Everyone evening. >> Good evening. >> This meeting is being videotaped. Anyone not wishing to be seen on television may be excused. Could we all please 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 going to begin the evening um
with presentations. Our f first one's going to be from the Bunker Hill Middle School's Team Up program. Hi everyone. Just want to introduce uh my good friend and colleague Mr. Farret Sed. He's going to be introducing you to all these wonderful students behind us
and who will be giving you a presentation on team up. So Mr. SAY, >> members of the board, Dr. Hibbs, district admin, and community members, good evening. My name is Farad Sed, and I'm the proud assistant principal at Bunker Hill Middle School. We're here
tonight to share a program that is truly the heart of Bunker Hill Middle School, and it's called Team Up. Team Up is a program that is particularly unique to Bunker Hill. As the only middle school um that houses the specialized programs, including the autism and mult multiple
disabilities program, Bunker Hill has that special responsibility to do the best thing that they can for our kids. For many students in these programs, building and maintaining relationships with peers can be a significant challenge as socialization often becomes
a unique hurdle. Through Team Up, we intentionally create opportunities to bridge that gap, allowing that allowing all students to practice social skills while forming meaningful, authentic connections within our school community.
The foundation of this success is built by some of our outstanding educators who oversee and champion this program. Uh, I promised them that I wouldn't embarrass them, but I'm going to have to call them up. So, Miss Isabella Mavioli, please come on up. Miss Maria Mayo,
Miss Claudia John Julio, Miss Taran Hamlash could not be here unfortunately today. Um, and Miss Jenny Keroot and also Miss Laura Walsh, who unfortunately couldn't be here as well today. Um, I just want to take a moment
to talk about these outstanding educators. These all five of these people go above and beyond every day in their daily roles. They are investing time and effort into every single kid that you see. And not just these students, but all our students. Their
mission is to ensure that every single student, regardless of their needs, has a fulfilling and joyful middle school experience. By fostering an environment of safety and belonging, they provide the guidance and uh that the students need to grow as leaders and friends.
Um, if we can just take a pause. I know they hate this because they're they're selfless individuals, but if we can just applaud these um adults. While the program's framework is established by our team of educators here, um, the purpose of team up truly comes from these people behind me, the
students. The team up students presenting tonight have ma many outstanding characteristics that make them who they are. One that stands out is the ownership that they take. The ownership in making all these daily interactions with each other and their
peers when they enter the classroom. A lot of times because of who they are as individuals, the teachers can take a step back and let them form their relationships and communicate on their own. The goal is to be more than just participants. They strive to be
outstanding citizens and role models for our entire school community through kindness, empathy, and willing to engage. They are making a difference at Bunker Hill every single day. Tonight, they're going to show you exactly what Team Up is and exactly what it looks
like. So, without further ado, if we can give them a round of applause. Team Up is a program that brings students from our multiple disabilities and autism programs together with seventh and eighth grade peers to build meaningful connections through shared experiences. In Team Up, students team
up to participate in social events and learning activities that encourage inclusion, friendship, and collaboration. Through these interactions, students learn from one another, develop empathy, and understanding, and build lasting relationships. The program highlights that some of the most important lessons
like kindness, patience, and communication and acceptance are learned best when students learned side by side. Events this year in team up, we have a lot of special events where you get to hang out with students in our MD and ASD classes and do activities with them.
Also, this year, the seventh graders got to sit together at lunch with them and this helps them connect more and learn more about them. Next fall activity day. Together we painted pumpkins, carved pumpkins, and put stickers on pumpkins.
Veterans flags with our team up buddies. We place flags around Bunker Hill Middle School in honor of Veterans Day. Thanksgiving feast. Students in MD and autism program went on a community outing to shop for items for our team up
Thanksgiving feast. Together we got to enjoy the meal and activities where we talked about what we were thankful for. >> MLK Day of Service Project BHMS collected donations from students, families, and staff to make birthday kits that included items to make a
birthday cake. Together, team up made 110 birthday kits to be donated to the Unforgotten Haven in Blackwood, New Jersey. Next, we had our President's Day campaigns. On February 27th, students got to make boards, papers, and presentations of why they should be
president. And it was definitely a hard decision because they all did such an amazing job. World Down Syndrome Day Bulldog Walk. On March 20th, Bunker Hill staff and students participated in a schoolwide bulldog walk in honor of World Down Syndrome Day. Together we were a able to
promote acceptance, inclusion, and advocate for people who are nairod. The pride paw shop. The pride paw shop is a reward for all students at Bunker Hill. Every students get something called a pride paw. If they show at least one of the pillars of excellence
at BHMS, the pride paw shop is a store where pride paws are the currency. Students in our ASD and MD programs as well as team up buddies are in the employees. They have various jobs including stocking the shelves, screening the customers, and checking the customers out when they are done
shopping. >> These are what pride paws look like. >> Thank you. Is that it? The Bulldog Cafe. The Bulldog Cafe is a unique experience that allows all the students and team up to build relationships and close
friendships within each other while delivering coffee and working together to fulfill orders. The Bulldog Cafe is open every morning where each teacher who participates is greeted with coffee and a smile. The Bulldog Cafe gives us a special
opportunity to work with the students on life skills. From our perspective, if we're having a rough start to our day, they're able to brighten our days as much as we brighten theirs. How working and making coffee can help us all for the future. Working at the cafe can help us improve our social
skills, vocational skills, collaborative partnerships, and responsibility. Personally, I have a family member with cerebral palsy. Being with a family member who has a disability is something some people can't relate to. It impacts both me and my uncle cuz we have a close
bond and both mine and his face lights up whenever we have a conversation. I've also always loved going into my mom's classrooms and helping out with the children in our classes. From the experience of going into my mom's classrooms over the years, I've known some of these kids in the programs here
since around third grade. I also have a family member with special needs and every now and then it may be difficult to understand her once but being in teamup has helped me to handle certain situations better with both my aunt and the students at our school with disabilities. Also throughout the years
I have had some close connections with some of the kids in the programs as I've done swim and CCD with them since I was little. what team up means to us. >> At Bunker Hill, we believe in including everyone. People with disabilities may have differences, but they deserve the
same respect, opportunities, and sense of belonging as anyone else. Through Team Up, we learned that our peers with disabilities are more like us than different, and everyone has something valuable to contribute. >> Team up. Team up helps us become more thoughtful toward everyone, not just our
friends, but all members of our school community, including people with disabilities. It teaches us to be kind, respectful, and aware of others. Team up doesn't just help us grow, it also brings us joy. The the activities and events we share, create
meaningful connections, and make everyone feel happy and included. What team up does for us? Team up does many things for us including it helps us include others, helps us be kinder, helps us be a better person, gives us courage to be oursel and unique towards
other people. And it helps us be brave around others and talk to each other. How team up affects us outside of school. Friendships. Being in team up has led me to meet to meeting so many new people. Getting to build close friendships with
students my age is so important. High fives, hugs, or just a smile makes my day better. The handshakes and games at lunch is so special to me and all of us in team up. I have connected with these kids inside of school, but I have stayed after school with them. I eat lunch with them every day and I always stop and say
hi. I never thought I would enjoy school as much as I do today. All because of this amazing program. Team up has gave me such a unique opportunity and has truly changed my life. Family relationships. Team Up can help with family relationships by teaching you how to take care of and build relationships
with siblings, cousins, or family members with disabilities. I have two cousins with disabilities, and being in teamup has helped me learn what is good for them and has made me a better and more kind person. Being a part of this experience has truly changed the way I see all people and the world.
Community team up affects the way we are in the in the community because if we see someone with special needs, then we know how to interact with them in the best way. Having a place in school to learn that while having fun is so special to us. So, thanks again um for taking the time.
Board of Ed, Dr. Hibbs, um all district admin. I appreciate you guys. Can we just give one more round of applause? It takes a lot of courage to come up and I'm very, very proud of these guys. I'm also pretty sure I can't do this, but can we pause for a quick picture?
>> Thank you. >> Thank you for coming. I wanted to let you know that I got to attend your ribbon cutting for your um Pride Paw Shop. It was a wonderful experience. And I have a granddaughter in school in Massachusetts. It's her first year in
middle school and this is a type of program she would really love. So, I'm going to see if I can reach out to your sponsors so I can give her information and maybe you'll have a similar club start someplace in Massachusetts. So, thank you so much.
One, two, three. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Great job everybody. You were wonderful. >> Thank you. I'm sorry. I know. That was fun. Yeah. >> Okay. I just want to make sure that
I was going to do that to bring um Okay, at this time we're going to have Mrs. Wector do a presentation of the preliminary budget. I just wanted everybody to know that we really welcome hearing from her thoughts about the prelim preliminary budget. And keep in
mind that this is a preliminary budget. It's still a work in progress and we will continue to work on it until we have a final vote in April. Mrs. Wctor. Yep. Thank you everybody. I I'll go over the timeline with everybody, but I just want
to say it's not cool that I have to follow up that presentation with a budget presentation. So, here we go. >> Um this is just a quick agenda. So, we'll go over the timeline um enrollment and just some context of the district. Um a revenue overview of of where our
resources are coming from, an overview of an of expenditures and the key cost drivers of our budget. Um we'll go over our fund balance and financial position. Um staffing adjustments that are are um part of the tenative budget. Um and then
just program support and and lease items that you hear from us about every year, food service and capital. And then obviously a total budget summary which is um part of the resolution on the agenda for approval tonight.
So just a quick timeline. Um, tonight is the presentation and approval of the tenative budget. So, one of the things that we have to do is um create a a tenative budget and submit it to the county office of education for the DOE to review and approve it. Um, that's
what we're doing tonight. So, again, it's a tenative budget. Um, the DOE will review it once they they have a couple of weeks to review our budget and then um we advertise it. So, uh, assuming that it's approved tonight on Friday,
that's the deadline for me to submit it for approval. Once it's approved, we advertise the budget and then we have a public hearing on April 28th. And there's there's a specific window of time for all districts to have their public hearings. Um, so a public hearing
on the budget consists of another presentation. If any changes are made between the budget that we submit to the county office and advertise and the final budget that we're proposing on April 28th, we go into those changes in
detail for everybody. And then um, assuming all goes well on the 28th, that's when the budget is adopted for the 2627 school year. Uh, that starts July 1st. just a snapshot of our enrollment. So,
it it it's been pretty steady, declining a little bit here and there and then going back up. I do want to point out that um this can be confusing and misleading, but I present this number because this is the number that our state aid is calculated off of. So, it's
the um the count as of October 15, 2025 generated the state aid not aid notice that we just received. This does not include our preschool students. They're not part of this count because we have a separate application for the preschool
funding that we get. We're working on that now. That has a deadline of um April 1st. Um what you will see tonight included our special education I mean I'm sorry our preschool funding as part of our um
um special revenue budget. So you will see the total amount that we're receiving. Um but the students are not included in this account this count and it also wouldn't include any students that were receiving in the district and receiving tuition for because obviously
they wouldn't be double counted um for our state aid. Um just going into some uh budget highlights. So, I just like to um give an overview of changes in our revenue um changes on the budget side to kind of
explain how we get to where we are. Um so, our projected revenue, we're budgeting a decrease in extraordinary aid. This is um a specific line item of funding that we get. It's reimbursement for the cost of certain special
education. the cost for certain special education students, they have to meet a certain criteria. Um the issue with uh budgeting this specific um area of revenue is that we apply for it at the end of the school
year. So we've already paid the money for the students education. We apply for it in May and then we don't know what we're going to get until August of the following year. So obviously when you're budgeting it has to be recorded in the year that we spend the money. So you
have to be careful. Um again we don't know until after the close of the fiscal year. So any shortfall in that projection leads to a shortfall in the budget. So over the past couple years we have received less funding. And it's hard to predict
because what the state does is they allow all school districts to apply for the total cost. But then the state only has a certain bucket of money allocated. So depending on everybody's applications and the amount of money they have, they
may come back to us and say you're going to get 75% of your costs or or 70%. So we that varies from year to year. Um state aid, we did get an increase this year. It's a net of um 1.5 million. Um
I'll explain if you saw 1.7 million in the news or whatever. I can explain that difference. But anyway, it was it was obviously a pre pleasant surprise. Last year, we received the maximum amount of the decrease we could get because
um our budget was under adequacy and also our um tax levy wasn't at the local fair share. Um with a new governor this year, we didn't really know what to expect and the timeline was pushed a little bit later this year. Um but um my
understanding of the additional aid that we received is because there was a larger um amount of overall money that was worked through the formula. So the formula didn't change much from last year. Um there's talk of changing the
formula in the future and you know meetings are going on. Dr. Hibbs and I sat on a meeting today with with a couple of people just trying to brainstorm not just how we're funded through state aid, but um and you know, I'll get more
into this in the presentation, but just how we can tackle um other issues that districts are having with skyrocketing costs that are outpacing the amount of revenue we can increase. Um, we also
have obviously the other aside from state aid, the other major um, area of funding that we get is the tax levy. So, I put the dollar amounts in there for you. The 2% uh, increase on the previous year's tax levy, that's something all
school districts have to work within. So, um, you know, I if if with with no other considerations, the maximum you can increase your tax levy is 2%. For us, that's 2.1 million. There are specific adjustments to this that are
allowed, and one of them is for an increase in healthcare. So, we are allowed to increase our tax levy um for any any increase over a 2% increase, but it also has to be under the state health benefits increase. So, this year the
state health benefits increase over 31%. That's a lot higher than what we get. So, we can increase our tax levy. It's a specific calculation that's done through the budget software that um the state uses. So, as I input all of our um
figures, this gets calculated for us. So, this budget, and you'll see when I get in get into the dollar amount of the increase in the percentage, even though we're much lower than the state average, it still is untenable when if you're
only considering um a state aid increase and a 2% tax levy increase. Um, this year we do have excess surplus that we're budgeting. Last year we did we were not able to budget any. This year we have excess surplus. What that means
is at the end of each year when you close out your financials, it's the net of excess revenue and your unspent anything that you didn't spend in your budget. There's a specific amount that each district is allowed to keep. It's 2% of
your operating expenses. So we have that they call it unassigned fund balance. That's what we want to keep and not touch. Anything over and above that we have to include in the budget which is good for us because it helps offset some of these cost increases. However, um
this was generated from the 2425 school year and it was really generated by just an overall spending freeze and you know not buying things that in some people's opinion may have been needed. So when
you continue to do that needs do build. You have you know you start to worry about maintenance not being done and and capital projects not being done. But, you know, regardless, we have excess surplus in this year's budget. So, the overall increase in revenue is
approximately $15 million, and that's including the healthcare adjustment. This is just a quick I kind of show this every year. It's just a history of our state aid over the past um 10 years. So there was a period of time where there
was some legislation that um affected our district because we were considered overfunded for the years previous to what you see on the screen, meaning our state aid was frozen and we were get getting the same amount year after year even though our enrollment may have been
dropping. And then around the 1718 school year, this legislation was drafted to kind of take um money back from the districts that were considered overfunded. Um you know, I don't necessarily like that
term because I feel like when you're funding formula isn't properly funded, it's unfair to say that. But I, you know, that's another story for another day. This is a snapshot of our last 10 years.
Um, okay. And this is just a recap of the different categories we have on our um, state aid notice. So, I just wanted to share this because it does show I was mentioning the one 1 million uh,700,000 number that you might have seen. That's
our overall categorical aid. Um we did have a um in the middle of the the slide where you see the other aid. This was additional aid that we received last year as a result of taking the tax levy incentive. Um and we don't know we don't
have that option right now. So, if you remember from last year, um once we submitted our tenative budget, we had a significant amount of of cuts and then because our district was considered not to be paying our local fair share, we had the opportunity
um to raise our tax levy up to a certain amount. Um as a result of that, we did get this little bit of additional aid that we're not getting as of yet because we don't have that opportunity. And then the other item that is good other good
news that to definitely highlight is preschool education aid. So you can see that increased um significantly. That is a result um you know Eric you may want to jump in because this is a good moment but over the past um five years we've
been steadily increasing the program mo growing it from Grenlock into um Kindle and we are adding even more students for next year and hopefully opening another building um to service the full universe
of of preschool students that were able to. >> Yeah, I think you you nailed it. I think that's great. So, in just a couple years, we'll have opened two brand new buildings through a lot of hard work with all of our staff. >> Yeah. So, so again, that that's increased funding. It um definitely is
good news, but just keep in mind that that funding can only be used for specific purposes, only for the preschool programs, and there's very specific um items that um can be funded. But good news. Uh just to talk a little bit more about
our local fair share. Um, in the 2526 budget, uh, because we weren't at our local fair share and below adequacy, we were allowed to increase the tax levy up to $10 million. We, um, the board worked together, um, and and worked through
tons of different options of things that we thought were really important to add back to the budget that we just couldn't live without. it ended up being around $5 million and then we got the additional 252,000
um instate aid. So um again for 2526 we had the option to go up to the 10 million we went up to the five um that money is not available for future years. So because we didn't use it last year it
doesn't roll into this budget um to be used to increase the tax levy. Um, for this year's information, again, we haven't heard anything about the tax levy incentive. Our local fair share according to the state is um 112
million. If you um our tax levy at the 2% increase right now is around 107. So that's the difference right now. Um another um item we're not sure about is if we do increase for the tax levy
incentive, obviously that adds to the tax levy. We're not no one can really answer if that factors into and gets us closer to our local fair share. So, we'll I'm sure we'll be hearing more about that after we submit the budget, but I just wanted to explain a little
bit of that. Um, we did have meetings with legislators and like I said, we there's some state groups that are kind of like breaking off with different individuals. We're going to be um representing and um just trying to, you
know, inform people and just try to get help from, you know, anywhere other than taxes through state aid, through helping us control costs. Um so again, we'll we'll see what happens with that. >> Jump in for one quick sec. And I think
the important thing to realize here is that we obviously know that we fund our budgets through property tax and it's a completely flawed system. There's issues with the formula that they're working on. I think people recognize that there's issues, but they don't quite know how to fix it. And the plane is
always in motion. And for us, our 2% represents about 2.1 million. And virtually everything is rising at a rate higher than 2%. And every school district is feeling this across the entire state. And it's a reality that
we're all trying to engage in to figure out how can we fix it. I don't know that there is a short-term fix to it. Uh they can do smaller things, but they have to revamp the entire formula. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um this is just um some information on
the tax levy. So you can see at the top the 2% um tax levy that I talked about and then um if we include the healthc care waiver our percentage increase um which would show in the budget is um 6.17%
it is lower than last year um and then the reason off to the right that's the dollar amount the reason why I have rough estimate is because that's what the calculation is based on what I know now. So, um you know, we're constantly
um making changes as we adjust staff. Our broker is still trying to get um quotes and get people to to to give us better pricing and we'll we'll see where that lands, but this is always something that needs to be addressed at the public
hearing because we make um minor tweaks along the way. Um, this is a snapshot of our fund balance. And I I wanted to show this because again, just to further explain the excess surplus that we're using and what our overall picture looks like
because you might have heard me talking about it at board meetings. There's a lot of categories here, but one of the things that happen again is I talked about when you close out, all your excesses go into a bucket, a pot, but then they're separated into these different buckets. Reserve for
incumbrances is really just where we might have cut a PO or placed an order against a previous year's budget and that carries over to the subsequent budget. So it's a part of what's remaining. The second line down is the excess surplus that we just generated in
2425. So we're putting it in we're including it as revenue in the 2627 budget. Again, we have to include that because it's the amount that's over and above that 2% safety net that we keep. But it is
something that it's concern it's a it can be a concern because if you don't keep replenishing it, so if we close this year with less in excess surplus, it creates a hole for the future budget. So we have to be careful with not only
budgeting it, but how we spend it and and and try to replenish it. um capital reserve. We uh um off to the right you'll see the $6 million number and the $4 million number. That was excess surplus from two previous budget
years that were used to support a budget that are obviously no longer returning because we only have what was left from 2425. Um we were able during 2425 to make a deposit into our capital reserve. So,
one of the things we're allowed to do, and we we try to do this with unspent money, is we can set aside money for capital projects. This amount is alarming for a school district our size just because, you know, one or two
boilers in in one, you know, one or two of our buildings would completely eat that up. So, we're we're we're trying to put more in there, but that has dwindled down as we have had the need for capital projects, but we haven't been budgeting
capital projects because of the struggles that we've had. Um, and then the the last number you see is um the unreserved and undesated, which that's going to vary a little bit from year to year because it's based on um our
operating budget, but it's around that amount. And again, that's not a lot of money. If you think about like cash flow, just bills that we pay in the summer and and one payroll is more than that um in the summer. We don't get our state aid um allocation into the
following July. So surplus is something we definitely keep an eye on because it helps with cash flow. And then finally, um, if you notice, the totals at the bottom, our overall fund balance did decrease from 2324 to 2425.
That is concerning. And if you heard me talk recently, we did um have a bond issue for our energy savings improvement plan. And um, as a result of that, I had to do some ratings calls with S&P because this has been declining. they
they um didn't downgrade our overall rating, but they they gave us a negative outlook and they're watching us and so we need to be mindful and try to build it up um or we could face an actual um credit downgrade in a couple of years.
We don't want that because it could affect um you know, if we have to borrow again, you don't get a good interest rate um you know and it's just not something that we want. Can you uh explain to the community and the board the concept of the withholding of the state aid so everybody
understands and why we can't have we it's it's essential that we have money at that juncture. >> Yeah. Yeah. So if you think about you know if we didn't have the excess surplus and we were ending the year with just the $3 million right um throughout the course of the year a lot of our
grants we have to spend first and then we get the money later. um our state aid we get um throughout in even installments, but the state in order to close one of their budget gaps years ago um withheld the payments that we should
get in June for that fiscal year, they don't give it to us until July. Um, so we're stuck in the summer with again paying one payroll is larger than our unreserved fund balance and it's also
larger than the the state aid the state aid payments are larger than what we have to pay in payroll. We also tend to have um increased vendor bills in the summer because we're trying to get projects done before schools open. So it's it's a real concern when you don't
have, you know, that safety net. So, we definitely have to keep an eye on that. Um, okay. And now on the expense side of the budget, so just, um, you know, you'll see higher percentages here of expenses that are increasing than you
will of our revenue that's increasing. And that's really just a structural deficit that all districts are dealing with where we only have certain revenue sources that are limited to a certain percent. But um on the expense side,
just things are outpacing it um you know at an alarming rate. So health benefits I mentioned statewide people are worse off than we are. Um the state health benefits increase is over 31%. This is
how our um increases are shaking out right now for medical 13% dental third I mean prescription 30% dental 10%. When you average all that out, it's a it's a little over a 16% increase overall. So,
you can see why, you know, if you if you have a 2% limit on the increase in your taxes, why the state would allow a tax levy adjustment for that. Like, you just can't have a 2% revenue increase and then be ex expect to be able to pay
something like that. Um, other employee benefits are also increasing as what is included in there are things like workers comp insurance, payroll taxes that we have to pay, our share of pension liability. So, um, pension
liability is going up as salaries increase, um, payroll taxes go up, workers comp insurance goes up. So, that's kind of like an across the board kind of thing. That's all in one category of our budget. um contractual increases
are up approximately 6%. Now that's overall. So that does include all employees, it includes um uh stipens, it includes um overtime, additional time, things like that. That's just the overall salary budget. um tuition. This
is a another area that we, you know, try to get relief from the state or at least some understanding that when we have students that are at out of district placements, the tuition is is increasing significantly. So, just that one area of
the budget, you have to try to absorb that type of increase with the limited amount of revenue increase. Um transportation again another area where you have um a CPI set at a rate that's higher than when you can increase your
revenue. So any contract can be renewed for up to that amount legally. Um and then you figure you know the projections the recommendations for gasoline is is 5 to 8%. So um you know again we have to account for all that. Um substitute
costs are going up. That's just something everybody's dealing with. Um increases related to instruction are up. Some of this has the um substitute costs are wrapped into that budget. We also have resources that were not increasing.
The price may be increasing, but we also in our previous budget moved some of the necessary resources out of the budget into the lease just to be able to minimize the cuts that we had. Um but we can't continue to do that. Um and then
just again overall if you um look at each different department and the overall budget when you pull um salaries and wages out of the picture there's just an overall increase in parts supplies and we've pretty much been dealing with this since the pandemic.
Um okay just again a snapshot again this is overall budget. It's not um it's everything that I mentioned, overtime, stipens, co-curriculars up 6%, overall benefits, not just health benefits. Everything else that I mentioned um is
up. Again, this may change a little bit based on the the the final list that we have. Um and then again, increases in critical areas like tuition, transportation, operation, and just insurance in general. Um this is just a dollar breakdown. I
think I talked about this enough, but health prescription dental, there's the percentages. So then the overall um is a 16.2% increase. Um this is premium only based on the number of people right now that have health insurance. So it wouldn't
include this does vary as you know it because it doesn't include positions that are vacant and then we hire somebody and that that sort of thing. Um this is just a recap again just going back to like the overall operations of our different funds. This is food so
service. I just wanted to include this um because one of the line items in our budget is a would be a transfer from the general fund to support food service operations. So you see, you know, from 2425, which is what we would base our
next estimation on, about in the middle of the page, about $800,000 is what um we've around there is what we've funded in the past. Um some of our budget cuts again in in just very general categories because
this isn't our final budget. Um, and we have to continue to build schedules before we know the actual positions. But for certificated staff positions, there's 29 across the district. and for
support staff uh 23 positions. Again, we're still um analyzing schedules for next year, but we did consider class sizes and and schedules when um looking at the number of positions.
Um budget additions we have, um this isn't necessarily a well, the first couple of bullets isn't um additional dollars. It's just a reform of um a positions that are already in the budget
that would be transformed into different positions. So, right now we have a director position that just hasn't been filled that's included in the budget. That would be downgraded um from a director position, so it would be less expensive. Um we have um another
position that we could leave unfilled that would contribute to um a a director of curriculum just so we could have two individuals on the curriculum side leading that department. So again it is um we're calling it addition. It's not
really an addition of money but it would be different a different difference in the positions that we have. Um, and then I did just also want to mention that we the co-curricular clubs that were cut from the budget last year and then we ended up getting donations from the
public. We did reinstate um those clubs that were cut. Um, this is our lease budget. I like to just include this. This has really been, you know, downgraded over the years, but we always have our curriculum adoption
included and the um technology. So, the now it's it's Chromebooks now, but we have three grade levels. We have um certain curriculums that needed to be need to be done. We have a handful of short throw projectors and document
cameras. Um and then technology. This is is very basic. It's just um you know a couple of uh infrastructure type things that we've we've done over like a 5-year period. Um
replacing a van that we to be honest we have quite a few that we're probably spending more in repairs than is worth it. But we try to keep our vehicles. Same thing with the buses. Buses can only be kept for a certain number of years. So we try to cycle them in so we
don't have a large amount that have to be replaced in one year. So the replacements that um would be included in the lease would be to replace ones that are coming up to be taken off the road. So again, if you haven't heard this budget presentation before, these
are things that we put in a lease. We go out for financing. We pay for it over five years. Um so really in essence, oneif of this has to be in our budget. um our operating budget to pay back. Um other just issues I want to mention
because I talked about replenishing surplus and having you know to maintain things we um tried to what you one thing that is good budgeting practice when you have excess surplus like we had and you're using it for operations. It can
be a bad thing again if you don't replenish it. it does cause a hole and it leads to having to reduce your operating costs. So sometimes you try to utilize excess surplus for one-time expenses. So if you can't replenish it, you don't have to cut an operating
expense, you would have already been done that project. Um we hoped to include a little bit more capital projects in the budget. We aren't able to. Um, but you see the dollar amounts up there and um, we have our track that
probably has been removed from the budget as long as I've been here and it's getting that's also getting to the point where we're spending probably more than we should on um, fixes for it. We also um, if you remember from previous budgets when we do have capital
projects, we try to continue to replace HVAC units. So again, you don't have them all failing at one time. you're replacing ones that are getting costly to repair and then we um have to replace exterior doors and locks and swipes and
that kind of thing just for safety and security. So, we're trying to, you know, get back on track with some of the replacements that we haven't done the past couple of years. Um we are going to be doing some projects this year. Um,
thankfully from we had our energy audit that led to an energy savings improvement plan. So, we're going to be able to do about $16 million as of right now worth of um projects that at no cost for the taxpayer. We do issue bonds, but
you pay back the bonds with the energy savings. So, we're going to be getting things like LED lights districtwide, um some boilers in um a handful of schools, uh some HVAC replacements, and then things that make your buildings energy
efficient. So, like ceiling sealing windows and um insulation on pipes and things like that. Did I miss anything? >> No, there's four boilers. um uh Chestnut, uh OV, uh Herville, and Grenlock, which is going to save the the
tal the community millions of dollars. >> Yeah, we're hoping for a phase two of um our energy savings plan for solar. We're just waiting to hopefully get some approvals before we move forward with that. If we are able to do that, we'll
be able to get um things like um you know, resealing our roofs to extend the useful life and and hopefully other projects. So that hopefully is coming up in the near future. Um again, I think I just mentioned the excess surplus a result of the spending free. So it's
it's not something that we love, but you know, we're making the best of it and um hopefully we can start to build that back up. And then finally, this is just the total budget by fund. I always end with this because it is part of the resolution. So
the total budget that is submitted for approval, this is the different breakdown. The general fund includes all of our operating expenses, salaries, wages, all the things that I just talked about. The special revenue fund in includes um our pea funds. So the state
aid that we get for our preschool program is accounted for there in its own separate set of accounts because that's all it can be used for. And then we also have um our idea funds which is federal funds to be used for special
education and our um ESA funds um that we use. Um one of the things you'll notice about the special revenue fund budget is that it does change as the year moves on. So when we budget, we don't we don't get our allocations for
this until the summer. So preschool we have, but IDA and ESA we won't get until the summer. So we're given a directive from the county of what to budget. Last year it was 85% of your current year
allocation. This year it's 75%. So this number once we get our allocation, we have to submit budgets specifically for those grants and then we adjust it hopefully upward because we're getting our full allocation and then um things
start to fall into place. And then debt service is simply um the debt service we pay we have on the one outstanding bond issue um and we pay principal once a year and interest twice a year on that. That's it.
Thank you. Put on my speaker again. The next section is discussion. Are there any discussions that the board wanted to have tonight? There's nothing listed. No. Okay, we'll move on. After
discussions, we have school community relations. Giana, do you have anything for us? >> Thank you, Mrs. Bloom. I will have a report for the next meeting. >> Uh, we just want to wish you a happy birthday. Belated happy birthday. I think it was on March.
>> March 17th. >> You're a St. Patrick's Day baby and I think you turned 16. >> 17. >> 17. So, oh, a license. So, have a wonderful year. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. Enjoy. >> Thank you. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Okay, Dio. Thank you, Miss Blom. Um, I have quite a few things to celebrate today. Um, last week we administered the NJGPA, math, ELA, reading, and writing. Um, I want to
give a special shout out to the high school, uh, to the teachers, the counselors, the supervisors, child study team members, and the administrators. Um and the uh the counselors, supervisors, and teachers, sorry, either served as
test administrators or proctors to ensure the test ran as smoothly as possible. For those of you who don't know, this was a totally brand new test. There were um some things we had to work out, but to a person, it it went very well all things considered. I must give
a personal thanks to the uh school test coordinators who are Miss Megan Rearigan in the counseling office and Miss Kathy Kursnowski who's one of our integration specialists. They along with Miss Sullivan uh who's my secretary were working around the clock to make sure
the testing environment was solid, secure and that the next day was prepared. Um also administrator assistant principal Mr. Seiya did a great job handling the scheduling of the testing personnel and Mr. Gfredo's team at from the technology perspective was
very responsive. So that was an entire team effort. Um I could not be more proud of the team and the team work associated with this endeavor. On the first day there was some confusion about the new interface. That was no teachers fault. It was um the state's um
directions in the script. Um we figured that out. But over the last three day over the last three days of working with them, I was honored to witness how everyone worked together to achieve the same mission and focus on behalf of the students. Um all the students involved um and the teachers uh the environment
was one of support and helpfulness and um they all were prepared and helped reduce the stress for the kids even though it's a graduation test and of course the children were stressed. Um we are not aware uh just for the community to know um we are not aware of the cut
scores associated with the NJGPA or the NJSLA at this moment. Uh the state has reported that it will come out sometime in the fall. Um hopefully that is sooner rather than later so that if a student did not pass or we do get test scores, we can provide the proper remediation to
assist them. So I just want to give a shout out to the high school for the NJGPA. They did a great job and I'm looking forward to working with them with the NJSLA. Um, I have a message from the Heagen Library. Uh, join the Heagen Library for a special presentation of Raptors and
Reptiles, a visit from Woodford Cedar Run on Sunday, April 19th at 2 p.m. Learn why raptors and reptiles are so well suited to their habitats and which characteristics help them play an important role in our environment. Animals actually will be part of the
presentation. You have to register in advance at the heaggen library.org at hegagen library.org. Space is limited. Um a Heaggen card holder is not required. The program is presented in partnership with the Washington Township Educa Environmental Commission. In an
effort to continue to highlight our children and keep them at the forefront, I wanted to share the following. We wanted to share our top Bible winners from February um winter power up contest globally. Um it um it was Aon Mahmud in
fourth grade, Aaron Elman in fourth grade, a AON and Aaron both competed against over 100,000 students nationwide to win. top five global fourth place Liam McAndrews um third place in the
district and additional participants who placed in the top 15 in the district include fourth and fifth graders Braden Startzel Haya Amed Kaden Chips Amari Craig Anna Gagliardi Luke Tobias and Tyler Gates congratulations to those
students um and the New Jersey state Thank you. Sorry for the awkward pause. Um, and the New Jersey State Bar Foundation announced its winners at the elementary level. WTPS is proud to announce the fifth grade elements students have been named a winner in the
New Jersey State Bar Foundation Law Fair competition. The statewide contest challenges students to write original mock trial cases focusing on complex legal issues, evidence, and courtroom procedures. Developing a winning case is no small feat and students had to
brainstorm a unique legal conflict, research the relevant laws and fully develop the testimony and evidence for both prosecution and defense. So um it looks like it was um miraculously
um our almost our entire elementary program. So, grade five, first place, Herfell Elementary School. Grade five, second place, Whitman Elementary School. An honorable mention, Burch's Elementary in grade five. In grade six, um uh other
districts won that event as as well. So, um kudos to our uh our three elementary schools who placed in the in certainly in the top five or 10%. I appreciate them. the the we are the we are leadership uh
we are township leadership podcast last week season 2 episode 7 we highlighted Bunker Hill teacher of the year Miss Maria Mayo and the eighth grade members of team up which is in association with the presentation you heard today um those eighth graders that were celebrated were Samantha Wington Hayden
D Christie and Tegan Mroy um please tune in to WTTV uh under the video section to see the seven episodes of the season we're So proud of our staff and their leadership as well as the budding student leaders. All students and staff chosen for this
podcast series are ethical leaders or budding leaders. They make decisions for the good of everyone and put themselves last and make a commitment to help those around them thrive. It is a reminder of what we all should strive for. Episode 8 is coming out uh sometime this week and
will feature Chestnut Ridge Middle School principal Miss Petroski and her eighth grade chosen leaders. Sunday, Funday on October or sorry, April 2nd at 7 PM, we're going to have our Township Dance World Tour um dance concert. And
that night, as is typical with um most events um in the visual and performing arts, that night is a dine and donate, which is going to be at Applebee's um on the Black Horse Pike um all day um if you want to join them. um Easter egg
hunt, Minuteade softball and Minutemen baseball at 11:00 am to 3 pm on April 4th um at the Washington Township Varsity Softball Field. Family event only $5 a child. Um it doesn't say anything about registering, but I would make sure you reach out to the coaches
if you are interested. Orchard Valley Middle School Drama Club presents Mean Girls Jr. March 26th, 27th, and 28th with a curtain call of 700 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $10 a piece. If you have
questions, please mail email Miss Leso at a lesso at wtps.org for more information. Bunker Hill Middle School is going to present Susicle Jr. on March 26th, 27th, and 28th, also in the BHMS cafeteria. Tickets go on sale during
lunches and at the door. The play also begins at 7 p.m. And then finally, Chestnut Ridge uh drama department. You're cordially invited to Mr. Scardino's final drama club performance on April 18th at 700 p.m. Um there's
more details. There's a QR code that went over uh parent square to perform and t-shirt orders for those um alumni who would like to support Mr. Scardino and the students in Mr. Scardino's final performance. I'm not going to say
anything about Bye-Bye Birdie because I know Miss Hartong is going to celebrate it. Don't want to steal their thunder. I know how I know how this goes. Um Washington Township, there's night at the Phillies coming up and um that is going to be April 28th, 2026. They're
they're going to take on the Giants. The first pitch is at 6:40 and a portion of the ticket sales will benefit the WTHs student council. And the game is a Hatfield Phillies Frank buy one get one night. Used to be a dollar dog night, but that's not so anymore. And the
Phillies have hosted this event since 2008. Um pregame activities will conclude will include a video montage of Washington Township High School on the Phanto. We'll have the orchestra um uh performing. Junior ROC is going to
perform the national anthem. members of the choir. And the first pitch will be delivered by uh WTHs representatives and schools teachers of the year, Miss Ackley and Mr. Parker, and the educational service professional of the year, Miss Mulvahill. And tickets are
between 38 and $63. Make sure you check out the parent square and Mr. Pacina's Sunday funday for more information. Uh that concludes my announcement. Thank you, Miss Bloom. >> Thank you, Mr. Dustoio. Next is if we have any old business from the board. Does anyone have any they'd like to
discuss? >> Yeah, sure. >> I just wanted to thank everyone that came out to see Bye-Bye Birdie. It was a very good show. If you missed it, it's on YouTube. You can YouTube it. I also wanted to take a minute and thank the custodial staff and this the security
staff at the high school. We had a bathroom issue at the musical last weekend and they really stepped up and helped to manage the issue and handle what needed to be handled in an amazing way. Their work goes so unnoticed. So I wanted to put it out there. They were I
couldn't imagine their job. Um just a little housekeeping just for us for our sake. I will be calling in remotely for the next meeting. Um, and I wanted to while I stand by my comments I made at
the last meeting, I just wanted to regard um, it was my own views and opinions as a parent and a community member. The comment was not made on behalf of the board, but personal. Um, I'm sorry if anyone felt as if I was
chastising them, but I wasn't. I was simply stating how I felt. Um, and that's it. also pub I don't I don't maybe it goes here I'm not sure any idea when we'll be getting a graduation date
>> um we're finalizing it this week and it'll be out probably the very beginning of next week >> perfect thank you thank you Mrs. our tongue. Anyone else with any business? No. Okay. >> I have a vote real quick. If you didn't get to see Bye-Bye Birdie, you missed a
fantastic performance. They were The kids were so outstanding. In fact, every production that my family has seen that they perform has been outstanding. You would think you were watching a Broadway production. It was really good.
>> All right. Thank you. May I have a motion to open to the public? >> All in favor? >> Mrs. Ms. Morz, would you please come up? Hi, good evening. Um, I'm Candace Morz. I am a longtime resident of Washington Township. I'm a teacher at the high
school. Um, 9th grade and 12th grade. I can't wait for the graduation day because I'm also the project graduation coordinator. So, I need to coordinate with Dave and Busters. They'reounding me. So, the sooner the better. Um, good evening members of the board, Dr. Hibbs, um, people in the public. I stand before you tonight with serious concerns about
the direction our district is taking and more importantly what that direction says about our priorities. Not only am I a longtime resident, but I'm a parent of one graduate and two other students, an 11th grader and a seventh grader. We're being asked to accept cuts to teachers and support staff, the very people who
work directly with students every single day while at the same time adding a tutoring service um that I noticed in the agenda. I would just have a couple more questions about that. Um and maintaining two directors of curriculum. I ask you, how does this make sense for students? At what point are the actual needs of students taken in
consideration? I also want to ask some critical questions about the financial decisions behind these changes. How have cost the district changed compared to previous years? Where exactly is our money going? Are we seeing an increase in spending on positions removed from direct student contact while cutting those who work with students daily? And
if so, how can we justify that shift? How does this relate to enrollment? Is enrollment declining? And if it is, are we using that as justification to cut teachers and support staff? Because even if enrollment is down, that should not automatically mean fewer supports for students. In fact, it could be an opportunity to provide more
individualized attention and strengthen student outcomes. Instead, we are moving in the opposite direction. Will these cuts not have a profound impact on student learning and performance? When you remove teachers, interventionists, which I was previously, and support staff, you are increasing class sizes, reducing individualized support, and
limiting opportunities for students to succeed. The impact will not be theoretical. It will be visible in our classrooms and in our data. We are removing the people who build relationships, who differentiate instruction, who notice when a student is struggling, and who intervene in real time. A tutoring service cannot replace
the daily impact of a classroom teacher or the essential support staff who keep students engaged, supported, and safe. Why not use teachers instead of that tutoring service? It is reactive, not proactive. Our students deserve better than a system that waits for them to fall behind before offering help. I am
also deeply concerned that our middle and high schools no longer have librarians. I'm an English teacher. Is reading no longer a priority in our district. Librarians are not just keepers of books. They are literacy leaders. They help students develop research skills, foster a love of reading, and support academic growth
across all subject areas. Removing them sends a troubling message about what we value. Additionally, we no longer have interventionists. What does that mean for our most vulnerable learners? Our struggling students are not just data points. They are children who need targeted support, patience, and expertise. Without interventionists, we
are effectively leaving them behind. And that brings me to the heart of the issue. When did our goal shift from educating students to simply graduating them? We should not be satisfied with pushing students across the stage if they are unprepared for what comes next. Whether they choose college, a career, or another path, they deserve the skills to think critically, communicate
effectively, and navigate the world with confidence. That requires investment in people, not just programs. I urge you to reconsider these decisions. Ramb and the teachers and support staff who make a daily difference. Sorry. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Mori. Um I don't know
anything about the tutoring program. Could that be explained? >> Yeah. So, just for clarification, the uh the tutoring RFP that you see on here is is not to replace teachers. It's for uh title one services. So we ha we have to spend money through title one and that
was one of the uh one of the progressions that Gretchen put in place before she left and we felt that the the best way that was safest was to issue the RFP. >> Yeah, the positions were were honestly posted and were were never filled. Um Candace, I agree with a lot of what you
said that you cannot replace people. Uh the simple fact of the matter and we kind of touched upon it in our in our budget discussions is that you just simply you can't raise the levy 2% and have everything else out out outgo that and and cost so much more than the 2%.
We but we totally agree that there you know nothing replaces a teacher nothing. Um interventionists absolutely if I could hire 50 more today I would. Uh, I want you to know that that's we we all feel that way, but we have it's it's a
very very difficult budget. >> Okay. And thank you, Miss Mori, for your love of the district and for helping with the students the way that you do. I know you. So, thank you. >> No, don't ask question.
>> Okay. All right. Um, would Ms. Witcraft come up, please. Hi. Um, I was going to ask if you could explain the need to pay $128,000 for eight tutors between now and June for hate
tutor, but um, and thank you for hanging up the no hate for hate no place for hate time. Sorry. Um, after all the families have moved their students away, support staff and teachers have been cut, who will be left for the administrators to oversee
the four boilers. Are they beyond repair? Can any of their parts be refabricated by the manufacturer to save even more money? I know Marble Township that had done that some years back to avoid a referendum vote. Um, and anybody
legally legally allowed to do so should send our records keeper an oper request seeking email correspondence between Miss Shakar, Miss Bloom. Nothing personal. Between Mrs. Shector, Miss Bloom, Miss
Shakar, Dr. Hibbs, and sorry, I'm messing myself up. Everyone legally allowed to do so should send our records keeper and open request seeking all email correspondence between Terry Shear and Patricia Bloom. Terry Shakar and Eric Hibbs and Terry Shear, Patricia
Bloom, and Eric Hibbs between January 3rd, 2026 and January 9th, 2026. I'm told records don't exist, but that doesn't make any sense. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Miss Witcraft. One thing with the energy audit, I think
that they mentioned those four boilers are going to be totally replaced, but it will not cost the district money. It comes out of the energy audit. Is that correct, Dr. Hib? >> Yes, ma'am. And it was not cost-effective. Uh, nor could we find parts. A lot of our our systems are just
too old to find parts. our our team and our custodians and maintenance have done a wonderful job of of patchwork quilting where we can, but a lot of our systems are just beyond. >> Okay, thank you. Now, we're going to move on. Oh, we have to have a No one
else is speaking, so could I have a motion to close to the public? >> Still move. >> Second. >> Okay, we're going to move questions. The first committee is policy. Okay. So, people in attendance were Dr.
Hibbs, Mrs. Wger, myself, Mr. Ross, and Miss Blom. Um, we read our first reading and a second reading of policy 0164, conduct of board meeting. We discussed the concept of who at the meeting will
be responsible for announcing whether or not a specific motion recommendation passed or failed. We're going to seek to add language to policy 0164 that will state that the presiding officer will state whether or not motions recommendations after consultation with
the board attorney. And then we discussed policy 8500 food services. We discussed the process of notifying parents guardians that have lunch debt. Um we then held budget discussions um to get more information.
Next meeting is April 13th. All right. Thank you, Mrs. Clancy. Any questions? No. Okay. We'll move on to personnel with Mr. Srano. >> Thank you, Madam President. Can everyone hear me? >> Okay. So, our meeting took place on
Wednesday, March 18th from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The administrators in attendance were Dr. Hibbs, Mrs. Wctor, and Mrs. Miller. Board members in attendance were myself, Mrs. Baker, Mr. Ross, and Madame President Blom. We
discussed key personnel items and then delved into the budget a little bit uh but not as much as the other committees. That's end of my report. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Serrano. Any questions for Mr. Serrano?
Okay. We'll move on to SAC chair person. I think did Mrs. Clancy take notes? >> Yes. >> Yeah, Mrs. Clancy. >> Okay. Um so, um we discussed the Washington Township Township, sorry, musical mural and if you get a chance to
look at what has been, um going on. It is the most magnificent mural that I've seen. Um we also discuss field trips um destinations. We discussed um additional time and we also once again discussed the budget.
>> Where's the middle in high school? >> The high school. Mhm. >> You know where hallway is? >> Yeah. The music hallway. >> The music hall. >> Yeah. >> It's in the music hallway. If anybody was listening and didn't hear the mural
that a student, one of the students are presenting it. >> Okay. The artwork is is just outstanding. It's beautiful. Um just so I forgot, forgive me. Um I was present as a board member a member
Dr. Hibbs, um Mrs. Miller, um Mr. Dulio, and uh board member Terry Shear. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Any questions? All right. We'll move on. I'm not sure about business. Mr. Liberty isn't here. Did you have a report, Mr.
>> Okay. Thank you. So business committee met on the 17th. Uh Mr. Liberty was there, Dr. Hibbs, uh Miss Miller, Miss Wctor, myself, and Miss Clancy. We discussed uh budget planning. We
reviewed um the current and upcoming tenative budget for tonight. We reviewed purchasing and bids and contract renewals. We also reviewed under facility and operations the um upcoming central leases that and their status.
And our next meeting is set for Tuesday, April 14th at 6. Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Shector. Um Miss Kazmpo isn't here tonight, so I don't think we'll have a New Jersey school board association update. And strategic
planning, I don't think we've met since the last time that we met. either. >> What? >> We're not due to either until like June. >> Uh I think we're waiting until after the budget time to continue that after we have the report of the
superintendent. Um >> it's just the HIB report which would need a motion. >> Excuse me. >> Yeah, just the HIV report which would need a motion. >> Okay. So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? I
>> Okay, that's that should be a roll call. >> Okay, discussion. >> Is there any discussion? I think we did some of that in executive.
>> Roll call sharing. >> Mr. Ross, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shear, >> yes. >> Mr. Serrano. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Clancy. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Harong. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Bloom.
>> Yes. >> It passed obviously. Yes, it passed. >> Yep. >> Okay. Moving on to instructional affairs. There are no items at this time. Policy. No items at this time. A lot of this shifting next week at the
board meeting. Student activities, communications, there are no items at this time. Negotiations, there are no items. Um, human resources. We need a motion to approve human resources items 1 through 12. >> So move.
>> Second. >> Discussion. Okay. We have one retirement. We have a bus driver who's retiring, Patricia Gustin. She's worked for the district for 19 years and we wish her a lots of
fun and good health in retirement and we thank her for the her service driving a bus that takes a special person. So, thank you Patricia. Okay, roll call. >> Mrs. Shar,
>> yes. >> Mr. Serrano, >> yes. >> Mrs. Clancy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hartong, >> yes. >> Mr. Ross, >> yes. >> Mrs. Bloom, >> yes.
>> Under finance and facilities. >> Okay. Oh, the motion passed. All the you HR. >> Now, finance and facilities, I need a motion and a second to approve the finance and facilities items one through three.
So moved. Second >> discussion. Anyone have any discussion of that? >> I have a question about the um the tutoring service is that yeah number two is will the tutor be available to all
students or is it just our title one students? Just our title one students. >> Yeah. So we Yes. We're not schoolwide which would allow us to do that >> currently. Uh so it has to be the individual students. >> Okay. >> Okay.
No more discussion items for that. Okay. Roll call. >> Mr. Serrano. >> No to two and three. Yes to number one. >> Mrs. Clancy.
>> Yes. >> Mrs. Harong. >> Yes to one and two. No to three. Mr. Ross, >> yes to one to two, no to three. >> Mrs. Shakar,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Bloom, >> yes. didn't pass. >> Okay. One and two passed. Three did not pass. Okay. We're going to move on to special education. There are no items at this time.
Under new business. This is where you can discuss if you've attended any activities. I know I've attended a few. I don't know about anybody else. Um and if there's any new businesses that that's the time when we would discuss
that. So first is there any new business? Anybody have new business? >> Okay, I'll begin. I went to one fundraiser for dreams come true and that was sponsored by our WTA and it was to
help families that needed help. And I have to say that that organization has the best best baskets I've ever seen. And I was lucky enough to win one, but it was a very nice evening. And we thank you for the invitation. I also during
read across America, I went over to Burch's school and I I didn't read this year, but I thought I was going to look at different classrooms with an activity. Well, lo and behold, I ended up in Mrs. Fitzpatrick's classroom. And
of all my time on the board, the two hours or so I spent there was the best time I've had since I've been on this board. Nothing compares to it. She and I I actually taught her three boys and then she actually worked in my room for a while. When I retired, she's the
teacher who replaced me. But to see the children, there's nothing like hanging out. And the one little guy came right to me and I knew he needed help. And he he manipulated me into into letting him sit exactly where he wanted to sit even though there was no room to that table.
And the cute little story to go with it is they were gluing things. So they were gluing a paper to like a background so it would look like a portrait. Well, Mrs. Fitzpatrick also had paper there so that they didn't mess up the table. So a
bigger piece of construction paper. So, one whole table glued the picture to the piece of construction paper and proudly they all brought them up and then when you looked around the room, there were a couple of others who saw them bringing them up. So, sure enough, they glued it
to their picture too. So, they came up instead of a picture like this, they came up with this piece of paper and they were just totally adorable. Um, I also went to see the Little Mermaid. the Birch's school did the the the junior little mermaid junior and actually Mrs.
Shrexer's daughter was Sebastian and she was just marvelous. They were all marvelous but she definitely has acting in her jeans. I'm not sure where it comes from but that was a wonderful thing today and I'm hoping tomorrow night I think it is there's a play I
don't remember the name at Whitman but I'm hoping to go to that play. Um, I think that's it for right now, but does anybody else have anything to share? >> So, um, I also got to visit several of our schools during ReadAcross America. I
obviously went to, uh, Birches and read in, uh, my daughter's classrooms, not the oldest. That's not happening in my household right now. Um, which was great. Uh, a shout out to Miss Dob's third grade class. They were incredible. Even though it was first thing in the
morning, they were a great audience. Uh they had a lot of great activities that week uh not just for those classes but throughout the school that were really special and I know the kids really enjoyed them. I also was able to go to Kindle and read to a lot of the classes
there. Uh again the the kids the the staff everyone in the building was just a joy. It was pajama day. It was a really fun read. Um, I also went to Grenlock and those kids are also really special. I love uh taking some time to
meet the different teachers and all the students were such great listeners and seeing how different teachers handled um all the little behaviors and joys in those classes was a really special treat. I will also say that Grenlock is very secure. Uh, I accidentally tried to
exit during through the wrong door and I had to carefully consider if a camera would catch me hopping a fence or if I had to call the secretary to come let me out of the building. So, thank you very much. Uh, that's the choice I went with was making the embarrassing call. But,
it was a great week across our district and I know a lot of folks were able to read with different uh, students and it was great. >> Thank you. Um I read at TJ first and second grade and then also at Grenlock um a couple of the classes there and it
was really enjoyable to see the kids and how um involved they were and sat and listened and participated in books that they could actually participate and respond to. It was a great experience. >> Thank you Mrs. Clancy.
>> Mrs. Hartog, would you like to say anything more about Bye-Bye Birdie? I mean, I could go on and on. I really could. >> You sure? >> Great job. >> You're sure? YouTube it. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. >> I'll shout out. Linda was at every evening. Uh she was very kind and
supported uh my kids when they went for the photo booth. There were just like a ton of great students and parents supporting um all the great staff and kids in the show. It was really a special night. I encourage people to take their kids if they have free time to any of the productions, middle school, high school. It really is a
great family evening. All right. Could I have a motion to open to the public again? >> So moved. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Motion carried. We have one card
so far. Mr. Msadi. >> Good evening board. James Msadi, Washington Township. Uh just real quick, um I know at the end of last year there was quite a bit of discussion around um merit goals for Dr. Hibbs. Um throughout
last year there was a lot of discussion around board's goals and objectives as well as the district's goals. Um I know school districts aren't businesses, but whether it's as an athlete training or anything else, uh keeping your goals in front of you is one of the easiest ways
to make sure you don't forget them. that they don't get lost and that your decisions uh and things along those lines are aligned towards the goals that you're setting as a team and as an organization. Uh so I just wanted to provide maybe the recommendation or
suggestion that um you know those three critical items uh you know that we you know largely use to measure success uh of the leaders of this school district uh might be considered as you know an agenda item so that we can you know as a team you guys are getting regular
discussions the public is getting regular discussions uh and I really feel like that would go a long way to make sure that you know you've established these goals and objectives um you know are you working towards them? Uh and then also not feel like things are getting you know surprised
when you get to the end of the year and it's like oh we didn't meet that objective or that didn't come together or uh any of the sort of discussions that kind of you know came about last year uh are the things we could maybe do differently this year to prevent us from uh being in that position and hopefully
achieve more of the goals have there be more alignment on whether the goals were or were not met and things along those lines. So, just some food for thought to consider as the board. That's all. Thank you. >> Thank you. That's a really good suggestion. I know that we did do an update on board goals a few meetings
ago. I'm not sure if you were there for that, but to keep them in mind is an excellent idea. District goals, I guess we could get that, too. That's And I can't speak to to the merit goals. Okay. There are not there were not any
merit goals put together for this year. So that's the issue with that. Anybody else from the public? No more cards. Okay. Can have a motion to close. >> So moved. >> So okay after I say it. Can I say it?
Can I say you're so You're so anxious. You're anxious. Can I have a motion? Yes. And then we took care of that. So, thank you so much. Okay, we'll move on. Um, this is a good one. Can may I have a
motion to close the meeting to the public? Now, don't all jump at once. >> They'll move. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Very good. The meeting is adjourned.