This meeting is being videotaped. Anyone not wishing to be seen on television may be excused. Could we all stand for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, we're not going to have any presentations this evening. Uh, are there any discussion items that we need?
Um, I just want to comment on the amazing thing that they did at Bell's for all the kids that spend time reading and how Dr. Gverson had himself taped to the wall. Every child got to do a different color tape. He got taped to
the wall. Um, they had a pedestal underneath. He took he was still on the wall. Uh, it was a great celebration. I don't know how he's going to top it. And then they had the kids parade blowing bubbles for autism. So it was amazing.
Um and also the dance recital um that I attended. What a great show of such talent. So just wanted to compliment on those things. That's awesome. >> I had a real quick one. >> Sure. >> Uh I want to give a a very big shout out to all of our teachers of the year. We
had a very nice celebration last week and uh our past county teacher of the year Sandy Fitzpatrick did the keynote. So it was very nice. I got to introduce her. She gave a wonderful and inspirational speech and then we had a
nice time at the teacher of the year. So I want to congratulate everybody. >> All right. Thank you. [applause] >> Okay. >> I have a few things I attended. >> Sure. Um, I also went to the dance world tour. It was an incredible show. It was
just an amazing night. Uh, a great family event. Those those students were incredible. It was a great time. Um, I was able to go to the fundraiser at the high school and those
kids did an amazing job. Every little kid there had so much fun and they were really engaging. So hopefully that was a really successful fundraiser for those teams. Uh I was able to go to Birch's art show. All the art and hard work for the MPTO and the um art teacher was
incredible. And then even though I missed it, it was a really incredible event at Kindle. Um they had their pet parade. So the kids got to stay inside the playground fence and then if you signed up uh they paraded uh the family's pets around the outside and the kids just loved it and are still talking
about it. Okay, thank you, Terry. I did go to a play at Whitman. I for forget the name. I'm sorry. I'm forget that. But that was a nice evening, too. And I think Wedgewood is having a play coming up. I hope to attend that play. What What is
the play? Is it? >> Okay. Well, that's another robot. Okay. >> Robot. >> All right. Let's go on to school community and relations. Um, we don't have anything from our student rep tonight, but we will hear from Mr. Dilio.
>> Thank you, Miss Bloom. Um, couple things for tonight. The Heaggen Library. Join the Heagen Library on select Monday evenings for bedtime stories. All ages and their caregivers can snuggle up in their PJs and listen to some favorite bedtime tales. Open to Heagen Library
card holders. Advanced registration is required. Please go to heagen library.org. Uh the we are township leadership podcast. There are two new episodes that were released within the last week. Episode 9 featured m Mr. Anderson, senior Grace Consolo, juniors Austin
Brennan and Sophia Laferty and sophomore Shiraz Meta. And that was in recognition of their work for the teen summit for the Gloucester County Teen Summit. This is our second year that Mr. Anderson and I along with uh representatives from uh other neighboring schools joined forces
for this summit. Um this week's episode just dropped today was highlighting Fraberryqowski, uh eighth graders Ava Bending Bendig, Sophia Sophie Clark, and Jude Hayden. Um board members and community members, uh
we wholeheartedly request that you just please tune in. Go to WT-TV, look under videos and under the videos tab to see the 10 episodes this season. We have five more that we're releasing. We're so proud of our staff leadership as well as the um budding student
leaders and all of the students have been chosen by those staff members. So um they are all the students and the teachers are all ethical leaders. want to big big shout out to them. Today the Washington Township Postmaster to our
staff um announced that they are launching the applications for the uh spring 2026 miniigrant um applications. Um this is for the upcoming school year. Um the mission of the Washington Township Education Fund is to enhance
the educational experience of students, prepare students for higher education in the world of work and other purposes for which public funding might not be available. Um and the foundation gives various many grants and those grants are funded by what I'm going to announce
next which is the Washington Township Golf Outing. So on Monday, June 22nd, 2026, the WTF Washington Township Educational Foundation is going to sponsor its 29th annual Golf Classic at the White Oaks Country Club in Newfield,
New Jersey. It's going to be from um 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. will be the registration and the lunch. 12:00 p.m. will be the start. 5:00 p.m. will be dinner and awards ceremony. And there's a couple prizes. Um hole number four, it's a round trip domestic airfare for
two. don't know where, but um there there's a roundtrip ticket. Um hole number eight has a flat screen TV to award. You can um get a set away a set of Callaway irons and even a cash prize. So that's a wonderful thing. If you have
questions um we're going to send this out through parent square and we're going to send this out through the postmaster, but to contact Charlie Dow or um if you want to do email Heather Sullivan and h Sullivan wtps.org or I have the flyer here. It also comes with
a QR code. So, um, we rely on not only sponsorships, um, but we rely on people to participate to kind of help fund those mini grants. So, I encourage everybody to do so. See you on the 22nd. Usually, we're out of school by then, but not this year. That
we'll have one more week to go. Um, American Red Cross blood drive. We are trying to um drum up some business because we uh we need some more people to reach our 50% mark. Um every two seconds someone in the US needs blood
help save lives. At the Eileen Abbott central administration building in this boardroom on Wednesday, May 13th from 12 to 5. Uh we have blood donations. That information also went out on on Parent on Parent Square. Um, so if you have the
means and you haven't donated in a while, please um, consider doing so. And lastly, the Sunday Funday spotlight. Couple things to highlight. Um, the Athletic Training Student Aid Club is doing a dine and donate at Alex Pizza
and Sub on Herville Cross Keys Road on April 22nd. That's tomorrow from 4:00 to 8:30. There's a PTO, a Whitman PTO, dine and donate at Dolce Vita to Gelato on Thursday from 1 to 9. That's on Green Tree Road across from Dufffields. And um
do not forget April 28th, that's next um I think that's next uh Wednesday, >> Tuesday. >> Tuesday um 6:40 first pitch at Citizens Bank Park. And there's a TJ is sponsoring a Mother's Day flower sale
fundraiser from April 13th to the 30th. Um and then in in that um funday there is a link on how to order. And um lastly lastly ne next week is the second round of testing at the high school the NJSLA
and the NJSLA S which is the science portion. So that is for predominantly 9th graders, some 10th graders um regard regarding their u math status and certainly all 11th graders are going to be taking the NJSLA
science test. So um kudos to Miss Rearigan, Miss Krnowski, and Mr. Anderson, Mr. Seiya, and Mr. Pante for all they're doing with that. Uh that concludes my update, Miss Bloom. >> Thank you, Mr. Dillio. Now we're moving on to old business. Do any board members
have old business? No one. All right. I have something that came to me after our last meeting when we re when we announced people who had retired. There was someone in the community that had more than I knew about one of our retirees. And that would be for Beverly Sandbour. So, I'd
like to read it to the public. Um, I want to congratulate Beverly Sandborn who is retiring after 29 years as a special education teacher. Beverly was born and raised in Marian Township and graduated from the highest school system in 1989. She then attended Glboro
College and began teaching in the Camden School District. In 1998, she accepted a position at Chestnut Ridge Middle School as a seventh grade special education teacher. In 2005, Beverly was chosen as
the teacher of the year at Chestnut Ridge. Beverly has also been their their yearbook advisor for several years. Congratulations to Beverly and we hope that she enjoys her retirement. Thank you.
[applause] Yes. Um Dr. Mr. Hibs, I don't know if you were going to do it this week or next week, but at the last meeting, I had uh raised a question about some people coming to me about the fact that the tradition at
the middle schools for um the principal's list breakfast was being done away with and you were going to look into it as to what the rationale is. I know I brought up the fact about the number of people that are on the principal's list that they can't fit in the cafeteria or is it the money?
>> Uh I think it was a bunch of things. It was money. It was logistics. And uh that decision was made last April uh for this year. We can definitely revisit for next year, but that's when that decision was made. Last April. >> Fortunate.
>> Anyone else have any old business? Okay. At this point, may I have a motion to open to the public? >> Second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Okay. Is there anyone in the public with cards?
Okay, I don't see any. So, can we have a motion to close the Oh, wait, wait. Do you need to? [cough] [clears throat] >> I think we have a card. Okay, Mr. Tashi, please come on up. >> Jerry Tarashi, president of the uh WTA.
I'm going to ask that uh Jen and Shireen pass out packets. if you don't mind. >> Um, can we redo that clock once we're done with this? >> Thank you. Wait until this part's done. Will we short?
[laughter] >> Is there an extra one? I thought I made up like 13 of them. A >> thank you. Sorry. >> Okay, Mr. Tashi, are we ready? >> I'm ready if you guys are.
>> Okay, thank you. The text we will be reading from this evening was information compiled by associate director from NJA research and consultant Mr. Greg Yordy. Mr. Yordy serves in this capacity throughout the entire country. These are his words with
the numbers he was able to receive from the state of New Jersey directly sent by Washington Township District. We have asked that Mr. Yordy be given the opportunity to meet with the board but to no avail. Our goal was to at the time and still is
to provide transparency to the entire board and this community as to the real issues that have befallen our district. Recently, the bargaining units have been criticized claiming our contracts are to blame for the finances of the district.
As you will see and hear, nothing could be further from the truth. All bargaining units gave up a great deal to secure the contracts while losing programs. colleagues and vital members of our support staff. This has resulted in overcrowded classrooms and unsafe
conditions within our buildings. The graphs at the back of your packets bear that out. Now, according to some, we once again are facing another round of cuts, programs, and support personnel losses.
This is the analysis for Mr. Yordy. and I quote, "Here's the budget analysis for the Washington Township School District as I went ahead and ran it just in case the district would claim issues to cut staff. This is based off of the 2526
budget and the 2425 audit bank cap for the 2627 budget. The document from the state shows they have more than four $4,747,117 above the 2% cap. As a general reminder,
when they said they had 0 available last year, they did in fact have $1,390,681 as I stated the year ago. Again, this was from the state. [clears throat] Unanticipated surplus.
Unanticipated surplus after all the bills are paid. This is the excess revenue. A district is only allowed to keep 2% of the overall budget for 2324. They budgeted $3,7,041
and are showing in the audit 7,839,360 or $4,832,319 more than what they expected. On 2425 they budgeted 3,49,294 and the audit audit shows
[clears throat] 303 3,213,84 or $164,510 more than they budgeted for 2526. They budgeted $3,15,582. If the district was in financial burden, the number that you see would have
fallen tremendously. >> Thank you, Mr. >> I do not see this happening. >> Can you come back second session? >> That's fine. Unquote from Mr. Yordy. >> Okay. Thank you so much for sharing that information. >> I I have been an advocate to try and get
the two together. I know we talked about it. Our our business administrator has talked to us about it. um in our executive session, in our committee meetings, but I've been an advocate to do this and I hope that the rest of the board would be willing and maybe we could I could make a motion. Is
that >> Well, I'd like to make a motion that Mr. Yordy and our business people get together, maybe even in public so the public can see what uh Mr. Tashi was saying. >> I second that.
>> Discussion. Yeah, I we we've tried that once before. I think we've gotten similar analysis for three years now. Um and >> certain parts of it are correct and a lot of it I think is just potentially
not >> accurate >> accurate in the in the act and you know when you were or taken out of context. I mean, I've talked to two separate independent auditors, CPA firms that audit our books and cooperated none of it. And uh, you know, the bank cap, I
think, is a good one where I've asked that question twice to um, in the business committee meetings to the external auditors who both confirmed there's no bank cap available. Appears to be from what's on the forums, but it's not a reality. Jenny may be
able to clear that up, but >> when we've met before, it it has not been productive. I'd say it's been the opposite of that. >> I have a question. Uh 4 million 747,117. I kind of recall when we had a slide on
the revenue side that there that from last year we were bringing over 4.7 million. Is that what that number is? >> No. And I so you know if if I could speak uh we did talk about this in all of our
committees and what the discussion was is that this is the same information that's been coming forth for three years. We um had a meeting the first year it came forward and the meeting did not go well. It was contentious and um
there were a few um I guess I'll just say legal actions that came out of it. So that was one of the concerns with having the meeting again. The first year that um some of these questions came up, we paid our independent auditor additional money to
watch all the board meetings and listen to what was said and cooperate the numbers uh which he could not. Um we also had the auditor um I drafted uh took a lot of time to draft um the
actual numbers and explain the numbers that were presented. Um our auditor checked that we reviewed it with the board. um two years in a row that auditor came to business committee, came to our
executive session and explained um some of this was asked point blank several times if there was hidden money, if there was any money anywhere that we weren't budgeting and the answer was no. We had
this third year. So this past year when we did the audit and we had the exit conference, it's a different auditor and the auditor was asked the same questions, reviewed the same information and again the answer was no. There is no
hidden money. Um what Mr. Trashy started to read was emailed to the board several weeks ago. Again, it's the it's the same exact numbers um that were presented three years ago and there are some things added to it. I
do have my notes in front of me. I have no issue with um talking about some of these numbers and trying to explain the difference between what's being presented and what is what the actual is. Um there's a few some of it's hard
to understand as a lay person, but there's several things that bankked cap for example um I've gone over this with the board and showed pages from our approved budget that we submit to the state that our auditors review this the
DOE reviews that clearly shows that we have no banked cap coming from previous years. I I've showed that over and over again and still um we're told that we don't have any banked cap and that is not the case. Um anybody's welcome to say it if they want
to come up or if they want to ask for a copy of previous budgets. I'm happy to um answer that. So um I don't know if you guys want to discuss the motion on the floor further, but I have the document. I I don't you I mean anybody
you can continue to read it in case somebody wants to hear the numbers but I'm happy to explain some of the differences and reiterate where we are um financially but again we did talk about this in executive and why um we don't feel that
a me another meeting will be productive all right so if you if you you can refute them I made a motion Mr. Yordy present his information in public and we refute it in public. >> Um, would I would I be able to add
something that Ralph's uh motion that not only uh Mr. Yordy and Mrs. Wctor that that we also have our auditor present? Yeah, I'm good with that because I don't think we I don't think we had I don't
think we had an audit in with the full board. I could audit with the full board. >> Your your auditor will not come and insert him or herself in between two entities. So, you can ask that question, but I I sincerely doubt our responsibility is to provide information
to the board of education. We have absolutely done that. These same the same misinformation has been put forth year after year after year. The first one speaks for itself. There is no bank app. There's no bank app. We could have
taken bank cap at some point and we did not. And for everybody out there to understand this, school budgets do not work like home budgets. At home, if you have a debit card, at the end of a year, you just
simply carry your balance. When we have to balance our checkbook, so to speak, there's only one of a few places that money can go. And if it doesn't go in one of those few places, it does not exist. That's just fact. And if anybody
wants to refute that, I would love to hear it. But we never hear that. Can you please take a sec and talk about one of the few places that that money can go? >> The bank cap. I'm sorry. >> No. At the end of a budget. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. >> Where can where can money go? It has to
go somewhere. >> Yeah. >> Um at the end of the year and I I talked about this a little bit in the tenative budget presentation and then I'll also include it in the budget presentation next week. It's part of our annual audit
and um I've also gone over um there's a specific statement in the audit that summarizes the entire budget, what your original budget was um and then what actually happened, what you received revenue-wise, what you spent, and then what's left is your surplus, and it
falls into a couple of buckets. That's audited. We have that um information ahead of time so we know what we're doing with the budget. So, um, unfortunately, as a district over the years, as we've been losing money, our surplus has gone down. That happened
again. Um, so our most recent audit, which was the close of the 2425 school year, although we had excess that were able to budget, our overall surplus went down by $3 million. Because our surplus has been going down,
our credit has been recently downgraded by S&P. and we have to work on building it up or it's going to get downgraded again. Um, but just going back to the surplus, you have um some of the numbers and and I can go through some of the numbers on this sheet. You have
unassigned fund balance, which is um a maximum that you can keep that um you wouldn't use for anything else. It's 2% of your operating expenses. Um for a district with a budget our size, it's usually between three and a half and $4 million.
on the the total size of our budget. That's not a lot of money to have as unassigned in case of emergencies. It wouldn't even cover a month of our payroll. And um we're withheld state aid in June that um is actually higher than
that number. So just that minimum that we're keeping is is scary to begin with. Um we also have capital reserve which is where we um save money for capital projects. So when we have um excess money we can put it in this fund and
then use it only for capital projects that are in our long range um facility plan and that would be done by an action of the board. Um we only have uh just over $2 million in our capital reserve account which is um not not good for a
district our size. There's many districts that are smaller than ours um that have more than that. While it may seem like a lot of money for a district that has 14 buildings and what we have in our um capital reserve would only
cover one and maybe and a half boilers out of all of our buildings. We are not at in a good spot at all. That's the only uh res other reserve that we have. There are other districts that have maintenance reserves, emergency
reserves. We don't have any of that. The only one we have is capital reserve. Any excess over and above that 2% that I talked about and the capital reserve has to get budgeted. So when you if you listen to the budget presentation
um that I did for the tenative budget, we had um when we closed out the 2425 year, we had the 2% remaining and then we had an additional um just about $7.5 million that has to get budgeted. Okay? So we have to put it in our budget. It's
not sitting somewhere. It's not hidden money. It's not something that we can keep away and not spend on um you know the district. It is part of our budget. Um and then going back to the surplus numbers, one of the things that the
district has done since before my time is utilize that fund balance for operations. And where that gets you into trouble is as your surplus dwindles, if you don't um replenish it from year to year, it's
like having a hole in your following budget. So, for example, in the 2627 budget, we're we're using that 7.5 million to balance the budget. At the end of this year, if we don't have that much excess left, then we
won't that number will be lower for future budgets and we'll have to we'll have to cut we'll end up starting in a hole. So, we we are not in good shape. There's no other if you guys if you look at that audit statement that we go over
every single year um and we've done it every time you know these questions come up. There's no other places for the money to go at the end of the year and it's been de declining over the years. We don't have anything left. We don't have anything for capital. We don't have
anything for emergencies. Um >> and just and and just you guys don't have a copy of this, but there are some things in here that are accurate, but you know numbers. So preschool aid, I don't know if the overall number is correct, you know, you know, but it
lists us getting approximately we okay? >> So, you know, the the preschool aid is about $9 million. That is accurate, but preschool money can only be spent on preschool. When you look at the the numbers of students, and I I don't know
what the representation is supposed to mean because there's no explanation. It says that in 2020 we were at 7042 and now we're at 7561. That represents preschool, I believe. Correct. >> Preschool is not included in our enrollment because they're funded
separately. So the numbers just aren't, you know, they're not represented. >> Yeah. And so I know that there's >> Yeah, I was just going to say I know that there's a motion on the floor and whatever, you know, if you guys want to have a meeting then that's up to you to vote. But because um this was sent to
the board and it's been read it's you know started to be read in public I I'm going to whether there's a meeting or not I'm going to go through it right now. So if you want to take >> Can I the motion first? I would like to go through
>> I I think we have to like I'm not going to sit here. >> How about we makeot I have the discussion on the motion. So, I I think what I understand the motion on the floor debate, it seems like Ralph wants to allow Mr. Yordy an opportunity
to basically debate Janine in a public forum. Procedurally, Nick, my question is what what even it would that look like, right? Like, we couldn't empower there's no policy that would empower us to allow a debate. I I I'm happy to go into
executive discuss executive session and discuss this more with the board if if the board is >> I think that's what we need to do >> so um but >> sitting here today I I don't believe there's any um legal obligation in terms of the budget
process to go through that process. So there is a motion on the on on the uh on the floor uh if the board would like to discuss the potential um legal aspects that could could arise
from that. I'm happy to do that. I think that is >> I move we go into executive discuss the legal implications of the motion on the floor. >> Yeah. >> So we hold that Nick. >> Hold on. >> We're holding that motion. people. >> She just made a motion. So now
>> we need a second and then we would >> Yeah, someone has to second Terry and then >> Well, I have a question on now. We have a new motion. >> That's been seconded. So the new motion is >> discussion on whether or not we're going into executive to talk about this. >> Yeah, but I thought we're still in
discussion. >> Yeah, but she made a motion to go. So now you have you have to act on that motion. >> So now is there discussion about going into executive? Scott my my discussion on talking in executive Nick um since we're in discussion for that motion now
right the second one made is Mr. Yordi can come to the meeting next week if he wants to and make comment and Janine can rebut anything that he says at that point in time and she has a heads up now here with this and from my perspective what's at the heart of
Jerry's request is he wants to make sure that because the teachers union and the support staff got quite frankly in my opinion um cost of living increased raises respectable raises that that doesn't mean now they're going to be
blamed for any cuts that are in the budget. And so what I I I'm telling you from my perspective on business committee is any cuts that I saw, those people could move to other places. So sometimes when a position is cut, it
doesn't necessarily mean the person is out of a job and I wouldn't be voting for a budget that included that. And so that is more something that during the budget hearing would happen next week. So, if we're talking about going to into executive, I don't want to do that. I don't want to
have a special meeting with Yordy between now and next week, I don't want to waste that time because the we've all had committee meetings where we've talked about this. We all have the information. Any positions that are in there that are cut, people are going to land on their feet for the most part. So, >> that's not that's not true. He said some
of them would may be able to fill those positions. Can we I mean >> can we call the vote for >> so but I'm just saying for going into executive I want to go home at I want to go home at some point >> well the motion to discuss the legalities that with um
Taylor and Scott >> well I'd like to make a comment here you know sure that this is discussion before we have a roll call vote >> we're not voting now we're going we're going into >> the vote right now is whether the discussion of the executive or to
continue the discussion on the motion. >> Well, I agree with the fact that why why should we go into executive? All right. And what are we going to accomplish in there? >> All right. So, >> as far as I'm concerned as a board member, the more information I can have as a board member and making a decision
is good for me. Okay. >> Going to roll call the motion about going >> but Nick, you did seem to indicate that there is legal implications to the motion on the floor. Just want to make that clear to the board when we take this vote. >> What's the purpose of going into executives clearly? What's the purpose?
>> We don't I think we don't want to be seen as the board as challenging an employee or encouraging the challenging of an employee in public. There's already a situation next week at the budget hearing where he can come. >> So why do we need to even make a motion
about that? Which puts us in a precarious position legally. So I'll roll call for executive session to discuss legalities for the motion on the floor. >> Correct. >> Which was to have Mr. Yordy, Mrs. Weer,
and the solicitor come >> the auditor >> to a public view. >> Oh, the auditor. >> She's she's >> okay. >> This is Just the motion for about going into executive session. >> Discuss the original motion.
>> Okay. >> Which you also >> which I just recited. Okay. >> Mrs. Clancy. >> Wait. Just for quick question. Um what Julie said he anybody could come and speak. So we don't have to have a special meeting. He could come and speak. >> Um we don't have to have a vote or a
special meeting because it's an open open public where he can come and discuss. Mhm. Mrs. Clancy, >> this is to go. >> This is to go into the duck. >> No. >> Mrs. Hartong.
>> Yes. I would like to know what our legal implications are. Miss Kazmple. >> No. >> Mr. Le Liberty. >> Yes. Mr. Ross, >> no. >> Mrs. Shakar,
>> yes. >> Mr. Serrano, >> no. >> Mrs. Baker, >> no. >> Mrs. Bloom, >> abstain. >> Motion. It didn't carry, right?
>> Yes. >> Okay. Motion did not carry. >> So, the discussion remains. >> What was the vote? What was the vote? >> We're not going. >> We're not going. >> I know. But what was the vote? >> 35 with one abstain. >> Five.
>> Yes. Five. No, one abstension. >> So now, >> so now we have to roll call. The other motion is on the table and that can be brought to a roll call. >> Question. >> So, I'm going to take a roll call on the
motion to have Mr. Yordy, Miss Weer, and the auditor get together for a meeting in public. Is that correct? Well, I didn't include the auditor because Dr. Hibbs may be right on that that he
may not want to debate. I want Yordi to go over his questions, his concerns, and I and for us to refute them. >> In public. >> In public. Okay. Mrs. Harong, >> no.
>> Miss Kazmple, I'm going to abstain because I don't think we should be voting on this type of thing. Mr. Liberty, >> no. >> Mr. Ross, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shakar, >> no.
>> Mr. Serrano, >> yes. >> Mrs. Baker, >> yes. >> Mrs. Clancy, >> no. >> And Miss Bloom, >> abstain. So again, we've got
two. >> That motion did not carry. >> What was the vote? >> Comment. We're still in public comment. >> Okay, I'm going to go on. Um Mrs. director of we're going not going to say
anything more tonight. >> Okay. >> I think I need to address we've had we've had this conversation with the full board. I think at this point, you know, if anyone wants to come to the board and say things, we can receive when they come.
>> Okay. I'm going to move on with our cards. Mrs. Teruso. [clears throat] >> Hi, good evening. I come tonight as a community member and past president of the Washington Township support staff. We are facing cuts again of positions of
both s certificated and support staff. Last year, we faced similar cuts and state aid loss was a prominent reason as to the need to make those cuts. These cuts are faced again this year despite the fact that we are receiving an additional $1.7 million from the
state and most state aid sit the most state aid since the 202021 school year. These cuts are faced despite the fact that settlements for both collective bargaining groups have not been the financial burden that was expected this
year. As a matter of fact, they actually have cost significantly less than anticipated. So much so that additional money was acred by the district from breakage. You put a slide up at the budget meeting in March at the budget presentation that
had 29 certificated staff cuts and 23 support staff cuts. I'm here to inquire what those specific cuts are. What positions in support staff and teaching positions are being cut. The community and the staff have the right to know the
details of these cuts so that they can be educated and allowed to act and allowed to I lost my place. Ask the appropriate clarifications and questions. You also made a comment I think Julie about um people being
shifted into other jobs. I think what you have to understand is what happened last year and the year before was that people were moved around and they were put into positions for example you had a health aids that were moved into they were 5.75 people they were moved in 2.5
positions so they lost all those hours they moved over to you know to the preschool which was wonderful except some of these people were not equipped to handle the preschool and that was not the job they originally interviewed for and not the job that they were supposed to be in. So when you say you can move
people into those other jobs, it's not always an even exchange and what happens is those people tend to leave. And I almost it almost makes me wonder is that really the point is that you want people to leave so that you can clean house a little bit. So it's just points to ponder, but I'd like to know what those
cuts are. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mrs. Teruso. Um Dr. Hibs, you want to address how the public and the unions will be notified. This isn't the venue yet to discuss specific cuts. Um, you are correct in the fact that we
still have a structural deficit even though we had state aid. That is correct. And it's absolutely not correct that we want people to leave. We would never >> go through this to harm individuals. You know, when I sat down with Mrs. Kosar,
she she can attest to this. I, you know, with opening Walls Elementary, if we pass, there will be numerous positions available for our folks, and I promise that they would be given first, you know, first look at those jobs. So, we we care about our
staff members, but we we do have a a deficit. But to be very clear, you know, that slide and no slide blamed anyone for that. There's a host of things that go into why we have a structural deficit. Okay,
next is Mia Gustino. I'm so sorry. Hi, my name is Maline Deastino. I am part of the band Academy, art academy at Washington Township High School and I'm here to talk about the budget for the performing arts program. You see, lately most music students affiliated with the
music program have heard about these budget cuts. mostly going to the music programs, causing teachers to pay out of pocket for supplies, um going back to back from schools, and taking extra jobs at the school. As music students, we have all acknowledged this, and most of us are
upset about this. You see, the music program isn't just a place. It's a home. It's a safe space. We take it seriously, and we want it's where we focus on ourselves. It's where we focus on our studies, which doesn't seem like we would, but grades drastically are
improved because of the music programs. And studies have shown this. You I have experienced this personally. I'm sorry. I am now just going to go into this. I in elementary school, I wasn't a uh a phenomenal student. I um I had really
bad grades, you know, like C's, D's. Um, and then once I got into fourth grade, I joined a music program called School of Rock Deford. And it helped me so much to the point where my mental health was getting better. My grades were getting better. You can check my grades. I have
A's and B's now in all my classes to the point where it's amazing for me. I love this school and I have so many opportunities because of these teachers who are here now like Mrs. Campanini and Mr. Spencer, Mrs. Flynn, too. And I think if we cut down the music program
even more than we are, then we're some students who are going to come up in the future, like my nieces and nephews who are now in elementary schools, aren't going to experience this. We I just want teachers and I want students to have this future where, you know, where it's
happy and like we don't have to worry about these budget cuts happening to our teachers and worrying about what their program will be. You see, um I really do care about this program more than I think anyone could think of. Um and also
with the scheduling for the high school. I know it should like the eight program, the eight period program seems important um just to get in all the classes for during the high school, but I've [laughter] heard a rumor, multiple rumors that um they were going to cut
down the orchestra program. And I think that is something that would be like an issue [laughter] because I have friends who are in the orchestra program who are in themies. They're in everything. And I I don't want them to lose their home. You know, Miss Aldridge is a great
teacher. She's working back to back from schools. She's an phenomenal teacher. And we put so much work into the sports. I mean, we got into the championships. Congratulations to that football team, by the way. But can we put our minds back onto the music and arts because
it's just as important as our sports programs? [applause] >> Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us on the performing arts passionately. Miss O'Brien, did you have
anything? Dr. Hibbs. >> Yeah, I mean, we agree with you. That's why we started the VPA Academy. So, we believe in the arts for sure. >> Right. Miss O'Brien. Good evening. I'm Natalie O'Brien. I'm speaking to you tonight as an officer of the WTA. I'm continuing with Mr. Yord's
analysis. Budgeted fund balance. This shows the excess above the unanticipated surplus for 2324 which is audited shows 11,496,411 which is 996,411 more than the previous year. The audit
for 2425 shows 10,500,000. They have now budgeted 0 as this is where they are claiming that the 10.5 million shortfall for 2526 for the total operating budget in the 2122 year audited. They brought in
143,763,679 which is $7,825,84 more than the audited number from 20 uh 2020 2021. This increased to 146,981,717 which was audited in 2223 which is an increase of 3,218,038
from the previous year. For 2324 which was audited, it jumps to 153,135,76 which is an increase of $6,153,989 over the previous year. They increased their operating budget by 4.19%
under 2% cap which yet want to blame the unions for their spending problem. for 2425 which was audited. They dropped the budget to 149,521,16 or 3.6 million less than the previous year. For this current year, they raised
it to 151,564,593. for unrestricted miscellaneous revenue. In 2223, they budgeted $595,14 with the audit showing 1,622,898, which is 1,27,794 more than anticipated. In 2324 they
budgeted $500,000 and the audit showed 1,356,64 or $856,64 more than anticipated when they claimed the walls were falling last year. They budgeted 500,2425
which is the same as the previous year with the audit showing 981,873 which is $481,873 more dollars than anticipated. In 2526 they raised this number to 650,000. Why does this number keep going up if
there is no money? >> Thank you, Miss O'Brien. Okay, I don't see any more cards, so can I have a motion? Oh, go ahead. Sorry. >> Good evening. Uh, continuing Mr. Yord's analysis. Um, after [clears throat]
bringing budget issues to light last year, the audited figure for the 2425 school year is $2,749,740, which means they once again overspent by $2.7 million, more than the revenue brought in. This points to a high level
of incompetence by the superintendent and BA. As I've said previously, the district leaders don't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. Next, what about state aid? The district received $44,6,638 in state aid for the 2122 school year, a
decrease of1,83,74 from the previous year. We received 43,629,741 in state aid and 20 2223 school year for a decrease of 376,897 from the previous year. We received $42,120,028
in state aid in the 22 I'm sorry 232 24 school year for a decrease of1,59,713 from the previous year for 2425. State aid was received in the amount of 43,715,976. That was $1,595,948
more than the previous year. For 2526, the district is scheduled to face a cut of 1,311,479 or 3%. The total grants and entitlements 2324 budgeted 7,439,952
and the audit showed that they received 11,378,714 or 3,938,762 more than anticipated. They raised that number to 13,890,239 for 2425 with the audit showing they
received 13,549,042 or 341,197 less than anticipated for this year. They pushed the number to 14,722,647 for next year. the preschool aid. Uh we've received an increase in preschool
aid over the last seven years, 9,176,42. In 2324 we received 3,274,585 when the skull when the when the sky was falling last year and we claimed uh that we received from the state 8,633,542 or an increase of 5,358,957.
They are earmarked to receive another increase for 2526 of 542,860 to a new total of 9,1 >> 76,42. >> We'll have to come back. Thank you. >> Thanks.
>> Okay. Any other cards? >> No other cards. Motion to close. >> No, just real quick, just a two second response. In regards to prek, uh just so everybody knows, we opened up two buildings or we opened up one building, Kindle, with about 200 kids and Walls is
going to have another 200 kids. So, of course, our prek aid is going to is going to increase and it can't be used for anything else. And you know, I just want to just want to add here, our BA is exceptional. Two independent auditors do
not agree with your work. I I don't know if if Mr. Yordi is an auditor or not or a CPA. I don't know his credentials, but we have a CPA and two independent auditors do not agree. So to say that, you know, Janine is incompetent or I'm incompetent, it's just simply untrue.
And you know what comes up sometimes is a spending problem, but yet there's never any examples. You know what constantly comes up is, please don't do that. Please don't do that. What comes up is rocks and bleachers, literally. So, our bleachers literally
were falling apart. Literally falling apart. We couldn't even use the same screws and we [snorts] salvaged the metal. So, if you want to actually present some evidence about the spending, I would really appreciate specifics because this is actually not specifics on actual things spending.
>> Right. Motion to close to the public. >> Wait, who's who [clears throat] all in? Okay, >> now you're into committees. >> Okay. All in favor? >> Yeah. >> I
oppose. >> Okay. We're going to go on to committee discussions. This this month we spent a lot of our discussion time talking about the budget. So, we're not going to have a report for every group. We're going to have one because there was extra in the
business committee that um we'll talk about and other than that the policy personnel IIA sack and business also was a budget discussion. Mrs. Clancy will give that and Mr. Liberty will give the business. Go ahead Mrs. Clancy.
>> Okay. So um we met on Monday uh April 13th in attendance with Dr. Hibbs, Mrs. Weer, Mrs. Miller, um Mrs. Holmes, Mr. Cilio, myself, Mr. Ross, and uh Paplom. Um we talked about the budget and we
followed up on questions and discussions and we talked about personnel and positions needing to be filled. We talked about staffing and budget discussion. We also discussed the opening of walls which would accommodate 200 preschool students and we would have
additional staffing teachers and aids. Okay. >> Mr. Liberty. >> Yeah. Uh some business committee meeting which was on Wednesday, April 15th. Um attendees myself, Dr. H, Miss Wctor, uh
Julie, Ralph, and Terry. We discussed the same things that Elaine talked about, but in addition, we discussed uh four finance items. One was uh school bus ads. Going through uh specifics on that, substitute rates. Um, we went over
some things on the lease for Pitman with preschool and then a few purchasing items and that was it. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Cassle. Do you have anything for New Jersey School Board Association or strategic planning? >> Um, strategic planning, no, because we said we were going to talk about that
after budget. Um, for New Jersey school board, it's just that there's a meeting on May 7th, which you all got an email about, where Mrs. Fitzpatrick is going to be speaking as the Gloucester County Teacher of the Year. It's the Camden County and Gloucester County joint meeting. So, the Camden County teacher winner will speak and the Glouester
County winner. I went last year. Um, I think it would be great to have a turnout from Washington Township there, a table if you guys can all go. And also, Lori sent an email out about letting her know whether or not you're going to do workshop this year. If you can give her a heads up so we can budget
for that. That's all. Thanks. Thank you, Miss Cass. Um, I just had a question about the workshop and I think I emailed it to Lori. I was just curious since it's my first year like do we divide and conquer, but if like I guess I'm asking like if there are sessions or like a
specific day that you think would be valuable for a new board member if you could like sort of give a little guidance on that that would be appreciated. >> There's a there's a ton of sessions. I just I I think my commentator is like probably can't take four straight days off of work, but
>> Oh, I'd say >> t Tuesday and Wednesday are the biggest days and then if you have to sometimes people stay Thursday you don't really have to go unless you have like one of your training like governance or something but usually you can get them on the other days and Monday there's
like really it's like in the morning like a couple things. So I would say Tuesday and Wednesday if you're trying to take off work >> and you actually can get your training for next year at one of the sessions so you don't have to do it in January. That's a good thing to look into going to.
>> Thank you. >> Okay. Uh report from the superintendent. Motion second to approve the report of the superintendence item one. >> So move >> discussion. All right. Seeing none, roll call.
>> Mr. Serrano, >> yes. >> Mrs. Baker, >> yes. >> Mrs. Clancy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hartung, >> yes. >> Miss Kazmple, >> yes. >> Mr. Liberty, >> yes. >> Mr. Ross,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Shakar, >> abstain. >> Mrs. Bloom. Yes. And I do know that that carried. Okay. Let's go on for instructional affairs, there's no nothing at this time. Policy, there's nothing at this
time. So, we're going to move on to student activities and communications. I need a motion and a second to approve report of the superintendent. Item one, discussion. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> Second. >> Have a second. Okay. Discussion.
looking looking at the application. Uh they're going to to Atlanta, Georgia, and there's nothing listed under transportation, but it did say cost the students, five students, $1,200. Are they paying their own transportation?
>> I think they do. And I also know that we're renting a car when we're down there. I can pull the specific for you. >> Yeah, I saw nothing listed under transportation. because the lodging is 299. >> Yeah.
>> So, they're paying their own transportation. >> I I believe they are, but I I believe they are, but I don't know. >> Why wouldn't we be paying the transportation? I mean, >> I can't get a hold of Mr. Anderson as a
question. >> Okay. >> And the trips in just a couple days. >> Okay. Uh, could I have a motion and a second to approve item number one? >> Roll call. >> We already had second. >> Roll call.
>> Mrs. Baker. >> Mrs. Clancy. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Harton. >> Yes. >> Miss Kazenthal? >> Yes. >> Mr. Le Liberty? >> Yes. >> Mr. Ross? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Shakar? >> Yes.
Mr. Serrano. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Bloom. >> Yes. That carried. >> All right. We're going to move on for negotiations. There's nothing at this time for human resources. I need a motion and a second to approve human resources items 1 through 13.
>> So move. >> Second. >> Discussion. No discussion. >> Okay. Roll call. Mrs. Clancy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hartung, >> yes.
>> Miss Kazmple, >> yes. >> Mr. Liberty, >> yes. >> Mr. Ross, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shakar, >> yes. >> Mr. Serrano, >> yes. >> Mrs. Baker,
>> uh, yes. So number nine, I'm voting no on the interim principal position on the basis of the complications for the candidate to to fully perform the approved job description on her own.
If the recommendation was for a permanent position as principal, I would enthusiastically support such a recommendation. >> Mrs. Bloom. >> Yes. And the motion carries. all the motions. Congratulations. >> Sorry, Mrs. Marui. Were those your kids
that were here all that time? >> Sorry, we missed it. [applause] Sorry, they [cheering] missed it. >> They left. I was like, they're leaving. We're about to vote. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations.
>> Congratulations. They did go. >> Congratulations. >> Congrats. >> Thank you so much. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. Good luck. Thank you. Okay, thank you. For finance and facilities, a motion and a second to
approve finance facilities item one. >> So moved. >> Second. Discussion. No discussion. Roll call. >> Mrs. Hart. Okay. >> Mrs. Hartung wasn't turned on. Thanks. [laughter]
>> Miss Kazmpul. >> Yes. >> Mr. Le Liberty. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ross. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Shar. >> Yes. >> Mr. Serrano. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Baker. >> Yes.
Mrs. Clancy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Bloom, >> yes. Motion carries. Um, we're up to special education. Motion and second to approve special education item one. >> So moved.
>> Second. >> Discussion. Okay. Seeing none, roll call. Miss Kazmple. >> Yes. Mr. Li Liberty. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ross.
>> Yes. >> Mrs. Shutter. >> Yes. >> Mr. Serrano. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Baker. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Clancy. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hartung. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Bloom.
>> Yes. Motion carries. Now we're up to new business. Does the board have anything to discuss under new business? Anyone? Um, I just have I just wanted to thank Lori or whoever else helped to do.
We have a whole list here now of all the activities between now and the end of the year. I'm hoping that we'll use that. And as Miss Gazemple said, there are a few things that we should all try to attend such as graduation. Um, if this needs to be updated, board members,
Lori will update it and it will be in the board packet each week. So, if there are things that were missed, it will be there. Any other discussions? >> Thank you, Lorie. >> Yeah. Thank you very much.
>> Okay. All right. >> Now, we're open to the public again. I have a motion to open the meeting to the public. >> Move. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> I >> All right. Motion carried. [clears throat] >> Shane Ducas, WTA Middle School exec
member. Good evening. I'm speaking tonight not just as an educator, but as someone who sat on the negotiations table, someone who has been in the rooms where decisions are made, who has consistently tried to advocate for both our students and our union members. And
I'll be honest, I'm tired. We've made significant concessions in order to secure the raises that we rightfully deserve. We didn't get those gains easily. We gave things up. We adjusted. We compromised. We even agreed to agreed to schedules that administration said
were unnecessary to were necessary to ensure safety in our buildings. I sat there when high school administration came to us and asked us to fix a problem that was created years ago. One that we warned them about at that time. We said that the previous high school schedule
would not work. We said it clearly. And yet here we are going in circles again being asked to solve the same issue. I'm tired of having the same conversation every budget season. I've served on committee after committee in this district. Every time there's a big initiative, a major change, something
innovative, and every time I show up ready to advocate for students, for staff, for what's right. But I keep seeing a disconnect between between where money is going and what actually matters. So I have to ask, why are we
overbudgeting in some areas and underfunding in others? We are watching overspending happen in real time while people who work directly with students are asked to do more with less. Board members,
you are supposed to be watchd dogs. You are responsible for ensuring that taxpayer money is being spent wisely. Are you paying attention to where that money is going? Because from where we stand, it doesn't feel like it. We're approve we're
approved. outrageous. You've approved outrageous salaries for non non-unit members. Some who don't even hold the same level of qualifications as educators in this district. Yet, they are making more than classroom teachers
who show up every single day to support our students. Parents, are you paying attention? Because there's a lot of money being spent in this district. In fact, you're sitting on it. these little cheap little chairs or they're chintzy but they cost a lot of money. This
bathroom that was renovated here in this office when students are the student bathrooms are missing ceiling tiles. There's no overspending. There's a lot of overspending going on here. Look at the marble on this deas. I wonder how
much that costs. Probably could save a couple of ESP members. I'm tired. I'm tired of these decisions being made. Watch the money, my friends. Watch how it's being spent.
And don't discount rocks. Don't discount it because guess what? It costs something. The money comes from somewhere. And guess what, parents and taxpayers? It's your money that's being misspent. Thank you. [applause] No, I got it. Hold on. Um, okay. So
again, I I specifics. So if your specifics on overspending, literally are black folding chairs and the bathrooms that we did ourselves with cheap tile. That's not overspending. >> It's just not. Please don't do that. We didn't interrupt you. Um marble was done
long before I got here, so I had nothing to do with the marble. Uh but the chairs that were in this room were broken. We literally had two people fall out of them. So that's that's it again. and the rocks were onetime infusion. So again,
what are your examples? >> Okay, Miss Woodcraft. >> Hi, Heather Whitcraft. Um, I want to talk about I Ready, but I'm sure these are some pretty cheap seats as costly as they are. Anyway, uh I
Ready and Curriculum Associates. What is our district doing to prepare for the fallout from the lawsuit against curriculum associates and I Ready? What is the district doing to protect our children now that or our children's now compromised data? Are there even studies showing the effectiveness of the
programs studies beyond a 7 score increase? Are you prepared for the refusals from parents that are surely to come? What will be in place for those students? How much money has a district spent on I Ready and other curriculum associate programs? Will we see any sort of refund or rebate?
Is the district susceptible to any other compromises because of the illegal sale and profiling of our children's data? When will No. When my children sign into their school accounts, they receive a pop-up saying their passwords were found
in a data leak. If I'm not mistaken, all of our students passwords are associated. I won't say exactly what, but surely they're only used with district programs. Where was that leak? Was it Power School Curriculum Associates?
I don't know. But that's it. Thank you. >> So, we have information going out on Friday about I Ready. I I would just caution you about, you know, speaking certainly about anything that we don't really know about. But what we do know is is that you know our data is is safe.
Um so we'll have a comprehensive email that will go out that will answer a lot of your questions. >> Okay, Miss Morazz. >> Hi. Good evening. Thank you. Um Dr. Dr. Hibbs, members of the school board and administration, I stand before you with two simple um but urgent questions. What
kind of education are we providing our students when access to knowledge itself is being reduced? What kind of message are we sending about literacy in our district? In our district, we have only three certificated media specialists. That is not a support system, it's a shortage. At the middle school level, are the librarians even libraries even
consistently open and available to students? And if they are, who's running them? At the elementary level, several libraries are being run by former computer teachers. While dedicated, they are not trained media specialists. That matters because media specialists don't just manage books. They teach students how to research, evaluate sources, think
critically, and instill the importance of reading. And year, it requires a specific certificate and degree. Last year, no libraries received funding for new books. This year, only elementary schools received funding, leaving middle and high school students with nothing new to read. What message does that send to our older students? That their intellectual growth is no longer worth
investing in. Yes, funding was allocated for online databases, but without trained media specialists to guide students and teachers, are these resources being used effectively, or are they a missed opportunity in a district that claims to prioritize the education? The state has established clear standards for media literacy. These are
not optional skills. They are essential for college, careers, and citizenship. Yet, those trained to teach them are largely absent. Without them, we are leaving a critical gap in our students education. On School Librarians Day, a letter went out thanking our media specialists. What ordinarily will be a
kind gesture came off disconnected and insulting in a district of only three specialists. Former first lady Barbara Bush once said that literacy is the foundation for opportunity and equality. She dedicated her time combating illiteracy. When we limit access to reading and information, we limit opportunity. Right now, our district is
doing just that. We are not strengthening our foundation. We are weakening it. This is about more than libraries. It's about equity, access, and opportunity. I urge this board to look at where our money is going and the direct impact it has on our students, the heart of our district. Ensure that every student, regardless of grade
level, has access to the libraries and the support they need to use it. Because when we invest in libraries, we invest in students. And when we invest in students, we invest in our future. Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. I my speaker was off. Thank
you. Um, Miss McN. >> Hi. I um I only had a few things left from uh Mr. Yord's um analysis. I'm not going to go back to that. Um those were his words. I spoke them and at this point I want to speak my words. Um Dr. Hibbs, uh you asked us to outline
overspending in the district. Um to do that, Justice, I'm going to need a week um to compile the list of information. Um, so expect me to be back not not to be confrontational, but just to show some of the places that we as teachers
slowly watch things happen and we just kind of scratch our head and we're not really sure why money is going there. We see it all the time. It's it's a lot, but it's going to take me a little bit of time. Um, but some [clears throat] of the things that we overspend on aren't completely tangible. Okay, there they
are actions or lack thereof actions. So, for instance, um not too long ago, we had teachers asking about filters in my particular building and some other buildings. Why don't we have filters? Why haven't the filters been changed in forever? Well, we didn't have the right size. They needed to be ordered. Come to
find out, some of the filters had been in there for four or five years. So, some of these filters now need to be changed immediately. Well, there's no money for the filters or we can't get the filters or meanwhile, our HVAC systems aren't working well. Why aren't they working well? Because when you don't change filters in HVAC systems,
they break down. And our Yes, some of our HVAC systems are old, but we could extend the life of them if we put the time in there. And this is just one example, okay? So, I'm not targeting our maintenance people or anything like that. I I think we have great people here. Um, I just think some of these things are oversightes and they do over
time cause very expensive things to fail us that now we have to put money into replacing. Okay. So, a lot of the things that I see in the district are things that I think if we if we talked about it, we might be able to put our finger on it and there might be a fix for it,
but there's just so many things that it's it's just like which way do we want to chase which items because there's a lot and when you put them all together, they matter and they do really impact our spending. And so, our overspending sometimes isn't something you can grab
or see. It's it's things like that that over time cost us a lot of money. Um you know her as an example because I'm there. We still don't have a kindergarten playground. We've had kindergarten for 3 years. We don't have age appropriate kindergarten playground equipment. We still don't have a
blacktop area. Not one. Nothing. No basketball at our school. Nothing. We have nothing. These are things that those bathrooms Shireen mentioned. Yeah. It might be a small little amount amount of money, but if you put all those things together, we might have a playground right now. Okay. But it's all these little things that we make the
excuses and say, "Oh, that little bit of money we spent here, that little bit of money we spent there, that little bit of money adds up." And you can put it to the right places if you're not spending it. And that same little bit amount of money could have fixed the student bathrooms in our schools that some of which just need simple things like paint
because they're rusting and peeling. Just those small things can be done anywhere. They don't have to be done here. They can be done in our schools. So, at the end of the day, all of these little things that we talk about, they matter. Thank you. >> Thank you, Ms. McN.
>> Melissa, if you want me to have a good a good thoughtful response, maybe perhaps you could share that with me beforehand, and I'll be happy to to to give you, you know, even meet with you to talk you through it, and then you can say what you want in public, and then that would be great. Um, I didn't know anything about filters, but I'll certainly ask.
Um, you know, overspending is not something you can grab or see, so I'm looking forward to that list. And playground and back top and black tops. Janine, uh, what was our approximate amount in capital? >> About less than about two, right? >> Yeah. So, playgrounds are just super
expensive and, you know, paving across the entire district needs to be done. If you've never driven the high school, it would probably cost several million dollars just to repave the high school and we only have $2 million in capital, period. We would love to put a kindergarten in and a playground in and
love to fix the black top. We simply don't have the resources. Okay, Miss Wells. Good evening, Jennifer Wells. I'm an English teacher, high school exec member. Um, [clears throat] so you asked
for a list. I have a list that I'm just going to read. Some of these have already been been mentioned, right? We've got the bathrooms, we've got the bleachers,
we've got the rocks, but then there's also the new gym at the high school, stoves, and other kitchen supplies that were purchased that didn't fit and can't be used. the new classroom furniture for those
dream team rooms that cost way more money than we should have been spending at a time when we were cutting people. And then something else that I and in addition to that the addition of the dean of students. Okay. But something
else I want to take a minute just to talk about is we changed a lot of technology, very very quickly, all at once. And while some of those
changes may have long-term savings, they all had upfront costs, right? So specifically talking about the switch from Power School to Genesis, Genesis is more expensive, right? switching everything that we had
in our district from Microsoft to Google. And I love Google. I wanted us to go with Google a thousand years ago when we made this decision the first time, right? But doing it all at once and it coincides with budget
problems, you can't ignore that. You can't ignore having all of these changes happen at the same time. All of a sudden, we don't have any money, right? I've never understood how we can
say, "We had a contract with Microsoft, but we're going to switch to Google and it's going to save us money." I agree. When you talk about devices, when you talk about usability and everything else that goes into that decision, I 100%
support it. I just don't know that it was the right time. Right? Sometimes you got to make some choices about waiting to do some things because like the playground, we can't quite afford it right then. And I think that what I'm seeing from my perspective is that we've
made some choices to pay for things that we didn't necessarily have the money budgeted for and now we're paying the price of that. And maybe we need to start thinking about like we all do and I I understand the
budget is extremely complex and I will not pretend to understand the line items in a budget. I won't. But I also understand that just because I really really want to switch out my my
old oil heater in my home, I had a budget to get it replaced and removed before I can do that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Wells. >> Okay, let me just briefly respond. Um,
the bathroom cost next to nothing. The bleachers absolutely needed to be done. If we didn't have that, our championship football team would have literally had broken bleachers. Rocks were a one-time infusion, as was the new gym at the high school. A one-time infusion. Did not come out of the district budget. the
classroom furniture for the dream team I think came out of the lease and and really tried to, you know, improve the student experience and the feedback we got from kids and the teachers that have it is that it is a gamecher. If I could do that everywhere, if we had all the money in the world, it makes a huge
difference. The dean of students and the three that we have, they do such a good job in in helping our children understand good choices, their their impact. Um, and I want to thank them publicly. Um, I want to make sure they know that I am thankful for them, that
their their job is is hard and they do a great job. And then you talked about technology. You said Genesis is more expensive than Power School. Not true. Uh, we saved money on every every one of those switches, everyone. And the Chromebooks are significantly
less. So, um, you know, if you want to, Jen, if you want to come up and sit down, I could I could show you. But, you know, the talk about technology, you know, I mean, you could argue that timing, but honestly, we're years into that now. So, I I seriously doubt that anyone's complaining about Google at
this point. Honestly, I haven't heard one complaint ever. So, you know, and we do have to, just so you know, for full disclosure, we do have to retain some Microsoft platforms because we need them for spreadsheets. Um, but it's just simply not true.
you have to but I remember last year Gretchen telling us that um just to Candace's point about the libraries that she budgeted money for books. I remember her specifically saying that but did they not get that money? Like was it >> I I didn't reallocate any money for
books. So I can look into it but I don't I don't know. >> Yeah, I remember her giving us an amount of >> I I can Trish. Could you write that down to look into for me? Thank you. Happy to look and report back. Yeah, of course. Sorry.
>> Okay, Mrs. Teruso. >> So, I want to piggyback on what I um asked at the first session cuz I didn't really get an answer. So, as a board, and I'm sure you already know the answer to this, what positions have been cut? What support positions? What certified
positions? Because having gone through this the last 2 and 1/2, 3 years and multiple times throughout the course of the time I worked here, it is very unnerving to be a staff member here right now is very stressful. People need
to know, do I do I have a job? Am I going to have the same job? Cuz I know you're not going to you're going to shift people around. I get that. But is it the same? Is is it is it equal? You know, is it A and B or is it oranges and oranges? What? however you want to call
it. You know, a 5.7 a 5.75 job is not the same as a 2.5 job. They're different. A health assistant position is not the same as a playground assistant. They're different and people are different. So, I know as a board you
must know what these cuts are. So, would you please be willing to share that with us as a community? Thank you. >> Okay. Is that something you can share? Julie, uh, someone watching responded
that books were all received. So, I I'll make sure that's the answer, but I want to make sure I rep report it back. >> I just talked to our attorney and and that's not something that we are able to share at this meeting. >> We can't talk about specific positions.
I'm hoping that the unions at some point you should know, if you don't already, I hope that you do shortly, what positions are involved. >> Um, >> it didn't tell if it's a this A or B or C or D position.
>> No, >> but even in the we never say specific positions even. Yeah, >> I think sometimes that they have been told. I don't know if they were leaked, but we have in the past known some that were cut and some that we didn't know
about. I don't know. Will that be more specific next week or is it just the same? >> Okay. All right. Mr. Tarashi, >> thank you. Um, [clears throat] since specifics came up,
I want to inquire because my uh, previous understanding was that on the 19th, Sunday the 19th, there was a potential meeting that was to be held concerning the budget. And it was during
that meeting that Mr. Yordy contacted me to see if he could attend that meeting because I believe it was going to be held in public session and then at the last minute was cancelled if I'm not mistaken because uh two individuals who
were previously committed to the meeting found out that they were busy that day and it happened to be Dr. Hibbs and Mrs. Wctor. The meeting did not take place but Mr. Yordi would have made himself available Sunday the 19th if the meeting had taken
place. Uh I will check to see if Mr. Yordy can in fact appear next week at the board meeting. Uh hopefully he can. The next thing that I want to discuss is the conversation that I had with Dr. Hibbs along with my executive VP and I
don't recall exactly who else was in the room at the time, but it was involving the Hay Tutor program where in fact uh we found out through the board agenda that they had been approved to be paid
$65 an hour to tutor our kids who were in need, which is understandable. And at the time we had that conversation with Dr. Hibbs, we emphasized to him the importance of perhaps even offering the same dollar
figure to our teachers. If you're going to be paying an outside tutoring firm $65, make sure that the $65 is going to the tutors. Well, as it turns out, I believe, I could be wrong, that what the tutoring company did was hired college
individuals with a minimum of, I think, 60 credits to do the tutoring. And they're paying, the company is paying from the $65, something like 20 to $25 an hour to the students, which means the
company is absorbing the rest of that $65. So when you talk about needless expenditures, this wasn't necessarily needless expenditure as much as it was poor choice when we had teachers who
were willing to work for that same $65 an hour to tutor our own kids. Presently, according to our contract, and I was willing to sign off on it as a sidebar agreement, our our our tutoring rate is $44 an hour. Why would a
teaching staff member accept $44 an hour when the district is paying $65 an hour for a college certified, not even fully certified sub? Makes no sense. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Tashi.
>> Mr. Trashy, just want to make sure I I want to make sure that I I I communicated correctly. On Wednesday the 15th, I definitely communicated about this. I just want to make sure that you know we did have a meeting and that I did communicate back to you the will of the board. >> All right. Can I have a motion to close
to the public? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Motion carries. >> All right. I have a motion to adjourn the meeting. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Motion carries. Thank you for coming out
tonight.