Good evening and welcome to the West Orange Board of Education public board meeting on Thursday, March 26, 2026. Would like to thank all of you here in person and those watching from home for joining us tonight. I'd like to welcome my fellow board members as well as Mr. more Miss Flowers and our student liaison. Uh Miss Flowers, would you
please take the roll call? >> Good evening. Roll call, please. Dr. Bryant. Mr. Ker here. >> Mr. Stevenson, >> here. >> Miss Vera. >> Mr. Rock here.
Notice of meeting. The New Jersey open public's meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests are discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act. A
written notice was sent from the office of the secretary of the board on March 4th, 2026. That said notice was sent by regular mail to the West Orange Township clerk and the editors of West Orange Chronicle and by email to the Star
Ledger. That said notice was posted in the lobby of the administration building of the board of education and posted on the district website. Please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and may be broadcasted on local TV and the district's website at a future date.
Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you, Miss Flowers. In
consideration of the closed and public meetings of March 5th, 2026, do I have a motion to accept these minutes? >> So move. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Ker. Uh, any comments? Hearing none. Miss Flowers, please take the roll call. >> Mr. Kurf,
>> yes. I hear. Yes. >> Mr. Stevenson. >> Yes. >> And M. President Rock. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Next up, good evening to our student leaison, Adam Bareric and effort James, would you two please share your student leazison report with us? >> Good evening everyone. So, to start,
we're going to talk about academic and student achievements. Um, Haze Elementary students won first place in the knowledge assessment category at NJIT East STEM competition. Um, West student took top investment, $1,300 at
team social entrepreneur like a shark take event. Um, West seniors were honored at the mayor state of township breakfast. Our valadictorian Josie Mayor Sultorian Ava Nerkch and additional honores were Violet Colstein, Caleb
Bond, Adam Bearcat, Emil Con, Ava Deberos, David Milstein, Marshall Girl, and Cormack Omemer. Um, moving on, we're going to talk about awards and recognition. Julian Laform recognized as a Yucan hero by NJSBS's
county. Um, West Orange nurse Tahira Hill received the NJSSNA rising star award. Um, and our wind ensemble received gold rating at the annual region one festival and our additional our one woodwwind ensemble
also earned um an outstanding music ship award. Um, next we'll talk about art events and activities. So, our West Orange High School students, including ROC, marching band cheer, myself along with Mr. Memorial, Mr. Dero, and the
board president, Brian Rock, participated in the 73rd annual St. Patrick's parade. Um, and Cinderella, the spring musical production runs from April 17th to April 19th. All tickets are $15. Please go to
ww.warbo.org/slinderella for tickets and info. Moving on to some more community announcements. Hazel Elementary School hosted guest readers with some including the West Orange mayor, authors, nurses, first
responders, and others. NY Sirens visited Redwood Elementary School for Women's History Month recently. Aaron Feny represented Capitol Hill for West Orange recently as well. Moving on to awareness and inclusion. and West Orange High School color guard celebrated intellectual and de developmental
disabilities awareness month at Redwood Elementary by performing with the adaptive color guard that includes students with all abilities. The spring season has officially started. The fields are full of sports in full swing. We are excited to see how they all do this season. Congratulations to Ria Randolph for being the SEC girls
indoor track athlete of the year for 2026. Another congratulations for the both for both the girls basketball and wrestling teams conference recognition. Uh an additional announcement is that the football the football field here in West Orange is being done the the turf
and it's being replaced for free due to our warranty. And to finish off for announcements, spring break is coming up. It's exciting. And uh we have a all meet half day scheduled this Monday uh to
make up for a youth snow day. So spring break officially begins on Tuesday, March 31st and return return to school on Monday, April 6th. >> Thank you both for that. Mr. Mor, it's now time for your report. Would you please share your superintendent's report with us?
>> Thank you. Uh, President Rot, tonight for my report, we'll be presenting our 2627 prelim preliminary budget presentation. I will uh be at the podium joined by our business administrator,
Miss Tanya Flowers. Um before we go so um I'm sure people have a little bit of an idea that uh we face um some unprecedented challenges. Uh I'm sure
everyone has their opinion and how things should work, not work or do work or not work. But I will say a few things that I think I'd like to address. Everyone here is giving a genuine effort. All people in administration is
giving a genuine effort. Nothing is pretend. Everything is not just vetted, looked upon. We send it to the attorneys. We make sure that we're in line. So please,
I don't have a problem with questioning and thinking you, you know, whether you know something or you don't know something, but speak from that perspective because it's very hard to stress over such a challenge that we've inherited and try to work through that
challenge without people understanding how much of a toll that takes on the people here working on that challenge. We've had workshops. No one has a genius answer. So don't think you do because you haven't. I'm working with other
superintendent, other people, other groups. So just understand that this is a challenge that is not one that is easy. It is one that does take quite an effort from everyone
up here. So words like hiding, trans transparency, pretending, you can look anywhere you want. Nothing like that occurs with this board. This board is upstanding. The people up here are upstanding. I just want to clarify before we get started. And you will know
why numbers change or numbers go. But I think it's best that us as a community come to a realization that we're in a bad spot and we have to figure it out. And just using inflammatory terms or,
you know, not accurate information is not going to make it any better. We're going to have to deal with it. Myself as the superintendent is the steward of the ship. I accept that. I accept this be inheriting such a challenge. I have a great administrative team when I tell
you that they're very thorough and we'll do the best we can, our level best to try to balance this budget, but not just for today, but for the future of West Orange. I'm very I feel very good about what we're going to present.
Unfortunately, it's not going to be great news, but I know that and know that it is been t what we present is vetted. We're still working on it. There's no exact answer.
It's called a preliminary budget, but we're not going to hold back and give you some false situation or some hope in which we cannot provide. We've been through this for the last two years
going on three years and we've tried many different areas as I sent out in my letter where to cut where we can get savings. So I have no issue with questions. I just would like people to
understand that myself plus the people up here are having many sleepless nights trying to figure out how we can do this. And of course, first to make sure we have the quality student experience, quality family experience as we, the
taxpayers that live here, pay for the education system, quality staff. We are working towards all of it and we'll deliver and we are committed to giving our level best. And just for all parents,
whether you're a parent in a group or you're an individual parent, you will be heard the same. That's why there's a survey. Write down your information. It's longer than 3 minutes. You can write it down. We'll read it. We'll look
at it. We'll consider it. Does not mean it'll go your way. Even if you're advocating for it, that's the way that unfortunately situations like this happen. Everyone sacrifices, not just some. We all sacrifice. And believe me,
it is a sacrifice to inherit such a challenge. So I just want to lay that out because I think it's the right move right now so that everyone understands. We all want to respect each other in the room, but I want to make sure that the people that are up here, I wanted to
make sure and speak on their behalf and to speak for my administrative team in central office as when they read comments and hear certain uh insults that I want them to know that I have
your back. you're doing the right thing and we're going to work from the same place we are always working from. So feel free, we'll answer your questions. May not be what you love, may not be what you want to hear, but we'll answer them honestly. And that's the way we are
going to move forward as we try to take West Orange to an another level and hopefully a sustainable level for our children, not just today, but beyond. Thank you. So, President Rock, if you would allow me and you if you the board
would take seats there. Tanya would join me at the podium. We'll begin our presentation. I think we'll answer a few questions there and then when you have public comment feel free to ask questions. Thank you. Uh good evening to everyone again. Uh thank you to Superintendent Moore and to the board. Uh I will be
presenting the fiscal reality of West Orange Public Schools as this is our 2020 2026 and 2027 preliminary budget diagnostic. Uh [clears throat] again, uh we do have our three board
members in the room right now, but I do want to thank our entire board team. As Superintendent Moore has already stated, this has been many, many meetings and we've been working on this budget diligently. So, I do want to thank our board members as well as the entire
administrative team and uh again um I do want to thank my uh business office team as well as we've been spending a lot of time together lately. So, to understand our budget, we must understand our scale. We serve over
7,100 students across 13 different facilities. This includes our high school with over 2,000 students and our varied elementary and middle school population. These enrollment figures are primary drivers of our staffing needs
and operational cost. This slide presents a critical snapshot of our projected finances for the 2627 school year. Please note that these figures are preliminary and remain subject to change. We anticipate revenues, even with a 2
and a.5% tax levy increase, to be approximately $26 million. Our projected expenditures driven by mandated operational costs are approximately $220 million. It's important to note that
these numbers um for those of you that have attended the information sessions uh we were projecting back in January uh around a $12 million deficit. However, in January the data that we were using
uh was from November reports. So that's why and in that even in those sessions we were expressing that this was a scenario and that the data did not include any additional costs in terms of 2026 27 but it was just everything
remaining flat and we had the data at the time as of November. So that's why now we're seeing that this number has changed. Uh there is a now we're looking at a 14 to15 million structural deficit and that gap cannot be bridged by
standard revenue streams. So addressing the West Orange fiscal reality requires a difficult balancing act. Our commitment is to close this gap while minimizing the impact on our students. But doing so requires
district-wide reductions, including staff and program adjustments. And looking at this this slide, you'll see on the left the left hand side we have the revenue ceiling because we know that our income has basically a legal
speed limit, right? It can only go up but so high. There's a ceiling based on the legal con constraint tax levy cap. There are some allowable adjustments that we may as a district be eligible for, but there it's limitations
there. Then we have our state aid, which is the growth is entirely dependent on state formulas and they're out state aid is just out of the district's control. With that said, if we look at the upward pressure that we're dealing with, right,
we have some primary budget drivers where we have salaries that are budgeted to increase between 3 and 4%. Those are contractually mandated. Health benefits are budgeted for a significant increase of 17.8%. And we are part of a school health
insurance fund. And in consultation with our broker, this rate is at the lower end of the range compared to other similar plans. We have explored other options and we remain satisfied with our current offerings which will be subject
u the subject of a future board meeting. Uh we do have our brokers coming in to do a formal presentation but we have already explored other options and where we stand now with the school health insurance fund is satisfactory and it is definitely uh a better position for us
compared to other plans. We have special education tuition costs for out of district placements expected to increase by 6% and district insurance is projected to increase by 8%. Transportation costs are increasing by
3.58 which is based upon the consumer price index. These are all required costs of operating the district and their increases consistently outpace our available revenue making the structural budget deficit unavoidable.
How is a structural budget deficit? How is it formed? It isn't caused by a once in a decade incident. It is caused when legally mandated expenses consistently exceed the capped revenue. So we have fixed costs like special education,
healthc care cost and insurance that increase at market rates. We have state law caps that that caps the primary revenue source which is our tax levy. And we have available surplus funds that are exhausted from time to time to plug
in gaps, but then it removes our safety net in the current year or future years. And then we have a compounding mathematical difference between a 15 approximately 15% cost increase and 2%
revenue limits. So that gap just continues to widen. On this slide, we're uh providing an piraphph just to see and visualize the pressure points. As you can see here, the salaries and benefits
combined are almost 70% of our budget. So while salaries make up half of the budget, the deficit is still driven by other exploding costs. And again, you see healthc care being one of them. And we even had a significant cost in facilities, custodial and security
costs, operating costs. So where did the new money go? That's been the question. So the 6.3 million total new revenue that we expected in just looking at the increase in the benefits alone, that was an increase of $4.9 million.
increase in custodial maintenance and security operating costs was an increase of $5 million and an increase in the special ed tuition alone was an increase of $1.8 million. So the $6.3 million in new revenue is entirely consumed before
we even account for mandatory salary increases, transportation or educational program. So we are mathematically in the red before the school year even begins. This slide begins our comparison again
of revenues providing essential context for the financial decisions that we face. As you see, as we saw on the previous slide, our projected total revenues for 2627 school year is proposed with even with a 2 and a.5% tax
levy increase to be approximately 206 million. This comparison is critical to illustrating the gap between our revenue growth and our mandated expenditure increases. The key takeaway from this comparison is to visibly reinforce the
reality that our revenue growth remains limited especially by the 2% tax levy cap. While our primary operational cost as outlined in a prior slide and I'll give you more details going forward, but this is the structural issue. it le is
directly impacting us this year where we are looking at approximately 14 to 15 million as we discussed. So there are some tough decisions ahead. Uh you you want to go into or you want me to take >> Go ahead. Okay. >> I wanted to comment here. If you take a
look at uh this slide, of course we put in red because we're looking at it from what we've gathered thus far. There's still work to be done, but it's a minimum of 70 full-time employees and we
have not balanced the budget yet. This is not easy. We of course we're we're doing things which we don't want to do but have to look at. We have to consolidate the courses. I know that people were asking are you doing that?
Yeah, we're doing that. Of course, we have to increase class sizes. Again, not something we're looking wanting to do, but we will have to do. We have to look at our schedule in the middle school one more time. Um, not changing
it drastically or making people go through hoops, but we have to look at it as far as efficiencies are concerned. We've already started not replacing administrators that have retired. And I
can tell you now, and I won't mention the district, but you can count our central office and what we have in terms of administration and administrators, and I can tell you we have way less than smaller districts than us because we
have not replaced them. We continue to uh just try to add work where we can. But we're showing you even in this, we will continue to do that. and and do our part to try to balance the budget.
We're going to work with transportation and uh we're looking at it. Of course, we talk about courtesy busing. I know people have suggested subscription busing and pay-to-play sort of situations. Uh I've been in West Orange 30 years. It is a very diverse community
in many different ways, including socioeconomic. And as the superintendent, one thing you can expect from me, and you can put it on my tombstone, I believe in equity. And equity to me is very hard to accomplish
when you start getting into areas like I don't know if people agree with me on that or not, but that's the way I feel. I feel that West Orange offers students opportunities they may not have gotten if they lived somewhere else. And I think that that's part of the richness
of this community and would love to maintain that for the student experience. So when we look at transportation, no, right now we're not thinking subscription busing. We're not thinking of doing anything like that where we charge parents more. But we are
looking to see what other routes we can scale down. Where can we save money there? If you remember prior to every time we do a budget presentation, it tells a story. If you remember the budget before, we took as much out as we
possibly could out of transportation to make sure we have our teachers forward- facing in the classrooms. That's not a myth. That's not a guess. That's a fact. That's what we did and people know that.
But we have bit we have scraped and scraped and we're taking as many things as we possibly can. We're always looking out. We understand that we want our teachers to work here. We don't want to lose them like anyone else. But we're at
a point where we have to understand that the reality is hit and this becomes a mathematical equation and we have to face that. So yeah, we're going to explore it and exploration of outsourcing essential services. Again,
not something we want to do. We love having our people to ourselves, but anywhere we have to look for savings, we will. And and that is because once again, it will always start with trying to make sure that we protect the student
experience and the family experience that live in our town. try to preserve what we have and of course making sure that it's a quality place for our teachers as well. >> Thank you. >> So, how do we balance the scales for
West Orange? The numbers dictate our current reality, but our commitment remains to the 7100 plus students relying on us. We are taking these severe necessary steps today to ensure the financial survival and future stability of West Orange Public Schools.
We are going to look at the numbers and this right now is the balanced budget that we're submitting. It's a preliminary budget that we are submitting for approval by the board and then going to the county for approval. But it is a preliminary budget. So here
you will have uh is a detailed breakdown showing the comparison the uh of the the revenue slide comparing the major sources specifically the local tax levy, state aid and other re miscellaneous revenues. This revenue
includes 2 and a.5% tax levy. This is our breakdown of the expenditure slide. This slide outlines our proposed expenditures for 2627 compared to the current year. And again, upon recommendation by the superintendent of
schools, Mr. Hayden Moore. This proposed preliminary budget is being submitted and presented this evening for uh the county to approve with a general fund total of $26,821,351 for our community. This budget
translates to an annual tax increase of $294 approximately and $24.50 50 cents per month for of average for the average assessed home. So
tonight, again, this is our tenative budget presentation and then we have to submit it for county approval. They have until uh by April 20th, we will hear whether or not our preliminary budget has been approved and then we can advertise it. It's required that we
advertise it in a newspaper. And then our public hearing is scheduled for May 4th at 6:30 p.m. Again, the meeting will be here in the library media center. That completes our presentation
and we will ask the board members to please return back to the deis so that we can take any questions. Thank you for your timing. >> Thank you. Mr. Stevenson, do you have any questions for the administration? >> Um, thank you, President Rock.
Thank you, Superintendent Moore. Um, Miss Flowers, in your role as business administrator and secretary to the board. appreciate the work of you and the assistant business administrator, Miss Lamin, and your entire team and
putting these numbers together. Uh, it's a stark reality, but not a surprising reality, right? We these are similar conversations that have been had over the last few years. So, I just got a couple of questions.
You talked about 6.3 million in total new revenue expected. Where does that 6.3 million come from? >> That was an increase in our state aid >> plus the tax
>> plus the tax levy. Yeah. So, so, so the increase in state aid from 2425, >> right? >> Plus the tax levy of 2 and a half% that we're recommending for proposal this evening. >> Okay. >> Uh, want to say a couple of things
before I go back to some more questions. I want to say Mr. more. Thank you for your for your opening comments about the work that your your staff has put in. Uh and it is unfortunate if there's some members of the public who uh may have
made some uh unoured and unnecessary comments towards you or your staff or if to some board members. Hopefully despite these very bad numbers, everyone
can maintain a sense of decorum and and respect for the work that your team has put in. The board members signed up for it. It's got elected by the people and so you know this is the harsh reality. Uh
the district is gracious enough to buy us dinner or pro provide dinner every every month where we meet. So you know we get compensated through food. So we appreciate that. So so your your comments are are well appreciated.
Uh just on a couple of things other things you said you talked about parents paying more terms of you know pay to play or kicking in more funds for transportation. I couldn't agree with
you more. Uh, and I think it's a shame that you even have to say that the taxpayers of West Orange whereas the years that I've been on the board and preceding that have continually kicked in tax
taxes year after year. Uh the reason I asked the question of Miss Flowers about the anticipated revenue increase because it always appears as if it's a forong conclusion that this board any board will automatically
raise the taxes on its residents. And I think that is an unfortunate reality that we come into these things every year saying it's a given. We're going to raise taxes on the people. And for those of you who
are homeowners in West Orange, um you will know that assessed values in West Orange increased significantly in the last year, almost doubled. And so a tax levy of 2 and a half% is not an
insignificant thing this year. And so, Mr. more I don't think you should have to [clears throat] justify uh the distribution of equitable services to families in our community when they are forever contributing to the
operational capacity and as it used to be the operational ambition of the district. We're no longer there. We're in a retrenchment stage and so we have to deal with it as such. You also mentioned your central office staff
and so I will suffix that statement and say uh based on the research I've done, there is no comparable school district in Essex County of the size of West Orange that has a central office smaller
than yours. Your central office is one of the leanest central offices in all of Essex County and probably if not in the state of a comparable size. And I do think regardless of those necessary
cuts, you do have to operate with an effective and efficient central office so that things like accountability, things in terms of assessment, things of tabulation of data, all of those things
are critical to ensure that uh students and families are receiving the high quality education that they deserve for as the um state says a thorough and efficient education although that's not
fully defined within state statute what that means. So this is a reality of where we are. We were here last year. Um and I would just say my closing comments and I I'll defer to
uh Mr. Ruck and to Mr. If I may have additional comments or questions at a later point, but you have through your various assessments by the staff found the cuts to balance this year's budget, but this
is not solely a this year problem as it was not solely a this year's problem last year. And so the reality is uh we talk about strategic plans and we talk about looking forward five years or however many years we want to look
forward. Uh I think it is insufficient. This is what we do what school districts throughout New Jersey do. We you know wait on this on the state aid money to come. We either celebrate or don't celebrate if it's not what we want it to
be. We say wow we got it. we're going to balance the budget and then 10 months later we're in the same predictable position that we were in 10 months earlier. So I would I would suggest to uh you
superintendent Moore and to your team although you have found or are looking for the necessary cuts to balance this $26 million for this year inevitably you'll have a structural deficit next year. inevitably you're going to have a structural
deficit in 28 29 in 2930 and so forth and so on unless there is some substantial or material change in the way that u local school districts are able to
tax in the way the state is able to uh distribute funds from the department of education or districts like Westtorm Orange and as you I'm sure seen in the press like many other other districts throughout the state are having to make some hard decisions about
closing schools, cutting staff, uh reducing programs and and that is the reality. And so I don't look at this I can't look at this as a as a taxpayer in this community as a father of two children enrolled in our
schools. I can't look at this situation purely as a one-year situation and say this this this settles the matter. It doesn't settle the matter, at least not for me. And so I would just encourage you
in a more long range uh situation and think about how do we begin to transform schools, reimagine schools, look at additional cuts, look at additional
consolidations so that the taxpayers can understand the the the type of school district moving forward that they really can't afford given the constraints of what our ability is to tax the citizens
of West Orange. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Mr. Stford, do you have any? No. Okay. Um, one quick clarifying question. I had to ask you this earlier. Just want to point it out for the public. When you say custodial maintenance and security costs went up about 36%, that's not referring to
staffing levels in those areas. That's sort of like the physical maintenance of the buildings and those kinds of projects. Correct. >> Yes, that's correct. >> Okay. No, I mean it's fine. Um, yeah, that that was my only
question. I think Mr. Stevenson went on for for long enough about the generalities. I'll just add a couple quick comments. Um, thank you, Mr. Moore, Miss Flowers, Miss Lamin for your work on this. Um, it has been a tough couple of weeks. Uh, I've been in meetings with you. you. I know your staff has been in meetings with you. Uh,
and there are no easy or good answers to any of these problems. Um, as Mr. Stevenson pointed out, these are not problems unique to us to West Orange. Um, health benefits in particular, as well as many of these other costs are hitting other districts around the state. Um, and when you look at the impact that you presented as possible
cuts, while it's not something that we want to see or that we would necessarily think is a good or perfect solution, it's better than the alternative happening in other places. Right, Mr. Stevenson? I think referenced some places that are closing schools, some places that are closing down athletic
programs. Um, so to the extent that we can do the same or similar with less, uh, I applaud your effort for continuing to find ways to do that. I know it's tough and at some point we won't be able to do that anymore. Um, but until then, we have to take a look at this one year
at a time. We do have to plan for long term, but we we can't predict or change the future. So, we have to balance this budget the best we can, deal with next year's budget when it comes and hope that we we put ourselves on a better footing next year, but some of these are still going to be outside of our control and and so on the flip side, we have to
continue to advocate for solutions beyond West Orange because these are not solutions that we can fix, right? Health benefits is a state and national problem and at some point someone has to to solve or address the issue of why that's going up so much. special ed costs are increasing at a rapid rate and that
either needs to be addressed statewide through some kind of cost capping measures or uh push those costs off onto the state. Um but our income is always our revenue is always going to be capped unless there's some other kind of federal funding that comes through some
new stream of uh state funding. And the other issue, right, we're talking about maintenance going up. If the state were to fully fund the construction of schools, the fixing of schools, that would be something else to alleviate some of these pressures. Uh but until then, you know, we we have to provide that thorough and efficient education.
We have that responsibility under the state constitution. We have a limited amount of money with which to do that. And so for the next school year, we have to make do with what we have. And so again, thank you for your work on this. Um can't say that I am pleased with the budget, but I do think it is the best
you can do in a bad situation. and I'm I'm pleased with your work and your efforts to get us to this point. So, thank you very much. >> For the record, can I just ask you for a point of clarification when you say you're not pleased with the budget? Can you expound upon that, please? >> I'm not pleased with the negative
impacts on the educational program in West Orange. >> Okay. >> So, again, I'm pleased with the work that went into it. I think it is the best thing that we can do today given the constraints that we face. So, it's not that I'm displeased with the product or the work that went into it, but rather the situation that we face.
>> Okay. Thank you for that clarification. >> Yeah. Uh well, let me just add this. So, if I had an extra $10 million, I would make a very different budget or 15 million because that's what we're missing. So, maybe that's clarification for why I'm displeased with it.
>> Well, and I think that that's the point though. we had extra $15 million that covers it this year, doesn't cover it next year. And so, uh, we can probably take this presentation and change the dates, but the the
figures remain the same, if not increased by whatever the structural deficit uh, was from last year to this year. Plug those numbers in, and we find ourselves next year in the same situation. And so obviously we bud we balance budgets year to year but I think
it's important for the community to know uh what the trajectory of this is right what the trajectory of having to look at a restructuring of schools and while I appreciate and and
and did note it myself that other communities are are facing greater challenges than we our challenges are our own and we have to to face them head on. Uh with a certain level of intentionality that primarily serves our
our our first constituency, which are the students enrolled in our schools and their families, and then our taxpayers. And uh we're going to continue to ask ask the taxpayers to kick in the the 2%
it seems year after year. uh the revenue will never get to the point of where our ability to to to tax the citizens are and we like every other school district in the state, you know, waits patiently
like buying a lottery ticket to figure out what money we're going to get from the state and whether it's going to be up this year or down the next. And unfortunately, that is not the way this should occur. Um, and it's uh it's
unfortunate that we and other school districts find ourselves in that. I just want to impress upon again the reality is we balance a budget this year. Uh the truth is we find ourselves in a perpetual debt situation moving forward
for a foreseeable future that is not easily corrected. >> Thank you. I think we'll >> save any further comment on this for for uh resolutions later. >> But thank you again, Mr. Moore, for your presentation. Was there anything else to your superintendent's report?
>> Actually, yes. Hang on a second. >> Okay. At this time, we had two incidents, two incidents investigated for HIV throughout the district. Uh neither were founded to fit the criteria.
Thank you, Mr. Moore. Uh, do we have any committee reports from the board? >> Uh, no report. >> Anything, Mr. Thank you. I'll share a brief president's report with you. Now, uh, West Orange High School hosted a career in healthcare symposium today
that included several accomplished professionals. The event was attended by our high school students from Institute of Mathematics and Science, our National Honors Society of Black Engineers, and students from our high school health science classes. Professionals who attended and spoke with our students include Dr. Sherry Lawson, MD, West Orange High School Hall of Famer and
current chair of OBGYn at Howard Medical School, Dr. Melissa Griggsby, MD, assistant professor in the department of surgery, trauma, and surgical critical care at Ruckers New Jersey Medical School, and Ashley Civo, our very own West Orange High School athletic trainer. All right. Uh the next item on the agenda is the second reading and
adoption of policy 2460 special education. This polic reviewed and revised by administration and presented this evening for second reading and adoption. I have a motion to approve policy 2460 special education. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? >> Second.
>> Thank you, Mr. Ker. Uh any discussion? Uh as has been mentioned before, the district is on constantly reviewing policies and uh make sure that they are best serving our community. Uh there are number of policies that went through first reading at the last meeting and
President Rock, it's my recommendation to the board that the resolutions tonight be adopted for those policy changes. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Hearing none, nothing else. Uh Miss Flowers, please take the roll call. >> Mr. If >> yes,
>> Mr. Stevenson, >> yes. >> President Rock, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next, we will have questions from the public on agenda items only. Any community member who would like to make comments or ask questions, please come to the podium at this time. Please state your name and home address for the record, then begin your comments. Please
limit your comments to three minutes. Do we have any members of the public here in the audience tonight who wish to make a public comment? Not as tall as you, Hayden. Uh Josh Goldar, Tenance Road, president of the WOEA. Members of the board and community, did
you know that 20% of our school employees also live in town? That is worth repeating. 20% one out of every five employees lives here and pays taxes here. We are acutely aware of all the wonderful things this town has to offer. And we're aware that that comes at a
price. West Orange is not exactly a cheap place to live, but it's worth it. And any real estate agent will tell you one of the jewels in West Orange proverbial crown is our top-notch schools. And we want to keep it that way. We want to make sure as our schools remain a reason that people move to West
Orange and raise their children here. But budgets are made and money does not grow on trees. Districts all over the state are continuing to suffer under the unjust state funding formula. It's my understanding that President Rock petitioned the state on our behalf to have this formula changed and I thank
you for that. I think we all do. But in its infinite wisdom, the state of New Jersey has decided to once again provide an inadequate amount of funding to our town. This short changes all of us, not just educators, administrators, and support staff, but parents, guardians, community members, and most critically,
our students. This means that once again, we're looking down the barrel of a deficit that exceeds $14 million. So the question is how do we close that gap? Teachers and staff have been told that class sizes in the elementary schools uh should expect to increase to
approximately 25 per class. At the middle and high schools, we are expecting average class sizes to balloon to 25 to 30 students per class. It becomes increasingly difficult to maintain our level of instruction with class sizes that large. That's not my opinion. A 2024 study conducted by the
NIH, the National Institute of Health, determined that increasing class sizes are associated with unpredictability and decreased school readiness. It also concluded that teachers and smaller class sizes are better at using a variety of instructional strategies, accommodating different learning modalities and creating dynamic and
interesting learning environments. Furthermore, since there are fewer students and to watch in a classroom, classroom management is easier, which reduces disturbances and improves student learning. I'm not here to lambast anybody. You guys have choices to make and I don't
envy them. But I am here to urge the board and the community before any changes are made inside the classroom, please look outside the classroom for cost savings. And I know you're looking everywhere. I know you're looking everywhere. Last year, with the support of Superintendent Moore, the WOE surveyed
our members and asked them where they saw areas for possible savings. A summary of those ideas were emailed to everyone on the board. These are ideas from those of us working with the students on a daily basis. And we may see areas of savings that others just by the nature of their roles might not see.
Some of the ideas may not be feasible, but we once again ask that they be considered and reviewed. And remember, 20 of them are also community members and are paying those taxes. Budget cuts going to be unavoidable. Thank you, Mr. Gold Farbeer. But where cuts are made,
we implore you to be judicious and cautious. Use a scalpel, not a battle axe. >> Sorry, I hadn't planned on speaking tonight. So, I understand the constraints. I've sat on the board of ed. I've watched Oh, sorry. Deb Cohen, for street Madison, uh, teacher at West
Orange High School for 20 or West Orange for 26 years. I get it. And I know you are looking at every um area that you can, but the lack of detail that was just presented is astonishing. Is the one slide showing 70 full-time employees
and a few other items the only things that are being looked at? The email that Hayden, which was greatly appreciated, sent out on Monday to give us kind of a a kind of look at the land, made it appear like there was going to be significant transparency, even ending with, "We are looking at our athletic
and fine and performing arts programs to examine ways to reduce costs with minimal act impact on the student experience." What does that mean? Everybody was expecting something tonight that might indicate, is that plays in musicals? Is
that drama clubs? Is that co-curricular? Nobody knows what that means. The buildings are full of te teachers, pairs, guidance, CST, administrative assistants, media coordinators, and everybody else who are all completely stressed out because we don't know what's coming. Is there a breakdown? Realizing it could change of staff
versus teachers versus support staff. >> [sighs and gasps] >> I know it's a long-term issue and it's only going to get worse with the tier five teachers that are here for 30 years and 65 years old at the top of the guide, but the reality is there has been
more transparency in my opinion, but not as much as there could be. Every department has been told that classes without 20 students in them will not run. Does that include AP? We have no idea. Um, it also was going to cause a ripple effect for upper level courses. If you
run three sections of intro instead of four, it's less students who are eligible to take level two, three or AP courses with ult, which ultimately creates those courses to go away. I did run several numbers. I spent four hours. I see the deficits, the semi, the
extended, the extra extraordinary school special education aid. I ran them all. I see that. I get it. I understand. And a lot of people don't uh know about that, but I did run one particular set of numbers just for comparison. So at the
high school, middle schools, and elementary schools, there are a total of 142 clubs and activities. According to the contract, total for all of that is $511,000 roughly. High school athletics, there
are 25 distinct sports counting boys and girls as separate. Stipens for that are 551,915. Middle school athletics in the past has been $115,000 and now with the changes you made has been cut down to about 56,000. So there's there has been improvement
there. But again, and I think the extracurricular and the athletics are important. I it is that's why some kids come to school. But if we're talking about increasing class sizes to the point where it's harmful to what's happening and what can be done, those
things have to be looked at too. Thank you. >> Hi everyone. Um Emily P's at Harvard Terrace. Uh good evening. I'm on here on behalf of West Orange Parents for Education. Um, I know the last minute nature of the state funding leads to those tight turnarounds, long hours
during the budget season. So, thank you to the board and administration for your work and likely late nights during this year's budget. I want to start by acknowledging the ways that this process has improved from last year. The addition of the monthly budget sessions was me a meaningful step forward. Providing communication about the shortfall in advance of this meeting
also helped the community become more prepared and tonight's presentation was a helpful articulation of the core structural issue we're all facing. these changes um they they matter and they reflect a more transparent and thoughtful approach and I think it's also fair to say that it's the result of
the sustained community engagement um and advocacy for this additional communication um that's a positive sign that collaboration between the district and the community can lead to progress and has at the same time as Mr. are more articulated tonight. We have to be
honest about where we are. The financial situation we're facing this year is significantly more severe than last year. And while the process has improved and and the approach outlined so far still feels it still feels incremental. And there were terms like scraping, trimming, fine-tuning, that may have
been appropriate the last two years, but it doesn't match the scale of the current challenge that we're going to continue to face in the future. As Mr. Stevenson also mentioned, as you know, I I've mentioned before, I have young children in the district, and I'm most concerned about the long-term impacts of just whittling down year after year. A
structural deficit cannot be solved through incremental adjustments alone. Our community group is actively pushing for those broader structural changes at the state level that we all know we need and we can't change on our own. We are doing that pushing. Um, but we can't rely on that happening in time to address our current immediate needs. and
the and we need to think bigger, more long-term and act decisively at the local level. This could include exploring one-time capital investments. I know it may take a referendum, but something that could lead to long-term cost savings such as bringing more of our special education services back in
district so we're not spending so much sending them out to special education schools. Um or, you know, doing more partnering with local districts um to to bring things back in for shared services like transportation. I know we look at shared services already, but there's got to be bigger structural things that can
help us in the long term. It may also require having difficult but necessary conversations about our biggest cost drivers, including compensation and staffing models, in a way that is strategic and sustainable over the long term. These are not easy decisions. We don't envy any of the positions you're in right now. But the scale of the
problem demands something more structural and forward-looking, not just incremental changes. I believe that level of strategic planning is happening, but it's not always being made clear to those of us on the other side watching and what's presented to the public. Our group desperately has wanted to be involved and identify and
help explore those long-term changes that could help us structurally. It's why we've continued and will continue to advocate for community and budget advisory committee that can go line by line and develop community- based recommendations to help solve this broader problem in the long term. Our community is engaged. We're paying
attention and we're ready to be part of these conversations. We appreciate the steps you've taken so far and um we look forward to working in the future. >> Uh Will Donho 84 Cooain Terrace. I'm here with the West Orange uh parents for education as well. Over the past
year, our group has over the past year our community has organized, analyzed, and advocated because informed caregivers are essential partners in protecting our schools. What is true is what's been stated here tonight is that this is mostly a problem in Trenton. The state aid formula assumes that local funds grow faster than the 2% levy cap
allows us to raise. That gap compounds every year. We know it, you know it, and we will keep fighting to update it, including next month when we meet with Assemblywoman Begolie on the Assembly Education Committee. Superintendent Moore, your letter this week was helpful given the scope of the issues the district faces, and your comments
tonight were helpful as well, and the budget sessions Miss Flowers and her team provided were generally trans transparent and informative. The presentation tonight was also a vast improvement over what we experienced last year. So, I appreciate all the I know I know how much work that went into all of that. Um, but let's make no
mistake, a budget gap of this order of magnitude as a four alarm fire problem. Having spent an embarrassing amount of time analyzing the budget numbers, four main levers we have control over stand out to me when we consider the budget crisis in the near term. As uncomfortable it is, and I agree with you on the equity issue, transportation
is something that we must begin to consider. West Orange spends over 15 million on busing, more per student than comparable Essex County districts. Other neighboring districts have unfortunately already had to consider subscription busing and courtesy busing cuts. And it's something that we need to now consider ourselves. We need a long-term
plan for athletics, arts, and extracurriculars. As you mentioned in the letter, this crisis is ongoing. I would add that we should and the annual uncertainty is its own harm. We need a sustainability plan for those programs, including an honest look at less popular offerings and pay to participate models
with hardship waivers so no student is priced out. Third, we should the letter was excellent. This presentation was excellent, but I promise you it will not reach everyone out there in the community tonight. We need we need to continue to advertise um more of this information before cuts are made, before
anything is finalized. I would recommend releasing a public list of the specific programs under consideration and give the community the chance to weigh in while there's still time to matter. And fourth, um I continue to advocate for a community budget advocacy committee. With this um with this issue continuing
for the foreseeable future, the structure we leave up to you, but caregivers, residents, and educators should be brought together to review options and submit recommendations before decisions are made. This may not work this year, but it's something that we just have to foresee for the future years. Other districts have done this.
It builds trust, services, ideas, and transforms this from something that happens to our community into something we do together. We know the board cannot fix what's happening in Trenton. We're working on that as best as we can, but you can lead here, and we are ready to be your partners. Thank you.
>> Larry Winrob 76 Cobain Terrace. I'm also here with the West Orange Parents for Education. And I think first I want to thank all of you for all of the work uh that you're doing and the efforts that you're making to communicate the reality that we all
face. Um it is not easy. Uh that said, we need to make sure that all the options available to the community are out for discussion. At the last BOE meeting, President Rock, you challenged me to solve the health care
cost crisis that is plaguing our country and ultimately our school budget. I think I may have found a solution. New Jersey statute chapter 18A7F3D paragraph 1 discusses how much the school tax levy can be increased. The
allowable adjustment of the tax levy for increases in healthcare cost equals the portion of the actual increase in health care costs that exceeds 2% of the total costs in the previous year. That means we are allowed to increase
the tax levy more than 2% to cover these additional healthcare costs. This option was also available last year, but not offered to the community or discussed publicly. This option is also available to every district in the state, unless there's one that has had a
less than 2% rise in healthcare costs, and I'd be shocked to find one. South Orange Maplewood School District has already announced in a letter from their superintendent that they intend to use this provision. By my calculation, and it's based on the numbers that we had from January, so
they may have changed slightly, uh, based on our expected insurance increases, we would be permitted to raise approximately 5.5 million additional dollars or another 3.4% on the tax levy. Raising this additional 5.5 million
permitted due to our encourage insurance costs would mean a tax raise of approximately $535 per year per household on the average home in West Orange or about $335 more than the standard 2% rise. If you're
someone over 65 who makes less than $250,000 a year, the state will cover that increase through the state New Jersey program. So, it is no additional burden to seniors in our district. We should accept that state property tax relief for the benefit of our community.
Is that a reasonable price to pay to keep our schools great? I believe yes. Others may disagree, and that's fine. But all options should be on the table given the level of crisis we're facing. Let's have the discussion openly and make the choice. We're asking to give
the community a real voice in making tough choices. It benefits everyone, the administration, the teachers, the students, the caregivers, and the community. There are surely other unspoken or innovative ideas out here in the community. Please open the details of the discussion to let us in so that
we can be a part of the choices before they are made. Thank you. Hi, Abby Fogle 138 Forest Hill Road. Um, first I want to start by just thanking all of you for the work that you've put in. Um, I personally manage through some
of these challenges myself at my job. Um, and I wouldn't wish your position on my worst enemy. So, thank you so much for the your work. Um, I'm here tonight with West Orange Parents for Education. I joined the group just after its creation last year in response to the
concerns around the budget deficit and the lack of sharing of information with the community at large. Again, the concerns and I am proud to say that since then I have become a much more informed citizen partially from the research done by our group and partially a good portion from
the sessions led by Miss Flowers earlier this year. I truly appreciate the time and effort she and her team put into ensure that the request for more understanding of the district's budget process was answered. I also deeply appreciate the presentation this evening and the specifics revealed both in the
numbers and the personal values that drive some of the decisions. While has centered our advocacy efforts of late at the state level and will continue to do so, it is imperative that our local representatives and district administration understand that we know that they also have a part to play in
fixing this long term. My ask tonight is that you continue to expand your communication and engagement efforts. Our neighboring districts have publicly been discussing this eventuality since the beginning of the school year. For West Orange, we received our first
letter just days ago. Soma has announced two town halls focused specifically on conversation related to the budget in April. We have received a link to a survey. Again, I don't mean to discredit the outreach and engagement efforts you all have done recently, but rather ask
for some more so your efforts don't get lost in the ether of information we all are inundated with. I am aware that the opportunities to show up this year have not been well attended, specifically because I was one of the people who was there.
But my experience is not that it is because people do not care. Wol's petition um Wol's petition to the state has received over 600 signatures from West Orange residents and teachers to address the way Trenton determines school funding. Our fellow West Orange citizens
care very much and if there was more communication about opportunities to engage using all tools possible so including social media, emails, PTA meetings, school information apps like Class Dojo etc. then I believe there would be a stronger presence. I implore
you to not give up on citizen engagement, but rather take our engagement as a sign that more people want in and need better avenues for knowing opportunities to do so. Thank you. >> Hello, I'm Erica Janetta at 64 Bernett Terrace and a fellow mom at Gregory
Elementary. Um, just a couple of thoughts. I am not as well-versed as the parents um that organize West Orange Parents for Education and everything I've learned from them and that they've brought to light that of the information you guys provide has been amazing and so
helpful. Um I'm also a teacher at a private school in the area and I remember learning in November that my students to a private school uh their busing is paid for by public districts
and I was shocked. So many of the private schools in our area are are holding 50 million to hund00 million endowments. They have absolutely enough money to bust their own students. I know this is not a district decision, but I would implore the board, parents, the
community to put pressure on the state wherever the law lies um to change this and put and put the onus on private schools to boss their own students. Um, I would also ask, is there opportunities for parent volunteering? Where can we
alleviate staff shortages? Where can we help um alleviate all of the extra pulls that happen on teachers before school and after school and at lunch and in the hall monitoring that their t if they're going to be experiencing so much
pressure with higher class sizes, where can parents uh volunteer time? Um and and encouraging our schools to open their doors to parents more. Um I heard the comments on this payforplay busing.
Are there models out there like we have for our lunches where it is income based where we have busing that is paid for by the families that can afford it and maybe it is reduced for students and free for others as needed. um our I I
know that other districts have looked and been had successful fundraising programs by parents. How can the community members that have the ability and have the means um get these funds into our schools? Um, on an aside, uh, as a dual Canadian
American citizen, I would just like to point out that my best friends in Canada are not having to have these conversations at their board of education meetings because their health care costs are not going up 30 or 13% every year, right? That is a separate
conversation. And so I'd implore everybody to vote for policies and people that will take the strain of health care costs off of our schools. Um and there I would just like to say there is no replacement for class size in how
our kids experience their education. Thank you. >> Tony Edelstein, 50 Davy Drive, a teacher at the high school. Um, so we've heard the the proposal for payment for sports and busing is off the table in the name of equity, but that confuses equality
with equity. Equality is treating everyone the same. [clears throat] But equity is giving everyone exactly what they need. Just a simple example, everyone gets a seat in the theater. That's equality. But equity means someone who needs a booster seat gets
it. I urge you to consider imposing fees for sports and busing on families that can afford it. Thank you. >> Matt Dragon, 13 Sheridan Avenue. My daughter is an eighth grader at Roosevelt. As Mr. Stevenson mentioned, this is really a revenue problem. I
don't think any of you want to cut services, teachers, or staff. So, this is a revenue problem. And I appreciate hearing that we have reached out to the state to try to address that revenue shortage. But I also know that several members of the board have connections to
our state representatives. Other communities facing similar issues over the last several years have successfully rallied their electeds to get additional funding to help bridge these sorts of gaps. So, can each of you sit here tonight and tell us you've made all those calls, written all those
letters, nagged and poked our LD27 reps at every event? And if the answer is yes, what can we as parents do? What connections can you make for us? Our schools are the town's long-term investment. Certainly, our schools are investments
in our students, but it's also an investment in our teachers, staff, and administrators. And while our students are resilient and many would fully recover from a one-year bump in class sizes or one year without an extracurricular, our teachers, staff, and administrators
won't. They'll rightfully move on, needing to support their own families. And that creates an larger crisis in years to come when maybe we've helped fix the revenue problem, but a few years too late. Thank you. Good evening. Mark Legatic, um teacher
at Gregory and Mount Pleasant Elementary School, uh resident at 12 Fairway Drive in West. I just wanted to um acknowledge all the hard work and respect um that the um board has put in and Dr. M. Moore and Miss Flowers on the preliminary budget. Certainly um a lot of
consideration is being taken place um into how we can improve and continue to maintain our district. Um one thing that I would like to ask um as a resident and also an employee of the district is to continue to also work with us uh the
teaching staff to respect the work that we're doing despite all the heavy uh changes that are happening as well. Um, as union rep in my building, I'm watching veteran teachers, um, who have always been the pinnacle of the perfect teachers you would want in an elementary
school struggle this year with class sizes exceeding 25 and 26 and 27. Um, trying their best to keep students on task while maintain the high level of education that they're known for. Um, and they're struggling. So, knowing that, um, just be aware that, you know,
our our we have shining staff and that that they're doing their best, but they're going to need your support in more ways than just the visible support and the numbers and this and that. Um, I also know that heavy are the heads of the people wearing the crowns that have to deal administratively with this. I
watch our administrators um work tirelessly to answer emails, continue to establish connections with parents while also support their staff members, and there's simply not enough time in the day or hands uh for them to do all the work, and they are doing their best. Um,
I also would like to um have you guys just keep in mind as well that there are a lot of um people that like myself helping to coach and mentor um a lot of young teachers, outstanding teachers, people that we would want to remain here for a long time knowing that they have to start looking for jobs or unsure um
if they're going to be here next year. And they still continue to come to work every day, put on a brave face, and be really really great examples and model um adults for our students. Um, and we just want to let you know that the work continues in the buildings in the
trenches and sometimes it's hard to see um when you're not in the buildings all the time. Although, uh, Mr. Moore, we do see you um, and you are visible. But, um, sometimes, you know, from within the trenches, just know we are putting on our brave faces. We know that we are in a situation where we have to put up our
bootstraps and and almost be like the generation 100 years ago dealing through um, some tough financial times. So, we are here with you. We support you. Um, we know there are tough challenges ahead. Please continue to support us and know that we're doing the best we can every day, day in day out to be the
strongest and best for our students. Thank you. >> Hi, Katie Witig 49 Manganger Road. Um, I just wanted to say that I'm sad for the fact that this is the first reading and that at least I'm getting the impression from your first comments that there's
already people bashing, making negative comments, etc. I haven't seen a lot of it yet, but it's sad that it just got released and that's already for some people that's the attitude that they've already taken. Um, so that that's a whole separate story that made me sad.
The I do have a question actually. So, based on the numbers, and I did a little quick math, $7,17 students divided by $220,000 or $220 million budget. Um, it's about $31,000 a student. I'm just wondering how that compares to other districts. I'm just curious. Um, I did a
quick Google and I couldn't find it, but maybe you guys obviously know more than I do. Um, so that was one thing I wanted to say. Also, um, the presentations that you guys did earlier in the year, I feel about finances that came up out of last year. I learned so much from them and
the disappointing part of that was that there were only 25 people in the room and I have to say many of them are here. Um and and that's I think one of the hardest things for me as a parent who is involved who keeps up. If I can't get here I'm watching the videos recordings
and I feel like I know what's going on in the district. The sad part for me is now that a budget has come out and there are going to be cuts. That's when I'm sure the next meeting is going to be a full house. um when you've given us opportunities. I think at the last meeting I was shocked that there was a
survey in the strategic strategic plan and that there are like only 36 parents that contributed. Um but there's going to be 10 times that that are going to come out when you say you're going to cut a program. Even the letter there's the Google at the bottom. Um I think
it's at the bottom and I think maybe next time maybe at the top. I don't know. But the fact that it was there to try to get interest, I don't know if there's a way to get more people involved. Um, because I just feel like the people are going to come out when they have something to complain about instead of trying to be well informed,
which is what your your finance workshops did that I really hope you continue next year and maybe 25 people times two will show up next time because I really learned a lot. So, I just wanted to put those few things out there. Thank you. >> Is there anyone else for public comment?
Thank you all. I'll let Mr. Moore answer some questions first and then we'll have some comments if the board wants. >> Okay. [clears throat] First, uh I'll go backwards. I just want to thank um Mark for his comment. Uh Mark's a great
teacher. He teaches instrumental for us. Um but he's right. There are, you know, there are some great teachers doing some good work and uh I don't want um this difficult time to
outshine that mark. So, thank you. You're right. And what's great about our teachers is the resilience uh during this time. And you know, I would like to think the same for the administrators. It's the resilience and the commitment.
I'm going to work a little bit backwards when we talk about I get it town halls or surveys or whatever. I prefer written information. I use the surveys. When you
write out your thoughts, we then look at it as a team and we see how that fits within some of our vision and ways in which we can work. So those surveys aren't light. They're they're important
and they're expected. Reality, a lot of people do not fill out the surveys. reality, a lot of people don't show up to uh meetings. And one, I have a family. I'd like to be home sometimes.
I'm home. I'm out a lot. Um, and I do want to hear from the community or our staff, but I do prefer you to write that in a survey and put your name to it and your address or whatever may be the case so that we really have substance behind
your comment. Not just showing up at a mic making a comment maybe prefer maybe at that time it deserves an applause. Great. I don't have a problem with it. But I want it to be remembered. So, I ask you to write in those surveys. They're important. They're not light and
they're just another way of doing it. I may not be the same as another superintendent somewhere else that wants to hold a town hall or so forth, but I am willing to hear from you and hear from you in a substantive way with
surveys. Um the I just want to talk a little bit about presentations and you know the thought of it being incremental. Please use incremental to look more like
wellthought out. This is not an easy choice. So yes, we take our time and we go step by step by step and some of the movements if you look at the budget where I tried to take it from other
where we as a team tried to take it from other areas such as you know uh capital or from transportation so that we could first initially not um lose our staff is because yeah part of us is hoping that
the formula changed at the state level and so we worked incrementally so that we're able to try to sustain this as much as we possibly can. So instead of incremental being you know m
not like you know not transparent or slowm moving it's more like step by step and thought out. So we when we're talking about cuts or people's jobs, yes, I'm incremental because I'm cautious about how we go about that
process. So incremental, I would like you to think more like thought out and how it's thought out. Um, in terms of I just wanted to answer Deb's question about uh granular versus
a wide view. So, I know our Deb Con's wonderful teacher. She teaches photography here at the high school. And I want to make sure and address her question. Um, there's, you know, we did learn a lot from the first time because this is only my third
year of being a superintendent, so it's been quite young. I feel like I've been here 10 years, but it's my third. And, um, within that, of course, we picked up every time we've gone through this so far for three years we've been going through it. we pick up a little bit more
and do a little bit better. And I'm glad that people see that and we'll work with you and try to do that. We're going to continue our workshops. We thought that was successful. We'll continue to do that. But you know, many of these when we put
something out letterwise or even a presentation, preliminary is key word there. Why preliminary? These again once again this is not light this is people's jobs. So if things change and shift then
that looks wishywashy or how why would you do that? Why won't you? So again thought out right now we start with the preliminary because we want to give you the overview on where we see it. Do we
have all the granular? We do not because the granular isn't just hey let's just take these teachers. The granular consists of an audit. It consists of looking at enrollment. It consists of looking at metrics. It consists of and
by the way a lot of these to uh my parent groups a lot of this stuff has human resource implications to it. So therefore there's reason why we take hold it close to the vest.
Secondly, uh while I'm saying this to you is these what things shift and change based on certification and for many of us we like to see what other certifications teachers have or
pars or others that have so that we can figure a job somewhere else where we have a loss. So in to be granular so early in the process would to me would feel like we're not being uh let's say
we're not being um prudent in our work. This work and these decisions take time. It takes an effort. It takes looking at three and four times. We actually send it to the attorneys to make sure
everything lines up the way they should before we want to make any sort of granular presentation because we do understand that these are jobs. This this is attached to emotion
and we want to make sure everyone feels safe in the process. But as we go through that process, for us not to take such detailed looks at every decision that we make, to me that falls short. We need to
look at every decision. We have to do it in this manner. I try to give you the information where I'm at with it and at this present time, but I don't I don't want to leave you lost. That's why I put words in there like minimum or this is what we have. So I want I want that
understanding that these decisions and the way we go about it does take time but it's because our vetting process takes time. Um let me see if I can answer a few things. um our parents in terms of
parent volunteers. Um it's not that uh we absolutely appreciate par parent volunteers right this minute. We're preoccupied with the budget and our staffing situation. But we do appreciate parent volunteers
but we can't rely on parent volunteers as that is not an everyday occurrence. Parents have lives. they're going to do things that maybe they can fill in the gap once in a while. The other thing is parents now you know we need to make sure we vet you we take a
look at your background you're going to be around many different people. The other thing is are you going to be a parent in a school in which your kid is there and then how does that impact us? And we've had experiences that we've learned from where parents have kids in
the same building that they're volunteering. And unfortunately, sometimes that doesn't always gel. So again, we I am happy that our parent and our Canadian friend said that you're willing to volunteer and I appreciate
that. It's probably because you're Canadian. I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding. I'm kidding. That's I had to break it. It was just too intense. This has been too intense. So, I do appreciate you and I don't want you to think we're knocking that off. I just want to tell you that it's not just a
one two step. It there's steps to and entering into that and and vetting that goes along with that. Um and um I believe there was a special special education services and bringing them back. We have a new special education
director in Dr. Russa. He's absolutely terrific. But he as long as but I have to say Connie Salbino who was the director that has been our goal cuz we cannot afford to send kids in out of to out of district placements that has
really well one that's unexpected uh budget uh budget uh expenditures but besides that they're in six figures so it's not a light thing. So we absolutely
have already started on that process of uh trying to bring things back in government. However, I say that because I say to my parents who do need out of district placements, when a child has a need that is above what we can do, we do
see the need to do that because we understand as some schools specialize. But I will tell you we are so working on it that we have students with medical needs which need a staff a medical staff
member a specialist whether a nurse or a practitioner with them uh in class every day and we have maintained them in class and have worked with doing that and that's not exactly light either. It's expensive but it is not as expensive as
actually sending that student outside. And the last part to that is we're we're not in a business of trying to send our students away from us. We're trying to keep our students included. So we don't have an issue with uh working from that
end, but we'll continue to do so. Um and I hate to end on this um but uh class sizes, I think Mark said it best. I think um I believe Josh said it too. uh
yeah their studies I I understand that and that is always in consideration. I do think that as we go through this process, there may be a mathematical equation that does not cannot match up
because if we have less staff, the the students will still have to be um serviced and that may I don't want to make a promise that class sizes won't increase when we're dealing with every
decisions a dollar. I will tell you that that may be a reality, but I don't think the words of Josh or Mark doesn't fall flat on and it's not on deaf ears. We do hear it. Where we can, we'll try, but I
don't want to make promises that I can't deliver. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Moore. Uh, general comments were pretty pretty extensive. Just touch on four specific issues a couple people raised. Add a little context. Um, one of Mr. Winrab, I I give
you credit for responding to the directions I gave you. I should have been a little more clear in the prompt for my assignment. Uh, which was how to solve the increasing cost of health care. Um, but but it's a good I mean really it is illustrative of how we've
dealt with this problem before and that's it costs what it costs and we're going to fight over who pays. And so for the last 15 years throughout the state and throughout state law, you at one point it was the district and then there was arguments about how much employees should pay and there was that cost sharing and then there's how much should
the taxpayer pay and additional um tax levy. So like that's just moving the cost around but that doesn't solve the problem of if the costs go up, right? That that's the the crux of the issue. Uh but good try. I I'll look forward to the revisions of your assignment at our
next meeting. Um, another another topic a couple people brought up was subscription busing. Uh, so just want to add a little context here and think about so there's different kind of levels of busing. So you got on the one hand the required busing people that live remote from their schools 2 miles or two and a half
miles depending on how old they are. Uh, some students have an IEP that requires them to be bus. Um, so right so we have to bus these students. And then at the bottom, you could potentially have courtesy busing where, you know, a district decides that someone lives between one and two miles and we're going to provide busing. But that's not
the kind of busing that we provide to those non required students. Ours are all the the mid tier, which is hazardous routes. Essentially, we've looked at these kids and said that yes, they live less than the required distance. They're less than 2 miles away, but their route to school is not safe because they
either don't have a sidewalk or they have to cross a highway. There's no crosswalk there. So, so we're not if we were providing courtesy busing across the board, it might be a different conversation of these kids don't really need the busing. And so if you you make that analysis, it might be worth it. But
to to require a parent to pay for busing for a kid who doesn't have a safe route to school, right, that that to me just that that analysis doesn't make sense. Um, so again, in our context, I don't think that's a solution. Now, long term, that is a question of how can we improve those routes, right? if we work with the
county to add more crosswalks and there is a a grant that the the township has gotten through the state the safe routes to schools program that involve partnership with the district that's going to add some crosswalks and things throughout a lot of different neighborhoods. So that could potentially reduce the amount of hazardous routes, right? There are things that could
happen over the next few years that could make that, you know, could allow us to reduce the number of kids who are required to be bust in those circumstances, but from this year to next year we can't just say, "Oh, right, they need to get to school." And until we can make that route safe, we still have to provide them with uh or we've
made the decision that we think it's the right thing to do to provide them with busing um in that circumstance. Um donations, right? This always comes up as a a common topic. Um if we had a $100 million endowment, right, that would solve part of our problem. Uh but you
know, endowment, basic endowment math is you take whatever you got, you can spend about 5% of that, give or take, to put into the budget. So, if we had a $100 million endowment, that' give us $5 million. Plug that into the operating budget. That'd be nice. That' solve part of the problem, but that doesn't solve
the problem long term. I'd also ask the question of how do you get to a hund00 million endowment, right? That's not something that, you know, maybe if we've been fundraising for 100 years from alumni that are very wealthy, you could do that if you're a, you know, long-term private school that has very wealthy alumni. Uh, to get from here to there in
any reasonable amount of time in West Orange, I think, is unrealistic. Um, I think where donations could be helpful and successful is to target those either at the PTA which can support programs in the schools or to target those to our booster parents who work with our performing arts groups who work with our
sports. Uh, because to the extent that uh parents with means can supplement those programs. It does make it easier for us to provide kind of the base level of program for all those activities, but then the additional things can be supplemented by the parents that have the means to do that. And we do have
some great booster programs that that help with that. So I think those are places you can plug in and support, but at the end of the day, donations are not going to fill, you know, the the size of budget gap that we have on an operational level to prevent the need to reduce positions. Um, and lastly, our
our legislative team, I have been in contact with all three of them repeatedly. I think I've seen all three of them in the the last two weeks or so. Uh, they're probably getting tired of seeing me at events and saying, "Hey, what are we doing about state funding?" Um, I will continue to call them. I will continue to nag them. Um I wouldn't be
optimistic that there's any great solution in in the works for this year. The word on the street in Trenton is that the budget itself is going to be kind of tight that the governor said, "Here's what it is." And usually legislators go and say, "Well, I need this, this, this, and this for my constituents." And then they, you know,
they work out a few deals and some money gets spent around. Um sounds like the governor doesn't want to do that. Sounds like some of the legislators do. I think at the end of the day the best case is that we can secure some additional funding for some specific projects so we have some capital improvements. You know, maybe we get some additional
funding for something targeted like that. But the likelihood of any overhaul of school finance in the next 6 months through our this state budget, I think the possibility of that is zero. Um and really we got to continue the conversation for the long term about how
do we fix this uh moving forward. Um so that that'll I think end my comments. Um anything from Shriker? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. Um I did not com speak uh when the everyone else spoke because
I thought Mr. Stevenson um did a great job summarizing. I thought it was very clear and I didn't want to add anything. I didn't want to comment if I couldn't add anything. Uh I do want to make a few points um with respect to the public comments that were made. Um, so first of
all, I I appreciate the uh the sort of back and forth. It's it's uh very civil. It's very nice. It's an improvement from the past. We're not going to agree on everything for sure, but I think that's it was it's going in
the right direction this year. Um, to begin with, I want to uh commend Mr. Moore for not blaming previous superintendent and boards. That is the easiest, most immature thing that I hear. We know that we have contracts that predate us. We weren't here.
Nothing we can do about that. We have expenses that are built in. Nothing we can do. We have buildings that are 100 years old. Who are we going to blame? The the grown-up thing, which is what we're doing, which is what Mr. Moore is doing, is saying I'm responsible. It's
my job. I'm not going to blame anybody. So I I just wanted to mention I I appreciate that. Um there some of the problems here are have to do with the fact that there's no right answer and there's no definite um point of view. I
have people coming to me saying I'm a senior citizen. You guys got more money from the state this year. Enough with the schools. How about helping how about helping me so I can stay in town? And then you have people who want to raise taxes on the other end.
I don't agree with either of those. I I you know, it's not an easy conversation to have, but we're talking about 70 cuts here and now somebody wants me to cut wants us to vote to cut more to keep
the property taxes where they are. That's not realistic. So, I I can't support that. On the other hand, several people believe that the problem here is the
budget formula process. Um, and I I don't know. Some people think that it's the formula. Some people think it's because we want to be able to tax at a higher rate. I'm not for that. I'll I'll just tell you right now, and I know I'm not going to mention names, but
I'm not alone on the board when I say we're taxed enough, and I would not vote for more taxes, referendum to get more taxes. I I I wouldn't do that. Um, as far as the unjust state funding,
whether it's just or unjust, it's not the state, it's the governor, it's the assembly, and it's the Senate. you our our efforts our efforts I mean talking to us about how we're going to survive is important but really the energy and
enthusiasm has to go towards the people in office in Trenton otherwise we're just uh spinning our wheels here a little bit um as far as transparency I I think that word is o
being overused a little bit there's a reason that other uh townships and cities and boards of ed look to us in terms of a role model as to how you handle your business. Mr. Moore, I guess, is too uh modest to bring it up,
but I know Monontlair is is learning from us. I think it's West Essex. I don't know where else, but there's a reason that they that they're looking and see what the superintendent does, the central office, and what the our board of education does. So, I think we're okay as far as transparent. Can
always get better. We're better now than we were last year. I give a lot of credit to the uh parent organization who gently and sometimes not so gently pushed and said, "We want meetings. We want meet." And I don't really care if people don't show up. Uh people are busy. I totally get that. It's not for
us to say they're not showing up. We're not doing it. It's for us to respond to the request and the needs. And if people can't um make the time to make it, that that's none of my business. People are doing the best they can, I'm sure. Um
the idea that we're going to start cutting clubs and activities. I mean, first of all, we're we're nibbling around the edges here. If 70% of the uh budget is from salaries and benefits, we're going to cut some club
that's going to save $1,000. I'm still getting killed for all the support I gave to keep the Mandarin Club last year. I don't know what's gonna happen with that this year. But I mean, we really have to address the big items here. I think uh you know, I learned a lot. Mr. Rock and taught us all
certainly myself about the health uh care situation and I think we're in a better position than most because of because of that. And I I appreciate his leadership on that. Um, I I also want to address our Canadian friend. Um, I I have some intimate
knowledge of that system and there's more than a few things we could learn from them. Um, uh, I I think that's a I think that's about it. But if we're if we're looking towards fees and increase our ability to tax over the
2% two and a half percent and referendums to do so, I think you're going to find a lot of resistance. So I I just want to let you know um that's the case. And uh I'm not looking forward to the next couple months, but we'll do what we have
to do because we all want to stay here. You know, I'm recently reelected and I heard every time I went out on the streets, which was every day, I'm moving. I heard from one person every time, I'm moving. I'm moving out of the township. I'm moving out of West Orange. I'm moving out of Essex County
or I'm moving out of New Jersey because they can't take it anymore. So that as we have the dual responsibility that was brought up before, the students and the people that pay for all of this. So, it's a tough thing, but we're doing the
best we can. Thank you. >> Ju just a couple of quick points. Thank you, President Rock. Thank you, [clears throat] Mr. for those comments. I think Mr. You hit it on the on the head with the not skirting around the big ticket
items. And just for for reference and I have a couple of questions for Miss Flowers in 200 three the first budget that I voted on as board member I believe 200 23 is it 23 or is it 22?
Okay. 22. The pick ticket items that Mr. If is talking about, salaries were at 100 one.3 million. 101.3. Um,
in 2005, sorry, 2025, they were 115.4. Last year, 111.6. And in Mr. for Moore's proposed budget this year, a decrease of almost $8 million to 103.4.
So when the slide says it's an increase of 3 and 1/2 to 4%, that is correct in terms of its impact on the budget line. Uh but it may not
color the entire story in terms of its impact to the overall budget. So when it's 50% of the budget and the number moves from 101 million to 101
million last year and being reduced this year, got to take that into account. Transportation costs in that 2002 budget were around 11 million. This year they're almost approaching $18 million. Um this board has been very proactive in
looking at costs. We moved into health insurance plans two years ago when we saw the writing on the wall in terms of cost. And so although we're only looking at about a 14% increase in health insurance, which seems really high,
[clears throat] the reality is is that for 17%, I'm sorry. I mean, the reality is in 2022, we paid 27.4
million for health insurance. In this year's budget, it's 40 million. So, I I say that to say, and again, we talk about reducing a bus route or having pay to play, that's not going to balance the budget. That's just not
going to do it. It's and and and those two things should not be put in the same context as I heard Mr. Ifer say that. Correct. You can't say let's make some parents pay to have their kids uh participate in a club or let's make people pay for bus
routing. I mean, I don't even think the I don't even know the percentage of students that actually bus, but I'm glad Mr. Mr. Rock and Mr. Moore made the point of hazardous routes, the ability to provide busing where necessary for kids because those are real numbers. Uh
one of the speakers talked about uh stipens and the reduction of stipens. Well, the community may not know those stipens go to our teachers. They don't go to uh parents. they they go to compensate teachers for their additional
time to oversee clubs and participate with kids and everyone appreciates that. And so when we talk about a reduction of of clubs and activities for kids and I and I don't know if the speaker's figures were correct, uh when you're only talking again about a couple of
hundred,000 in terms of a reduction in stipens if you got rid of meaningful and worthwhile clubs for kids, a couple hundred,000 are not the driver of the situation with the budget. It really is salaries, benefits,
transportation, um, and healthcare. And [clears throat] lastly, just a couple of quick questions because again, as I said earlier, we have to pass a budget within the finite time each each
and every year, but we also have to look long range at making investments in our in our buildings, right? And so part of our revenue here is also taking $4 million of our budgeted fund balance to to fill that budget shortfall for this
year. At the same time taking that budgeted shortfall, we are reducing our reserves for catastrophic things for Miss Flowers. The the reserves account for operating reserves. >> We do cap
>> capital projects >> capital projects and maintenance reserves. of the present reserves that we have. >> So, so, so we're we're taking our reserve money to fill a budget gap when in actuality we're decreasing the reserves that the district probably
needs that auditors probably recommend we should have to fill gaps in a budget. And essentially, we're we're we're expending out the the safety and security of the district's financial health to fill a a a real time budget
issue that that money won't be there in the future if something catastrophic happens. Uh and lastly, one of the speakers spoke about the healthc care waiver for raising the cap. Uh, and so
I think Miss Flower said this, baked in that 2.5% proposed levy that the superintendent is asking the board to approve is a healthcare exception that is already in there. I don't know what it's not broken down in terms of the percentage of the
healthcare exception versus the regular bank capped, but I think that is something that the district has already uh looked at. Correct. >> Yes, that is correct. We do have uh the allowance this year. We this year based on the calculations we
are eligible for a healthc care adjustment. Uh we are submitting the budget with the recommendation of almost $800,000 $797,000 which allows us to go up to the 2.5%.
before we go. Now, we do have approximately another 3.9 that will now roll into banks cap. And if I have the the figures correct, that 2.5 that we're being asked to approve,
I think is the second highest tax levy that we've approved in the last several years. I think there was a 2.66, >> right, >> a couple of years ago. And so again,
this this duly elected board by the citizens of West Orange come here to look at budget numbers and to try to provide the best education for kids. And I know other towns will be doing things again as I said earlier, we have to own
what we own, but this board is being asked to approve a tax levy that is 2.5%. beyond even the forlone conclusion that we would approve a two a 2% increase in taxes and now with the healthcare exception of the existing bank cap that's there we're going to be at 2.5%.
>> That's correct. >> And so uh at one of the speaker's recommendation uh if you combine those two as he has suggested and not sharing whether or not there's a fair read on the statute that he cited uh that would mean a tax levy
of almost 6% to the citizens of West Orange. That would be a non-starter for me. Speaking for myself as a board member, again, our community continues to support the schools up into the tax levy. Uh I voted every year for an increase of that 2% with some variance
with the bank cap. Uh and I am not willing to support any tax increase that is beyond where we are at 2.5%. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Uh, we will move on to our resolutions. May I have a motion to approve the personnel items A1
through A5? >> So move. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Ker. Uh, I want to congratulate the following retirees. Patricia Aldworth, a teacher at Westnor High School, for her 20 years of service. Don Brennan, an administrative assistant in Gregory Elementary School
for her 26 years of service. Antonio Fernandez Batista, head custodian at West Orange Early Childhood Learning Center for his 18 years of service. Leonitis Perez, a custodian at West Orange High School for his 17 years of service. And Susan Sete, an
administrative assistant at West Orange High School for her 10 years of service. Uh, thank you all for your service to the West Orange students and our school community. Best wishes to you on behalf of the board of education and welcome to the club where every day is Saturday. Is there any discussion on personnel?
Seeing none, >> no. >> Hearing none, Miss Flowers, take the role, please. >> Mr. Ifer, >> yes. >> Mr. Stevenson, >> yes. >> President Rock,
>> yes. >> Thank you. >> I may have a motion to approve the curriculum and instruction items B1 through B4. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Ifer. Uh, any discussion? >> So, I I'll insert it here. Don't know if I'll have the opportunity. Things may
move really fast. I don't want to miss it. I was not in attendance at the last board meeting, but I wanted to commend the um principal Kima Jackson, uh, Miss Joy Bernett, Miss uh, Miss Roy for their
participation in the Amad Amistad, uh, competition for, uh, North Jersey. Uh my son as a fourth grader at Redwood participated in that. Uh it was great to see all the presentations from all the schools in North Jersey. Uh our fourth
grade, one of our fourth grade teams uh did win. And so congratulations to those children who who won that competition. Uh as you know, Amistad is mandated uh for curriculum in our schools. Uh hopefully
uh Redwood was the only school that participated of our elementary schools in the competition. Hopefully more schools will participate in the future, but kudos to Principal Jackson and her team and to those children and families who took the time to participate in that
very important presentation. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Any other discussion? Seeing none, Miss Flowers, please take the role. >> Mr. Ifer, >> yes. >> Mr. Stevenson, >> yes. President Rock. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> I may have a motion to approve the
finance items C, special services items A1 and business office items B1 through 15. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Ker. Uh, any discussion? No, I think we've discussed this uh at quite a length today. So, uh, just
again, thank you, Mr. Moore, for your work on this budget. Um, we appreciate your work. Uh we look forward to the final budget in May that we'll present and any updates we get before then. Uh but in the meantime, I I fully support you and your team and again appreciate all the work that you put into this. >> Uh Miss Flowers, would you please take
the roll call? >> Mr. If >> yes, >> Mr. Stevenson, >> yes. >> President Rock, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Uh finally, may I have a motion to approve reports items D1 through two? >> So move. >> Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Ker. Uh,
any discussion? Seeing none, Miss Flowers, please take the role. >> Mr. Ifer, >> yes. >> Mr. Stevenson, >> yes. >> President Rock, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> I thank you very much to all of my board colleagues. Next up, we will have petitions and hearings of citizens for any agenda or non-aggenda items that you
wish to discuss. You'll have three minutes to speak. Please approach the podium at this time and state your name and address for the record. Hi, Joy Bernett. Um, 63 Pot Place and I'm a resident and a teacher at Redwood School, 21 years in the district. Um, I
just wanted to say two things. U, the first thing is Mr. Stevenson made reference to the Amastad competition. Um, I hope you will be pleased to find out I've already talked to uh Mr. the figurto. And next year I will present
professional development for all of the elementary schools on the program so that more teachers can um bring the program to their school. And what's wonderful is is that Amasta actually will pay the teacher that starts the
program. Um so there that is an incentive. Um they pay you a stipen and so hopefully more teachers will be willing to get involved. Um, the other thing I just wanted to put on the record as a resident in town, I don't know that
a lot of our uh, citizens realize that teachers, staff, administrators that we are all also paying quite substantially into health care. As I sit with my colleagues today, we all kind of, you
know, um, bitterly reminisce and as we, this tax season are looking back over years and years of payubs, we are realizing that our take-home pay is similar to what it might have been, you know, 10 years ago, eight years ago. We
are seeing the same things. So, I just want to let residents know as a resident myself, I hear people say teacher salaries, teacher salaries, but we are also feeling the pinch of the health insurance with the the shared cost that
we are paying as well. So, I just wanted to put that on the record so that people can keep that in the in the front of their minds that we are all sharing these costs together. Good evening again. Tony Edelstein, 50 Davy Drive, teacher at the high school
for 19 years. I know it's a mood point, but I still want to publicly express the collective anger of the staff at the district's decision to dock people a full day's pay if they're absent on Monday, March 30th, the makeup snow day. When the district faced the same issue
in 2014 and 2018, the common sense, compassionate, compromised solution was that employees would be allowed to use a personal day and would be charged the cost of a substitute. Hence, the district would be financially whole. But that compromise was reached under
different administrations. Current administration has chosen to disregard those precedents and instead punish employees who have previously scheduled vacations and travel plans. As I said in the email I sent to the superintendent, the HR director, and each board member on March 6th, this decision is
unnecessary, punitive, and mean-spirited. I don't know if it was made out of simple callous disregard for employees personal circumstances or to assert the power the administration has over employees or to squeeze out a few dollars to help close the budget deficit. Whatever the motivation, the
result is an angry and demoralized staff. I would think that given the current state of the budget, the administration will want to foster goodwill among the staff to encourage cooperation as we face serious budgetary issues. But I imagine now the staff will be much less inclined to go the extra
mile beyond their contractual obligations. The repeated claims the administration sends out that we are all a family ring hollow in light of this misguided decision. Thank you. Deb [clears throat] Cohen, for Hoy
Street, uh, teacher at the high school for 26 years. Just a couple of things. Um, I'm the one that made the comment about the stipens. I'm well aware. I have received stipens. I'm not looking to take money out of anybody's pocket. I'm just asking, has it been looked at?
Have there been K to 12? And this is where I get frustrated. Again, I No, I don't expect you to say seven social studies teachers and two elementary school teachers or whatever the numbers are because that would create even more chaos. I'm looking for what else was
looked at other than was on that slide and the little things they add up. You know, there's lots of little things that can add up. So, I just want that to keep in mind. And then Hayden, I'm just going to ask again. you said in that letter which was helpful about athletics and
visual and performing arts and I can tell you at least at the high school everybody wants to know what that means and we didn't get an answer. I don't know if you can give an answer but that's what I'm looking at. Uh Max Gman 15 Allen Street. I've been a teacher here for 11 years. Uh I also
went to this school district. I found my passion in woodworking, which is what I teach. Um, and I I commend your efforts. This is now the third year of budget cuts, of trying to be strategic. Uh, I didn't realize that we could raise taxes
a little bit more than that 2 and a half%. I pay taxes in this town. I'm feeling the pinch, uh, just like everyone else. But I would really encourage you if you maybe not go up the whole way, but anything helps to keep
the diversity in this town of all those clubs and activities and classes where our students find their passion. Um, I know it's not really our fault that the health insurance thing goes up every year. Like others have mentioned, my
paychecks look about the same as they did almost 10 years ago. uh because other costs go up. Um but we need to deal with the what we were given. So thank you. Is there anyone else for public comment?
Okay, that'll end public comment for more. >> Yeah. So I know that um let's first address uh what I call equity. However it'll be defined, we use the contract and we use language upfront to
understand what we will engage in if something happens. Myself, I lost the Monday myself because we made we have a written thing that's about a year out that says if the snow day occurs, this
will happen. Now, when you're asking me to be discerning or use discretion, there are people that don't ask for anything and they just follow along with the written contract and the guidelines. Just like teachers
expect us not to ask them to do something outside of the written verbiage in a contract. If you take umbrage to the fact that someone holds you to the contract in
which you agreed to and you've had ample amount of time to see that, then you're not asking me you're not asking me to, oh well, you're you're being punitive. No, not punitive. No, no. I'm following
what's written so that people that show up for their job because they decide to follow their contract or that what's written, they get the same treatment as people that are like, "Hey, give me a break. I I want to catch a plane to something. Let me go this and that."
Doesn't work that way. If we all s if we all have a bad if it's a bad moment, it's a bad moment for all of us, me included. So following the contract is the equity. That's the way I don't make a decision saying I'm going to give it to you, but I'm not going to give it to
him. The way I use discernment is if the a teacher has an emergency, if there's some discernment to be used, then I will use it and I will use discretion at that point in time. But outside of that, it
is a happy and professional family or not professional relationship. We don't have Thanksgiving dinner together. I get that. But we do have written information that guides us and how we as administrators can hold you
accountable and how you as teachers can hold us accountable. So don't be upset because it was written there. Understand that it's a chance. down to our parents and students that had to give up their
time because uh they understood the calendar read that way. Fair to them, too. So, that's fair across the board. We all suffered on that one because of snow.
Wasn't no way was I trying to be mean or punitive. I wish it didn't snow. If I could do the snow dance, I hate that call. That's one of the hardest calls to make. but can't do it. Snow came. So then I have to go back to what's written and how we can still service and have
time for the kids. So when you're asking me if you're judging me on how I maneuver my character here, let me give it to you easily. I try to be as fair as possible. I use the written word to do that. And if I have to if someone comes to me in the union say well this person
has this issue or that person has that issue and it's an emergency then I go to the case by case because that's fair to everyone employed here not just some. So please don't don't don't think I'm being punitive or mean. Just trying to
be fair. That's that. Um in the case of uh you know um Deb I understand what you're saying and we do realize and I think Mr. Stevens is saying, "Hey, you know what? We just need to know what's going to
happen because you put that at the end." Well, what's going to happen is put everyone on alert at the end, including the athletic department, and including our theater, our music, our arts. They have to all know that we will have to go
to you if we need to go there and make adjustments. Do we want to? No. because I do believe that those activities actually fulfill the student experience. The student experience isn't just about
being in the classroom. It's about learning the language of music. It's about understanding how to play on a team, how to get along through adversity. And those things are done through uh either music coral sometimes
or football or baseball or basketball. all those things. So, it all matters. So, I didn't want to leave them out and they should be on alert because if we're going to be fair, all of it trickles.
That's how we will uh be able to address this as equitable as possible. And uh thanks Max. Max's a great woodshop teacher. I don't know what to tell him about the uh raise of taxes, but I do appreciate you Max. And uh I I
think that wood shop's important. And to tell you the truth, Matt, let me let let me say this about my classes like that, I'm a big protector of a lot of those classes as well because I think you can't go wrong when you learn a life skill
and wood shop is a life skill that all of us can get something out of it. So, so those classes, they're very important. Matt, Ma, Max, I'm sorry, Max. Max is a great teacher and he was once a student. I don't want to give my
age away, but he was here when I was here. But, uh, I do appreciate him, too. So, I hope that answered everyone's questions. >> Thank you, Mr. Moore. Mr. >> Just brief just briefly. Um, you know, I guess I'm speaking in
support of Mr. Moore again. Uh, you know, we hear that the little things add up and then when Mr. Moore has to do something about one day of spring break, you know, his his motives are attack. I
don't like that. He's mean. He's this. He's that. Come on. You you know Mr. Moore better than I do. Mean I've never heard before. Um I just think that's really not fair. But you know, some we say things sometimes. um and people
aren't going to go the extra mile. I I don't think you're you're helping yourself with this. I just think it's a bad situation. We all know it. Nobody likes it. We can't control the weather and um you know, I I I think it's a kind of an
unfair unfair uh criticism and I just wanted to make sure I was on the record saying that. >> What you're saying is it's a it's a PG show. We can't say what should be said in response to something said so ignorantly, but I think you said it
sufficient. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Our next board meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 20, 2026. This meeting will be held in the West Orange High School Library Media Center. We will not be going into executive session after the close of this meeting. There will be
no further business discussed and no additional action will be taken. May I have a motion to adjurnn? Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I >> I >> uh Thank you all for joining us tonight. Our meeting is now adjourned. We wish
you a good night.