notice is here by given of the regular meeting of the Board of Education of the town of Westfield in the county of Union New Jersey at 6: pm. on the evening of Tuesday March 4th 2025 in cafeteria B of Westfield High School 550 Dorian Road
Westfield New Jersey the board will move immediately into private session to discuss matters rendered confidential by state and federal law including harassment intimidation and bullying the public portion of the meeting will resume at 7:00 p.m. the purpose of the meeting is to trans act the regular business of the board and to transact
any other business to come properly before the board this is to advise the general public and to instruct that it be recorded in the minutes that in compliance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 entitled the open public meetings act the Westfield school
board on Thursday February 27th 2025 caused to be posted at the office of the Board of Education located at 302 Elm Street Westfield New Jersey and delivered to the Westfield leader The Star Ledger the Westfield Library Town Clerk of Westfield tap into
Westfield and patch.com a meeting notice setting forth the time date and location of this meeting Patty may we have a roll call please rob bonio here Kent diamonds here Brendan gallagan here Charles jinus here Leila melli here sonel Patel here
Kristen Sonic schmeltz Julie Steinberg Mary wickens here uh last say please stand for a flag salute uh Kent would you mind lady I move the board approve the following resolution resolve that the Board of Education move into private
session for the purpose of discussing matters rendered confidential by state and federal law including harassment intimidation and bullying incidents and be it further resolved that any discussion held by the board which need not remain confidential and the results of the discussion will be made public as
soon as practicable do I have a second Julie like we do this by Voice vote all in favor any opposed any extensions we're in executive session e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e does she have bgo no she has beroy okay so she's six or seven one of those two but so hopefully they move that cuz that would be nice I like your uh Villanova
shirt very nice very nice I'm super excited but are you yeah yeah it'll be I'm excited you're going to have so much fun college is the best that's what my dad says I'm super excited it's like the best four
years like high school no no it has no comparison okay I'm excited is um Riley coming tonight cuz I know some of the musical kids yeah but she does set okay she does so she's not coming she's been there all day oh yeah get her out of here yeah I know they were like I don't even know if
she's still there cuz like it's getting down to the wire so she stays really late yeah to do the set yeah cuz that's a lot of work yeah it is I know even they're here all she just got home she just got home oh but she um she
complains because like um her and Ally F or the head set so they have and the the nobody listens to them like the Young The Freshman like they're all fooling around you got and I don't know if you know Riley's personality Riley's just
like they're not listening to me I got to get this [Music] done e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e all right we'll uh call the meeting back
into order um I made sure I brought the heavy weights here to make sure everybody stays calm and pays attention in the meeting over here so uh so this is great um let's start we have I know there are two announcements for the board um let's get
that out of the way and then uh we'll we'll move to uh to the performance so CJ I think you have one of them yes we continue to celebrate the rich cultural tapestry of the Westfield School Community this month we honor Irish American Heritage recognize the invaluable contributions of women
throughout history for women's history month and extend warm wishes for Eid Al faer beginning at sundown on March 29 thank you and son I think you have a second the next regular public meeting of the Board of Education will be on Tuesday March 25th in cafeteria B at
Westfield High School beginning at 7 p.m. the meeting will be live streamed via the district YouTube channel which viewers can access on the board tab on the district website the complete agenda will be available on Friday March 21st also on the board tab the board will hold a public hearing to vote on the
final base operating budget for 2025 2026 and ballot language for both the bond referendum and the budget's additional spending proposal we look forward to celebrating our champion winter athletic teams okay what we do with that tonight okay thank
you all right now to the fun stuff uh March is youth art month and music and our schools month a time to highlight the vital role of the Arts and education while creat creativity and artistic expression are valued in our schools every day this month provides a special opportunity to showcase the incredible
Talent of our students tonight the board has before it a resolution recognizing youth art youth art month that's a mouthful and music in our schools month and supporting the many students teachers staff and parents who engage in the Arts and share their talents with our community something which I support
as a former theater kid uh I am now delighted to welcome supervisor of Visual and Performing Arts Shaun Al Longo along with with members of the cast of Westfield High School's spring production of smile Miss Longo I invite you to the podium to share a few words about the spring production and the exciting programs and events that
continue to foster a vibrant Arts culture in the Westfield Public Schools enhancing the educational experience and enriching our entire Community thank you good evening everyone so excited to be here again it feels like I blinked him it was a year ago um but we are excited
and grateful for you passing the resolution tonight celebrating arts in our schools mon as I've kind of transitioned us to it um I'm very proud of our music for all advocacy and action we were a 2025 award recipient which is a national award for our for Community
involvement in our arts in our schools month last year um so we continue that tradition this year we kicked off with our opening reception tonight at the Roy Gallery downtown we have over 180 pieces of artwork on display between the
sidewalk of the Realto um front windows and the Westfield libr Library um we featured two 12th grade art students Milo Atkin and Maisy Stager whose work was unveiled in Roy's Gallery tonight um
and so we've had our breakfast with the bands this past Saturday which was a wonderful experience and always is our Roosevelt and Edison bands will be on tour this Friday for our music and our schools month um tour that they will go to all the elementary schools on their
ends of town focusing on the instruments within the band and kind of is the first introduction to that for the year um and then we have you're going to hear the spring musical tonight for the high school smile which opens in two weeks on March 20th 21st and 22nd this weekend
Shrek opens at Edison schools that runs March 6 through 8th next week come rock out at Roosevelt with Rock of Ages um so bring your 80s glamrock and all that it brings um and that is March 13th through the 15th we also have March Madness
going on in the High School Band program a lot of the teachers the music teachers throughout our department also participate we do kind of a bracket of soua and other famous marches and we see who is the winner at the end of the month so lots of engaging and fun
activities to celebrate the Arts throughout all of our programs so without further Ado here's a little preview of our upcoming High School Musical smile got to use these don't hi I'm Dale Wilson shears president of the young American Miss
Foundation here with the public service message from our national headquarters in Baton Rouge Louisiana I'd like to urge you to participate in this local group thus joining thousands of lions bears Elks JC's kananian and rotarian Nationwide what is a young American Miss
oh gosh just real average you know ordinary really America's future she's a typical high school call you Saturday's going to sesen her with pride It's a Long Way
TOA she's ready for the airplane ride s wa AR Santa theen gate s s keep SC on a typical high schooli
Golden Girl of the Sun [Music] State the brunette the that's a soprano who's a drum majorette and plays the piano she's the one on the left just out
of her braces she's the one with the c the freshest of faces have [Applause] [Music] [Applause] spose all right girls this way this way take seats find yourselves a place to
sit you'll need a pen paper and attention girls please we've got to start now I'd like to introduce the coordinator of our state pageant a former Young American Miss herself Mrs
Brenda De Carlo Freelander hi I hope you were listening and picked up your pens because you may want to take notes the next few weeks will be the busiest and most wonderful of your lives so save her each moment girls as anyone over 30 can tell you
it'll never come again the very best week of your lives the very best week of your lives up at 7 grab a shower go breakfast
down in half an hour cuz 8:00 your first rehearsal start Carol's passing out the songs we'll use this year please look at the music and learn all the lyrics by heart work till five one times upon us to meet
the JC's and kaanis you're going to love all of them and their wives remember they're your friends and local sponsors of the very best week of your lives hi I'm Dory Hudson youa City Robin
Gibson analo Valley says you were bunk sisters that I mean roommates I think so ladies your choreographer for the week Mr Tommy French coffee coffee [Music]
Carol you'll feel absolutely wonderful when you decide it you'll feel healthy and I know I tried it simp wake up every day open up my eyes stretch and then say
okay going to shine shine I repeat it when iise myself going to shine shine and I'm find surpr myself sh sh EXT and exercise myself I know the world going
be if I shine see Mom things aren't what I thought they'd be mom they keep keep telling us it's not a competition then these feelings strike feelings I don't understand and I'm not sure I like it's
like a mad house out there it's so intense you can't think all the excitement Rob it's just insane Robin you're special Robin you Sparkle look there and see Robin it's
true do it for me I'm just a nervous even think that I Robin I know how Robin I feel how strong you can be don't say you're not give it a
shot do it for [Music] me I've learned something inspirational I've got to share it if you want to be Sensational this works I swear it you got to wake up
every open up my stret and this is my year think this is my second chance should I wear blue or pink should I that's it girls dance okay ladies that's looking nice nice won't do it's got to be
perfect 1 and 2 and and [Music] shney magic kingom [Music] Disneyland give me
Disney take me there to disy and when I get [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music]
toy for e e well that was fantastic thanks very much to the cast and to uh the entire team of directors and choreographers and SEC instructors and and I mean just you name
it it's going to be a fantastic show uh I don't know how best to segue to a report by District administration but we're going to try um so I'll turn it over to Dr Gonzalez who I believe he and Patty have a uh a budget presentation for us that will involve some song I
think for state aid maybe I don't know thank you and actually it is a a great segue because everything we do I think is is reinforced by what we just uh saw this evening um the work that the board and the administration engage in to develop a responsible budget um that
allows us to continue to build on this tradition of Excellence um is is no easy task but it certainly represents a um a partnership a partnership that uh exists at this table on this de um but it's also partnership over the last uh
several years that has now uh directly involved our um our community by uh participating in a vote every April not just to select uh your board of education members but also to uh
identify whether or not we have the ability to continue our work um each and every year is dependent on uh getting voter approval for the additional funding proposals that we have presented so this evening uh will be the third in our in our series of presentations about
the 2025 26 budget as well as the bond referendum both which will be on the ballot in April uh um this evening we will focus primarily on the operating budget because uh today we will be uh presenting to the board of education for
their vote um the preliminary budget which is uh a key step in the process to getting our budget reviewed by the County Office of the Department of Education so that we could then at the next board meeting on March 25th present a final budget uh for review and
approval by the Board of Education each time we've presented so far we've sort of uh continued to reinforce the importance of this dual uh funding opportunity for the school district one that resides in the annual
operating budget and one that resides in the bond referendum and each of them play a key role in the the future and the growth of this district one uh that focuses on The Daily operational costs whereas the other focuses on the the long-term and large uh Capital
Improvement projects both will be part of the April 15th uh vote but we will begin tonight uh focusing on the budget as we presented last uh board meeting our 2025 2026 budget really
prioritize the con uh continuation of our existing programs and initiatives so that the work that we started uh two years ago to uh realize the the goals and objectives of our strategic plan are in fact uh re being manifested in the um
in the initiatives in the the staff and in the programs that we see so by being able to continue that work as mentioned last um board meeting it really means that we are not only fulfilling our promise but we are seeing that promise uh sustained year after year uh in
addition to the programs in addition to the initiatives uh we're maintaining existing Staffing we're maintaining existing course offerings but we're also implementing and introducing a new master schedule at the secondary level which again thank you to Dr uh Bolton
for his uh prior presentation but but to implement that requires uh additional investments in order to ensure that we have who and what we need to uh Implement all aspects of a rotating schedule at the intermediate school and
a rotating dropped block schedule at the high school which will engage all of our students in a single uh unit lunch which means having all those students um have an opportunity to be able to uh purchase
a lunch and have a place to eat that lunch uh requires an investment uh that is also supported by this uh budget the work that we started this year uh actually I take that back to work that started last year that that we
continued into this year will then uh once again continue next year so all the curriculum writing the professional development the acquisition and implementation of resources are are all continued to be um part of our operating budget for the upcoming school year uh we've mentioned before the purchase of
two buses uh with this year's budget now will be complemented by two bus drivers for next year's budget uh we've been able to make use of those uh Vehicles this year already but being able to now secure two bus drivers allows us to fully incorporate them into our
Transportation uh plans uh for both IND district field trips uh Athletics and and all of the above um the work that we did last year to introduce a line item that will allow us to slowly but surely refresh our furniture and all of our schools began with first grade furniture
replacement and will continue into next year with second grade furniture replacement and as I mentioned earlier the furniture uh that's required to implement uh additional seating and um purchase options for students at the high school are also included in this budget as
well so now this is where I get to uh take a a step back and and hand it off to Patty to start talking about the the revenues expenditures and the tax impacts uh associated with the preliminary budget Patty and although I think it might be more interesting if I
did sing it I'm everyone might leave so it wouldn't be as good um so we did get good news last Thursday it we already said it to the board but just to say it in public we did receive more state aid than we thought so we got an additional 6% state aid which equaled about 5
00,000 so what we used that for was to reduce the additional spending proposal it was 800,000 now if you look at this slide it's 302,000 what that means is in the additional spending proposal the middle column that you see are three teachers
two elementary teachers one intermediate teacher and their related health benefits that's what didn't fit into the base budget so the base budget at adjusted cap on the left or the revenues that's with our Health adjustment that we were able to take advantage of so
you'll see the tax levy on here the additional spending proposal this shows our fund balance that we appropriate so that's the amount left over from last year if we have any money left over that we appropriate in the following year to offset taxes our state aid is up to 8.9 million extraordinary Aid we always
budget a piece of that because we don't know how much we'll get our miscellaneous revenues include our interest income um subscription busing tuition from the few students to preschool tuition all goes into that and then our transfer from capital reserve there is a resolution in here that spells out each of the projects but that
is our money that we're taking out of capital reserve to do our summer projects so if you go to the next slide now you'll see the breakout of the expenditures that go with that so as you can see it's mostly salary and benefits I'd like to highlight our outof district
tuition is very stable from last year and that has two contributing factors one was that we brought those Middle School programs online that kept students inhouse and we did have some students graduate out for where they'll be graduating this June um but there was
definitely a cost savings noted with opening those two middle middle school programs our transportation also as Ray said we're going to be hiring two drivers for next year that was a cost savings the total tuition is only going up by about 1.6% over last year whereas in previous years it have been an
average of six even 7% some years so we're already reaping in the savings estimated for next year year that'll be used for some IND District runs and then the rest we have our supplies and materials and on the next page you'll see the um you'll start to see the the pie charts that kind of
explain this a little bit better too so we can go to the next so now when you look at our revenues the largest piece of Revenue in Westfield is the local tax levy it's 90% of our our revenues if you went to a school a a city school this
would be flipped so where the state a is it's 6.8 % that would be somewhat around the tax levy and the rest would be state aid so it's just how the the state distributes the money among the districts in in New Jersey so 90% is our tax levy then the fund balance that I
showed you the 1.5 million accounts for 1.2% state aid went up by a little from last year so it's 6.8% now extraordinary Aid is relatively the same at 7 our interest is 3% we do we do in the we have been getting the past couple years
more interest than what we budget but we never know where that's going to land and I need to make my budget balanced so I cannot budget more and then the interest rate drops if we get more we'll put it into Reserves at year end or back to fund balance and the rest of the revenues are tuition Student Activity
fees and any other miscellaneous income we could take in now the next slide shows how the operating budget is spent and you'll see another large blue piece of the pie it's our salaries and benefits that's what we do we just have Sal we we have teachers that teach
students and it's the majority of our budget so when people say why can't you cut other things why aren't other things in here 80% of our budget is our teachers and staff and the stud the the related benefits with them then you'll see our out of District tuition is 5.7%
of the budget the transportation that's in District and out of district is 4.7 our supplies materials textbooks and Equipment only makes up 1.9% and that does include refreshing Chromebooks for next year too some great levels of that
our capital reserve projects are 1.6% of our budget our required maintenance of school facilities so that's all our custodial supplies and equipment that's budgeted in there our maintenance supplies is 2% and then our outside providers Consultants District insurance
and conferences the outside providers and Consultants are mostly related to special education needs so our speech Consultants otpt anything that we can't do in in house we do try to hire as many as we can but there are still a large number that have outside providers and
our our district Insurance also is going up we're estimating about 10% increase on that so now we get into our bar graph again and you'll see now it has changed so the blue has stayed the same it's
2.92% that's the budget that the board will vote on and the board has the the only vote on that so if you approve it to tonight and then you approve it at the public hearing on March 25th that piece of the budget is approved and ready to go for next year the voters you
will approved tonight for us to ask the voters to approve the $32,000 on the April 15th ballot and that Rel that equates to 0 2% 26% of the entire budget then we get into the fund numbers of the tax
impact uh the average house in Westfield is now a a value Val at $826,000 so what that equates to is an increase of a total of $240 for the budget for this year the base budget that the board approves is
an increase of $27 and the additional spending proposal is $33 a year so for a total of $240 I'd also like to highlight in this since we're going over the referendum a lot you'll see The Debt Service in there all the way on the right that is previous bonds
previous referendums that have happened so you could see it equates to $140 that we're still paying off from those other referendums and then we go into the actual ballot language this is uh more condensed than in the previous years because as Dr Gonzalez said our Focus
this year was to continue on the work that we've started so we're just looking at maintaining our current staffers in the previous years we were adding other staff in this question so you'll see it asked for the two elementary teachers one intermediate Med teacher and the
health benefits and then the last lines that the approval of these taxes will permanently increase the tax base that means that the 2% for next year will be on the whole 3.18% increase not just the base it stays in there and then the last
line has to say on the ballot that the proposed additional expenditures are in addition to those necessary for the New Jersey student learning standards because we cannot put any mandated expenses into a ballot spending proposal okay so with the bond referendum also
being on the ballot we do want to make sure that each of our presentations includes an update on the referendum uh in addition to the updates we've provided in the past uh we have been fortunate enough to uh get in touch with contacts at the Department of Education
um to hear that we should be receiving uh final approval by uh early next week um we are are very confident in that but uh hopeful nevertheless um and really recognizing that uh in order for us to
be able to provide the same level of detail that we just did at the budget level um we we seek to do the same for the referendum we want to be able to uh no longer provide for illustrative purposes only but be able to provide the the the um the complete uh picture for
everyone so we appreciate everyone's understanding and patience but we are equally uh um chomping out the bit to get those final numbers and we look forward to providing those uh as soon as we receive them um the community engagement sessions have been going uh
extremely extremely well uh with each of the pto's at the the schools uh hosting us we've been able to really get the word out uh wherever and whenever we can with uh several additional engagements uh scheduled for um the remaining uh
time leading up to the April 15th election um and budget vote we are also um looking to include two referendum questions on the ballot and we're going to go into that in a in a little bit more detail but we wanted to make sure that uh everyone was aware um that
everything continues to progress in the same fashion when you look at this um this slide we had included this slide in our previous presentation to really highlight that the first referendum question remember there's going to be three questions related to um the proposals that we've discussed discussed
this evening the first will be budget related and then the next two will be referendum related the first referendum question will be on all the renovations and additions relative to instructional space needs specialty space needs as well as the infrastructure needs whether
it be bathroom Renovations or HVAC uh improvements and upgrades we also recognize that uh in order to separate out the second question which are the construction and Renovations associated with imple ing full day kindergarten there's a slight overlap of the the
projects so in order to fully realize the uh the construction and Renovations necessary um for full day kindergarten some of the items that are in the first referendum question actually are necessary to um to actually Implement
all the full day kindergarten classroom Renovations and construction so what that means is worst case scenario if the second question passes and the first does not the Board of Education and the administration will then have to use their Capital reserves to make up the
difference so I just want to make sure that that's that's clear and understood because it's important to note that while these two are independent and other words you don't have to vote Yes on either and for the other to pass there is a interdependence that that may
be necessary if one does not pass that we would then have to use uh our regular operating budget and or our Capital reserves to be able to accomplish the total amount that you see associated with each referendum question represents
the total amount that uh each of those questions is valued at but as Patty has mentioned on several occasions that amount is offset over the pre the repayment of the bond through the debt or service Aid that we would receive from the
state this slide has been added to both this presentation and our community present present ation really as a way to summarize all of the various projects that were represented in each of those questions but also to show the distribution across our nine schools remember I say nine because Lincoln
School is not part of the referendum as the renovations uh to bring that school online had have uh been had been completed um in the not too uh distant past but as you see here the HVAC upgrades the restroom Renovations the
increases uh to small group and construction spaces are across the board Franklin through the high school will receive um some level of increased space renovated space or certainly upgrades to their HVAC systems in some cases to
include large spaces such as gymnasiums and cafeterias or in the case of our elementary schools they they've already had that uh occur so we're not going to obviously uh continue to upgrade the HVAC and those already um touch spaces
but we are also looking to add uh multi-purpose rooms as we've mentioned before at Franklin and Jefferson because of the size of their enrollment and we're also looking to relocate the main office at Jefferson and McKinley because uh the current placement of the offices
are not um not ideal uh for ensuring um safe passage for anyone uh visiting our schools we want to make sure they are immediately greeted by our office staff and in order to do that we have to uh relocate um those two main offices we also include as you note here uh
renovations to the media centers at both Edison and Roosevelt as well as the high school and then the update to the high school auditorium um is also included in this referendum and if you recall uh both Edison and Rosevelt recently had
their uh auditoriums renovated so this is our opportunity to round out uh the renovations of our auditoriums here at the high school and then last but not least you'll notice in the final column the addition of class room space at each of our elementary schools in order to
allow us the opportunity to bring full day kindergarten to uh to Westfield is all included in bond question two one slide that we've included in our presentations uh when we do our road shows but also we wanted to make sure is
included here this evening is because we want to make sure that everyone knows what they are signing up for we want to ensure that when people cast their boat their votes in April that they recognize that a vote in April for our operating budget results in our ability to
continue the work that we've been doing year after year the vote for the referendum is basing that decision on our opportunity to bring uh those Renovations and improvements that you saw on the prior slide as well as our
full day kindergarten but it's important to note that the full day kindergarten uh question is essentially a twostep question the first question is the bond question the the the request of the community to uh be able to sell bonds
needed to cover the cost of the construction and renovation of classrooms to bring full day kindergarten to each of our elementary schools once we build those classrooms so if everything were to uh be approved and we receive the support to build
those classrooms we still need the support of the community in order to staff those classrooms so it's important to note that an additional operating budget um addition would be necessary down the road in order to cover the cost
to add teachers needed to implement full day kindergarten so that cost is not included in the referendum but we want to make sure we're transparent and open so that everyone knows that this would be a two-step approval beginning with the April 15th
vote now the voter information again we've we've uh shared before but it it's important enough when we have an April 15th um budget vote referendum and Board election that coincides with our uh
spring break we want to ensure that everyone is aware of their options and opportunities to ensure that their uh ballot is cast and their voice is heard so this month in March we are taking the opportunity to um do our due diligence
to get the budgets and uh ballot questions finalized so that come April the bond referendum and budget vote will both be listed on the ballot for voter approval we've seen the actual ballot language or preview the ballot language
this evening for our budget vote and we look forward at our next board meeting um to provide the ballot language uh inclusive of the final numbers for our referendum questions so we've been able to check off that um
the release of state aid anticipated at the end of February uh was confirmed and is incorporated into the presentation this evening this evening's presentation of the preliminary budget will then be submitted to the County Office of the Department of Education for them to do
their review and and approval and then as I indicated earlier March 10th we expect to receive notification of Debt Service Aid as it relates to our referendum so that by March 25th we will have our final public hearing on the budget where the board will vote on the
final base budget the additional spending proposal as well as the bond referendum ballot language that will appear on April 15th ballot so we encourage everyone to stay informed we encourage everyone to use the opportunities to attend any of our
voter education uh presentations which are listed on our community engagement uh portion of our referendum portal if you have not gotten a chance to check that out we we certainly uh encourage you to visit the portal as we continue to add updates to it with information as
we receive it we recognize that everyone uh uh consumes their information at at in different amounts and at different points so we've uh ensured that we meet everyone's appetite with a variety of different formats and forms and lengths
so if you're visual if you're an auditory learner if you are one who just needs the facts we are going to uh bring it to you in every way shape and form possible and if there is any other way that you would like to see it please let us know and we would be happy to
accommodate so we ask everyone to make sure that you vote on April 15th and uh if you have not gotten a chance to uh submit for a um mail-in ballot we encourage you to go to our website in order to download the
application uh or if you need additional assistance please don't hesitate to reach out to us that concludes our presentation this evening any questions from among the board Mary okay thanks
Ken thanks um first thanks Patty and Ray for doing all the numbers and the slides loved it um slide 51 is my favorite um but I do have a question on only I know and I know you tell me
this every year Patty but slide 45 the increase on the tax base can you explain that to me again because we're so we're going over now we're going over two 2.92 so then explain to me what happens
as taxpayers so as taxpayers as the board you're allowed to approve a budget up to 2.92% because we got a healthare adjustment because healthare cost is costs went above 2% okay so that's what the board is allowed to approve without V without the voters okay the additional
304 thou 302,000 which is the 26% will be on the ballot those two added together is an average increase on your taxes of about $240 if you have a house valued at $826,000 so what happens is if you're taxes were
10,000 they would be $1,240 if this passes is that what it what you mean when you use the terms increase on the tax base yes okay just checking and then just just to reiterate because I didn't realize this
at first um there's three questions really on the ballot yes okay the budget will be first followed by the two referendum questions got it okay I'm good thank you thank you very much Lea um I think Mary kind of uh assisted
with what I was going to say I just I wanted to thank the administration because the amount of time and effort it takes to put all this together and to make it so available to the community to
be so transparent to take it on the road so to speak um and make it available for people who can see it online for people who can listen to it for people who can read it for people who can come in the mornings the afternoons I I just think
um it I don't want it to be overlooked that the attempt to get all of this information out is so clear and we're just very grateful for an Administration that is um invested in educating the community on what the situation is here
with the budget so thank you anyone else I'm sorry I'm Maryann I don't know why I didn't say marann I'm maryan that's true um I want to add my thanks as well um just you know I've been to a few of the road shows and and
watching just the interplay between the communications and the numbers and the transparency and the presentation is is really excellent we've had some pretty good turnout at those at those uh at those sessions I know there's a lot more to come um I know we're talking about
everything from print media to electronic media all of which you know is you know probably hangs on on us getting those numbers back from the state um which you know I will say is a frustrating process to put it politely
um and Dr Gonzalez and Patty are being nice about that um but you know we are certainly at a point as Leila mentioned where we are trying to get as much communication out to the public with as much information that we have at the time um and as soon as we have those numbers that will help um I'll say for
the board um there are uh drafts of what the bond uh language would look like uh if you head to the finance and Facilities committee uh reports you'll see that uh assuming we do get this on March 10th obviously we are going to put our you know our our pedal to the metal
so to speak to start getting things out so if there are comments from the board you know I know this is you know we're getting the numbers right now and you may think of some things afterward you know this is this is the time to start you know asking questions and to to kind of raise any other issues you might have um the last thing I'll say just for the
public and and for us as well is is this is the referendum and the budget are part of a very linked process um where each kind of depends on the other um we've said at the at the the public groups that you know it was about three
years ago that we sort of hit that fiscal wall with our budget when we were making significant cuts that none of us really wanted to make um I would actually submit we probably hit that wall a little earlier when we stopped growing as a district when the Ingenuity
of a lot of our staff and our teachers and our administrators had to be stopped because we couldn't afford what we were going to do even though it needed to get done um because we were reacting we were trying to figure out how we were going to saave off the increased costs with
the with with the limited cap that we have um and we've now over the course of the years I I mean focusing on the referendum but I don't want to miss on what went into building this a wholesale change in our budgeting process um steered by great leadership um where we
have now built into an operating budget a lot of new things that we that we are now taking for granted new furniture um you know a ground screw that's going to keep you know regular field maintenance things that are going to help take some of the things that we might have had to put in a capital budget into regular
maintenance therefore extending the life of things there is also a capital reserve for those middle level projects right and that's where you know we talk and Julie always asks about this rightfully so what happens after what's the contingency um the contingency becomes our capital reserve and we raise
that by raising taxes so we don't see a 2.9 we don't see a 3.1 we start to see fives and sixes again to make up for a lot of the things especially in the first question that are just going to need to get done and they're going to get done on our dime 100% as opposed to
the the referendum with state aid and I'm not going to steal Brendan's Thunder because I know he has a couple of estimates at least um but the state contributes um the state contributes on the referendum and that's why that referendum is the third part of this process which is so essential right we
can take the big things in a referendum that frees up space in the capital for those you know for those other nagging items and when you're budgeting your your base budget the right way you're able to fit more of those regular things in so you know our contingencies aren't great if the referendum doesn't pass it
mean it means we're coming back for raised taxes or it means we're going out again for a referendum with different language in it and none of those are are particularly pleasant but unfortunately we you know as as great as the show we just saw was um we can't have them operate all year and raise ticket prices
that's not going to cover what we're doing um but uh you know but you know we're kind of limited in how we can get things work so you know I appreciate the work that's been done and I appreciate the partnership with the public that's happened over the last 3 years to help build our budget to get us to where we
can put this out and be very very confident in what we're doing um and get the kids who put on a great show a theater to match the talent among other things so thank you guys sure um I just you said something Rob
that kind of clicked to me I think what I'm most proud about um all of this work with the administration and the board is that we are no longer as a district being reactive we're being proactive um and having been a student and um a
teacher and now a parent and now I'm on the board I can say confidently that since I was four years old I haven't seen this kind of proactive work being done in Westfield until like the last three years and so um I just want to say thank you and I think we're in for a lot
of really exciting and essential change EXC and with that um I will head over to uh to James for the high school student report good evening Westfield High School has been full of energy and excitement these past few weeks as it finally gets warmer out sgaa and
community service Club have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming week of service most items from our Amazon Wish List have been purchased and members of each Club have been have begun unpacking the items to prepare for our activity period April 11s in addition to that we will be holding a clothing Drive book
drive and our annual student versus teacher basketball game with more information to come as the event gets closer Additionally the theater the theater department has been hard at work preparing for their spring musical smile which shows March 20th 21st and 22nd at
7:30 p.m. with whhs closing out the halfway point of the third marking period students are looking forward to a great rest of the year thank you excellent thank you very much uh we'll now move to the board committee reports we'll start with curriculum instruction and programs Kristen
the Sip uh the Sip committee convened on Monday February 24th at 6: pm at Rosevelt Intermediate School the agenda for the meeting focused on two items a presentation on the role and function of the child study team and the intervention programs um provided by The
District's two supervisors of student Support Services Mrs Alex Lindon and Mrs Katie NES nesat the committee was also provided a thorough overview of the new K through 5 Social Studies curriculum by K through2 social studies and business
education supervisor Mrs Andrea Brennan the meeting began with a tour of Roosevelts new Fab Lab the ER classroom and the child study team offices these newly renovated spaces provided the committee with a firsthand view of how
21st century design principles and materials and Technology can renovate old instructional spaces into modern student responsive learning environments they are so impressive if you you have a chance to go to the school and check it out the presentation facilitated by Dr
Weissman Mrs Lindon and Mrs NES nesat um provided the committee with an in-depth look at the role of the child study team and the intervention programs the supervisors highlighted the important role that each child study team plays in determining eligibility for
special services special education services the supervisors also provided the committee with insights into the evolving intervention programs throughout the district the supervisors describe the modern School intervention programs are driven by student screening
and Di diagnostic assessment data the goal is that intervention is provided through structured cycles that Target key skills for improvement the district is currently implementing new screening assessments like Dibbles I ready and the universal screener for number sents that
provide insights into important reading language art s and math skills the district is also piloting a number of diagnostic tools that will allow the interventionists to identify specific areas to Target for individual students K through2 social studies business
education supervisor Mrs Andrea Brennan rounded out the meeting with a presentation on the new K through five social studies curriculum the new social studies curriculum was created by Mrs Brennan and a team of 15 elementary teachers who represent each grade
and also special education teachers the major changes to the curriculum ref reflect that the documents were crafted using the district's new understanding by Design framework they now include key transfer skills at each grade level they
incorporate a common sequence of instructional units for each grade level and are aligned to cultural OB observances such as Patriot Day Black History Month and Holocaust remembrance key content changes include increasing the amount of time
students spend studying Civics geography and the founding documents and founding fathers of the United States the next meeting for sip will take place on March 24th at 9:00 a.m. excellent uh this is any questions we'll
move to the report from finance and Facilities Brendan yep finance and Facilities committee met on Friday we discussed several topics uh related to the budget the referendum and our uh multi-year facilities plan uh just every year we
review our the small projects we want to do out of capital and maintenance Reserve over the summer develop a plan and where new projects fall into a priority list uh every year new projects come on and they get placed you know is it does it have to happen right now does it have can it happen over the summer can we wait a year or two or can we wait
longer and that's how we've operated forever it's how most districts operate uh so again we started looking at that this year um every year we get we have some budget surplus it gets moved into capital accounts and that's how these projects happen uh so as we reference
back to contingency if we have to do any of the referendum projects out of our capital budget that means the projects that we try to do every year and have mapped out outside of the referendum will not happen for the next couple years um we discussed uh the change to
state aid the positive change uh we had been given sort of a a catchall expect 3% Aid cut and turns out we got a 6% increase uh it's not often that the state does a last minute switch on us that benefits us
um so we discussed how we want to proceed we discussed options including what can we eliminate to get down to not have a second budget question we talked about keeping things exactly the way we're presenting them now or we talked about what can we add and the consensus
from the committee is that we reached a consensus on the budget the way we initially presented it anticipating Flat state aid and when we got an increase in state aid we should dollar for dooll reduce what we were going to ask the voters for it's uh it seems to be the
most financially prudent on behalf of the board uh to maintain the budget that we were talking about and just reduce because of the increase in state aid um we did talk about the delay with the state in approving the referendum
questions and uh the level of frustration that's happening in Westfield almost Rises to contempt with the state statute and the administrative code say the state has 90 days to review a project and give us our award letter it's been 153 days since
they received our submission packet um since the state won't do their job I'm going to estimate what what our state aid is going to look like uh eight eight amounts for construction projects in districts like Westfield uh we're going to get the
minimum amount uh Westfield's just too wealthy in the state's SI to get anything more than the bare minimum that they have to provide by Statute which is 40% of renovation costs and 40% of $143
per square foot uh in new construction for Approved projects related to capacity issues so I took the estimates from our architect uh which the state is using those same numbers and took 40% of that
and 40% of the approved at least what I think will be approved in terms of uh capacity increases and we're looking at somewhere in the range of 50 to 50 uh sorry 52 to 56 million in state aid that works out to 24 23 to 24 and a half% of
our budget our total project costs so since we are about six weeks out from the election what does that look like to the voter if we're looking at an average valuation of $126,000 for the average homeowner in
town that works out to about $800 per house per year factoring in state aid state aid works out to about $300 per house per year um we it an opportunity in Westfield that we never get to say which is the state's going to give us almost $60
million provided the voters approve these projects if we have to do this at of capital the state does not fund any portion of that they only fund Debt Service Aid so the opportunity for Westfield to do this by Saving and you know doing these the
renovation projects over 20 it would it would take us 20 years uh and the state would contribute nothing or we can do it in three years and the state pays for 40% of it it's it's an opportunity we're not going to get again and it's something that we need to now's the time
to do it if we're going to do it Now's the Time um like Chris and I grew up in town I went through these schools and not a single thing has changed other other than maybe a Kota paint and some new floor tiles since I came here in 1994 and Christen you can add a couple
more years today you going to reveal my age no no I said a CLE you canev two two more years you you started 1982 um Kent did I miss anything from I did have to drop off the meeting early so is
uh um can I say something I just wanted to say how much I admired the decision to apply the entirety of the state aid back to the taxpayer um I I've watched other towns
not make similar decisions and I just think it's a tremendous reflection of the committee and the board that we did that especially at a time like now um I just think it just reflects tremendous restraint and integrity and I
just wanted to say thank you for representing and for making such a good judicious decision thank thank you any questions or comments from the board thank you Julie and I turn back to Rob yep we'll
uh we'll now move to report by policies Personnel in governance Mary hi yeah we do not have a report tonight for um PPG um we have not gotten a chance to meet since the last board meeting so we will be actually meeting
next Wednesday the 19 the 19th at 3:45 all right thank you for that and next will be a report from the uh referendum Communications ad hoc committee also Mary you thought you were going to get
out of giv a report tonight oh yeah okay um the referendum Communications ad hoc committee met virtually on February 19th from 4: to 5: in attendance were board members sonel Patel Mary wickens Kristen Sonic schmeltz and robinio along
with administrators Maryann McAn and Dr Gonzalez the meeting began with an update on the community Communications advisory committee which met on February 10th key them themes from that discussion were reviewed including the importance of highlighting full day
kindergarten as a significant component of the referendum particularly for voters who do not have children of that age group the committee also emphasized the need to educate the community on the mail and ballot process to ensure broad participation in the referendum updates
to the online Bond information portal were shared along with Community engagement schedules which continues to serve as a road map for outreach efforts next the committee reviewed various print and digital materials currently being used to inform the
public about the referendum these materials include a retractable banner for display in schools and at events a digital flyer for widespread distribution and a draft video that is being utilized during Road
Show presentations and will also be broken into smaller clips for sharing on social media additional Outreach reach materials include pal cards with direct links to online information mailin ballot instructions and continued enhancements to the online portal at
Westfield New Jersey k12.org vote the committee then discussed ongoing communication efforts designed to maximize Community awareness a range of activities will be employed leading up to the referendum including social
media posts media briefings and letters to the editor updates will continue to be shared via school and District eblas the district newsletter and messages from the mayor's office additional strategies include creating a window flyer for local
businesses Distributing Palm cards to board members pto's principales administrators and Community Partners and sending direct mailers as the referendum date approaches Outreach efforts will intensify with inapp notifications text
messages and phone calls as part of the final push to encourage voter participation and a big I'm going to add a big thank you to Maryann for doing all of this for us thank you very much um the next meeting of the referendum Communications committee is scheduled
for March 12th at 4 via Google meet thank you uh we're now going to move to our first public comment session uh during this portion of the meeting District residents and staff are invited to address the board of education on agenda
action items only the agenda action items are those color coded in the board's agenda if you have public comment on items we're not going to be voted on there will be a second public comment once we're through voting at the end so just hold your comments until then um as a courtesy please allow
current students and staff of Westfield public schools to speak first the board requests that individuals sign in and state their name Municipality of residents and group affiliation if applicable for the record the specific action item they are commenting on and ask that all remarks
be directed to the board president or design not to individual members or staff the board ask that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding Personnel matters are discouraged and cannot be responded to by the board
students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public if a matter concerning a District staff member is of Interest or concern to a resident the matter should be referred to the responsible building principal
superintendent of schools or the Board of Education either by telephone letter or email although the board may not respond to items raised during the public forum all public comments will be considered please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president
May terminate the participant statement continued disruptions may result in removal from the meeting or adjournment of the meeting each speaker statement will be limited to 3 minutes in duration okay seeing no one approach I will close the first public comment uh and move to board action items uh first
I'd like to make a motion yes I got you uh no thank you uh first I'd like to make a motion to approve the minutes from the February 11th 2025 regular board meeting and executive session can I have a second please can do this by Voice vote All In
favor any opposed any extensions all right that carries next we'll move to uh governance sonal I'd like to make a motion to move items A and B under the governance section of tonight's agenda uh Item B is to approve the resolution to support and
celebrate youth art month and music in our schools can I have a second thank you Mary Patty Rob bonio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus no for a yes for
B Leila melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg no to a yes to b Mary wickens yes okay next we'll move to the
Personnel items on the agenda Mary thank thanks I'd like to move items a through t under the Personnel section of tonight's agenda can I have a second Leila thank
you um Dr Gonzalez yes this evening we do have two uh retirements that I'd like to recognize uh the first being Amy Abramson am Amy Abramson has been an unwavering advocate for the academic
social and emotional success of every student on her case load dedicating her career to supporting students with diverse learning needs for the past 13 years in our district her approach is highly organized maintaining meticulous records tracking student progress and
ensuring robust communication with teachers parents and support staff Amy's proactive problem solving skills have allowed her to anticipate challenges and Implement practical effective solutions that enhance student development has Been instrumental in helping countless
students build confidence and achieve their educational goals Beyond her direct interactions with students she has been a Cornerstone for teachers offering valuable guidance on best practices in special education and fostering an inclusive learning environment Amy's collaboration with
families has also been pivotable pivotal providing them with Insight reassurance and strong advocacy to support their child's growth both in and out of the classroom the profound influence she has had on the lives of her students and colleagues will undoubtedly continue to
resonate for years to come next up we have Dennis mcmarro Dennis mcmarro has dedicated 31 years to the field of Education spending a significant portion of his career enriching the lives of students at Roosevelt Intermediate School as a
passionate teacher of English language arts and journalism Dennis has gone beyond traditional teaching teaching methods integrating powerful life lessons into his curriculum through thought-provoking units on social justice and an interdisciplinary exploration of the Holocaust he has
ensured his students develop not only robust academic skills but also the critical thinking and empathy needed for their future challenges in education and Beyond Dennis has consistently emphasized the importance of building strong supportive relationships with the
students understanding that the influence of a teacher reaches far beyond the classroom his dedication to nurturing these connections has left a lasting impression on his students equipping them to be thoughtful and informed individuals as Dennis transitions into retirement we reflect
on his profound impact and unwavering dedication grateful for his years of service and the enduring lessons he has imparted on both literature and life We wish all of our retirees all the best as they begin the next chapter of their lives
Rob bachio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Lea melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens
yes next we'll move to finance and Facilities Kent thank you I'd like to move items a through I under the finance section of tonight's agenda and I'd like to highlight uh some donations this time we had five of them first a big thanks to Kenneth MCR for $100 to fund the
annual Walton bur music award and Ian mcmi Information Technology award which are awarded to a westf high school senior at awards night second uh $1,000 donation from Anonymous to fund supplies for Roosevelt Intermediate School third
the New Jersey Association of Latino administrators and superintendent donated $250 to support student scholarships next we have Lee L Ladro Ramos and Sono Park donated $100 to support the Edison Intermediate School
Orchestra program and then Franklin PTO donated $914 52 to fund the Franklin project playground thank you to these five special people and organizations and our donations to date are now
$1,599 52 thank you to all can I have a second please thank you Christian Patty Rob bonao yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen
Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickins yes next it's a big night for you Mary we'll move to policies no I feel so special tonight a lot of action um I'd like to move item a under the policy
section of tonight's agenda um this item includes six mandated policies up for second reading can I have a second sonel Patty Rob bonio yes Ken diamonds
yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus no to uh A2 yes to all the others Leila melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg no to A2 harassment
intimidation and bullying yes to all others Mary wickens yes all right and last curriculum instructions and programs Kristen I'd like to move items under a under the Sip P portion of tonight's
agenda I asks us to approve two field trips one at Westfield and uh sorry one at Westfield High School and one at rosev can I get a second okay I was going to call Lea but then I heard Kent oh no I'm torn Lea Ken's proba had
one tonight okay Patty Rob bachia yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes
Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens yes all right I'm going to call the board's attention to the notes for the record uh there was no unfinished or new business submitted under board protocol for inclusion on this agenda so we'll move to Liaison reports if anybody has
any that was easy um then we will then we'll move to the second public comment session uh during this portion of the meeting members of the public are invited to address the board of education on any topic as a courtesy allow current students and staff of the Westfield public schools to speak first
the board requests that individuals sign in and state their name Municipality of residents and group affiliation if applicable for the record and ask that all remarks be directed to the board president or designed not to individual members or staff the board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other
individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding Personnel matters are discouraged and cannot be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of newers Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the
public if a matter concerning a District staff member is of Interest or concern to a resident that matter should be referred to the responsible building principal superintendent of schools or the Board of Education either by telephone letter or email although the board may not respond to items raised
during the public forum all public comments will be considered please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president May terminate the participant statement continued disruptions may result in removal from the meeting or adjournment of the meeting each speaker statement will be limited to 3 minutes
in duration e e e thank you very much oh good right unless there's anyone else we'll uh close second public comment uh and I will uh ask for a motion to
adjourn new business is there new business options yeah usually with new business we put it on the agenda beforehand so we can but we can talk after we we'll get it to one of the commit you're looking for special asked to share about oh sure yeah yeah I could I could just call it that leaz on
report then yeah oh sorry um we'll make it happen oh thank you just that the C the Katherine E Cuthbertson Memorial Achievement Award scholarship has been opened for the year and um you can go to the Westfield public school um PT
special education committee site which is on the district website um any um senior graduating who's had a five or four or an IEP is eligible um Katherine cartton um was a student here and um this is offered every single year um the application deadline is Friday March
28th and um sped is encouraging everybody to apply and they've asked everybody to please spread the word and share it I think everybody um on the board is received this so please pass us around and um make sure that everybody's aware excellent thank you very much
appreciate it um now I think I will make a motion to adjourn can I have a second sonal all all in favor any opposed any extensions we are