e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e we love girls basketball we love women in sport okay you guys ready all right
good evening everyone welcome uh good evening and welcome to the West Orange Board of Education public board meeting on Monday March 17th 2025 I 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 Moore Miss Flowers and our student Liaisons uh Miss Flowers would you please take the roll call good evening everyone roll call please Dr Bryant here Mr Stevenson here
miss Vera here Mr ifer here Mr Rock here thank you notice of meeting the New Jersey open public meetings 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 act affecting their interest are discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the ACT a written notice was sent from the office of the Secretary of the board on January 7th 2025 that set notice was sent by regular
mail to the West Orange Township Clerk and the editors of the 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 site at a future date please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge Allegiance to the the
United States of America to the stands Nation godice thank you Miss Flowers in consideration of the closed and public meeting of February 24th 2025 do I have a motion to accept the minutes motion
thank you Mr ifer second thank you can I have a second you P me off thank you Miss ver uh any comments hearing none Miss flowers please take the roll call Dr Bryant yes Mr Stevenson yes Miss Vera
yes vice president ifar yes president Rock yes thank you all right next good evening to our student Aon Nina Davis and Abby rusin would you to please share your student ason Report with us hello everyone happy St Patrick's Day um
yesterday was the annual St Patrick's Day parade and Nina and I are so grateful to have been a part of it walking alongside our superintendent Mr Moore principal Mr Mr Guerrero our wonderful Mentor Miss Connors and Board of Ed Board of Education me uh member Miss Vera longside us are peers from the
absolute step team marching band and cheer team joined to March along showing West Orange pride in addition Edition this year's cast of the prom which will be performed on April 4th 5th and 6th was invited to Columbia High School's very own dress rehearsal of the prom on Wednesday March 12th the students at Columbia put on an amazing show we would
just like to thank them for extending the invitation and we're so excited for them to come see us as well I would also like to draw attention to my fellow student Lis on Nina Davis he was recently awarded with TW the 2025 exus County unsung hero
[Music] award she got this award for her numerous um contributions to our community I am so proud of Nina incredibly lucky to work with her this year that's so nice oh my gosh thank you um good
evening this year our future Business Leaders of America Club went to a state leadership conference in Atlantic City where they competed in events attended workshops and were able to network with people from all over New Jersey who share their common aspirations
finally the West Orange High School girls basketball team made it to the state championship for the first time in West Orange High School history where they competed at Ruckers University last night at 400 p.m.
although they only lost by three points we are so proud of them for all of their hard work this season holding a 5848 record thank you for that report and congratulations again to you Nina um next up we have Mr Moore would you give please share your superintendent Report
with us thank you president Rock first and foremost we're very proud of our girls basketball team as they've reached New Heights here at West Orange we thank them for their leadership andk thank them for setting the pathway for our
future Mountaineers I appreciate that next I'd like to I'd like us to point out I'd like us to acknowledge actually Scouts from Troop 2 they're here in our audience tonight to achieve their merit badge in fulfillment of community
communication and citizenship so let's give a round of applause for Scouts of troop to uh led by scout master Jack Dean and I believe Mr Brennan if they're in the audience thank you very much for joining us tonight we appreciate it and we 100%
support our Scouts thank you for your commitment um next I would like to introduce a former board member and president of the board you're
back I'd like to welcome former president Terry trig scales who will do a presentation on behalf of our africanamerican heritage scholarship fund good
evening it's a pleasure to be back so I think we're going to see a video uh either one either one oh that's a good one we know I think we know him
okay so we're going to watch this video and then I'm just going to say a few words after at various colleges unfortunately Skyrock cost higher education significant barrier for many of our students hop scholarship have provide
over $300,000 to West orang graduates the hoping scholarship fund has been instrumental in supporting our students dreams who can help make these college dreams come true for the future West ARs with the tax adultery contribution to the H scholarship please give now to the
H scholarship here's how and while we're queuing up the word there hi my name is Olivia Raymond I'm graduating class of 2024 at West Orange High School my name is Alisia Germaine West Orange High School graduating class
of 2024 I'm Joel Robertson West Orange High School class of 2024 I'm currently attending Brown University studying public health and policy economics I'm currently attending Ruckers University New Brunswick studying biological sciences on the Premed track I'm a first
year St student at seen Hall University majoring in Psychology and I earned a 3.9 GPA in my first semester a scholarship from the West stge African Heritage organization really did help make my college Journey possible a college education is invaluable thank you West Orange African Heritage
Organization for the hokom scholarship give now for the h scholarship without the scholarship I received from the West Orange African Heritage organization I would have been able to attend the University of Rochester thank you I am actually standing in for brentot
this evening who is the vice president of our organization uh Brent had a personal emergency and asked me if I'd stop by I said well you know I've been there a few times so I I don't mind um and so to make this short and sweet we
generally do two big fundraisers each year and one is our Denim and Diamonds dance where we collect money for the scholarship and the other is men who cook we were unable to do Denim and Diamonds this year and so we decided to
do a public um ask for the scholarship the hokom scholarship fund and I don't know if you missed it but over the last 22 23 years we have awarded
$300,000 to students here at West Orange High School and so we're asking the public we thought this would be a good venue um and especially a beautiful crowd tonight to please make a contribution so that we can can continue
to do that and just another little public relations bit men who cook is coming up on June 8th and we're looking for men Mr Rock Mr Moore everybody and we don't care if you cook but we want you to serve you can
get help cooking so I thank you for these few minutes this evening and please visit our website and please make a donation thank you thank you next this evening we take an opportunity to recognize our high school mock trial team for their outstanding
achievement you can clap for the mock trial team absolutely for their outstanding achievement at the recent Essex County finals I ask our high school principal Mr Oscar Guerrero to please come forward
so that we can salute our students tonight everyone uh it's an absolute pleasure and honor to recognize and acknowledge the hard work and perseverance of a wonderful group of students that make up our mock trial team um just the recap that I received
from uh from our advisers is that you know we we were historic team it's the first time in school history that we made uh the Essex uh County finals um and although we came up a bit short Mr Edelstein had shared that two of the judges um who are superior court judges
mentioned how it was the greatest performance by a group of students that they had seen in many years uh and there's a testament to these group of students who've been preparing since the fall and uh before I call them up and present them with this certificate uh I'd like to First recognize their
unbelievable uh staff members who work very hard to prepare them uh Mr Anthony please stand when I call your name just to be recognized Mr Anthony Edelstein Miss Janine Sullivan and Mr William Ren thank
you uh also want to quickly mention that assembly men assembly woman uh boli wanted to be here tonight there are some citations oh that we do have I thought we didn't have them um that we will be presenting to the students so I will call them up one at a time just please stand in the front and we'll have a
picture at the end first up we have Rebecca balum Molina Constantine Leah delita Daniela depalmer delari Ferguson Dominic Fondo lay H Langhorn lady mik
Charles Mitchell Rector Grace Moran Akira Mira Joseph Palumbo Rya swander and Harmony Vincent congratulations everybody yeah of
course this is the from New Jers legislature right assemblywoman boli assemblywoman boli um so it does say uh state of New Jersey General Assembly citation com
commendations and praise are extended to fill in the name of the student by the citizenry of the 27th New Jersey legislative district through their elected representative for their incredible contribution as a member of the West Orange High School Mack trial team resulting in the team reaching the finals of the 2024 2025 Mack Tri
competition for the first time in school history and then there's there's there's a letter as well to each student which just says I want to congratulate you on helping West Orange High School Cham reach the finals uh for first time in school history this accomplishment demonstrates the hard
work and dedication that has driven you to thrive as a student and as a mock trial team member your success reveals the heights that students across our West Orange Community can strive to accomplish I hope this achievement can lead you to even more great things in academics and Beyond
okay and just just to give people an idea of what's involved the students have worked on this case since the beginning of October so since the beginning of October into February they were working we work both both sides of the case this year was a case about a uh
a championship show dog uh that died and the owner was suing a pet Product Company because she alleged that a product she used on the on the on the dog caused its death but in any event they worked incredibly hard we met here on Saturdays on Sundays uh so tremendous
effort by this whole team thank you e e e e e e mock trial one more time okay thank you to the advisers and
the students for making history and once again representing West Orange um at this time now it's time to present the preliminary budget presentation um I'll ask the board members to sit up front and I will uh
present the presentation I don't know it feels weird is that all right I think so okay all right everyone time to present the uh Westar
our preliminary budget for the uh 2526 school year and of course I'm superintendent Hayden Moore I'd like to acknowledge our board members president Brian Rock vice president Robert ifer board member Dia Bryant board member
Eric Stevenson board member Maria Vera of course we have our administrators up front Connie salamino special services like Liz veneziano our human resources and of course our assistant superintendent eony
dandz let me catch up to you okay to start we talk a little bit about our district and our total enrollment you can take a look and find your school you can see your own school's enrollment but just to so that
I don't go through each uh portion of the slide this will also be posted after tonight on our website so you can take a closer look um our enrollment this year was 7,191 our enrollment last year was
6,876 we've increased 3155 students just this year if you look at that number and compare it to Hazel Avenue school or some of the elementaries it's almost an example of a
Total Building that we've increased this year our budgetary goals continue to be to increase and support student achievement while optimizing District spending continueed to provide funding to maintain a safe environment in all
buildings so now we talk about the budget budget challenges so what are some of our budget challenges that everyone's hearing about one we've had significant decrease in state aid two annual increase in major
Opera operational uh costs that exceed over the 2% examples required expenditures expenditures that we must meet salaries so far has been up 3 to
4% this year health benefits 10% % special education tuition for out of District placements have increased 6% a district coverage insurance for the entire district has been up 11% and
transportation has gone up 3.5% this creates a substantial budget deficit so I know a lot of people have heard what are we going to do in terms of a tax levy well it starts
with West Orange and we will get to it later on a in another slide but taxes is raised for our homeowners here in West Orange our residents in West Orange um as there was a new tax assessment so in consideration the
board's been very conscious and asked us to take a look at what we can do we started somewhere with if we don't add to the taxes at all what would that look like we'll take a look we' uh be
approximately $1 million in deficit we would need to have to uh cut 110 to 120 FTE which are full-time employees we'd have a severe reduction in staff and academic programs we would lose our
co-curricular activities which uh you know and I know are a big a big definition of who we are in West Orange but we would lose our uh Athletics our band our drama professional development and our academic
interventions we would have to cut vital capital projects we need and as those of you in buildings with Leakes know that we need to repair roofs we need to replace roofs our HVAC if you're in buildings you know the Heat's too hot
too cold that those repairs need to be done many of those those units need to be upgraded and on some of our buildings we have structural uh repairs to make as build some buildings are shifting and we'll have to take a look at how to
repair those but they're not cheap to do as well so we so we looked at that without adding if we went to the 2% and used our bank cap which would re result in a
2.3% we still would be in a deficit of 8 million which uh unfortunately means that we still would have to cut somewhere near 80 to 90 uh jobs FTE we'd still have we have a a
significant reduction staff um our academic programs and our professional development will take a hit but we'll be able to maintain some of it we'll be able to maintain our co-curricular activities such as
Athletics band drama and uh our academic interventions which we really uh use especially to support some of our younger uh grades they're very important um and of course now vital capital projects we would still continue
to work on our plan in terms of repairing roofs upgrading the HVAC systems um and um um trying to repair some of the structural damages to some some of our older buildings so let's take a look at the uh
Revenue as you know we're a school system so we don't really we're not a business so revenues is really relied upon the taxpayer so I won't go through everything but if you take a look at state aid we were cut a million dollars
and if you remember last year we were in a deficit last year um and we used the Bank cap to make up some of that um this year we want to use what's remaining of that bank cap which will take us to zero in
reserves but um we besides state aid I think it's important that you know other areas in which uh we were cut so extraordinary Aid transportation we were cut $850,000 for uh let's let's look at semi which is
um a our special ed program in which we received reimbursement for some of our Medicaid students that went from 286,000 to 38,000 we received we still have to support those
students but and we will but it's a uh $248,000 loss um I think those are the uh total those are are very those are the two examples I wanted to give you but if you look at the bottom you will see that um
in comparison we're suffering a 2.7 uh percentage uh deficit in revenue from uh just last year so and the uh in terms of dollars it's a five mill
5,378 th000 uh cut or deficit should say okay I have notes on this excuse me let's look at the expenditure uh comparison this slide represents the expenditures the First Column represents
the actual budget as you can take see there and the second column represents the projected budget uh with reductions the third column represents the projected operational budget cost
for 2025 26 you take a look at it so if you look at the uh where we are trying to save money we're looking at um saving a decreasing by uh about $5
million since uh from last year to save some money you can go through each uh line item if you'd like to see where we would try to uh gain some savings but um operational
costs are very difficult to uh do too much cutting because we do need electric we need gas we need lights we need um some of the uh things that are essential
Transportation things like that so that's just our expenditure but we would try to gain some savings by uh saving money unfortunately some of that comes with salaries okay
so people ask about the cuts and how the state makes certain decisions I uh we try to point out here uh what has uh happened here and uh if you read the slide with the new tax assessment which recently took place to
homeowners the above comparison displays the average assess home value has increased approximately 300,000 if you take a look at the Town value that almost doubled and now the average um home
where we used to work off of $336,000 we now have to work off of $615,000 at the uh 2.3 tax increase um to the residents we're
looking at about $206 per month per household for the year that would be $242 so this is a preliminary with a high overview there isn't no there there is no what are we cutting what's this
we're cutting that we don't have that as of yet um but we are working on figuring out those types of uh unfortunate um occurrences that need to take place in order for us to reach these numbers but
we don't have exact granular cuts that we would make but this is a timeline on what we're working with so today we needed to do a preliminary budget for you which we did the 17 I April 25th we
have to have a uh County approval of a budget where they'll review and see um if that if our budget is uh reasonable and if we're all in line and everything is legally in intact and then on May 5th
is when we will have the vote for the final budget so it's a short timeline it's not very long um after uh this preliminary meeting of course there'll be more meetings with the board and we
will do you know lots of work taking a look at where Cuts would need to be made um we'll look at capital projects that have to be done what can be delayed uh not an easy conversation for us here at
West Orange but uh as you saw neighboring districts uh might you know these this isn't unusual this point however you know happening in West Orange for me I've been here a long time it is unprecedented to me uh I'd never
imagin that we would be in a situation as such but um you know the numbers are there and uh you know for the taxpayers you know we do have some responsibility to them but we do uh plea that we do
need some of uh funding I know that their taxes have increased I live here so mine as well but to fund our schools and to keep it operational um we do need help from our residents as well so for
now the preliminary but this would conclude the preliminary budget I appreciate you listening um what I would ask though is that the board returns back to the deis and uh you know as the night goes on questions or comments and
so all we would be happy to listen to as well so thank you for that yep we're all set okay all right thank you with the board e okay so I just want to before we uh
conclude the superintendent report I just want to give our HIV report at this time I present the HIV intimidation and bullying report since the last board meeting there's been four investigations throughout the district I reviewed and
summarized each was deter each investigation and it was determined that one incident met the criteria and all and the other three were unfounded thank you R thank you Mr Moore uh next we have um
also just for the benefit of the audence we've all met individually with the administration and asked them many questions about the budget that's why we didn't go to individual Q&A from board members um but you can trust that we've asked our questions of the administration at this point and already had our questions answered as you know well as they could be for the moment um
we'll move on to committee reports is anything from curriculum Mr Bryant no reports okay Mr Stevenson um Mr Ro I have no report with respect to policy or negotiations however I want to make a comment and say this evening I
had the honor as a both a board member as an app parent to attend the West Orange Elementary art Exposition at the West Orange Public Library uh congratulations to all of those Elementary School students including my fifth grader who has their artwork
displayed in our Public Library so I want to very quickly thank our West Orange Elementary art falculty uh by mispronouncing any name please excuse me uh Caitlyn car at Washington School Cecilia Ferrera at Mount Pleasant School
Michelle uh leesa at Hazel School Melanie ranelli at Redwood Elementary School Nicole Sebert at Kelly School Al Adam schwart from St Cloud and Sarah Tracy at Gregory school thank you to all
of our wonderful art teachers for their support of our students thank you um last month I have the pleasure to be invited to Roosevelt Middle School to be part of the diversity art gallery
opening and um no words to express that it was amazing job from the seven and eight greatest artist you know basically it CAU my attention from you know very specific student from the I would like to say you
know it's the I can't remember the last name but it was from the e grade and uh the way he put all his effort into drawing with d you know it was the time that he invest and the kind of uh
support he received from the teachers it was really good to visit roosevel middle school thank you to the vice principal Miss Banes and Mr hush for the invitation and um you know I hope we can
keep working with the students because we have we will have great artists from the Middle School to high school and once again it was February the 20 when I went there and you know I'm expecting to
keep receiving more invitations to observe each one of the students uh project or final work during you know for for this one one more reason to support you know these activities
because we keep the students safe and we promote all the talents that they have thank you thank you uh Mr RoR thank you Mr Rock uh on top of all the budget uh
information that we have to deal with um there's something else that we have to deal with which came a bit unexpected which is the leaf blower ordinance that maybe you've heard of um Town Council passed an ordinance I won't go into the details you can read it on their website
uh essentially outling gas blowers you have to go to Electric there there's a time frame for this there's um all kinds of rules involved in it I had gone to Town Council to see if maybe we could be exempt and we're
not so we cannot pay for that we cannot afford that on top of everything else where we're going back and forth about cuts to the budget cuts to personnel which are horrible it's in good conscience we can't just add the leaf
blowers on top of that and just cut more position it can't do that so what we're working on now unfortunately is that Mountaintop League any uh wreck group that uses the fields the buildings
anything that's part of the Board of Education we're going to have to talk about adding a Sur charge or tax to the users because as you see our budget doesn't have any fat we can't just add another however many hundreds of thousand dollars on it for the leaf
blower ordinance so we want to work with Town Council we hope we can but this is somebody's got to pay for this and it it shouldn't be the Board of Education it shouldn't be everyone here tonight so
that's I give that report as uh the liaz on to Town Council thank you thank you Mr ifer you want to I didn't know we were doing shout outs go ahead um thanks to all the Elementary School teachers and
coordinators who coordinated reading Across America week that was so fun it was so great to spend time with the kids and they were so excited and so thanks for the invites and thanks for
organizing thank you for that Dr Bryan that reminds me to add that to my report as well uh so I'll start with uh a few things to share on my president's report um first some some good news and updates from Kelly Elementary School March is women's history month and our West Orange well this isn't about Kelly but I
guess we'll get to Kelly in a second March is women's history month and our West Arch high school girls basketball team is I should finish reading before I start talking sorry rewind the clock March's women's history month and our West norch High School girls basketball team is scheduled to visit Kelly Elementary School to speak our
students about the contributions of women to our history and to society this event culminates with young women putting our students through basketball drills uh Kelly will be welcoming the United Color Guard in April in recognition of Autism Awareness Month final details of the event are being worked on and the
entire school is looking forward to this with great excitement for World read aloud day on February 5th Kelly Elementary School hosted countless members from the community who came to school to read their favorite children's book to our students and our fifth grade students participated in an international celebration in the form of an assembly which was filled with music
artifacts and dance recognizing the various countries that our students families are from students were dressed in Trad traditional Guard from their home country every country was represented with either a song or a dance uh and then as Dr Bryant mentioned was um read across week uh I was invited to come to Hazel Elementary and Gregory
so thank you to to those two schools I'm always happy to come read so if any other schools next year want to book time with me uh I'm happy to to come out it is a great experience to to share that reading um although I learned last year to check the end of the book before you start reading it because I found a book that had some cute polar bears on
the front I don't know if anybody knows this book but in the end of the book one of the polar bear's friends dies so I'm sitting in front of a class reading the book and I realized at the same time as the students that the polar bear was going to die so if you're ever reading check the ending I read the first like
half and thought this this is super cute no word to the wise uh also recently had the uh pleasure to attend the mayor's state of the city address which is hosted our Chamber of Commerce along with um superintendent Moore and Mr Guerrero uh they always honor some of our students
our top 10 students from the high school here were there um and I'll share a little bit about what they've done and where they're going to college and as a marching band student person myself I was proud to hear that almost all of the top 10 are Marching Band students or color guard students but congratulations to all them for for their
accomplishments and then like two two final topics that are a little more serious and less um glitzy and fun as Mr ier mentioned we we as a district now have to figure out how to deal with a potential leaf blower ban in town uh and look as a private citizen I don't mind I
blow my own leaves if I have to buy an electric leaf blower that's fine uh it doesn't cost me that much money but as a district our business administrators told us that's going to cost somewhere upwards of1 or $200,000 as you heard Mr Moore uh tell us all we're short on money at the moment um and so so we have to you know
find a way to come up with money for that uh and there are no good solutions to that but if someone out there has way to to solve that problem or Square that Circle I'd encourage you to let me know um but like Mr ier I was disappointed to hear that the town counil passed that ordinance and wouldn't make an exception
for us or discuss that in any way uh and finally the you know what Mr Moore mentioned state aid in his budget report um so just wanted to talk about that for a moment um without getting too into the Weeds on the details um you right when you hear the governor talk about state
aid and his budget address it always sounds great they're funding schools at 100% and some schools got a lot of money my old District East Orange actually got an increase for the first time in a long time but when you look under the covers a lot of it is a slate a hand where they're kind of moving things around and so our problem that that we've been
dealt the hand we've been dealt is that as home valuations go up that reduces the amount of Aid the district thinks that we are o on paper the home valuations not just the assessed value but the equalized valuations they use in the calculations continued to go up so
they went up uh from 7.8 billion to 8.4 billion last year and the way they calculated our local fair share which is what they think we can raise in property taxes went up 15% from last year to this year I don't know if anybody understands math but if our tax levy can only go up
2.3% but they think it can go up this much that leaves a big gap the other piece of the puzzle is that the adequacy budget what they think it cost to run our schools went up 7.5% so and that that's essentially a measure of inflation of how costs go up and we all pay more for everything I pay
more for you know the electricity at home the groceries when I go out to to shop for the house uh we we pay a lot of those expenses as well in one shape form or another and so if those costs go up at 7.5% represent our budget essentially
and property taxes only go up 2.3% again that's a math problem that's that's hard to square um so I know that the budget presentation can be a little bit shocking can be a little hard to absorb uh but at the end of the day we're facing constraints that are that are put on us by the larger state by the larger
economy and trying to make the best of what we can that's what we've all been elected to do uh but keep in mind that some of these things are out of our control um and while I will continue to to reach out to our legislators and continue to advocate for our district to get more State funding because in the long run that's the only way to solve
our budget crisis is that the state steps in and funds us adequately uh in the meantime we have to pass a balance budget so wish I had better answers or better news but as I looked over the funding information that that Miss Flowers sent me that's two things that stood out to me that I thought was
important to share with you so with that my uh president's report is over and we will move on to public comment from the uh 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 uh please limit your comments to three minutes we have any members of the audience tonight who wish to make a public comment my name is my name is Jay wack well I saw address for the past 30 years half my
life is 36 Gilbert place also known as Roosevelt Middle School so yes half my life that means of course that I've been around the block when I first entered this room 30 years ago this was called the library and the
term LMC did not even exist it was a very different time 30 years ago when every New Year began with the number 19 and this new thing called the internet was something we all thought was right out of Star Trek it was a different time in the West Orange
Public Schools too but its mission was always the same just as it was over a hundred years ago when none of us were even around the mission of the public schools was to serve the children of West Orange that apparently has changed now believe it or not I've been around
long enough where I have students say to me Mr W you taught my mom this of course makes me think of my own mom many of the people who are in front of me right now for whom I hold some genuine affection know a lot about me but did you know that my mom was once the president of the Border
ofad I grew up about 20 minutes from here in Pompton Lakes and when I was a teenager my mom became the president of the pump and leges Board of Education when she grew well and would eventually succumb to what took her her one of the first things she had to do was step down from the board but I
remember all she had to contend with when she was on it Hayden her her board hired a superintendent they ultimately had to dismiss why she didn't hire you you know is beyond me she would have loved you as much as we all do I learned a lot from
my mom especially when she was the president of the board the most valuable lesson I learned is that the children come first Jerry tarof by the way told me that knowing that was the secret to his success so when the fire alarm goes off
you take the children out of the building and when you're teaching and all of a sudden a storm appears outside you close the window you do not let the storm enter the classroom the children come first so I have to wonder why is this board in
front of me forgetting that the children come first why on Earth are you allowing the storm to enter our classrooms times are hard we we all know that's true but as parents we know that sacrifices have to be made for our children I know that every time I sign
the check for my son's tuition for seedall University times are hard and hard choices need to be made but the kids shouldn't be aware of that they shouldn't have to wonder why they have fewer teachers and why the teacher they do have keeps forgetting their name
because there are 29 other kids sitting in that same classroom whose names they they need to remember the children come first I know there's a Code of Ethics one must comply with when you're a member of the board I know this because my good friend who used to be the
president of this board shared it with me I looked it over and I was surprised that it was only four words long you know what those four four words are the children come first Brian Robert Dia
Eric Maria hayen Tanya what are you doing we all see the storm so I'm I'm asking you to help us close the windows in our classrooms thanks these children are the future of West Orange New Jersey and our
our nation the children come first thank you the children come first the children come first yeah timer is working now yes is good evening everyone my name is Josh gar but I'm the president of the West
Orange educ Education Association I'm also a lifelong West Orange resident habitual voter and taxpayer and my taxes did go up as well um I came here with a different speech there's a lot of blue ink on it now uh and as frustrating as
that was I'm very happy that I had to make so many first of all thank you I'm happy to hear that the 0% increase is seemingly off the table you did the right thing and it's appreciated as a board of education you have no power to control the money
provided by the state but you do have control over the school budget you mentioned even with the 2.3% increase that 80 to 90 full-time employees will likely lose their job these cuts are significant and they place it on a
course and they plot us on a course for this District in town that are going to have long-standing repercussions I assume that you're looking to cut extracurriculars before attacking the classroom before we lose any specific teachers because any cuts
that impact instruction before Sports and and extracurriculars is unacceptable I'm going to repeat that any cuts that impact a classroom before extenuating all other possibil ities is
unacceptable special education students they're going to get the resources that they need because the district is legally bound to provide their services but what about all of the other students how will they Faire the cost savings will fall on their shoulders so what pictur is being painted by this budget
maxed out class sizes less attention on each student in class struggling students not receiving the extra help they desperately need and with these larger class sizes come lower test scores multi language learner struggling in a macd classroom to become proficient in English fewer Student Assistance
counselors to help our students in crisis fewer security guards to keep our children safe is that something that we're proposing is that something that we're going to have to deal with will we see overburdened counselors who will have less time to help guide our students through their educational Journey will we have fewer nurses to
patch up the cuts and bruises our kids get on the playground what about administrative assistants Tech workers CST members and therapists they all play a vital part in the education of our children and they all play a crucial part in providing our students with a
worldclass education the power Professionals in the classrooms will there be just as many they don't just help the students that they are charged of helping we all know that they help every single person in that classroom and they need to
stay what about the amazing electives that we offer to our students I went to this High School I learned a lot from these electives these classes introduce our students to Opportunities they never knew existed and unlock interests in talents that they never knew that they
had let's not steal those opportunities from them right now West Orange is a great place to be a teacher and let's keep it that way in a time when all districts are facing teaching shortages encouraging Educators to see greener pastures which this would do Mr Gold
could you wrap it up please uh absolutely good educators will not want to come here and some will leave to find a district where they feel respected and and value you ran for Board of Education little faster perhaps the last sentence absolutely do the right thing and vote to increase the budget thank
you let's see okay hey good evening my name is Molly Eisen I'm a sixth grade teacher a West Orange resident and vice president of the West Orange Education Association uh like Josh I also had to frantically
rewrite my speech so now it looks like what I would hope my students writing would look like if they actually use their editing checklists so so I'm very straightforward with my students so I'll be straightforward with you your proposed Staffing Cuts would be devastating for our students they will
hurt our schools for years to come in ways that will be immediate and ways that will only become apparent over time we teachers and staff are the ones on the ground were the ones who were told to do without yeah all the decisions come from up high with zero cont
consultation with the people who actually see and experience what happens every day I urge you to collaborate with your staff as you continue getting out of this budget mess there are about 21 woa members who reside in West Orange or
roughly 22% of our membership we are also feeling the tax reassessment believe me we all are we aren ignoring that but talk to any of us or the parents of our public school students and we are 100% against the decision to
cut staff let me be clear you are not representing the best interest of the students your decision to raise the budget is very good we very pleasantly surprised sitting here actually but what you're proposing would still be
catastrophic there are options here we all know that everything won't magically be solved even if we wish it would but there are ways to lessen the impact let's be clear you are choosing not to use these options you are choosing to cut right into the heart of our district
this and the mess you will lead us into is on you and we will have no choice but to remember that do what's right by us but most importantly do what's right by our kids good evening my name is Mark letic I reside at 12 Fairway Drive uh I stand
before you tonight as a proud graduate of West Orange High School a member of the West Orange Educators Association a taxpayer and a soon Tobe parent of a child in the west Pare Public Schools I know that we are faced with some tough decisions regarding finances in the coming weeks but I wanted to speak
briefly about how some of these things being considered would have major effects on our teaching staff and students I am here today because of all that the West Orange schools have afforded me I learned to play the trumpet across the street at Pleasantdale Elementary School when it was called Pleasantdale 32 years after
picking up the instrument I a music educator and active performer and owe all my of my entire career to the inspiring Educators and opportunities that West Orange schools have uh afforded me as a student as an educator I left a 10e position as a middle school band director to come back to work in
West Orange I wanted to be part of one of the best teams of Educators in the state after 10 years of teaching in West Orange I can tell you that we are one of the best districts in the states we are the Envy of many around us because we are supported as professionals and given everything we need to provide the very
best education to our students additionally our staff is well supported in our contracts which is why many teachers opt to spend a majority if not all of their careers here in West Orange our district social media pages are constantly touting our successes and student achievements our staff is
committed to working hard our students succeed everyone is committed every day to coming in and working hard for our students my wife and I who is in our 20th year here at West Orange High School are so committed to the mission and believe so much in our schools that we sold our home two years ago we fought
every incoming buyer in West Orange and finally were able to purchase our home here in West Orange we are we know how good the schools are we know how the offerings and opportunities for the students are second to none and we know that there is no other community of people and Educators that we would want to educate our child than here in the
West Orange schools parents are enrolling their children in our schools at an alarming rate with nearly all our elementary schools and middle schools nearing capacity now is not the time to cut funds cutting funding will only hurt our uh administrators and their ability to create suitable learning and teaching
environments increasing class sizes and having less teachers in front of students is not giving um and it's not setting our students and faculty up for Success so with this I humbly ask the board to think deeply about these Cuts I know the burden is heavy and that this charge uh is placed upon you I know that
you are appreciative of all that the uh schools have offered your children and that are appreciative in speaking about the reading for America and the ability to go see your own child's art at the art show my hope is that one day my child will be afforded the same success and the same opportunities and I know
that we will work together hand inand to do what's right for our kids thank you evening for those that don't know my name is Deb Cohen I'm currently in my 26th year of teaching in the West Orange School District as both a former Madison Board of Education member and former Town council member I understand how
difficult the budgeting process can be as a teacher I have been through as many of the people here the cuts in 2010 caused by then Governor Chris Christie when school budgets were slashed as well as a budget that led to above normal Cuts in 2016 however I have some major concerns regarding the proposed Cuts presented
tonight one of which is that if you look at all of the presentations going back to 2010 that are on the website the prelim one always had an estimate of where the cuts were coming from where is that tonight we realize it changes and nothing is said in stone but it doesn't
even exist if Federal funding does get cut in some way how does that impact things I know we can't predict the future on that however the following depends on where we go how can we advocate for things if not given prior to that to April 25th but we teach in a
school you want things to get spread fast tell anybody in a school building and between the students and teachers it will be all over a building of 2,000 students and 300 staff members within less than 24 hours so with that many classes have been having discussions some of the
students ended up are coming here and speaking tonight and we don't know the exact nature of all the cuts because we haven't been given any information but some of the teachers who know their classes have been cut for next year the electives have been told and have been talking about it as a
learning opportunity for the students students the scariest one for me that is known there may be others is the glaring Cuts in all three courses related to journalism intro to journalism broadcast television and newspaper are all on the chopping block
how in this day and age when that is how we all live and survive is by media can we do that these students learn what good and bad journalism is how to report effectively how to cover news without bias and with facts journalism's been around since the printing press may be
longer in some fashion and is always import important in society the Hands-On experiences provided through videoing concerts town events such as the St Patrick's Day parade and Memorial Day parade and much more allow students to learn how to cover and Report real world
events I'm a mother of three former high school athletes and understand the importance of them however our goal as Educators is just that to ensure that all students have the ability to learn and that the resources they need are available I hope there's a balance to what's being cut before classrooms are
hit we need to focus not just on our AP students but on our lower level students larger class sizes impact them the most they have less opportunity to ask questions they're less comfortable and they don't get the attention they need the choice less choices in
electives lead for more achievements gaps for our students many of these courses lead to students majoring in and finding careers for post high school and college life it's imperative that if Cuts happen to be made which it sounds like they do outside the classroom is
looked at before we touch anything K to 12 in the classroom all right good evening everyone um I'm not gonna sing tonight but that's okay but um no my name is Darren nurse I'm at six Dartmouth Road uh one of the things I wanted to say is
you know before we do anything I think everybody need to just stop and just think and look everything over I think we can do more I think there's other things that can be done uh I'm also part of Gregory PTA and you know
the PTA does like a phenomenal job of fundraising right and there's things in this town that we can do you you have the town at your disposal you have teachers here that grew up in the town and dedic themselves to come back to
teach here because that's how much they believe in the town so I think what we need to do is start reaching out to more people in the town because sometimes as Executives we don't have all the answers but as executive and as managers if we
reach out to the people that surround us they can help us get to those answers and I am more than certain that these people in this town are more than willing to help out before anything got cut changed or anything like that um um
when you look at the situation where you know it's easy to say the word cut right until it's you that's getting cut and then now the question become is why am I being cut you know and that's and that's not and that's not a fair thing for
anyone so I've watched these teachers you know put the work in and and do the things they need to do in order to make these children be who they are you know just watching this marvelous team over here of um kids that did a pre-t trial watching this Cub Scout team over here
doing what they did so we need to just fall back we need to think about other things what we can do how can we raise Capital right in order to cover the things maybe we need to become a town that's self- sustaining maybe we not maybe we not need to reach outside and
look inside and we can start doing that then I think we'd be in a better position as opposed to just cutting everything every time we come into this position thank you good evening members of the board superintendent Moore and fellow community members uh my name is Haven
Burton and I come before you tonight not only as a concerned resident but is the mother of three children in the West Orange Public Schools like so many families here my husband and I chose this town because of its diversity its values and most of all its schools I have one child in general education one
who who receives special education services and another who receives benefits from both I have seen firsthand what a well-funded Wells supported School District can do not just for students who thrive in a traditional setting but for students who need individualized instruction speech therapy occupational therapy smaller
class sizes and teachers who truly understand how to meet them where they are this is what West Orange does so well and this is what we are at risk of losing a budget shortfall that will hurt our children hurts everyone especially families like mine and this is not just
an inconvenience it is devastating my children like so many others rely on individualized support of dedicated Educators therapists and Specialists they rely on schools that are structured inclusive and enriching they rely on a district that has long prided itself on ensuring every child gets what they need
to succeed what happens when that funding disappears who will be left to catch the students who fall through the cracks West Orange is not shrinking it is growing just as we've observed this evening new families are moving in housing developments are expanding and
enrollment numbers are rising and it is not going to slow down more and more families are choosing West Orange for its strong schools particularly its special education programs now let's be clear our district is known for excellence in special education families move here specifically because of the
services that we provide we educate a higher than average percentage of students with disabilities because we do it well this is not a relability this is a point of Pride but if we don't invest in maintaining that Excellence we will no longer be able to provide the support that these students deserve now listen
we already see how difficult it is to meet the needs of this community and how we will manage with further cutbacks is I have no idea but personally I visited my daughter's classroom today she's in a DI classroom an ID classroom at Redwood Elementary um she's a wonderful
wonderful teacher when we observed the classroom last year uh she had six students in her classroom and we were very excited about the opportunity to be in a classroom that was going to be an environment where she could flourish um this year she has 14 students and six
teachers and Par Professionals in the classroom and I'm going to tell you they're doing a wonderful job and it is chaotic um with six adult teachers and AIDS um they're not even at the legal limit which is 16 students and
additional AIDS a subject worth noting but deserving a much bigger attention um while the board has no control over State funding it does have the power to advocate for our fair share the legalization of marijuana has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for New Jersey
with these Pro projections only increasing for the coming years and the state must prioritize public education especially in districts like please wrap it up yep um yes so what I would ask is that you advocate for additional State funding and I know that it's difficult
but West Orange strength has always been in its people its Educators its family and its students and now is the time to come together not to cut back investing in our schools is not a Burden Burden it's an investment in our community's future thank you good evening my name is Nia McKinny
and I reside at 107 High Street West Orange I committed to continue my academic and athletic career at Howard University and I a co-editor-in-chief of the school's newspaper the Pioneer for a second year it is our understanding that every journalism course is predicted to be cut
in the following school year the Pioneers leadership team are present today to express the direct negative impact that this cut will have on our Student Success our three main points for the night are budget management and priorities impacting students future successes and the larger impact our
first point addresses budgeting and priorities here must orang I am a student athlete the term student athlete ensures academics are prioritized first before Athletics and because I valued this idea I have seen great success however West Orange has not honored this
idea seen by these course Cuts sports teams have parent booster clubs that can raise additional funds unlike academic programs which are limiting and fundraising opportunities therefore it seems sincerely obvious that academics should be prioritized in the board of education's budgets the variet of
electives offered at West Orange High School gives opportunities to our diverse student body including the journalism Curriculum by eliminating these courses specifically newspaper class what does it say to allow upper class less diverse schools to run their Publications and not ours the Pioneer
staff has worked diligently to keep our school in town United and highlights the successes of West Orange in all avenues again our district has overemphasized Athletics when we are more than just a bunch of sports teams so the Pioneer encompasses this fact the ability to
write on endless topics has allowed us to highlight the school's achievements Arts cultures celebrations and Athletics all together last Friday a ninth grade student journalist from the Pioneer came to me in distraught as her guidance counselors asked her to change her
schedule for the following year her and other journalists were all looking forward to the newspaper class to build their experience leadership and resume which Segways into our second point of address with all due respect cutting the journalism elect is will be an extremely poor choice I understand that
reinstating all three classes not within your agenda however the newspaper class at minimum should be within the top priority of West Orange High School's curriculum thank you for your time good evening my name is Isabella Ford bente and I reside at fim Avenue
I'm committed to Syracuse University and I will be double majoring in journalism and political science this is my second year being the co-editor-in-chief of the pioneer as well as in the newspaper class tonight I would like to advocate for the future success of our students by keeping the
newspaper program without these journalism courses students lose valuable opportunities to build strong resumes for college applications and to explore journalism as a potential career these courses provide essential specialized skills such as interviewing investigative reporting and editorial
writing skills that traditional English classes simply cannot offer Journal journalism classes give students Hands-On experiences in producing real world content amplifying student voices and contributing meaningfully to the school Community as of now the new house
School of Communications at Syracuse which I will be attending is the number one school in the country for communications and journalism the Pioneer has given me plenty of opportunities that have led me down this path along with many any other alumni from West Orange High School one example includes our annual alumni panel where
students are offered advice and networking opportunities to con to connect with our schools alumni who are currently pursuing or actively working in the in their communication careers all of the alumni of this program have gone to prestigious colleges and universities for journalism or
communication including Harvard Yale Northwestern Boston University NYU Duke Syracuse tane West Point borom and the University of Pittsburgh and the list goes on the journalism program at the high school specifically our newspaper classes allows students to
gain practical experiences and skills that directly prepare them for journalism or communication careers not only has the newspaper class created opportunities for me and allowed me to develop my love for journalism but it has also become a safe space for me and many other students in newspaper class
we don't just learn how to write we learn how to find and use our voices it's a place where expression creativity and critical thinking Thrive and where support each other as both writers and individuals you learn to express yourself through writing it is also where I've built meaningful relationships including a strong bond
with my adviser M doll who is not here tonight and she has guided me and supported me throughout my growth as a writer and a leader I want other students to have the same opportunities that myself and the leadership team were fortunate enough to experience with all due respect we believe that the board of
education is treating the school like a business regarding the budget cuts under these specific circumstances the Board of Education should invest in the academic interest of the students first allowing them to excel thank you for your time good evening my name is Taylor
shimik and I reside at ad mayir Drive um I just think it's unfortunate that we have to be here to talk about budget cuts at all um but it's a great exercise in our freedom of speech so I'm a senior and the managing editor of the Pioneer and today I would like to advocate for
the student voice the resources you're considering cutting have allowed students to develop an Irreplaceable set of skills through journalism my fellow leadership team and I have been beyond fortunate to discover our voice and form educated opinions in addition to
strengthening our mechanical skills as writers the continuation of imparting these skills is necessary not just for personal growth but for the future of our democracy journalism equips students with the tools to understand and question the world around them evoking transformative thought that inspires
their decisions and actions to come um that's why it's so important to convey to the impressionable students of West Orange High School that their voices matter by removing the journalism program you are Ascension you are essent essentially silencing the student body and revealing that the ability to
express ourselves is not a priority to you considering the current political climate it is more important than ever to ensure our voices are represented and our First Amendment right is protected your choices today will impact the future of Tomorrow words are power
and we should be allowed to practice that individual power to speak freely both within our classroom and Beyond in a world where AI is increasingly present we must maintain the authentic human voice that comes with journalism in the near future the death of such
authenticity will lead to fake news and the spread of information as we've seen proving detrimental to our society and even our rights as people in students um so finally I would like to propose a solution that maybe hopefully someone could consider um we have like they
mentioned that we have low class enrollment so combining the journalism newspaper and broadcast classes to a Joint Communications program for the following year would allow us to continue to learn such a valuable craft and transform our learning environment as well into a modern collaborative
space um this would keep the spirit of Journalism alive while also addressing your concerns the preservation of Journalism in any form should be considered a top priority to your curriculum and our needs should be considered in doing so you will have contributed to shaping the future of an
informed and responsible citizens so today we encourage you to consider the student voice and refrain from cutting the newspaper program thank you for your time good evening everyone my name is violet cenin and I res died at 24 Yale terrce if you are unfamiliar with the
Pioneer it is the online newspaper um and student publication at West AR High School it is student directed written and edited I'm a junior this year and have been part of the Pioneer Community since my freshman year my sophomore year last year on paper was trans
transformative for me I covered multiple stories including the controversy with the dress code a walk out and support of Palestine but led by West orang High School students and the pervasiveness of vaping as it was seen last AC Academic Year each gave me a a firsthand taste of
what uh investigative journalism is like I facilitated my own interviews dug deep with hours of research and edits and when pressed by Administration or students for more information I sat down again looked critically at my process and wrote a follow-up article after each of these articles were published I was
shocked at how many people approached me to say that they had read my piece students staff administrators alike I felt empowered like never before it felt like my voice mattered because it my friends looked to me in the weeks following articles Publications for
updates or clarifications on certain rules or protocol and I got to tell them with confidence the answer in a world where teens news comes predominantly from short form social media content this feeling is incredibly important the ability that Pioneer staff members have
to report factual content in an accept accessible way for students is critical as as it not only allows our staff members to off er their Nuance perspectives on current events and school happenings but also Fosters a level of student engagement and
communication that is critical an article I read last week was titled gen Z is losing a skill we've had for 5,500 years 40% are losing the ability to communicate if students should take anything away from their time at West Orange High School I think it should be
that ability and newspaper class can help if we are to break this break past this concerning trend of communication skill depletion we have to at least attempt to preserve the Hands-On opportunities currently available at West Orange High School that are actively combating this newspaper students are taught the value of the
interview how it can tell you more than any number ever will and with three years on the program I am easily able to interview adults peers administrators and community members with confidence and an excitement to understand many argue that the journal that journalism in itself is a dying art form even a
dying career path as social media takes over the news outlets it's certainly true that the industry is changing something that is equally true however is that Humanity will never become obsolete people's people skills will forever be a necessity the ability to push boundaries advocate for oneself
think critically while leaving room for empathy and human connection will never become redundant as I explained the pioner does exist outside of newspaper class as a club but I can also promise that students will not give up on the paper but the elimination of newspaper
class as an elective will not allow the newspaper of function at the capacity it currently exists cutting the journalism program is stealing opportunities and stealing student voices thank you for your time hi Bonnie Goodman I live on Mora
Road and I am a power professional at Washington Elementary school before I get on with my comments I just want to say that the journalism students who have just been up here have spoken eloquently about the need to
continue uh a a voice to be heard on the way home from school this afternoon I heard on the news that the federal government has shut funding for um Radio free Europe there are no
more voices to be heard so it is vitally important that journalism getting your the message out there and giving a voice so people
can read understand and then make a educated decision as to their future be continued so please before you cut journalism communication think about no more radio for
Europe but I am a LIF long resident of West Orange my husband went through the school system as well as my children when I go to visit my mother-in-law who is a hundred years old and living on Stanford Court she will
often say to me Bonnie West Orange is a very good place to raise children isn't it and I always said B yes yes it is but I have to say with everything that's going on now
I don't think I could say that anymore I've been very involved in town I am one of the founding members of pass which was the uh Association that for parents advocating for special services and
education we were responsible um Laura lab is in the audience uh tonight as as well as Ron Charles and other community members for raising public awareness for the C challenges of children with learning
disabilities and pass was a huge factor in establishing the amazing special education program we have here in District today and I would hate to see the opportunities for those children fade away I am a mother of a child with
autism and because of the support Josh received in District he graduated from New Jersey City University and is working full-time confident in his abilities and that he got as he went through the school district I'm a past president of the
West Orange Council of ptas and the council worked with the school members with the Town Council with the individual ptas to promote West Orange as a great place to educate and raise your children so now I stand before you still
as a West Orange resident and a power professional Miss Goodman could you please wrap it up okay sure um so why would you neglect our children our country's greatest natural resource to be punished for mismanagement the children in our district are already at
a social economic disadvantage a little quicker with the last sentence and funding the schools you are committing to cultivating an uneducated generation that depresses local economies and contributes to the systematic segregation of vulnerable communities
thank you Miss Goodman hi my name is Larry winb I live at 76 Cobain Terrace and unlike everybody else who's Spoken Here I didn't grow up here um I I didn't know anything about this area um and when we moved here we didn't
move here for the schools My Two children were in private school but we happily paid our taxes for the schools because the schools are important and education is important um and and making sure that public education is adequately funded is important for all
taxpayers and for all members of the community um but when we looked at Middle School options for our oldest son we realized that West Orange schools were in fact the very best option and he started uh at Edison meeting a number of
special education resources um and through the incredibly hard work of his teachers many of whom uh I I have seen in the room here today uh he has made enormous
progress um and that comes not just from the special education resources that use but also from the small class sizes from the dedication of all of his teachers not just the ones with special education training um who all found his gifts and
his talents and were able uh to further his learning um and and that comes from a district that is dedicated to funding everything that is needed for education
to thrive and every step we have made through the school system we have been amazed and thrilled with the options that are available and with the dedication of his teachers and the relationships that we have built
and I I cannot adequately Express how amazing that has been and that comes from a place that is dedicated to funding public education at at the highest levels that we can and as a
taxpayer and I still have one son who's in private school I happily pay my taxes and I happily request that they be increased to the maximum amount so that we can fund the system the way it needs to be funded and we can have the teachers that have made the educational
experience here the very best that one could imagine um and so I just want to say that you shouldn't be afraid of the taxpayers we can be mobilized to fund this we want this this
is a place where this is a value education is a value here and we fund it so mobilize us I I I I don't have any ideas to make money appear um I'm sorry about that
but but we are here to make this happen and grateful for what the West Orange education system and the teachers have provided thank you thank you good evening board members administrators Educators and community
members my name is Anna sanamu I reside in Cherry Street and I'm actually here tonight as for the first time in my life a union representative for par professionals as well as an advocate for public education
and a proud product of the school district West Orange Public Schools shaped my life and my family's Futures as a as a daughter of immigrant parents education was our Pathway to the American dream this District didn't just
educate me it empowered me the teachers the counselors and staff here believed in me and because of them I am now an educator giving back to the very system that uplifted me and advocating for the
students who are in need of a voice but what happens when those same educ educators and resources are taken away these budget cuts will hurt our students and our schools and as a former teacher of mine Miss Deb Cohen said
larger class sizes mean less individual attention fewer Mental Health Resources leave students without support staff reductions take away the very people who will actually make a difference in the students
lives now I worry about my students and their chance of having at least a spec of an opportunity that I've had but if I don't have hope in the ethical and statistical data from the very people who are supposed to look out for us how am I to be that Beacon of
Hope for them again this district has always been a place of opportunity diversity and academic Excellence but with this current situation that Legacy is now at risk we must do everything possible to
explore alternative Funding Solutions before making cuts that would have long-term consequences and I have my degree in political science and economics so I'm not going to be here to school you but if I can be of any assistance I'm here I've always said I'm
here but nobody's heard our students deserve better our Educators deserve better public education is the foundation of our community and it must remain
strong hello so uh past past I'm on 643 Mount Pleasant Avenue hi everybody there's about 10 times as many people here as last time I attended and I had no idea about the budget issues that's because I have three young
children including a baby and they eat me alive I don't get out much so uh I'm surprised I came here with a silly graphic about a foot path in essence which is not on the agenda so I'm not going to defer that but hearing all this
and and listening to all these great people made me uh realize that something happened as part of this that could be relevant and my immediate predecessor up here and an earlier gentleman mentioned like how can we help what happened here was essentially there's this preschool building coming
up apparently over at Mount CL Elementary and it's like yay I have two kids that might go there I am thrilled I am a yimi person rather than Nim and all that but when principal Lawrence did this great presentation something weird happened he
had concerns of course about traffic and you know security and parking and so on and it didn't seem like there were any like strong solutions for it and the room interupted with all these ideas and that's saying something because there were like 10 people in the room and principal lawence each time
said that's a great idea you should have been in the meeting with the Architects I'll take all this to the next one and that was both encouraging and a little bit huh I mean this is partly about parking and my understanding is that maybe like BMC is moving over there or something and I'm thinking about how
much staff is over there for 60 plus children I'm like there's no pocket it's full so the thing we thought about was why don't we just make a little foot path over to like OK Conor there talking over there and then well this ping couldn't do it because wit and soone like okay so I thought afterwards well
why why did we just not pave it can we just have like a a few parents show up with a few hundred of lumber and just build a little bridge over the little like drainage ditch over there and then you can walk and I thought that that after so I thought I'd bring it here because it didn't seem like principal
Lawrence had that much of a hand in like affecting the plan and so on like okay let's go ask over here and uh that's what I came to did to do but if that many seditions come up in a room of 10 people how many do we have here like how
do we help where do I sign up and we help like financially can a bunch of us show up with leaf blowers and just like help out so that's really it how can I help where can I leave my business card what can we do together thank
you hi I'm Max Gman I live on Allen Street in West Orange um I'm a lifelong resident in West Orange I graduated from uh well all the West Orange schools and uh uh when I was looking for somewhere to settle there was no other option
besides West Orange for me to uh to move to and and start my own family um I'm glad it seems like you guys are are planning to raise the budget to cap um and as a resident that is facing all the same inflation issues as the rest of us
I uh fully support that and money is certainly tight uh we need to make sure that we maintain our programs especially our electives in school I heard journalism uh might be on the chopping block um this is where students including me
find their passion in life uh Mr Moore was my Dean and can tell you uh how many classes I cut uh to go to wood shop and it uh it obviously worked out because I ended up back here teaching wood shop and and sharing that passion
with my students um I got hooked on that career here and and love that my students can also get hooked on on wood shop and plumbing and electrical and all the other electives there's too many to count uh in this
school uh and go on to successful uh careers in both the Private Industry and Union um the plumbing and electrical and carpentry Union come to the school and hire kids uh students right out of here
in June every year so um yeah many of these trades are needed to maintain the Aging buildings that were mentioned in this District uh so let's please make sure that uh we keep that in the budget to make sure there's a safe and reliable
place for our students to learn uh without leaky roofs or heat that doesn't work and let's make sure that we're training our students to do those jobs that can't be exported and can't be replaced by AI um let's make be smart about making Cuts uh not every student
is College Bound which is where those elective classes come in um and that's really what makes Westar such a great and amazing school people people can discover these things that they wouldn't have discovered elsewhere that's all I got thank
you hi I'm Julie fry 27 lesing road my kids are at St Cloud um I came to say that um I realize that these Cuts may be necessary in the end I fully appreciate that um I think that everybody is
working hard to uh do what's best for the district however it's really hard for me to feel satisfied as a parent member of the public that everything that can be done is being done after such a frankly really short presentation and no questions from the board members
in public um the goal of the these meetings is not to end them as quickly as possible we have open public meeting requirements for a reason and that's so that we can have substantive discussions in public and parents voters
taxpayers in this town deserve to hear from their board members about what are the questions that you're asking of the administration and then what are their answers the public speaks is sort of a one-way thing so we don't get our an all our questions answered at the end of it that's why we rely on the board to have
a discussion in front of us so we know that the questions that we want to hear asked are being asked and that we know what positions you guys are taking it's not it's not for your own personal satisfaction okay you have a public role here um and
so and in addition to that this is a historic cut you know if we're going to be at the next meeting and then there's going to be the presentation of the specific Cuts then that's not satisfactory to me there should be Town Hall meetings with parents with different schools you guys should be meeting with us going and hearing
feedback from parents I personally and fine with increasing um the tax that's okay with me it's going to be a big strain on us my mother lives in town too it's not not ideal but I'm okay with it but if you want to know how parents feel about it talk to them like have meetings with us go to the schools you guys are
like accountants in tax season you should be working overtime meeting with every single person you can hearing feedback getting maybe some good ideas about what you can do as for example um I encourage you guys to watch last week our neighbor South orig mwood had their
uh budget meeting and they had a $6 million deficit they were trying to close they were able to close that with no layoff no reduction in um staff by just um going line by line through the budget going building to building talking to staff to principles about
like okay are we really using this contract can we restructure this vendor that all these small things added up to that much savings and I'm not saying that can happen here maybe we're much more efficient than South Orange Maplewood is to begin with and we don't have those savings but like I want to know that that was done before anybody
gets laid off before we lose any of our valuable staff members we need to know that every single thing that can be done was done so please we're not your enemies even the leaf blower thing for example I mean if that had I didn't know that that happened if that that had been brought up by any board member at a
meeting I would have gone to the town hall meeting I would have written them a letter and said how I feel about it I totally agree with you guys but like we're like engage us we're here we're not your enemies you don't have to do things in private um you know use the public we're here we're all working together as a community to do our best
okay thank you thank you hi good evening uh I'm Katy copel from 30 Colony Drive East um I'm here to beat a dead horse um so I'm a rest orange resident I'm a taxpayer I'm a proud parent of a second grader at Hazel I was here last
board meeting I have a rising kindergartener so I'll be in this District if it's a good district for the next 13 years I understand that this is an unprecedented challenge that you're facing a significant State funding cut means that you have hard choices and it
threatens the foundation of our schools our Educators and our children I think superintendent Moore and the many passionate voices in the room have told us all what's at stake and so I want to make the same impassion plea that many of the other people that came here
tonight um have done including the last speaker which is how can we help and how can can we work together to minimize the impact of these Cuts families Educators community members are ready to be part of the
solution but we need the transparency to be able to collaborate with you and make that possible my question is how can we help what advocacy efforts can we take on to close the gaps between the support that the teachers and students need
we're asking for a clear plan I'm asking for a clear plan on how to engage the community in meaningful ways that protects what matters to us which is our children's education strong schools make West Orange an attractive place to live their
decline will have a lasting consequence for all of us I'm urging you to do everything in your power to increase the budget to think outside the box and to partner with us to find Sustainable Solutions because the children come first thank you
good evening my name is Laura lab I reside 12 Bar way rosand I lived in West Orange for 31 years I served on the board of education from 2008 to 2017 I receiv received my certification as a master board member from New Jersey
School Board Association I was president of pass from 1997 to 208 president of the Council of PTA from 2002 to 2005 during the referenda for the new middle SCH School of Liberty which is now 20 years old and believe it or not I attended board meetings religiously for
21 years while I was still on the board I provided professional development at New Jersey School Board Association and after I left the board I was contracted to be hired as a consultant to write policy manuals the only time I've ever spoken
to the board since I left eight years ago was when the former superintendent Dr casone had recommended that budget Cuts be presented to cut courtesy and hazardous busing so it really takes a lot to get me out um but I was contacted by friends tonight with their concern
about the preliminary budget since many of you are either in your freshman term or your sophomore term I'd like to give you a historical background of budgets when I left the budget when I left the school board in 2017 our budget was $144
million it is now up to 221 million which is increase of 77 million in 8 years that's a 9.6 annual increase our state aid at the time was 8.5 million you are now four times that amount
federal aid which is somewhat minuscule compared to the rest of the budget it has increased nearly double since I left and the cost per pupil at that time was 18,7 188 and as of this current year is at 24693 I'm I appreciate more than most
people the difficulty in balancing and crafting a budget being a acutely aware of contractual obligations federal and state mandates infrastructure maintenance programming professional development extracurriculars Transportation health
insurance while still setting priorities for the district I'm sure the West Orange board of education has not become the latest Outpost for an office of Doge but the idea of cutting this amount of employees will not satisfy your budget deficits
and will be counterproductive I'd like to offer you alternatives to cutting staff taking a hard look at your energy cost professional development curriculum purchases computers and capital projects I've been told that the expansion of the
preschool program would not met or impact the budget any way I'm not sure if that's accurate or not but I saw you have 575 preschoolers now and there is construction at Mount Pleasant to lay the groundwork for I think modular buildings or something so I'm hoping
that still that increase of population does not impact the budget because that's what it was sold as I know I'm out of time and I'm almost done the cost of Consultants to provide contractually Prof required professional development can be great reduced if not
eliminated by doing TurnKey professional development from your senior staff for stiens far less than the cost of outside Consultants Please wrap I will wrap it up the last important thing is when I was on the board I voted no against a contract for esip with Honeywell for $1
million there was guaranteed savings there so I don't know if you've done an audit since but they were required to provide $800,000 annually in energy and operational savings and a $2.8 million positive cash flow over the length of the program I strongly urge you to do an
accounting of that than hi everybody I'm Jill um Jill Harris I'm from nine armore Road um I was not planning on standing up I've uh never been to a board of ed meeting um and the the reason I think a lot of people
showed up is because as long as things are going well we're like okay great but when we see some concerns that's I think when we come out so uh I have lived here for 12 years now been a taxpayer for 12 years and I moved here knowing that at some point I'd likely have a child who
was going to enter um you know this excellent school system that I had heard so much about and one of the main reasons I moved here um and now I have I'm proud mom of a kindergartener at Gregory um and I'm just starting this journey so I'm new to all of this um but
I'm in it for the long haul and I'm in awe of the amazing people that I've met at this school and as part of the West Orange educ ational Community when our taxes increased uh which they did a lot um you know it was a comfort it was
probably the only comfort knowing that a significant portion of the money that we're paying would go towards my daughter's education and the education of all the other children in this town because they're the most important thing right um and I voted for you guys right
like we're all we vote and we pay our taxes and things and so you know we I'm going to guess this turnout is not typical for a Board of Education meeting that should really tell you something we hire you guys we vote for you um to
solve these really important issues and we need your help right now because clearly this type of these type of cuts is not that's not what we want that's not what our parents want that's not what our teachers want that's not what our community wants and that's why we
turned out in mass tonight to demonstrate that to you and I've heard that parent voices for some reason are really important so that's the only reason I stood up because I want you guys to know that we care as parents and we adore our teachers the ones that are with our Littles all day long you know
teaching them uh day in and day out and and really protecting them and keeping them safe all day so there are what I'm going to ask you guys is you know there are a lot of really incredibly smart people and dedic ated people not just in this room but people who couldn't make it to tonight's meeting tap into those
resources I've heard tons of excellent ideas just sitting in this audience tonight that you guys could take advantage of you know find these people and and talk to them the people who have boots on the ground every day who know
where cuts are okay and where Cuts maybe shouldn't be made talk to them you know figure it out from there um so I'm going to stop with that um but I just want wanted to to put my voice out there and and be in support of our teachers so thank you hello uh hope y all doing good my
name is Lucas andrada I live at 539 eag Rock Avenue I'm a senior here I love being here I put my heart on the line for this for this school I play foure soccer I love it here but I also love seeing seeing all my peers learn what they love to do
cuz we we all about to leave we're all about to have our own lives and they all found what they want to do through these electives that y'all trying to cut like the broadcasting program I wasn't in as long as my friend but my best friend I never seen him put so much
passion in something and I love seeing that I just want to see my friends strive I don't want to see you guys take away what other students just like my friends can make and find their love cuz at the end of to day it's all about the students like the first guy said I love
this speech I love everyone's speeches today just like the first guy said can't take it away from the kids you got to do this for the kids it's all for us we got kids coming here from the school talking because it shows the passion it shows that they love the school and I know everyone here loves the school so let's do it for the kids let's do it for the
school all that's all I got hi everyone my name is uh deari Ferguson I live at 897 Pleasant value way um uh yeah I'm uh a mck tri member of our not Championship but in the finals M
Tri team and the reason I'm actually in that team is because of a lot of our Educators that are here a lot of the Educators here are the reason yeah Miss Smith I see you in the background you're very nice Mr Mr Evans I see you too you can stand up but yeah a lot of the Educators here are the reason that I'm
in this mock trial team I wouldn't have continued if it wasn't for students and Educators alike and the fact that these Educators have to be scared of getting their contracts or voked like when I was here on Friday the
rumors of these budget cuts were terrible and all a lot of my teachers and students alike like journalis my friends in journalism they were very scared of when they were told that all these journalism classes were getting cut it's not right we have to do something about these Cuts because a lot
we all I there's so many people here tonight and I know we all have ideas that what we can do and how we have to do it but it doesn't really matter it at the end of the day something needs to be done and if not just for me my my little brother he's five years old he's in
special education classes and my little brother will be affected by the laring of these classrooms if individuality is not excuse me I'm very I have a cold sorry if individuality is not uh
preserved I guess you could say this n Valley is not preserved in our classrooms and same thing I see these in my own classrooms teachers not being able to provide individuality
and oh my God individuality and like resources for students that clearly need them because of these Cuts so I know that there's not much that there's probably not much that we can really do at this point that uh as a school
standpoint but like if anything we have so many people here tonight it's like uh like the guy that mentioned that we need to do something was sitting right behind me so I mean there's that um but yeah if we like we need to have like some sort of meeting like with everyone from our
town to get like ideas going because any ideas are better than no ideas at all and actually out of time but thank you so much Matt Dragon 13 Sheridan Avenue on the side of St Cloud Elementary School carved in stone it
says the problems of the future must be solved by the children of today those words have always struck me they struck me before I had a child they strike me struck me when my daughter attended St Cloud and they strike me now that my daughter's at Roosevelt they will
continue to strike me when my daughter has graduated from the district and I continue to pay my tax bill with a smile because I'm not paying for my kid I'm paying for our kids our kids that the teachers and
staff adopt as their own every school day but for the children your children our children my child to solve our future problems we must support them today we cannot leave our kids and our
future without the ability to solve those problems our schools are in their purest and most distilled form an investment in our shared future it is an investment now in our future teachers staff and board members
our future parents our future taxpayers our future well-educated populace if we Short change our students our kids today how do we make up for that later so so I'd ask you to fight for every penny we can find elsewhere
and I and others tonight offer to help but you also must vote to support raising as much of the remainder as you can from us residents our future holds big problems we must do everything we can and invest in every way we can to
prepare our kids to solve them thank you Moore has to run to the bathroom if you'd if you'd like to speak to us you can if you'd like to wait and reserve your time okay I I could speak to you now and then when he comes back I could say it all
over again one of the other for emphasis anybody know a good joke knock knock interrupting cow Mo the big hit with the high schoolers I'm not going to lie
the mic delete thank you Lauren is this on oh okay all right we're we're g to take a five minute recess and then come back thank you e e e
e e e e e e e e e e thanks we can find our way back to our
seats we'll be starting in about 60 seconds thank you for bearing with us Robert thank you yeah I think I better say something hello everyone we're going to return back to the meeting but I think it's only right that I thank you for
allowing me to pause I appreciate you asking permission first I did ask permission I appreciate the uh attempted jokes to keep everyone entertained I appreciate it um but thank you for your patience all right we will be back in
session continue public comment he'll he'll join us in a few minutes okay hi my name is Patty Richardson I am an 8th grade ELA teacher at Liberty Middle
School I was uh debating whether or not I was going to speak tonight but um after seeing the presentation there was something that really stood out in my mind and the biggest takeaway from the presentation is that we are just a
number there wasn't a specific amount of um we don't know how many teachers are going to be let go we don't know how many custodians are going to be let go we don't know how many coaches are going to be let go we have no idea I have been in this District
between my father and myself my father was an a teacher at uh Roosevelt Middle School for 34 and a half years I've been in this District this is my 25th year we have together been part
of this district for almost 60 years so when I tell you I'm invested in West Orange I am very invested in West Orange it is a true Testament to how eloquently the students who came up and spoke to
the quality of Education that they are getting by the staff in this District the thought of Any teacher being let go is mindboggling to me as an El teacher I am in a tested subject
area that hasn't been brought up tonight we're concerned about test scores that's all we hear what am I supposed to do with a class of 30 eth grade students have you been in a room with 30
eth graders it's no joke and the bathroom situation is a very real deal no joke but we are not a number and I have to tell you our job I
have stood up here before and I will say it again this job out of any job on this Earth is the most demanding and our morale is atrocious your
staff comes to work every day they have no idea whether or not their job is on the line but yet here we are to serve the children to love them to nurture them to make them better we deserve better
I hope you make the right decision and you don't let people go who should not you let go thank you hello my name is Kristen derenzo I'm a biology special education teacher here at West Orange High School
this is my fifth year in West Orange I have been in education for 14 years I taught nine years at parsipany high school and I've seen a lot of different students I've worked with a lot of different teachers as a special education teacher I am usually in a
classroom with another general education teacher we call it icr here we called it co- teing in parsipany I have co-taught with many people I have seen many students with disabilities I made the decision after nine years of teaching in parsipany I
was vested I was tenur i' been there my entire teaching career started at 22 years old and I was tired of the same nonsense not feeling heard not feeling appreciated watching our special ed program not get the attention
it deserved and so I made the very scary bold Brave choice to quit my job in June of 20120 at the height of a global pandemic I interviewed virtu
I interviewed with Mr Moore while he was out putting signs on senior front Lawns for graduation I didn't set foot in this building until what April and everyone surprisingly was shorter than I thought they were going to
be I was terrified but I tell my students I teach a lot of special ed students all the levels lldd po icr I tell them that in life you're faced with choices some more difficult than
others and sometimes you have to take risks I took a risk and I was terrified and I could not be happier with the decision that I made I am here five years I have loved every single one
of them and I hope to be here for many more years to come but I have to tell you what's happening right now is not looking good for me okay we've talked a lot about special eded here yes it is the law that specialed students get the services that
they deserve what about the other students what happens when we have to make those difficult decisions and at the end of the day you're willing to get rid of teachers the teachers who serve all of those students that make this District
great I don't want to leave West Orange but I know that if I have to do what's best for me what's best for my interest and I need to go somewhere I feel more appreciated then I will do that I've already proven that I will do it and I will do it again thank
you hi um um I'm I'm Samir Caillou my address is 9B Street um I'm actually like really terrified right now my hands are shaking like like crazy thank you um
I just remember sitting up in my in my history class today and um I just remember the entire class we were talking about the budget cuts I remember a student who went to her Council because she had to get her class Chang
and all I just see is a big red circle in an X and I just remember looking at my classmat right next to me and they were they were sad and I'm like wow I'm like even though these won't affect me it's clear that you guys made these decisions like you didn't
think of the students in mind no offense you really didn't think of the students in mind um I feel like this could have been a problem that could have been more open I'm pretty sure some people are finding out today that you need to make all these necessary cuts um I'm sorry I
wrote a script in like three minutes um just I just want to I just want you guys to answer this question for me do you guys think of the effects do you guys think of the consequences do you really think with with us in mind yes
these these classes they may not have many people that that you know enroll but there are still people who who want to be passionate and want to pursue their dreams and by just cutting them off you're just making it you're just like shutting down their dreams like that and I didn't really like that um I
also do know that this may this whole deficit thing may have been a problem Al last year and that people nobody talked about that either and I'm just wondering why didn't we talk about this last year why didn't we take action last year now we have to make all these necessary budget cuts because you didn't bring it
up with any anyone here last year you didn't talk about anything in town hall meetings last year and um yeah just think of us in mind that's all I have to say David Fitzgerald principal Liberty Middle
School that student just spoke and I had to convince her to share her voice I did and I said just say what you need to say however you need to say there are some people who are wondering what I'm going to say tonight
and it's not that I'm going to say anything bad you guys have the worst job ever I'm be hon because at the end of the day you have to determine what cuts have to be made I've offered those
cuts T your flowers you were a teacher for me at one point in time I sat with both verra and ier and said this is what we need to do hey
kyden we've I've seen you seen you at your best and your worst and at the end of the day when we look at what's going to happen in this District we have to make sure that we are doing what's best for the
students you can call me a lot of things a lot of people have called me a lot of things in this room but at the end of the day what I want to make sure is that we're doing what's best for our students moving forward and that's not an easy decision and I want you to understand
that because everybody has walked up to this mic and has said this is what we should do this is how we should do and at the end of the day it's not an easy decision to make it's not it's not like I look at Anton Carrera L yes Anton how you
doing it's not an easy decision Bo Chief I got you we're not there are so many I been here for 20 years 20 years two decades these are not
just individuals these are people that I know I know their life I know what they've gone through to get here and when you make these decisions please make these decisions understanding that they have
lives Miss Veno I know D Mendes I know I know salamino I know the decisions that you have to make that are not
easy they're not easy decisions to make but if they're necessary decisions then this is where I come back to the board and say you have to make the decisions that are necessary in order to move this District forward and I don't know what those decisions are all I can say is
make the decisions that are in the best interest of this district and the best interest of the students As you move forward so I know you guys are worried about what I was going to say that's what I'm going to say thank you last call for uh public
comment okay um so thank you for all that uh not going to address everything individually just a few points uh that we would like to uh address um one there was a comment about leaf blowers and if we had said something in an earlier meeting perhaps people would have gone to the Town Council I just want to uh said the
record trate that we did not know this was happening uh there was a ordinance passed about two years ago the last time I talked to a council member about that ordinance it was our understanding we would not be subject to it and so it wasn't going to apply to us um Mr ier is on the tally aison committee and he
meets with Council regularly to discuss issues was not brought up to him until all of a sudden between our last meeting and this meeting meeting I believe is when it came up for first reading at the council Mr ifer did attend that council meeting to speak to it both of us did reach out to council members to discuss
it uh so if we had known about it six months ago we probably would have said something here as well so just mention that on the topic of prek uh there is a small expenditure to our budget a local uh contribution to the prek program so it is not free so to speak uh but that expenditure is small and it is an
incredible benefit to this District uh that comes to the tune of about 77 or $8 million in Year's budget is that correct uh and will increase this year as we enroll more students so if we have to pay a tiny percentage of that uh I am absolutely fine with that but that is not what's driving this budget deficit
so if anyone is saying anything out there that prek is the cause of this that is an absolute lie and untruth uh prek is a benefit to this District that is well worth whatever small contribution we have to make on a local scale um as to the the journalism program talk to to Mr Moore uh we have
not reviewed any specific cuts um we do know that discussions going on about things to recommend for cuts uh so so we have not made any specific decision to eliminate journalism especially not to eliminate every journalism class we value the Arts as we value everything that this District does and all the
things that we do for our students um can't guarantee that there will be no cut to journalism at all but I also can't guarantee that there will be no cut to any in particular program or sport or you know curricular area or anything the fact of the matter is that we have a budget deficit as we have spoken to Mr Moore and Miss Flowers we
have instructed to them to spread that out as well as they can with minimal impact on classroom activities but when you're talking about millions of dollars there there are not millions of dollars out there to find by accident right if we were to when they cost it out the 0% budget if we cut all of the sports
Performing Arts that doesn't cover the the deficit I would not recommend cutting all of those but I say that just to put it in perspective right classroom instruction the majority of our budget is people people the the salaries and benefits that go along with
everything that we do as a school building and so if you're trimming you know $100,000 or $200,000 you can find that you can do that somewhere else you know if you go to central office there's a little bit there but there's not 8 million there there's not 8 million in sports right there is no magical world where we can say save this whatever this
is that means something to you and cut something else so so to Mr Fitzgerald's point we do have some difficult decisions but we do not take them lightly um as as someone said it's it's it's cut when you're not on the other end of that but I've been on the other
end of that I started my job as a teacher in East Orange and the year that I was supposed to get tenure I was told that I was going to be cut and I had to deal with that I was lucky enough to be called back but my you know some of my colleagues were not so I don't take it lightly the idea that we may have to
Rift someone who's on the eve of tenure and when I taught AP Government I had low enrollment I had some great students who love that class one year they came and said well the budget doesn't allow us to have a class with 10 students so we had to cut that and I had to tell the students who had already enrolled that sorry we're not going to do that next
year so I know what it means when a cut impacts a staff member a student you know it's real to me and in talking to the board I know it's real to them and in talking to the Mr Moore and Miss Flowers it's real to them as well uh so I will just leave you with that that we
do not take this lightly and we will make the best decision that we can and if those decisions end up being a little difficult so Mr Mo I don't know if you want to say anything uh thank you president Rock I think you said it best um we didn't review any
particular uh courses or classes what I think uh that you experience whether it's student or teachers is probably the enrollments and um looking at what low enrollment looks like and what it will be and maybe there are solutions I heard
students here with some solutions that I would def offer up to principles and I do I have to say I thought the comment about the importance of Journalism and what AI looks like in our world today
and also Bonnie Goodman brings up um where our freedom of speech is being silenced in other areas no we do understand and recognize that and by no means are we trying to take that lightly or not allow our students an opportunity
to be able to advocate for themselves or communicate I do think that uh with respect to the board and working with the board um this being my second budget working with them it isn't easy this is unprecedented we haven't been down this
road before um do we want to um cut jobs do we take that lightly do we want to do it no not at all no one wants to do it um but we do have a uh very real budget
deficit um that's not um there's no this is transparent because there is no hiding that it is we did have a pro a budget deficit last year we did everything to maintain what we had we
used the bank cap I uh search high and low and I think uh Mr Stevens those guys knew that um I wouldn't I would work tirelessly to make sure every position was somewhere in the budget we will still look at it and
still work the same same way and work tiously to resolve that I assure you that but I'm not sure that um we can make promises that this wouldn't be unprecedented anyway um even with uh the
efforts or so forth but what I will say is you know I I Josh and I spoke Josh gar president of our woa uh we spoke and you know I I'm wanting to and willing to
take in any uh suggestions that our teachers may have that may want to fill things out it would be great if uh that Josh was going to collect it but we put it on paper so that we could really review it not saying that everything would be used but we could sure use use
suggestions and help uh we are not turning away from that at all um so know that we will uh take that in and look at it um parents were willing to take your emails if you uh have a uh comment or a
an idea or if you knew something from another District we'll investigate it we'll take a look at it we're not in the business of trying to get rid of our teachers we love them they're terrific I can tell you I'm here 28 years I know all all these teachers and I'm going to tell you they're
quality people quality people my children attend this district and I can say I am grateful to the teachers in this District because I think my children have had great experiences I still have two within the district now
so I feel the same way parents do no one wants to be here uh and and uh definitely I don't want to be the messenger of bad news trust me I don't like that I'd rather smile and be cool with everyone but we're at a point where
we need to be just a little real and we need to really understand where we're at as a town community and a school system um we'll work tirelessly on it I'm drinking a lot of coffee had to go to the bathroom because of it um
but I'm up all night because it bothers me that we're here but we are working on it and I assure you we continue to do so but we're also open to any suggestions that you may have thank you guys all right thank you Mr Moore and
now we will move on to our resolutions on the agenda uh may I have a motion to approve the Personnel items A1 through A6 motion Sor was there a motion yes there was motion thank you Mr is there a
second second thank you Mr uh want to congratulate the following retirees Nancy Feldman a school nurse at Mount Pleasant elementary for her 32 years of service Cynthia Lombardi a third grade teacher at Hazel Elementary for her 21 years of service Nancy Festa a par professional at westn high school
for her 20 years of service colen Flynn a pair professional at West norch High School for her 21 years of service claudi luin a night shift custodian West norch High School for his 20 years of service Isabelle olivy babona a part-time bus driver in transportation for her 14 years of service Jane rifa an
administrative assistant at West Orange High School for her 25.5 years of service and Katherine Winston NH HR specialist at central office for her 25 years of service thank you all for your services to the West nor students in our school Community best wishes to you on behalf
of the Board of Education and as Miss Terry TR scales would say if she were still here welcome to the club where every day is Saturday um is there any other discussion on personnel all right hearing done Miss flowers please take the roll call Dr Bryant yes
Mr Stevenson yes Miss Vera yes vice president ifer yes president Rock yes thank you next may I have a motion to approve the curriculum and instruction items B1 through B4 motion thank you is it Mr Stevenson is
there a second second thank you Mr ifer any discussion hearing none Miss flowers please take the roll call Dr Bryant yes Mr Stevenson yes Miss Vera yes vice president ifer
yes president Rock yes thank you all right next may I have AO motion to approve the finance items c special services items a 1-5 and business office items B 1-1 so moov thank you Mr Stevenson is there a second second thank you Mr ifer uh is there any discussion
this would include the vote on the budget preliminary budget say that again this would include the vote on the preliminary budget so I don't if anybody wants to uh yeah I'll make a comment um I think there were a lot of comments tonight um and I want to just offer a little bit of
perspective just my opinion is sitting up here as an elected board member this is now I believe the fourth or fifth budget that I've had to vote on and every
year it seems pretty perfunctory we tax the people of West Orange to the max 2% every year goes without saying uh this year given as what's been said before we went through a reassessment by the
county majority of the Township's taxes went up which means that assess values go up and our 2% then has a greater impact on the taxpayers of the community uh the
board responsibly looked at all of the options available to it uh from a range of zero to the max tax levy including $465,000 in Bank cap U that's the
responsible thing to do to look at all options available to you I will tell you again as a perspective as a point of perspective wasn't budget season four months ago and I don't want to uh Levy
anything against anyone that spoke tonight but some of the same people tonight or I'm sorry some of the same sentiment of how great the school system was three or four months ago when it was in budget season it appears as if the
bottom dropped out tonight because it's budget season and that on its face cannot be true uh and I realize that everyone has a role to play everyone has a job to do but the reality is is that these are real
numbers real people live in this community real people pay this tax levy each and every year that this board struggles with raising in order to make decisions that are in the best interest
of our community and more importantly in the best interest of our number one top priority constituency our students and their families so I offer that perspective uh because when you hear things like
mismanagement you hear things like options and you hear things like we're willing to help uh it all sounds good but the people of West Orange as long as I have sat in this seat do help they help to
the degree of the maximum amount that this board can raise taxes each and every year without having to go out to referendum to ask them for even more money so the community of West Orange does help uh we pay a tax levy and have
done so for the last several years to support our schools um and I would say as a taxpayer not as a board remember as a taxpayer uh that tax levy will be felt with even greater impact this year
that's just the simple reality of it with that said none of these decisions are easy and I don't think any of my colleagues take our responsibility
lightly and so I hope that those that talk about these topics don't don't in any way assume that we take these issues lightly I will say to you too as a as a parent of two elementary school children
enrolled in our schools it's disappointing to hear and I wasn't going to say this but I'll say it it's disappointing to hear that class time was taken up on Friday or Thursday whatever it was to talk about budget stuff when people should be talking about what's going on in classes and
obviously I don't know if if how how in tune kids are to what's going on in the budget but but certainly um those conversations happen right and kids are concerned about what's happening in their classrooms and
obviously and rightfully so teachers are concerned but that doesn't mean that that this board takes it lightly and I think that's the sentiment that I that I wanted to share there's a there's a seriousness to this responsibility and I think it's a seriousness that each and
every one of us um have signed up for and so I just hope that as we go through this process that there is a sense of of decorum a sense of the reality of the numbers a sense that in the last two
years where for a very per long period of time year-over-year we were getting about $5 million a year in state aid increases our state aid has decreased since 2023 uh by 5% we've lost $1.7 million in
the last two years those are real numbers our former board member who spoke at the mic uh talked about her experience as a board member we appreciate her service as she was elected several times to serve on the board but maybe she also failed to
recognize and to say openly that this District like most districts face a structural budget deficit year-over-year that doesn't go away and is sometimes offset by state aid we no longer have that luxury our state aid is decreasing
and is likely to continue to decrease so perspective matters those citizens who spoke about their willingness to help um while appreciated I'm exercised to really understand what that means to be quite
honest with you uh does that mean that you're going to walk and tell your neighbors let's support a tax increase above the 2.3 that we go to referendum I I I don't I don't I just don't know what that means and so I just
hope and really implore that the community looks at this realistically uh Mr Moore has a much more difficult job than the board members because it is he and his staff who have to uh look from A to Z in our
district to really determine what cuts will be made but what we all know sitting up here as you saw the numbers before you that inevitably Cuts have to be made because even at the 2.3% maximum we're still
showing a def a budget deficit that exceeds $8 million and that's 8 million real dollars so president Rock I appreciate uh the time just wanted to to share that perspective jointly as a board member but also a
taxpayer in this town thank you please first thing that I want to say is thank you for everyone who came to here today to advocate for our kids for the teachers and for the
community as board members as a grandparent and we are going to you know try to as you say transparency we are going to try to do the best job as possible and as that Mr Mo say we are
not offering anything but definitely you know you will have try to see something positive will come after next meeting thank you for being here you know it's very all the presentation
all the speeches that you did as a PDA members as a teachers as a community members as a taxpayers you know it was very touching because you know we have to think about the kids the future of this community we
have a students who came here and speak they were free to speak and do Express their their feelings about it and once again thank you for coming and we are going to really work hard support Mr
Moore in order to bring the community together thank you Mr y uh thank you uh president Rock so I think I had took a bunch of notes I think I only have about three comments I'm sorry some of the speakers weren't
able to stay after they spoke but um the first thing I wanted to comment on was I I found the comments of President Rock to be so impactful and meaningful as a teacher as a union person much more
valuable than anything I could say speaking about your experience um in the classroom dealing with budget cuts I really found that to be so impressive Rive and I hope that anybody who was not here will will listen to that or the
word will get out that they they should watch that I really thought that that meant a lot The credibility that you bring to this so I I appreciate that the second thing I wanted to say was you know if I were in charge of this budget the first thing I would do is I
would just to show our Ser our level of seriousness I would say let's make the board let's not pay them let's make them do it voluntarily unfortunately we're already volunteers so there's no money to cut there but when people come up to the microphone and say yeah you know the
children come first we know we know the children come first it's tempting to find try to find somebody who's doing something wrong or that we can blame or that if we can just you know shake them a little knock some sense into them things will work out the numbers are the
numbers we could all be gone tomorrow and we'd still have the same problem we're not getting enough money from Trenton that's the end of it and it it's frustrating because inside people say take it from the outside people the outside people
say you need us it's everybody wants somebody else to to pay the piper and it's unfortunate but that's the position we're in the third thing I'll say the last thing I'll say is that with all of the comments tonight over all of this time
and I appreciated them and I love that people come I I wish people more people people came at EV to every meeting the thing that struck me was the only suggestions we heard were from the students talking about consolidating journalism and broadcasting and this and
that suggestions is what we need we know there's a problem um but suggestions would be great um rather than you know sometimes people like to impune your motives or he's not serious or she's not
listening or they're not for the kids we're here for the kids we love the schools we love the town we'll do anything we can to keep things moving in a sustainable way this is not sustainable um you know there's a sign
in front of Liberty that says ours is I the words on this is an this is an age friendly town which means we respect and support our elderly you know we all have a problem with taxes but the elderly have the worst problem with taxes they're on
fixed income half of them live alone it's not easy we have a lot to juggle here the students of course come first but we have a responsibility to the taxpayers and I you know somebody said it earlier I think it was Mr Stevenson
Mr Moore has the toughest job of everybody he does but I support him and he's going to do the best he can we're going to help and we'll we'll have to get through it as best we can that's it thank you go so first of all I'm just inspired by
the amount of folks that came out um to voice their opinions and to Advocate because in a moment where free speech is at risk um there is no better moment for our children to be out and to understand that their voices matter for our
teachers to be out as a former teacher to know that their voices matter and for our school leaders to be out I'm incredibly inspired by that and I hope that folks continue to do that and share that message with their neighbors as a parent of a child in 10th
Grade here and a third grader over at St Cloud slightly heartbreaking to think that an entire class period was used to talk about budget cuts we spent the last five years talking about instructional loss we've spent a ton of time talking
about quality of curricul implementation of curriculum Fidelity of implementation how we're getting things done and to think that instructional time was used for that if my daughter came home and said
that to me I I would be infuriated just being very honest about that I love that people said how can we help advocacy matters letters to your assembly folks to your local legisl
later to Trenton things that phone calls the things that we always did to create a movement they all still work right and so while advocating to us allows us to work with the numbers that we have advocating with Folks at Trenton
who represent us is also critical in this moment and I can't stress that enough because our hands in so many ways are tied and until they understand the circumstance and the impact of the circumstance on
children on communities on families on the longevity of who we are we will just go overlooked and so those voices have to raise up Beyond this room beyond the
webcast beyond the many Facebook you know chats and all the things we got to make sure that people who we have put in power know and understand that they are are in power because of us and that if we are not
satisfied we can make changes thank you Dr briyan I would just Echo what Dr Bryant there said at the end that we are you know live essentially at the whim of traton so to the extent that you can do
something I think the like she said you're all welcome to come back here we do appreciate advocacy and participation but the answer is going to come from Trenton so speak to your assembly people speak to your senator who lives here in West Orange speak to the governor Andor whoever you support in the governor's
election there's going to be an election this fall and that will be uh pivotal for what happens to schools including West Orange moving forward uh but right now we are here to talk about a decision that we can make that decision is the wise decision I think to re to support the recommendation of the administration
to adopt the AR budget with a 2.3% tax increase uh it will not avoid all Cuts as we've discussed but it will avoid doing self-inflicted harm that we do not need to do and so I would encourage my federal colleagues to support that uh preliminary budget and if there's no
other discussion Miss Flowers would you please take the roll call Dr Bryant I'm gonna abstain Mr Stevenson yes Miss Vera yes vice president eer
here yes president Rock yes thank you all right next may I have a motion to approve reports item D1 through two so moved thank you Mr Stevenson is there a second thank you Mr ifer any
discussion seeing none Miss flowers please take the roll call Dr Bryant yes Mr Stevenson yes Miss Vera yes vice president ier yes president Rock yes thank you all right thank you very much
to my board colleagues for that next up we will have petitions and hearings of citizens for any agenda or non-agenda item uh that you wish to discuss you will have three minutes to speak please approach the prodium at this time and state your name and address for the record I'm back Deb Cohen uh High School
I actually came up I moved myself up because I was just going to address how the journalism came to those students were called by their guidance counselors and told they had to change the schedule because those classes are not being offered next year it wasn't supervisors it wasn't teachers some of the teachers
didn't know till they found out from the students so I just want to make that clear that that's how kids are finding out this is a preliminary budget how how would the teachers are there anybody else how would the guidance counselors know that classes wouldn't be offered next year that haven't been voted on I
am a teacher and not privy to information okay all right so I will leave it at that however in sitting here I I I have to address some of the comments first of all the bottom hasn't dropped out of the district we are trying our morale to be quite honest
sucks we are trying this budget brings that morale down and yeah rumors have been flying since Friday 11.2 was a big number and that was the number that we heard on Friday the kids are initiating a lot of the discussion and no we're not
spending full periods I spent 10 minutes today in one of my six photography classes because students brought it up and asked me what they could do we then moved on and went to photography however in the journalism class newspaper happens to take place in my classroom on one of my off periods
they talked about it from a journalism perspective you know so it's not we're not spending time talking about this but I will also point out that not for nothing the students have concerns they're learning critical thinking they're learning problem solving they're learning about how budgets work and what
to do when they feel something is not right they're important skills too it's not all about the book learning as for um looking for suggestions it'd be great if the teachers were included those suggestions about combining broadcast journalism
newspaper and journalism have been flying around for three years we've been trying to do it the program got cut broadcast got cut because the numbers were low broadcast got brought back well of course the numbers are low it got cut so you're dealing with that it's not just broadcast and newspaper and
journalism those just happen to hit me hard with what's going on in the National level talk to us we have suggestions we will sit and brainstorm and work with you and figure it out we understand the constraints of the budget we're all smart educated people all
we're asking is for a little more transparency because yes there can be more and to please make sure you're looking at outside the classroom as much as humanly possible obviously we don't want buildings falling down either before you start cutting classes
teachers Etc that's all we're asking for thank you is there anyone else for a public comment all right seeing none thank you very much our next board meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on April 28 2025 this meeting will be held on 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 adjourn come on Executive session will begin at 5:30 public session will begin at 6:30 thank
you very much for that uh was there a motion to adjourn motion thank you Dr Brian is there a second yes there is thank you Mr ifer all in favor thank you all for joining us tonight our meeting is now adjourned we wish you a good night