting for which adequate notice under the open public meeting act
was provided by a notice to the co-star as park press township clerk's office all Wall Township public schools and the board administration office on January 8, 2026. Take a roll call. Miss Adams >> here. >> Miss Barbier >> here. >> Miss Bby
>> here. >> Mr. Buffa >> here. >> Miss Giovani >> here. Miss Lawler >> here. >> Mr. Smith >> here. Mr. Wandra, >> Mr. Mal >> here. At this time, I'm going to ask for a motion to go into executive session for
those items indicated on the agenda. >> Mr. Diovani second. >> Mr. Buffer. Second. Uh, all in favor? >> We anticipate returning to public session at 700 p.m. God indivisible
and justice for all right forward Is this sir? Okay, returning to public session. Mr. Smith, may we have a roll call, please?
>> Take a roll call. Miss Adams >> here. >> Miss Barbieier >> here. >> Miss Bby >> here. >> Mr. Buffa >> here. >> Miss DGiovani >> here. >> Miss Lawler >> here. >> Mr. Smith >> here. >> Mr. Wandra
>> here. >> Miss Keeping >> here. >> Mr. Mouth >> here. Thank you, Mr. Smite. At this time, I'm going to call on Sophia Keeping to give our student representative report. >> Okay. Good evening. So, April has been another exciting and productive month
for Wall High School with continued success and involvement across academics, guidance, student activities, and athletics. In academics, our juniors successfully completed the NJ GPA during the week of March 16th, an important milestone as they continue progressing
towards graduation requirements. Students approach the assessment with focus and determination and we are proud of their efforts. Looking ahead, advanced placement exams will begin next week and many students have been preparing through review sessions, practice exams, and extra help from their teachers. Additionally, both
juniors and seniors recently took the seal of biiteracy exam. across a wide range of languages, including Spanish, French, Latin, and more. This opportunity highlights the district's commitment to global education and recognizes students who have worked hard to develop proficiency
in multiple languages. This month, students were also excited to meet and welcome our new superintendent. It was a great opportunity for students to feel connected to district leadership, and we look forward to building a strong relationship moving forward. In guidance news, the class of 2026 is preparing for
an important milestone as decision day will be celebrated this Friday, May 1st. This day allows seniors to proudly share and celebrate their post-secary plans, whether that includes attending college, entering the workforce, or pursuing other opportunities. It is always a
meaningful event that brings the senior class together as they look ahead to their futures. The senior class has also been enjoying a series of memorable trips. On April 16th, seniors traveled to Yankee Stadium for the third of four senior trips, creating lasting memories
together. Looking ahead, we are excited for our final trip in May to Six Flags Great Adventure. Clubs and activities have remained very active throughout April. The class of 2027 hosted their junior prom on April 17th, which was very well attended and a
great success. Our class of 2027 prom queen was Calli Woodside and King was Justin Cannon. Students enjoyed a memorable evening and it was clear that a great deal of planning went into making the event so special. In addition, our annual Voli for autism
took place on April 23rd at Wner Intermediate School. This is one of our most meaningful schoolwide events and student council worked hard to organize donations including gift back baskets from clubs, teams, and local businesses. The event continues to bring the community together in support of a great
cause. Our ROC our ROC students also had a valuable opportunity this month traveling to New York City on April 22nd to tour the Intrepid Museum. This experience allowed students to learn more about history, leadership, and service in an engaging, hands-on
environment. Sorry, this is really wordy. In athletics, spring sports are now in full swing, and many teams are off to a strong start. Our baseball team in particular is thriving early in the season with an impressive 8 and3 record with a monumentous win against rival
high school Mana Squan 15 to1. Across all spring sports, student athletes continue to demonstrate their utter dedication. Overall, April has showcased the hard work, involvement, and enthusiasm of Wall High School students as we continue toward a strong finish to
the school year. We also have one major accomplishment to celebrate that was just announced. The nominees for the 2026 Bassy Awards, which is Mammoth County's annual celebration of high school theater, were released last night. and Wall High School is proud to
have earned 11 nominations for our fall drama Uritsy and our spring musical Into the Woods. Congratulations to our entire cast and crew and especially the following students who are nominated Avery Lawler, Nikki Vatello, Karina Manol, Jack Baldesair, and Hobie
Peterson. Mr. Ryan and Mr. Cortin House were also recognized with nominations along with the entire cast and crew of Uritysy and the student orchestra for Into the Woods. This is an outstanding achievement that reflects the incredible talent and dedication of our performing
arts program. The full list of nominees will be shared in the next Wall High School newsletter and it is also available on the Bassy Awards website. Congratulations again to all of our nominees. We wish you the best of luck at the awards ceremony May 19th. Okay. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much, Samantha, for that report. Lots of good news that you reported tonight. We're happy to hear good news. All right. Uh and as always, we welcome you to stay, but you may join your cake. Uh at this time, I'm going to introduce Mr.
Scarano, who is going to uh introduce our student showcase tonight. >> Thank you, Mr. Maliff. Um, it gives me great pleasure to introduce high school art teacher Miss Jill Alexander, uh, who continues to highlight and promote her students many, many talents and she will be speaking about her students entries
and recognition at the county level. >> Thank you so much. Uh, good evening everyone. I just want to say that it's so nice to be here uh, to have these students recognized. Um, we have six outstanding students to recognize tonight uh for their exceptional
achievements uh at the state level in the arts. And I'm incredibly proud to work with these kids every day in the classroom. So, uh, our first, uh, two students are Melody Custers and Aaron
McBaron, and their artwork was selected for the state youth art month exhibition at grounds for sculpture and was on display during the month of March this year. It was chosen by a panel of art educators of New Jersey judges, and this
is one of the highest honors for uh, student artists in New Jersey. AE&J only makes two high school selections in each county. So as the only two high school students selected for Mammoth County, they're represent their their work represents a truly elite level of
creativity and technical skill. As you can see here in the beautiful picture. So, uh, the other four students that we're recognizing tonight are Abigail Beakler,
Abigail Toy, Brooke Roland, and Kiara Burns, who had artwork that was selected for the New Jersey State Teen Arts Festival. New Jersey Teen Arts only selects 20 artworks for this honor, and our students captured four of those
spots. This recognition highlights their exceptional talent and dedication and provides them the opportunity to showcase their work at the state level, receive professional feedback, and grow as artists alongside peers from across New Jersey. And this will all take place
on June 3rd at the state festival up at middle uh up in uh Middle Sex College. Uh as their teacher, it's incredibly meaningful to witness their growth, their commitment, and their passion that they bring to work in my classroom each day. And they represent not only the
strength of our art program at Wall High School, but the power of arts to inspire, connect, and tell important stories, reminding us all that the word world truly does need art. I also want to sincerely thank the board of education for your continued support of
the arts. The opportunities our students have are made possible through your funding and your belief in what we do. And it means so much to see you take the time to recognize their talents this evening. So, thank you. So, I'm going to just call those students. So, we've got
Aaron McBaron. Come on up, Aaron. Abigail Beakler, Kiara Burns, Brooke Roland, and Abigail Toyoy. And we also have Miss Parks with us this evening and she has the privilege of
speaking about our championship bowling team and repeat individual champion under the direction of Coach Lash. >> Thank you so much for having me here tonight. Um I am truly honored to be able to speak to you about the incredible accomplishments of the young
men behind me. Um I will call them up after uh what they did truly to put in perspective like hey you want a state championship but just to make clear what that truly means the entire state of New Jersey is coupled into four different
groups. So there's north one, north two, central and south. We are in south group two. So our boys went through their entire season playing their divisions. won their division, did things within the state championship, then they start to compete at the state level. They have
to go through the sectionals first, which they are competing against the 16 other teams and schools that are just in their group. These gentlemen ran away, captured their sectional group two championship to earn them the right to compete against the entire state of
group two, which is composed of 65 other schools. They then went to the state tournament and did their work as a team. Everyone stepping up at different points, taking care of business to create the overall state championship for group two. So that is truly an
amazing accomplishment. So I want to recognize the gentlemen that were part of this winning team. First we have Mr. Griffin Cook. Our next champion, Mr. Willilh. Next we have Loop Capsus.
Next gentleman coming up. Oh, let Luke get his handshake. Yes. All right, Jake McDermott, please. And then we have Mr. Donovan Klene. And while Donovan is walking up to collect his championship, Donovan was
also for the second year in a row the overall overall individual state champion out of all groups, all sizes, every division. So, he's the man basically of every boys bowler in New
Jersey, twotime individual state champ. And I want to bring up our coaching staff who have worked diligently to get these gentlemen in a position to compete and capture this championship and continue moving forward. Our first year
boys head coach, Miss Caitlyn Lash. And Mr. Jessica is not with us this evening, but we also have our assistant coach, Mr. Dave Klene. So, there we have our 2026 boys bowling state championship team. Thank you again
so much coaches and players. And as we're seating, I just wanted to thank every member of the school board and our incredible administration. Your support, not just financially, but just being here to allow these kids the
opportunity to branch out in many different ways. I'm so proud that not only did they win this championship, but this group of young men are incredible human beings and they represented our school the way that we want a Crimson Knight to behave. So, thank you for your
support and allowing them to excel. Thank you. >> Thanks, Miss Henry. And again, congratulations to all of the folks who we honored tonight. Uh at this time, we're going to have our first public comment session. This will
be for any school related issues. And the board requests that those individuals speaking will be courteous and mindful of the rights of individuals when making comments, specifically comments regarding individual students and school personnel are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board.
Students employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey. The Wall Township Board of Education bears no responsibility, nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public. Speakers should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or
affected by or identified in their comments and recognize they are legally responsible and liable for their comments. And we please ask you to observe our policy of three minutes per speaker. Betsy Crons. I live in Wall Township. I'm glad to see that the new
super who's starting um in July is here tonight. I did get to have a few words with him and mention that I had been sending in questions, simple questions about the budget and I wasn't getting responses, simple responses, uh that I'm just ignored and that I wanted him to be
aware of it. And I was hoping he had an email that I could send them to, but he said he doesn't have an email set up. So, um, when that's set up, I will send him those emails. Um, I did notice under what you said into the state, we're now
paying u for students to go to Manisquan High School. Um, and they're general education students. So, I'm just wondering how does how does one go to Manisquan now and have the district pay? If you could go over that student enrollment, I see is at 3,177.
And I'm hoping under your adoption of the budget, Mr. Smith, if you could go through these numbers, um the total expenditures of 101 and and go over I want you to go over all the debt service numbers and what they mean. And I I was asking you, how much is the average
homeowner expected to pay more this year based upon your increase? Is it an increase of 5,384 802? And what does that equate to? um for us to walk through the door, have no handouts whatsoever, to have no budget
presentation here that I could even look at and ask you. Um it's just complete dysfunction of the business administrator. That that's how I see it. It's very simple. Um
what else is on here? You have a WTEA sidebar. I'm wondering how much extra are you anticipating to pay with this sidebar? So, I don't know the teaching load is now four periods daily. Uh how much extra are we going to be paying because of that? I did notice I'm
guessing Mr. Richens came back to you on the budget because you had things blank regarding the health insurance. And I have to say Dominic Senelli's that nine-page budget presentation that we paid $55,000 for was awful. So, I don't know how anybody would approve anything
tonight based on that. I'd like you I did ask you, Mr. Smite, to bring with you how much we're paying uh for health benefits currently for each employee. I see for the state health benefits plan, it's 75,000 a family for the most expensive and 45,000 for the least
expensive. It's outrageous. So, I want to know what are you budgeting um per family? Are you budgeting 40,000 per family? Um, I asked you for those numbers and of course I got nothing back. So I did let the new superintendent know that. Mr. Scoran,
I've been very disappointed in and your lack of responses as well. Um, and this page about in health benefits, you got it blank. So you had to either say yes or no. So I don't know how you're going to approve the budget tonight without having that uh filled
out. Or if you did reply and fill it out, I would I would like those answers. Um, >> thank you, Mrs. Cross. We have another speaker, >> right? And we're paying I calculate at least 31,000 per student. >> If you could go over, including all
costs, what those numbers are, >> I would appreciate Mr. Cross, your time is expired. Do we have any other speakers? >> Answer my questions. Thanks. Uh hello, my name is Heath Reinhardt. I'm a senior captain on the football team. >> I'm Thomas Poskkey. I'm also a senior captain on the football team.
>> Uh we're just here to talk today about the situation going on with one of our coaches, Coach Rogers. Um I just want to say there isn't many people I would really do this for because I'm not a real good public speaker, but this just shows how much he really means to me in my heart. Um and I'm speaking for everybody behind me, too. They're here
for a reason. Um, I'll take it back to freshman year. Going into freshman year when me and Tom right here, we're seniors now. We were going to transfer because there wasn't going to be a football team to start. And I know Coach Rogers came to every single one of these meetings fighting for wall football to come back. He's really the heart and soul of this program and he made sure
that us kids would have a team at home and we'd be able to play with our best friends for the rest of our high school career and that's something that needs to be talked about more. >> You got anything to say? >> Yeah. speaking on the character of Coach Rogers and he's an amazing coach first
off, but he's also an amazing person. I think everyone else here uh with me can attest to that. You know, he made us elite football players, but he also made us um really good men, young men. I'd say that, you know, we're not adults, full grown adults yet, but the life lessons he has taught us and the amount
of stuff he has taught us in general have definitely helped me as a person. And I feel like you attest to that as well. and I feel like him as a person, he's an amazing football coach, but him as a person has had an extremely positive impact on my life.
>> Um, I also would like to say like there's not many coaches, I mean, I started my career out in Redbank and I made my way back to Wall and there's not many coaches that I could say treat me as one of their own children. Um, he really loves each and every player like they're his own. He cares about us on
the field and especially off the field, what we're doing in the classroom. If we get into any sort of trouble, he's there for us. Um, and there's not many people that I could say love their players like that. And he really built a foundation in this program and there's definitely a kids that are looking to play under him.
So, I really think it's just going to hurt the program without him cuz not having a guy who cares that much is really just going to hurt the foundation. There's been a coaching change every single year, but no matter what, Coach Rogers has been there fighting for us, making sure we have a winning program, staying by our side, and he hasn't let anything change that,
and I really think it's going to hurt the program not having him there. >> I'd also like to say, speaking on the togetherness and family bond of the football team, he's a humongous part of that. Um, every single day talking about how we're a brotherhood, how we're one
unit, and how we need to fight together as a unit. And I feel like his absence of the football team would completely crumble. That brotherhood and that teamwork and that family feeling that I feel like we've been trying to build since our sophomore year, our freshman sophomore year. And it would be a
humongous loss to the program and a humongous loss to team morale. >> It just kind of makes me sad to see someone that's such a good father figure get thrown out in the dust like this. So, I really think it's something that needs to be taken into consideration more because I mean I love him with my
whole heart and there's not many people I could say that about that have coached me. So, I just really think this is something that needs to be talked about more. Thank you for hearing me out. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Thank you, gentlemen. How you doing tonight?
Um, my name is Ken Dad. I live in Wall Township. I've uh served for the past seven about seven, eight years on the uh youth football uh board. Uh proud to say. And I' I'd like to read a letter that the a few of the rising 14U coaches put together and uh sent over to the
board today. Just going to read that. Dear members of the board of education and district leadership, we are writing to express our strong support for Coach Rogers and recognizes many years of dedication to Wall AF as well as the Wall High School football team. Over the
years, Coach Rogers has invested an extraordinary amount of time and energy into the program and the broader community. His commitment extends far beyond the field. He has helped shape young athletes, contribute to rebuilding
the football program as and played a meaningful role in fostering pride and unit within the town. The impact of that kind of sustained effort should not be overlooked. We fully respect that is responsibility of leadership to
evaluate situations and determine whether certain actions warrant disciplinary measures including potential separation. Those decisions are not easy and they require care careful consideration of many factors. At the same time, we believe leadership
also carries the responsibility to develop, guide, and when appropriate, support the individuals within their organization. Strong organizations are often defined not only by accountability, but their willingness to address challenges
constructively and invest in the people have contributed to their success. Ultimately, we respect the process and the difficult decisions that must be made. Our intent in writing this is simply to ensure that Coach Rogers years of dedication, service, and
positive impact in the community is fully recognized as part of this process. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration. Okay. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else for public comment? Uh, good evening everyone. I'm Coach Rogers.
Um, I'm more than just a football coach and I I just I need to paint the picture of who I am as a person because there's some portrayal of me that has kind of garnered the attention of some individuals and I I just I need
to be able to put my head down at night on my pillow and I just need to get the following out. I'm a New York City public school teacher for the last 26 years. I've been rated highly effective in that practice every single year of my career.
I teach the accelerated US history and government program in my building to eighth graders, which is an 11th grade curriculum, and they take the New York State Regents every year, and I have a 95% pass rate of that test. I'm also the United Federation of
Teachers Union Chapter Leader in my building. So I am well-versed in allegations that are brought up against staff and other individuals. I defend them to the letter of the law of the of our uft and DOE contract.
I know that there is some concern about me being a parent who is a coach, but I'm a coach who's actually a parent because I've been doing this for 25 years. I have three I have three children. Two who are currently members of the Wall Township public
school system and one who was a graduate in 2024. I got involved with wall football because of the hazing scandal. I never intended to be a coach at Wall. I fought to save the program because my
child was a victim of that scandal and I needed to fight to make sure that the right guy got the job. So I was asked to be on that hiring committee, something that I took very seriously and very very I held it near and dear to my
heart. And when coach Guerreri got the job, it was the one thing that was done right here in a very long time. It's his program. It's his vision and I am eternally grateful for that. I don't
know what I did wrong. I don't know who I pissed off. I had an allegation against me. I was told that it was unfounded and it was unsubstantiated for something that happened outside of school off of the football field. I've
never once, not a single time in my tenure here had a complaint from my players or their parents. So, I'm confused. I'm sorry. And I don't know if this is appropriate and I don't know if I should even be up here speaking, but
the reality is is that I've poured my heart and soul into my profession and into my career. And I've had it ripped for me. And I don't know why. I don't have an answer. I've never been evaluated. I've never had a negative evaluation. I've never even had so much
as a derogatory comment made to me about my approach. I can't apologize from being from Staten Island. I can't apologize for my accent, how I speak, the way I talk. I can't apologize to any of those things. But those guy, I love those guys back there. I do.
And I just want to know why. It's all I'm looking for. I appreciate your time. I hope this isn't because someone has a personal vendetta against me because that would be unfortunate. I'm just looking for the why. >> Thank you. Thank you. We have another
public comment. >> Hello, my name is Kristen Daniel. Um I live in Wall Township. It is really hard to go after Coach Rogers. But as a parent of a ninth grade daughter, my son is an eighth grader
coming up to join the football team next season and he had the privilege and the honor of his first year of AYF football last year to be coached by coach Rogers. I think this board needs to think very
hard about the stigma that wall has had for the past how many years. I'm from not from New Jersey and I got to be honest, I'm tired of the stigma. Okay? I want my kids to grow up in an area that they can be proud of that I could be proud to say
we live in Wall, New Jersey. So, I ask you to take really the time and consideration when you make these decisions because coach Rogers and I can tell you 100% my daughter and my sons have been on teams where they have been
coached by parents and you could see the, you know, given the favoritism, but I can 100% say that coach Rogers not only shows up for this team. He
showed up for my son when his son broke his arm in the first season, the first game. He came to every single practice. He came to every single game. He never stopped coaching. And my son put in the hard work because of Coach Rogers. And
he made himself a player of that team. And he earned his spot because Coach Rogers believed in him. Thank you. Um, hello. My name is uh Gustini. I play football, varsity football with or for
Coach Rogers. And um today uh we heard about the meeting and I went home after school after the gym and I tried to figure out like a couple words to describe coach Rogers and you know I was trying to think what's the best word to describe him and I kept coming back to coach every time. Um you know I think of
a coach I think of coach Rogers I think of my football coaches and how important they are. Um I spend a good amount of time with them 24 hours a week. So you know obviously I get to know them. I'd like to say I have a good uh judge of character and none of these coaches have
ever, you know, done anything wrong towards me or crossed me or done anything bad. So, nothing bad to say. I would just like to say when you think of the word coach, you might think of someone who coaches a basketball team, baseball team, football team, whatever it is. And you know, maybe they teach
the X's of X's and O's. They teach strength. They teach, you know, how to run this play and how to run that play. But like under that if a deeper look at it I think you would see you know the real coaching the coaching that goes on
for your life and I think a coach is so important to a kid. If you ask any kid they'll remember a good coach they'll remember a bad coach and so obviously coach Rogers is a great coach and I'll remember him forever. And I would just like to say Coach Rogers has not only
helped me but the rest of my team back there and obviously kids who have graduated become better people, more responsible people. Um he's taught a lot of life lessons. You know, we have to he teaches us to own up to our mistakes,
accept what's wrong, make it better. And I would just think you guys should um take into consideration all of this and make your decision wisely. Thank you. >> Thank you. HI EVERYONE. I'M Brian Daniel. >> I'm Axel Aquino.
>> Joe Coco. >> Uh we all played with Coach Rogers. He was our coach for AYF last season. just like after what all these guys said, all these players in high school, after all he's did for them, he came back down after he was tired and after
he probably wanted to go to sleep. He came back and he coached us and like throughout it all, even when he probably didn't want to sometimes, he still came and he supported us and he helped us grow and he helped us be a good football team. And even after his son Andrew got
hurt in the first game of the season, he still came back. He still helped us. Even when he probably didn't have to, he still showed us what it means to be a great coach. And I bet you can ask every single person on our team, every single parent, they're all going to tell you
that Coach Rogers is a standup guy, standup coach, standup father. And really, he became a father figure to me and these two guys behind me. So, thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. Any further comments? >> Good evening, everybody. Um, my name is
Brian Mholland. Um, born and raised. I just want to say thank you very much. I know this job you guys are sitting up there sucks sometimes and not thankless, especially for the people that ran for this and are volunteering their time. So, um, thank you very much for your time and effort for the kids in this town. Um, I'm born and raised in this town. I
got I'm raising now four children. I went to this high school. I played ball here. Uh, I was lucky enough to have some coaches and some people that care deeply about me. Uh, guys like Tony Vidola, Dr. Vidola helped me get into school, came back here, coached under
coach Barnes. I have four children that I cannot wait to be and see them as Wall Crimson Knights. Um, but I've had the privilege to coach in AYF since my 14-year-old son has been five years old. Um, we've had our own issues, as
everybody probably here knows, and Chris Rogers has come here and helped me coach these young men that were behind me. Uh, Mrs. Daniels brought it up about Coach Rogers coming back last year after his youngest son broke his hand, but the truth of the matter
is, he's done it two years in a row. This gentleman has went to work at five o'clock in the morning up in New York City. He hustles his ass back down here. He coaches high school football. Um, molds young men into being good guys. And then instead of going home and being
with his family, he comes back and puts another two hours in the cold and dark area of the AYF fields because we don't have any lights, by the way. If you can help us out with that, that'd be great. Um, he then comes back, as I said, and puts time he cuts film for us. Um, and
then he does it all over for the high school. Goes home, eats a little bit of food, goes back to bed because he's got to wake up and go do it all over again. And he did this for two years without his son playing on my football team. Um, one of the big things with Coach Rogers is accountability. And I'm sure all the
people that are up there, I'm pretty sure you're successful people. You volunteers up there, the gentleman like Mr. Smith who's been up here a long time. Um, one of the most important things that he does is holds people accountable, not only to their teammates, but to themselves
and puts in their hearts that these ideas and decisions that you make on a daily basis mold who you are and who you're going to be. And he's an impassionate guy. He's a wonderful human being. He's a great father. He's a good friend of mine. And he helps these kids of Wall Township very much. So again, I
know this decision sucks for you guys. I really do. But I really hope that you take into consideration the words that these young boys are saying, these young men are saying, these mothers of children. Um, he's an important part of our community. We're losing coaches. He sat up here and
fought for our ball football team a couple years ago. I know Mr. Smith was up there. I know you remember all that garbage we were going through. And he fought for these kids. He fought for this program. We were flying high for a couple years and then we hit it pretty hard. And we need guys like this to back
us up to help our children to guide this township into a better way. So I thank you for your time, especially again the volunteers for hearing me out. I hope you have a blessed day. God bless. >> Thank you. We have anyone else for public comment?
Okay. Good evening. Um, first off, thank you so much from an educator. I have lived in Wall Township my whole life, uh, 49 years. Um, I am lucky enough to live right next
to Coach Rogers for a long, long time. I have three girls. None of them obviously play football, but I see and have lived the experience of wall football through the Rogers. And I thankfully got to see and live through
the eyes of coach Rogers of what it's like to be a coach. And Wall, it takes heart and soul just to be just the same as being an educator. And it's hard to be a coach. I tried to be a travel soccer coach and I did not do as well as coach Rogers, but I'm up here speaking
on behalf of him because he's such a good guy. He it is so hard to get someone who has so much heart in the children's lives. I you heard it through the kids and having the kids come up and speak
their heart and soul about how much they love him as a coach, a father means so much to me listening to it as a neighbor. But I had to come up and speak because I love the Rogers coach Chris. he
does goes above and beyond for the kids and wall and just being alumni it's speaks volumes. So please think about it through a parents view and um thank you for everything you do but coach Rogers is a huge part of our
community and we need to keep them on. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Do anyone else for public comment? At this time, then I'm going to close this uh first public comment. At this time, I'm going to turn it over
to uh Mr. Smith uh for a budget presentation. >> I'll just say a few words. >> Just before Mr. Smith gets started, I was just going to say a few words regarding the budget presentation. Um, and there's a number of people and individuals that work on it, but this
particular annual school budget continues Wall Township Public Schools commitment to providing our students the best possible learning experiences and environment. These experiences include best practices for class size, a variety of age appropriate counseling and SEAL
services, curriculum rooted in research and in alignment with state standards, and continuous technology and facility updates. The district continues to be proud that this experience is fostered by many different district personnel, including BOE employed bus drivers,
custodians, maintenance, food service, and other support staff. Each school year and budget cycle presents new needs, challenges, and priorities that are strategically evaluated and prioritized by district administration and board committees to allow our district to be responsive to
the most pressing needs while remaining fiscally responsible. Maximizing efficiency continues to remain one of our primary goals in developing a balanced school budget. And while operating expenses have continued to rise, this budget reflects a continued commitment to effective
operations, student programming and growth and staff needs. At this time, I'll turn it over to Mr. Smite, our business administrator, who will lead us through more specific details uh regarding the 2627 school budget and invite those at the deis to take a seat
in the audience. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Scarano. And I was about to just say what you just said previous to me uh taking a microphone, but uh no, not really. So, this is the public hearing for the 2026 2027
uh school year budget. Um and as well as Mr. Scrano did. I'd like to thank everyone who uh put a lot of work into this budget um because u and I know a number of them are sitting right here to my right, but it's been a long process.
With regard to the timeline for this budget, it started in October and I will say uh Dr. Handerhan in anticipation of uh uh being absent during the winter and uh the spring of this school year
required that we started the process a little early uh and progress uh substantially enough so that uh any difficulties any issues could be addressed while she was still here. Um as indicated on the schedule uh district
prepared and that and this is at the department heads building principles uh directors started preparing their budgets in in October. finance facilities committee started discussing it uh in November and it was a topic of discussion each month since uh we had a
public workshop meeting on March 10th and and I'll make reference to that workshop meeting because there was uh a lot of detail presented uh to to the board and discussed with the board at that meeting. We had uh both assistant superintendent and the directors uh you
know review their areas of the budget uh and what's included. We're not going to reiterate that uh tonight, but for additional information again, please refer to the March 10th workshop meeting. Uh the state aid was released just after that uh workshop meeting on
March 12th. The board approved a tenative budget on March 17th that was subsequently submitted to the Department of Education for review. It's the uh office of the Mammoth County Superintendent. And on April 21st, they approved the budget so that we could
advertise uh this this budget prior to the public hearing. That advertised budget is available on the district website. It was provided as a handout for this evening as well. Uh in addition to the advertised budget, the documents that were submitted to the department of
education along with the tenative budget were also made available as lo as well as the presentation of the March 10th budget workshop meeting. Um we have our budget goals which you know they'll be uh included with the
presentation. You can refer back to them. These goals are what are used to guide the decisions uh while we are working through the multiple months preparing preparing this budget. I I won't read them for you. You can uh read them
at your leisure with regard to and again I'm going to refer to March 10th. This is the uh personnel portion of the budget. Uh great detail at at the workshop meeting. Most importantly, this
budget funds all the positions uh in in conformance with the budget goals that we have. And uh in addition to not requiring any cuts uh reallocation of staff, we've also included two
additional positions in the in next year's budget. With regard to curriculum instruction, again, uh, credit to Miss McCann who presented at the budget workshop meeting. Uh, there's no drastic cuts in this category. And I say that because there's a lot of school districts that
are in a totally different circumstance than than Wall Township. They're going through drastic cuts in order um to balance their budgets. Uh, fortunately for us, we're not in that situation. Uh again, the last item listed, the summer nights academy, that was previously
funded by grant funds. That's a priority of the board of education. And once again, it's being funded within our general fund uh budget. And this is again another area, sorry, catch up. Um another area that uh
where we are achieving one of our budget goals. And again, the summer nights academy was the last bullet. The area special services, Miss Bond presented information with regard to her department and uh her
budget at the budget workshop meeting. Uh but again in in compliance with our goals or compment with our goals, the uh uh this budget continues to uh to to fund the movement to having in-house
programs as opposed to sending our students out of district. Uh and the RISE program is a perfect example of that. That is continued to be funded in next year's school budget. And um and in accordance with the goal, it's bringing students back into the district and
it'll be shown on a subsequent slide how we're reducing our out of district placement costs. Student wellness uh again in detail at at the workshop, you know, the the budget provides for the resources that
are needed for these programs. And you know, I'll only speak to uh you know, the program and the benefit of this area. Uh it's not only for students, but it's also for staff. Uh we had an unfortunate situation in the district and I witnessed Miss Steiner and Miss
Bilary uh in action and uh you know, they are quite impressive and uh that's what they do for staff. I can only imagine what they're doing for >> Wrong way. Sorry. what they're doing for uh the students in the district here.
No, just kidding. >> I don't think he was kidding. >> Sorry, I got to go one more to wellness. I apologize. >> Sorry. And again, this presentation will be available on the district's website uh for future reference.
So technology, this is the area Mr. Alworth again went in great detail at the uh budget workshop and again referencing the uh the budget goals. You know, we've had cost reductions in certain areas and it it's
allowed us to reallocate funds uh to to address uh identified needs within our technology department uh as noted by Mr. for all worth and uh in this budget as in previous budget continues the process
of uh replacing student devices in uh different grades in a transition from uh uh the grade levels into the intermediate and the high school and when I made this all one slide with regard to operations security and transportation again detail at the
workshop meeting uh what what is most noteworthy uh it's all there to read, but uh you know, we manage 200 acres of property. We maintain over half a million square feet of of buildings. Uh and this is all maintained by in-house
staff. That is uh has been a priority of this board of education that we don't outsource uh staff to to perform work in in the district. uh a and all these departments are uh staffed by Wall Township school employees and that is
once again in the 2627 U school budget. So this is the 2627 school budget consists of u three funds essentially. We have our general fund and this is what directly
impacts the tax levy. It's what's being voted on tonight is the general fund budget. Uh we also have the special revenue budget which uh is basically grants and entitlements and I'll you
know acknowledge Miss McCann and Miss Bond for the work they do. Uh Miss McCann handles our title one grants. Miss Bond handles our uh idea grant that are over a million dollars. Uh we get uh guidance with regard what what we should
be bud budgeting for for the grants each year. However, the special revenue grants have no impact on the tax levy. The debt service is uh a separate fund and as its name, it's where we manage the funds uh where the district manages
its debt. The uh the debt on the district's books are only the referendum from 2022 that we are still currently in the throws of uh under construction. Uh but that even though the debt service uh
part of the budget and along with the tax levy it impacts the tax levy, it's not part of the budget that is presented and voted tonight. The tax levy for the debt service was approved when the referendum was approved in 2022
uh and continues for the life of the bonds for that debt service. So again, going back to the to the general fund, it's $95,600,000. We have anticipated revenues uh which are state aid as well as a number of
miscellaneous revenues and the BA and and then the remaining balance is funded through the taxes uh to be raised uh which as can be seen by under budgeted revenue are in a graphic
you know we're we're dependent on the local tax levy we have state aid it's about 8% of our budget and the uh other sources of revenue which would be tuition budget and fund balance make up about 5% of our revenues.
Speaking specifically on the different revenues again the tax levy uh the increase is 5% that is comprised of the 2% allowable uh that all state school districts realize on an
annual basis for their tax levy as well as the health benefit adjustment uh that is being applied this year at 3% for a total of 5%. Um the miscellaneous tuition uh miscellaneous uh revenue you
know they vary yeartoear the tuition are our our students attending Wall Township um but the other noteworthy is so we have our tax lev we have state aid I also want to mention that um sorry state
aid is 8% of our budget we had an increase of 6% uh it was about 300 just over $369,000 increase in state aid. Uh although on the on the schedule it's about 444,000 because we also receive state aid for
transportation of non-public students uh which is not factored into the publicized state aid but it is something that we include in our our revenue stream uh and it is accurately reported here. The uh other areas I want to make reference to budgeted fund balance
essentially that's the balance that's available in the prior year budget. So, we are currently in the 202526 school year and in creating next year's budget, we're estimating that we're going to have about $ 1.5 million remaining in this existing budget. And
when you look at that, it's about 2% of the operating budget. So, we are operating at about a 98% uh and that could fluctuate depending on and the impact that would have is on what our remaining surplus is at the end of the year. uh but and this will be
important that we're able to fund subsequent budgets uh with balances remaining in in the prior year. Additionally, our capital reserve drawdown uh which is used to fund our capital projects which you'll see in the
appropriation slide. Uh but we fund our capital improvements uh 90 to 100% from our capital reserve account which means that's not impacting uh the tax levy or the state aid revenues. And the capital reserve
account is funded from balances from prior year budgets. So, and we utilize those funds to as a revenue source in subsequent years budgets. And the same would go for the maintenance reserve draw down. We're required to perform certain required
maintenance in the school. uh we fund that category of accounts from a a draw down from our maintenance reserve account which is specific for that purpose uh in the amount of $700,000 again it's something we look to do on an
annual basis uh and we um fund those reserves with prior year budgets so even though there may be and I I mention that because in budgeting you know like from the beginning we're looking at a 2627 school year budget We're projecting out
18 months at the start of this process, 14 to 15 months even when we're completing it. Um, and these are budget estimates. So, it's very common that we would have balances remaining in these accounts at the end of the year. Uh, those balances are used to fund the
subsequent year budget as well as reserve accounts in order to fund um subsequent budgets. The other noteworthy is the designated fund balance is zero and it's been uh zero every year. Th those would be funds that would be audited excess surplus. So
if the district after the audit uh the auditors determined that we had surplus in excess of what we're allowed to maintain as a surplus, that would be required to be a line item in our budget revenue, which uh we do not have.
So the tax impact based on those uh the revenues and the um increase so based on and it's based on uh revenues and appropriations equaling uh $95,600,000.
This is the tax levy 82780. This includes the 2% increase that is allowable. It also includes the additional 3% health benefit uh adjustment. Um the allowable over the prior year as noted is 1.5 million and
the health benefit adjustment is 2.3. And you know throughout this budget the driver is the uh is the increase in health benefits. And again, similar to uh when discussing personnel, you know, Wall Township is is in a very
good position with regard to health benefits compared to other districts that are seeing significant increases in these these line items and therefore uh their their tax levy increases are in excess of this. And I'll provide more
detail because the health benefit adjustment is driven by the state health benefit plan. Um and and the reason is is because the state through their plan when they have increases that exceed the 2% that districts are allowed to
increase on an annual basis they recognize that school districts can't absorb those costs within that 2%. So therefore there's an allowable adjustment that is driven by the state health benefit plan. Um it can't exceed what the increase is uh by the by the state plan. The state plan, for example,
was 31% increase for the 2026 calendar year. And that's what sets the bar for all school districts. Fortunately for us, again, we're nowhere near that 31% increase, but that's what enables school
districts to go beyond the 2% statutory statutory increase and include an additional health benefit adjustment. The impact on the average assessed home um is and this assessment again is based
on the 2% plus the 3% for the health benefit adjustment. The average assessed home in Wall Township is $495,600. The annual increase $248. Last year the increase was $200. So this
is about a an additional increase of $48. It's about it's five cents on $100 of assessed value. And again, uh this is the increase is driven by the health benefit adjustment.
So that was the revenue side of the budget. We also have the appropriations. So and we categorize them uh in two different ways. One is as of service and commodity. And and again this this this is telling in the sense that you know we're a service organization 57 57% of
our budget is salaries like combined with employee benefits uh you know is 80% of our budget and then you can see the balance of the uh the pie purchase services supplies and and other expenses. So and again when you have an
organization with 750 plus employees we issue more than a thousand W2s um you know you you would and you know the services education this this is how you would expect a a chart to to view uh uh for a school
district budget on a more detailed schedule. This is how the our appropriations are broken down by uh again commodity or services again employee benefits it's a 13%
increase over the prior year and again I'll mention the state health benefits comparison is that the the state plan increased 30 31%. um our our health benefits and I apologize our employee benefits are increasing 13% because employee benefits
are more than just health benefits. Um I I think some of the other numbers require some explanation with regard to purchased property. You'll see a reduction of 24.7%. Um that is uh not strictly a a cut uh
but that is a a reallocation and change on how the district makes purchases included in there in the purchase property services would be the our lease purchase of school buses. We no longer lease purchase them. We outright purchase them as equipment which would
be further down under property and that's why you see a 270% increase in property. So, uh there's not a drastic cut and there's not a drastic increase. It's just a reallocation going from a lease purchase to uh an actual outright purchase and therefore they're required
to be accounted for in different categories. Uh with regard to other purchase services being reduced 5% again going back to the the goal of uh in-house programs bringing students back to Wall Township that is a direct result of reduced out of district placements uh
as well as a reduction in charter school students being sent. Again overall it is just under a 5% increase. to further the explanation with regard to the property. Total
equipment is 452,000. Uh significant increase, but included in there is the school bus replacement. Uh and this lists the equipment that is included in the budget for the uh specific departments. We also review our appropriations by
program or or department. Again, we can look at the pie. 36% of uh of our budget is directly related to instruction. And benefits being 24% of our uh our total appropriations can actually be applied across all those other
categories, all those other slices because the benefits applied to to the staff with in within the instruction and as well as the staff in transportation operations uh and administration and student support.
From a schedule standpoint, we can review this again. A couple of them require explanation. Co-curricular and athletics uh is really that's it's a cut in the appropriation. However, this again is a reallocation.
um costs that we previously budgeted for in this category uh have been re reappropriated and moved to uh in this case specifically instruction. Uh so that's why that would fall under the 3.1% increase. So it wasn't a cut in program.
We actually increased the number of coaches for our athletic programs in the 2627 budget. the tuition that's a reduction that is a a direct result of again the added district placement number being uh reduced as well as the charter school students
technology um it's a big decrease on a percentage basis it isn't that big on a dollar basis so we have to take that into consideration uh but again I I refer refer you to the March 10th workshop meeting where Mr. Alworth went into more detail on reallocating
resources, identifying uh certain efficiencies under uh transportation. It's it's a a small decrease, but again uh there's actually increases in our cost within transportation, salaries,
purchase services, etc. But again, we moved the school buses out of the transportation category and into uh e equipment. And that would also explain why there's a 270% increase. And again, benefits being a large portion of the
budget, uh, personnel benefits, uh, increase of 131, uh, 13%. So, diving down deeper into the personnel benefits, and again, this was discussed at the budget workshop meeting. This is what's included in this
category of accounts. We have our social security contributions. We have support staff pensions. Uh so the staff that work in our student transportation, custodial department maintenance, uh the district is responsible for contributions for their pensions that is
paid annually. Uh that is included in in the budget at $1.7 million. Fortunately, we're not reflecting an increase for the 2627 school year. Workers comp also in this category. Again, we've touched on the health benefits. It's a large
increase to 2.57 u million dollars. And other employee benefits uh slight increase total 686,000 included in there would be uh waiverss for not taking health benefits, uniforms, tuition reimbursement as well
as payout of sick leave upon retirement would be included in the other employee benefits. Again, overall it's a 131 13% increase. health benefits specifically is a 16% increase.
So, drilling down a little further into our health benefits again because that's the driving force on, you know, our health benefit adjustment, the tax levy, and we're unique in the sense that we are self-insured. Uh, and what does that
mean? We don't pay fixed premiums as one as districts that are in a traditional plan or in the state plan uh do. So if you're in a traditional plan or state plan, you have a fixed premium that the district pays on a monthly basis. If we
were in the state plan, each month we would pay premiums of approximately$ 1.8 to$2 million uh per per month. When you're self-insured, again, we don't pay premiums, but we pay the actual claims. And then we also purchase insurance uh
for when claims are uh excessively high either on an individual or aggregate basis. So this is our budget. We have an A4 search charge because we don't participate in the state health benefit plan. So districts that aren't in the plan are are receive a search charge.
Ours is $240,000. We have our dental benefits uh which are not factored in to the health benefit adjustment. So, and then the bulk of it is our expected claims. Uh, so between July and December, we we we anticipate
or have an expectation of $8.5 million in claims. And then we put uh a a 16% increase for the 2027. So, that increase the second half of our
school year claims to be 9.75 million dollars. So we and we pay claims on a weekly basis. Uh which are the actual claims of our our members and their dependents. Uh to protect us from
high claimments, we have a stop-loss insurance. We pay $ 1.5 million. What that covers is for any individual that's in our plan for costs that exceed $125,000 in a year, the district receives
reimbursement for those costs. So, we cover the first 125,000 and our stop-loss insurance covers uh any costs that exceed that. In addition, the stop-loss covers us in the aggregate in sorry in the aggregate of all of our
claims to provide further um protection. However, it is noted that we've never we have not in the uh 16 years that we've been self-insured because we've been self-insured for 11 year uh since 2011
have we come near the aggregate for our stop-loss insurance. the third party administrator, they uh for us that's Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield. It allows us to use their network. Uh it allows us to use their prescription discounts and they manage the uh the
claims and bill us on a week weekly basis. And then in addition to that, we have miscellaneous cost in there, Cobra management, flexible spending account management. And then as in all school districts, employees are required to contribute toward their health benefits. we offset
the the total cost of the health benefit line with those contributions. Uh and that's estimated to be $2.2 million over the course of the year. So even though we don't pay
uh premiums on a on a on a per per person individuals similar to again the traditional plan or or the state plan for the purposes of employees contributions and also um to have a comparison
model we have our brokers actuaries calculate what are a pre premium equivalent would be based on our plan, based on our experience uh and the district employees that uh have health benefits contribute based
on those premium equivalents. So when we refer to tra traditional or state plan, it's premiums for self-insured their premium equivalents. Um, so what I provided here is and I used a family plan because it's the most expensive. Uh, and I included non-administrative
positions or you know members in the WTEA. Uh, it could be teachers, it could be non-represented and it could be any of our support staff. Uh, and uh, and I compared that also with and provided it along with someone who is in the
administrators group. The only difference between the two plans is the dental plan. uh administrators group gets a a more expensive dental plan than the um the WTA group and some other non-reps. Otherwise, the medical and
prescription are identical if if you choose the second column the plan name either the EHP which is the educator's health plan or the uh direct 15. For for these comparison purposes, we use a salary of 80,000 for um for for the
non-administrator because that's the average salary for our teachers in the district. Uh and the contribution for individuals that are in the educator's health plan are based on your salary. So
in the top row, if you're uh non-administrator, make 80,000, you have full family benefits, which would include medical, prescription, and dental. The total plan cost is $45,000. Your employee share is $5,000, and
that's based on the percentage or 7.2% of your salary. The district share would be the difference as indicated, 40,668. If you're in the direct 15, well, let me take a step back. The educator's health plan is a plan that we are required to
have in the district. The state mandates all school districts to have an educator's health plan. It also states that any employee who is hired after July 1 of 2020 is required to be in the educator's health plan. The direct 15 or
any other plans you offer are not available to anyone hired after July 1, 2020. So that's the educator's health plan. Direct 15 is a is a district plan. It's a negotiated plan. And if you're in
that plan, then and I'll throw out some numbers. You your contribution is based on chapter 78 as negotiated. So if you're a teacher, you make 80,000, you're in the uh direct 15, cost is 44465. Your contribution is based on a percentage of the actual premium which
is for our collective bargaining agreement. For someone making 80,000 it caps at 18%. Your contribution is the 8,000. The district pays a difference at 36. And again I'll reiterate we don't pay a premium. So that's this is used
for the employee share. Uh we do use the employee share as a contribution but we pay the actual claims not a premium under an administrator. the EHP and it's capped at 125,000 because uh it's 125,000 or higher, you pay again 9 7.2%
of that salary. So any any administrators in the EHP or anyone who makes 125,000, you're going to contribute $9,000. The 554 is for the dental because dental is not part of the
EHP and it's uh employees contribute based on a percentage of the premium and I don't want to get apologize for getting too detailed. M Diovani is going to give me dirty looks. I I I apologize but it it just needs to make sense because 9,000 is for the EHP plan. 554
is for the dental. Uh and you can see the district shares 36. And if you're an administrator in the direct 15 plan, um you know the plan and the salary is not applicable here because you're paying based on uh a percentage of the
premium as negotiated. In our district, administrators pay 30% of the premium. So if the premium is $45,000, which includes the dental, your contribution is 30% or 13,768 and the district pays the difference of 32,000.
So, in comparison, if we were in the state plan, um, and I'll only use the the non-administrators as as a comparison because I think it'd only be worse with with the administrators. You know, under the state plan, you're in the EHP, same salary. Uh, the plan cost
if for the state health benefits is 52,525. Um, the employee share is 5,000 again because it it's not based on the health benefit premium or the cost of the plan. It's based on your salary. Uh, and then
the district share would be the 475. And if you're in the direct 15, which is a more expensive plan in the state, plan cost is 678. Um, the contribution would be 12 and the district share would be $55,000.
One more example why why the district doesn't look to move into the state health benefits plan. Uh it's reviewed every year, considered, discussed, uh and compared to being self-insured. But one of the additional benefits of being self-insured again because we
don't pay those direct premiums. If we were an estate plan or traditional plan, we'd be paying those premiums. So by paying claims, if we realize a savings within this line account uh and we don't act our our experience rating is in the
is positive and we have a balance remaining at the end of the year. Those funds are used to go back to the prior slide to fund the budgeted fund balance which is a revenue in the subsequent year or funds our capital reserve or our maintenance reserve which again are used
to fund subsequent budgets. So that's uh in addition to being cost effective, it it keeps the money with the school district as opposed to paying the state or a traditional insurer.
So we'll take it a step further with regard to the tax impact with our health benefits. You know, and again, we've been insured since 2011. Uh dental is provided as a traditional plan that is not self self-insured. We have Etna. We
used to have dental, I mean Delta dental, uh, we quoted it. Etna came in more competitive and we moved to the plan um because it was more cost-effective for the district. Uh, so our plan again, we're self-insured. We have a six 16% increase in this budget
line and it adds 3% to the tax levy and funds not needed to pay the claims stay with the district and again fund fund subsequent year budgets. if we were to enroll in the state plan and the state plan runs on a calendar year like our fiscal year is July through June. Uh the
state plan runs January to December. So the the premiums that would be paid starting in July, they're known. Those are the premiums that exist right now and next January there would be an increase. So halfway through our our our fiscal year, we would have to account
for an increase to these premiums. So, um, with no mid-year increase, uh, just taking the current rates, carrying them all the way through our fiscal year, that would be a 30% increase to our budget line. And rather than adding 3% to our tax levy, it would be adding 5.8%
to our tax levy. um if if we were to factor in a 10% increase mid year uh in the state health benefits plan come January which I will say our broker and the industry is saying that they're anticipating an increase near again 30%
but we just factored in 10% that would be a 37% increase to the budget line it would be a 5.9% uh increase to the tax levy because we would be maxed out on our health benefit adjustment we couldn't go higher But it would still leave a shortfall in our budget of a million dollars where our
appropriations would exceed our revenues and we'd have to find other areas to reduce our appropriations to make up that million dollars. So again, the recommendation is to u stay uh self-insured
capital improvements because we love to end on a on a high note. We love capital improvements. So, uh, capital improvements included in 2627 school year. Our total budget is 1,17,780. Uh, you know, the state provides debt
service aid, but then they, you know, they they hit you on an annual basis. So, we have an assessment uh of 7,780 that is given to us by the state department of education. We're required to appropriate it and then they deduct our state aid, the equivalent amount.
But for our projects, we have districtwide paving. We're going to be focusing on Oldmill Elementary School as our first priority. We have our front entrance improvements at Wall High School. Uh both at the front entrance as well as the athletic entrance at $350,000.
These projects have been both postponed because of the work being performed on the referendum. And then uh new project is the school signage at our four elementary schools. Thank you to Central Elementary School for for starting this process. Um, you know, they pitched a a
new school sign. The FNF committee discussed it. Uh, and they wanted to included in the school budget that all four elementary schools um, we look to replace the the schools the school signs and make them more usable and allow
better communication with the residents. And then lastly, we have our building management system upgrades. And this is specific to uh our HVAC and our the building management system that handles that. We've made a lot of improvements and replacements related to the
referendum. Uh and what we want to do is bring the other areas of the schools uh to be on the same on on the same management system that the the new equipment is. So that that's a priority also to be able to uh take advantage of the efficiencies of the equipment as
well as the uh the management by our maintenance team. With that last slide is a a thank you and then if we return our seats we can open up for public comment.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Smite, for for that uh budget presentation. Public comment on the budget. >> No. Does do you have any hard copies? Do you have a hard copy of that presentation I could have in front of me? >> The handout for the budget presentation
was the advertised budget. >> No. Do you have a copy of that? I want to go through it. Do you have a hard copy I can have so I don't have to look at my phone? >> No. >> So, no. So, that's that's horrible. But that's typical Brian Smite. A bad
business administrator does not have a presentation for anybody to see. a comment on the budget itself, not on any individuals. Mr. Please comment on the budget itself. >> I can say exactly what I want. He's a bad business administrator. >> When did the board of ed members receive
a copy? Does anybody even have a copy or were you looking at it the first time? Could you answer that question? Mr. Maliff, do you have even have a copy yourself that please continue with your comments? >> So, I'd like you to answer that question so our new superintendent can hear.
There's no analysis. So Brown and Brown Dominic Senelli gives you a nine-page presentation. There's nothing about going out and getting direct bids from Horizon, from Etna, from Sigma. All you do is compare the state health benefits plan. That's a bad
broker and a bad business administrator. You should be looking direct with the companies. You're not contributing enough. The percentages the employees are contributing 10% and we're contributing the taxpayers 90%. I'm paying more for your plan than I'm paying for my own family plan. It's
ridiculous. Your max out of pockets are ridiculous. Um you do have three people on the direct 10. It showed from this present this sloppy presentation that Brown and Brown did. Their max out of pockets's $400
and um you've got 284 people on the on the direct 15. Uh so on page 11 of 59, Mr. Smith, you you have blanks in here. So did did Lester Richards approve this when you didn't fill out all the pages? If you could let me know because I'll
I'll have to open it. Did Did Lester Richards come back and ask you to do anything else? Um, I know you know how many claims have you had over 125,000 that what happens to that? Did you have any this year over 125,000?
If you could let me know about that. Um, you had about a million five to spend or you had a million six to spend. A million five went on raises. So, all we do is cut things for the kids and we keep giving you more money and keep giving you more money for health
insurance. It I It's not making any sense. You have to make changes with your union reps. I'm sure they'd rather pay uh a smaller percentage for health benefits. It it it's not making any sense even though it's it's in the union. Um is this public comment just on
the budget right now or everything? >> This is on the budget. >> Just on the budget. >> That's correct. >> Okay. So there's another public comment. >> There will be. >> All right. And I'm going to answer my first set of question. >> Is there anyone else for public comment on the budget specifically? >> First set of questions that I had on the
budget. And I'd like you to answer these questions on the budget before anybody votes. When did you have copies of the presentation? And do you have it in front of you right now? >> Is there anyone else with uh comments on the budget? Hi everyone. Gail Maher, community
member. Um, Jackson, Tom's River, Homeell, Middletown, they're all cutting buildings. They're all closing down schools.
Um they're all cutting staff because they have not managed their budget in years. Who on the board of ed only has increases of
5.9% in their own personal budget? Everything is higher than 5.9%. So although this might be the only time I've ever said it. Thank you, Mr. Smite.
Thank you, Mr. Moore. Any other comments on the budget? Okay, seeing none at this time. >> Yes, Mr. Smith, go ahead. >> So, just clarify a couple things with regard to contributions. Sure.
Just to clarify some things and perhaps answer some questions with regard to uh the public comment and and the contributions. So contributions by employees are either as stated set by statute. If you're in the educator's health plan, it's not
something the district decides the board can change. That is by law. Uh the plan itself, the provisions of the plan are by statute. that is not at the district's discretion. The chap the direct 15 plan that the
district has is a negotiated plan with the uh within the collective bargaining agreements that the board has with their employees. That can't be changed arbitrarily. Can't be changed on a year-to-year basis. So the the benefits that are within the plan, the
contributions that employees are required to pay are uh were originally per chapter 78 which was statute and when that sunset it went into negotiations and it's per the collective bargaining agreements that that exist.
Uh, additionally, and I think which was evident in the presentation that there were no cuts to programs for the kids in order to um fund our health benefits. Uh again, as stated in in in the goals and
then going back to the budget workshop meeting, what was the information that was presented is that um you know, the different areas and programs that the district offers have been fully funded uh with the 2627 budget.
>> Please, you're not there are no comments at this time. Your comments are over. Mr. Mr. Smite, any additional comments? Okay. At this time, >> I'm going to ask for a motion to adopt the 2026 2027 school budget.
>> Mr. Diovani, >> I'll second. >> Mr. Buffett, before we vote, I have a few comments that I'd like to make and any other board members uh can make certainly comments uh on the budget before we vote. Uh first of all I would like to say that the uh board has been
uh we have been provided with copies of the budget. We have also been uh told by Mr. Smith uh through his through contacts that we uh had opportunities to contact him to discuss the budget. Something that I took advantage of uh over this time. Uh so uh this is not
none of this here is a surprise to any of the board members. We the process has been very open and we are all very much aware of what is in this budget. I'd like to want to tell you, excuse me, there is no comments at this point. Uh,
I'd like to thank Mr. Smite, Mr. Scorano, Mr. Smite, Dr. Handerhan, uh, all of the uh, administrators who uh, contributed their time and effort to to this budget and also all of the people
that that worked with them to help them to do this. U, as Mr. As Mike pointed out, uh, we have not had to cut any programs. We have not had to cut any staff. Uh, other districts
of similar size to us, some bigger, some smaller, uh, have had to make rather drastic cuts, not only to staff, uh, but to programs. Uh, I think that what this budget does is give the the students and the community of Wall Township a very
good deal. And I'm very much proud to uh support this budget and I welcome any other comments from any of our other board members. >> Mr. Maliff, uh, very well said. I I'd also like to echo echo your sentiments.
Um, uh, we sit through and, um, while that was a little more riveting than the conversations we have in FNF, um, we definitely go through, uh, the budget in the same amount of detail during our
discussions. Um, we evaluate and and review every single account um, at nauseium sometimes in those meetings. Um, and you know, I really do appreciate uh Mr. Smi's transparency with the board
and with the community, and I also fully support this budget. So, thank you, Mr. Smite, and thank you to the administration. Any other comments from the board? >> Okay, Mr. uh, Smite, roll call, please,
on the adoption of the school budget. >> Miss Adams, >> yes. Miss Barbier, >> yes. >> Miss Bby, >> yes. >> Mr. Buffer, >> yes. >> Miss Diovani, >> yes. >> Miss Lawler, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mr. Wandra,
>> yes. >> Mr. Mal, >> yes. >> At this time, I'm going to introduce uh Mr. Scarano again for a superintendent update. >> Thank you, Mr. Maliff. Uh just a quick thank you again to Mr. Smith as well as uh Miss Winer for all their work in preparing tonight's budget presentation
and the entire administrative team, the board of education for their work on and support of the 2627 budget. Um we're pleased to be able to provide a successful budget for the upcoming school year, especially during a time of leadership transition. So, thank you for everybody involved.
Uh been a number of weeks since our last superintendence update. Um little longer than our our usual monthly uh time frame, so just bear with me. But thank you to the NNDCC color guard and our student representative to the board of education, Sophia Keeping, for joining us this evening. Always a great job and
much appreciated. And once again, congratulations to our very talented art students, our championship bowling team, and to junior Donovan Klein, the repeat NJSIA individual bowling champion. On Monday, March 23rd, it was a full professional
development day for staff. And thank you to Miss McCann and the curriculum office for putting together this full day of meaningful learning. Professional development days such as this require a great deal of planning and coordination well in advance and the day was well thought out and provided a number of choices for staff to attend their
colleagues presentations. Thank you also to Miss Steiner and her team for the very informative community resource panel put together for our educational support services staff. And overall it was a very productive day. The High School spring musical, Into the Woods, ran from March 26th through the 28th
with four shows total, and it was a pleasure to attend the opening performance. The new venue was a highlight, but the cast, crew, and orchestra were the stars. There were a great deal there was a great deal of talent on display, and they delivered an enjoyable performance even with the matinea power and sound issue.
Congratulations to them, and to Mr. Ryan, Mr. Montalto, and Miss Franchise for their direction. Congratulations to the junior class as they celebrated their prom on Friday, April 17th. It was a nice event that was well attended by the students and high school staff, and they certainly look
like they were enjoying their evening, and thankfully the weather broke just in time for arrival. Miss Bond and I had an opportunity to attend the Voli for Autism event at WHIS this past Thursday, and it was exciting and rewarding to see so many students, staff, and families attend and participate in this very
worthy cause. The event raised over $10,000 to support both the POA POAC Autism Services Organization and our district students. NJSLA testing will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, April 29th, and Thursday,
April 30th, here at the high school. This will be specific to the reading and writing sections, and math and science will run from May 18th through May 22nd. Elementary testing will begin on Monday, May 4th, and WHIS NJSLA testing will begin the following week on Monday, May
11th. Please refer to Miss McCann's April 13th testing letter for more specific dates and testing details, which can also be found on our website under the curriculum and instruction tab. As you may have noticed, the various trees purchased through the previously
awarded trees for school grant have now been installed around our district's campus. These trees have been purchased, planted, and will be maintained using funds acquired by our district through the collaborative efforts of our staff and conduct in conjunction with the NJDOE, Sustainable New Jersey, and the
College of New Jersey. The project will not only further beautify our campus, but will also aid in mitigating environmental impacts and reducing the state's carbon footprint. Special thanks to Dr. Kennedy, Mr. Tenant, and Mr. Hendrickson, as well as many others for
their efforts. And much of this progress was shared via our social media channels just in time for Earth Day on April 22nd and the co-star on April 23rd. Our department of our department of wellness and secondary student assistance counselors invite you to a
parent evening presentation with Doug Collier, professor of criminal justice at Mammoth University and retired DEA agent. He will shed light on the items and behaviors teens often hide in plain sight, helping caregivers recognize what to look for and how to start meaningful
conversations that make an impact. The presentation will be on Wednesday, May 6th from 6:30 to 8:00 here in the Wall High School auditorium. May marks mental health awareness month, and this year's uh district theme is more good days together. Our school
counselors have coordinated a variety of student and staff wellness activities for both the elementary and secondary levels. Families can stay informed on these initiatives by reviewing our social media posts and wellness flyer that will be included in school s'more newsletters. Thank you to Miss Steiner
and the entire wellness team for offering a seamless age appropriate awareness of mental health that is thoroughly aligned thoughtfully aligned to an inspiring theme. We are excited to invite you to our Passport to the World, a multicultural celebration night, which is a special event celebrating cultures
from around the world. This fun and educational evening will take place on Wednesday, May 20th at 6:00 p.m. in the gym at the West Belmar Elementary School. And please consider attending for an exciting and educational evening in culture of culture and learning. I'm proud to share that our district has
again been awarded the best communities for music education award from the National Association of Music Merchants. This has been awarded for the second consecutive year. The award is given to recognize the collective efforts in making instrumental music a part of a
well-rounded education for our students and to recognize the community's commitment to creating an environment where children can learn and grow with music. We are very proud of our music educators and are thankful for the efforts of our music community. The months of April and May mark a time
of recognition for many of the school personnel who work to make our district great. From assistant principles and administrative assistants to media specialists, paraprofessionals, and bus drivers in April and from school principles and teachers to nurses and lunch heroes in May. Please take a
moment to thank those individuals who do what many others either can't or won't. They listen, guide, and counsel. They push, demand, and praise, but most importantly, they care. Any successful school district relies on these positions to work together. And as such,
we celebrate them together. The work has gotten harder, the stakes higher, but regardless of the role, its importance can't be un understated as it impacts children and inevitably our future. Some professions may be more lucrative, but few are as important and rewarding.
I have been called many things in my life, but none are as important to me as father, husband, and educator. May 1st is National School Principal Day. Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4th through May 8th, and National School Nurses Week is May 6th through May 12th.
And one final update, our district uh has recently been awarded JOTC status and we look forward to c celebrating this conversion next month at May's meeting. Thank you, Mr. Maliff.
>> Thank you, M. Thank you, Mr. Scorano, for highlighting many of these great accomplishment and achievements by our our students and and staff. and thank you for your great work as your as our acting superintendent. >> A couple things that I'd like to uh
comment on. Maybe I I might repeat some of the things that uh uh Mr. Scorano said, but uh I attended the uh uh performance of Into the Woods. Uh I think I was at the at the uh matinea and I if there was any problems I didn't really notice. It was a great uh
performance. Really a complex uh show. Uh it was a little hard for me to follow sometimes, but it but uh I my wife filled me in it. So, but uh but I it was great. It was really great. What talent up there, the not only the
cast, but the crew and uh uh it really was spectacular. And I was happy to hear tonight during uh Sophia's awards uh uh comments that many of the of our uh student performers and orchestra have been nominated for the uh the Bassy Awards and that's quite an
accomplishment and let's I wish them good luck uh the nominees and hopefully we'll get some of those awards. Congratulations also to uh Mrs. Alexander and our art students who were selected for the uh 2026 Art Educators Youth Art Month uh state exhibition and
those selected for the Mammoth County Teen Arts Festival. Uh those hoping to move on to the New Jersey State Teen Arts Festival. Tremendous uh accomplishment by our group two state bowling champions. Uh congratulations to
coach uh Lash, coach Jessa Coach Klein, and special congratulations to Donovan Klein, a now two-time individual overall state champion. Uh one of the things that I noticed on the the board agenda and I'm very very happy to see is that we are entering into a uh a dual
enrollment agreement with the College of New Jersey, one of the great uh institutions of higher learning in New Jersey. This is a great opportunity for our students to get credit at TCJ uh in a large number of classes. Thanks to the administration, but also thanks to the
teachers who are uh either having to get uh approval uh from TCJ to teach those classes or are teaching AP approved classes so that our students can get this credit at greatly reduced uh prices. It's a uh hopefully it's a a
win-win for those students. Uh and also and I was happy to see and I'm sure the elementary principles I see many of them here tonight are looking forward to the new signs you're going to be getting. Okay. Uh and I'm sure the community will be uh uh appreciating
them uh once they are installed. Okay. And uh I'm going to finish my report by uh mentioning our students of the month, our nights of the week and the students of the third marking period. Students of the month for grade 11, Lily Brady. Grade 11, Jennifer Hunt. Grade 12,
Adriana Telericio. Uh, night of the week. For grade 11 for the week of 3226, Jade Lucky for the week of 3926, 12th grader Gavin Cartinella for the week of 316. Uh, 12th
grader Thomas Klitsky. And for Gree uh 11, the week of 32326, Nicholas Forte. Students of the third marking period. Uh for art, we have 12th grader Katherine Duran. For business, 12th grader Joseph
Ambrosie. For English, 10th grader Michael Fury. For family life, 12th grader Elizabeth Burns. For math, ninth grader James Davis. for media TV, 12th grader Ronald Pila. For music, 12th
grader Kelly Puzo. For PE and health, 11th grader Ashlin Holabinko. For science, ninth grader Rizzo Espanadi. For social studies, 10th grader Bridget Mangan. And for world language, 10th
grader Esther Har. All right. Uh and that concludes my report for tonight. And for the board of education, any board member uh would like to make comments at this time, Mr. Buffer? >> I do. And I I it's going to be somewhat of a committee report, but I had some
other things I just wanted to um mention while I had the floor. Um so, as uh just to quickly go back to the budget, I I should have mentioned earlier when I was thanking Mr. Smi and the administrative team. Um uh thank you to the FNF
committee um for the hours longs meetings that we sit through on a monthly basis um to make sure that um we're putting in the work that needs to go to needs to be put in um and to to
ensure that things are going the way that our community wall township needs them to go. So thank you for your time. Thank you for your energy. uh and just thank you for always being there. Um continuing on the FNF train uh
referendum, we are uh nearing we're kind of on the tail end of the referendum. Um but that doesn't mean we don't have some really exciting stuff going on. Um FNF wa was um taken on a tour of the stadium renovations at our last meeting a couple
of weeks ago and um it was really impressive the amount of progress that they've made out there on those fields. Um and it's my understanding that even since our last meeting there has been quite a bit of progress made uh as well. So uh for the public please get on the
website um check out the referendum tab. It has all of the updates. Um, we're updating pictures as we can. Um, it and there's just a ton of information on there. Um, and then last bit about the budget. There's also a ton of information about the budget on the
website. Um, log on, take a look, and I'm sure all your questions will be answered uh, just by doing that. Um, and while I have the floor, I I should have said this earlier when Miss Keeping was here. Um, but I really am impressed with
the how thorough her reports are on a monthly basis and I feel like her reports really paint a picture of everything that's going on in the high school. Um, and just hits all the points. Uh, and one of the things that I that I took away from um her report this
week was that we had the 11 uh we were a nominated we received basic nominations for 11 categories. Um, and I'm by no means an expert in this, but I think that uh in each category um there can be
five people nominated for or five schools or five individuals nominated for each category. So if you put that in into perspective, the entire size of Mammoth County, um, and the fact that we were nominated for 11 of those categories, uh, that's really impressive
and just a testament to the hard work, uh, and dedication of our students. um a as well as the showcase we had earlier with the with the kids being presented and honored tonight. Um it's it's really nice to see and it kind of it certain
points when you don't re know why you're still doing this. Those are kind of the reasons why um it it reinforces why you do this. Um and lastly, I I did want to thank and again I should have done this earlier when they were here. Uh I did want to think thank the students that
came out tonight uh to speak on behalf of their coach. Um you know it's it's I hate public speaking as as a 43 year old and I can only imagine you know 17 18 year olds having to get up and speak in
front of a crowd of 75 people. Um how daunting that can be. So I did want to um just put that on record. I thank them for coming out and and speaking at the mic tonight. and you know, for something they're passionate about. So, thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Buffer. Well, well said about the young men who came and ladies who came to speak uh tonight regarding the coach. Uh at this time, we're going to open up the floor for public comment on uh I'm sorry, committee reports. Committee
reports uh are available uh on the agenda. Uh they are uh available on the uh uh agenda tonight. you can find them. Okay. And now public comment on u agenda
items. >> Betsy cross 11 wall. Um there was a surplus in food service and that happened a number of years ago under Mr. Smith and uh James Hel who went to jail. Um I don't know how that could happen
again, but it did. Um, so I don't know if you're up on that and I don't know if our new superintendent is aware, but he should get copies of that. We had to spend $100,000 on a forensic order for food service cuz Brian was buying copy machines uh from Xerox and he was
spending the money on things he shouldn't have been spending the money on. Um, so I I think we need to get a handle on how how in the world could that happen again? And it was only because of my Oprah did I did I figure it out. You're supposed to let us know
when you get written up for stuff like that. And how did that get past the auditor? Um having the budget hearing the same night as a lot of stuff is going on at municipal. Bad choice. Um policy 5756 transgender students. We've got to do
away with that. And I'm glad Marboro is one school that did get take it away. Uh, we don't need you to keep secrets from parents, which is exactly what that does. We don't need you to help transition our students. So, um, I want to >> these agenda items.
>> Uh, you you don't run the meeting, Mr. Smite. You were the business point that doesn't reply to emails. Thank you. >> Please address the agenda. >> You're the president >> and I'm addressing you to please stick to agenda items, please. >> Uh, yeah. I'm looking at your um referendum. How did we spend an
additional $3 million on athletic improvements and an extra $8 million on HVAC improvements? Poor budgeting by your business administrator, Brian Smith. Um, why do we not have uh Jennifer McCann on an agenda when she
was out on leave and why do we not have Tracy Handerhan not on agenda? So, Mr. Scori, you're the head of HR. How do we not have those? >> This is not on the agenda, right? It should be on an agenda. >> It's not. So, please address things that are on the agenda. >> Exactly. Why is it not on an agenda?
That's what I want to know from the head of your HR and you know, your new superintendent can hear you could have made. >> Why do you pick and choose who do you put on an agenda where when they're out and we're paying their salaries and hiring replacements that just show up and sit on the deis?
>> Um, what are the two additional positions that you're hiring for and how much are you spending? Is it going to be a surprise? You've budgeted for two additional people. What are they going to be doing? How many claims have you had over 125,000 in the last 5 years? I
I asked you a number of questions before and you've answered none of them. Um page 11 to 59. Did Did Mr. Richens come back and ask you um to fill out additional items because you left them blank. Who how does how does one go to
Manisquan High School? Because I I I mentioned that before. How do they go to Middletown? How do they go to Jackson? These are regular students going there. How does that happen? Um, >> thank you, Mr. Cross. Your time is up. >> All online.
>> Is anyone else for public comment? >> Okay, seeing no one else, we're going to close public comment. Uh, at this time I'm going to ask for approval of the consent agenda with the
exception of 16C number two. May I have a motion? >> I'll motion. >> Mr. Buffer. Motion. A second. >> Second. >> Mr. Diovani. Roll call. Mr. Smith. >> Yes. >> Yes.
Yes. >> Smith. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. At this time, I would like uh a motion to adjourn to uh adjourn the public
session and move to executive session for items on the agenda. There will be no action taken at the executive session. Do I have a motion to adjourn to executive session? >> Mrs. Mrs. Adams. Do a second.
>> I'll second. >> Mr. Mr. Smith. Okay. We are adjourning from public session. We are moving to executive. As I said, no action will be taken.