##VIDEO ID:rqN1y8v3VbY## e e e e e e e testing one two 3 for 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 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 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 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 e e e before we proceed with tonight's meeting I want to take a moment to acknowledge the tragic loss of Edison 8th grader C singla who passed on January 4th after a courageous battle against a rare and fatal brain tumor she was 13 years old our hearts are heavy and we extend our deepest condolences to ca's family friends and all who are grieving this unimaginable loss as a community we support one another during difficult times and I ask that we come together now in a moment of silence to honor ca's life and memory thank you may we continue to hold the Singler family in our thoughts and hearts in the days ahead okay at this time we'll move on to announcements uh Mary can you start us off okay a new inclusive offering by the Westfield wreck department brings Westfield High School athletes together with children with special needs for intro to sports participants will take part in drills and games related to the sport of the week no equipment is required the program runs on Wednesdays from January 22nd through February 19th at McKinley Elementary School from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. cost is $50 register on the W department's website thank you Mary Kent thank you save the date for a unique picture book experience on Monday February 10th beginning at 600 p.m. at Edison Intermediate School why let me tell you described as a magical blend of story in music and visual art enjoy this special event as Elementary band director Trevor snorf reads Dan Brown's wild Symphony accompanied by the Westfield High School Wind Ensemble this event is free however tickets are required visit WPS vpa book ticks.com to secure your free ticket today thank you thank you Kent I'm going to swing to the other side CJ we continue to embrace the diverse Traditions within our school community in January we celebrate Muslim Heritage Month honoring the rich cultural contributions of Muslim Americans on Dr Martin Luther King Jr day we reflected on his legacy of compassion and service we observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 to honor the memory of those lost in the Holocaust finally we celebrate the Lunar New Year on January 29 extending wishes of happiness health and prosperity for the year of the snake thank you CJ Julie the PT TC gifted education committee is hosting its annual k through eight steam night on Wednesday February 5th from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Edison Intermediate School visit the PTC gifted education page on the district website to register if the number of registrants reaches building capacity a waiting list will be maintained thank you Julie Leila completed petitions for candidacy in the April ail 15th 2025 School Board election are being accepted petitions are due to the business administrator board secretary Patricia Ramos by 4M on Tuesday February 25th candidates May email petitions to P Ramos at Westfield New Jersey westfieldnjk12.org or submit by mail to Patricia Ramos 302 Elm Street Westfield New Jersey 07090 the nominating petition and additional information are posted under Board election on the board tab on the district website thank you Leila Brendan mark your calendars for an informative seminar on Monday February 10th sponsored by the Westfield athletic department parents and athletes are invited to attend this free seminar injury prevention and mental health in the whs auditorium from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. thanks Brendan Kristen the next regular public meeting meeting of the Board of Education will be on Tuesday February 11th in cafeteria Bay at Westfield High School beginning at 7:00 p.m. the meeting will be live stream streamed via the district YouTube channel which viewers can access on the board tab on the district website the complete agenda will be available Friday February 7th also on the board tab thank you thank you Kristen at this time we'll move to the reports by District ad Administration so for the first report Mr Scott Cleland to give us a presentation of the audit for fiscal year 2324 present the results of the 2024 audit um what I did is I prepared a slide deck uh just to go through a couple of the highlights for the audit I believe you did receive as part of your package for tonight the copy of the entire AUD as well as the separate management report um before I get started I just want to thank Patty and Carolina and the superintendent for all their help during the audit process it's not an in and out we're not here a day or two we're here for several weeks looking at VAR aspect various aspects of the of the school district um the deadline this year was moved until January 15th the report was filed prior to that so there's nothing to be concerned about in terms of you know late filing I also want to recognize again all the other staff that helped us throughout the course of the the audit they do a great job maintaining the everyday books giving us a great package and unlike most of my other districts we actually get a set of records that represents the audit schedules um Patty and caralina work on them for us they provide us with a great package that makes the audit go much smoother and much more efficiently when we do the order we're just not touching the business office there are quite a few areas that we touch upon we go into the general and School administration we look at instructional type uh finances we look at student services we look at transportation we look at your drtr RS uh we look at all your support operations we look at your Enterprise operations including Food Service how you spend your Capital money as well as your debt service payments back for outstanding debt so being the Patty gives us the financial statements we are able to do an audit the way we're supposed to do an audit based upon the financial statements provided to us and our role is to look at the information provided confirm verify Etc and render an opinion on those financial statements in accordance with our General accepted accounting principles because you're a governmental entity we also have a second layer we have to look at we have to perform procedures that uh a deal with government auditing standards which addresses compliance to statutes federal and state laws and so forth and then because you are a recipient of significant grants from the federal and state government we also have to test on a rotational basis several of your federal and state programs and whether you are spending those money in accordance with federal and state guidelines and whether you're in compliance or not the financial report that is issued every year has four sections this introductory section which is really your section it includes an introductory letter which kind of give an overview of the school district's accomplishments the financial section is really the section where we present the numbers and the opinion on the financial statements the statistical section is the section of about 20 pages of 10 years worth of statistical information regarding Westfield and the surrounding area and then the last section is a single audit which is the state and federal grants so what are the results for the 2024 audit the opinion is unmodified which is a clean opinion highest level it could be placed on the financial statements some of your financial highlights your fund balance in excess of 2% is 512,000 which is the amount of money that'll have to be used towards the 2526 budget you have capital reserve funds set aside of about a little over 9.7 million which must be used for future capital projects you have a maintenance Reserve just over 2 million and you have an emergency Reserve set aside for a million dollarss which is the max that that can be maintained at from the testing of our internal controls under government ordering standards we did not identify any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies or any findings at all uh in the separate manag report there are no findings that will require corrective action in testing the state and federal programs we looked at your Ida special education program this year as well as the acers program which is some of the money was still left under covid-19 and on the state grants we looked at your overall State formula Aid grants and how those funds were spent we also are rendering an unmodified opinion on the over overview and results of the compliance audit and as I mentioned the auditor mag report there are no findings that will require board corrective action so overall a very very good audit you are very proud of the financial results and I'd be more than happy to open up any questions you may have thank you thank you for your report if anyone has any questions if you can let me know I can uh keep track of it so we can ask our questions in turn Okay Julie you want to start us off um first of all thank you uh I read through the report um and uh well done um and Patty um well done this is a reflection on you and your team and the entire office and Dr Gonzalez on you for choosing Patty for for this role uh I as a former big for practitioner I don't remember the last time I saw a total lack of recommendations in the um in the report uh but I I'd like to understand a little bit more about the administrative practices and procedures um what you did um and um just get an understanding of what you did review what you didn't review um just so I have an understanding of the scope of of that work sure um usually it starts out with an interim period of time where we come in and perform our risk assessments our planning procedures and so forth and then we get into testing of internal controls so we test controls over the revenue process the purchasing and accounts payable process as as well as the payroll process uh we Al we also look at your cafeteria function and then we look at the financial statements for the various funds whether it be your general fund your special Revenue fund capital projects Debt Service we have to look at each of those individual funds as if they stand on their own they have their own materiality um and then we spend quite a bit of time looking at at how the money spent confirming cash and the usual stuff you would do there uh then we also have to scope out which grants exceed $750,000 of expenditures which would then require us to determine uh which grants we have to test and select transactions so we select this we select transactions as well from uh from the universe of those grants and perform internal controls over compliance as well as compliance testing on the grants that were selected uh we look at your Assa your application for state school aid to verify and test enrollment records versus the what you submitted to the state we look at similar information regarding your drts so it's a pretty all-encompassing um approach we like to take an internal control approach because it gives us an idea as to what we should do substantively um not all firms do that but it gives us a good idea as to are you doing what you should be doing to prevent the loss of funds or misappropriation of funds and so forth allows us to spend the time focusing on the risk areas and then secondary we look at the numbers and so forth so if I heard correctly that sounds very comprehensive I heard correctly I definitely heard um uh um control testing um as it relates to um you're selecting random data um and testing accordingly so you're probably just doing random selection of data based on a a a a controlled amount um that you're you know you're sampling yes um it sounds to me like you're looking at policies and procedures and confirming that they are appropriate as controls for that you're looking at training as a control to make sure that those are appropriate you're looking at roles and responsibilities to see whether or not they are properly segregated and that they are being properly controlled within those policies and procedures is there anything else that I'm missing here um in terms of the risk control assessment that you're doing here I guess the big the big thing now that's it's all over the uh the auding universe is risk assessments where the risk assessments were overall now it's done fund by fund so there's a lot more focus on risk assessments and assessing every single significant account with each which within each individual fund um and documenting that accordingly that was what I was wondering about so is that part of what was done here absolutely and overall you found from a risk assessment perspective fund by fund that we were within our agreed risk tolerance yes excellent thank you thank you does anybody else have any questions okay thank you thank you for that detailed report thank you much fortive have a great evening everyone thank you okay at this time I'll turn it over to Dr Gonzalez for student safety data system report thank you uh before we proceed with tonight's presentations I do want to take a moment to recognize uh the members of the Westfield Board of Education during school board recognition month uh I wrote a poem that I'd like no I'm kidding um it's a song no um these dedicated individuals each bring their unique perspectives and expertise while being united by a shared purpose to move our district forward and support the needs of every student it's important to note that the board members volunteer their time serving without pay while balancing their own careers families and personal commitments their role in governance is vital they provide the guidance vision and oversight that enable our Administration to keep to do the Deep work of turning that Vision into action and meaningful results whether it's through committee work policy development or collaboration with thect District leadership and Community Partners our board members set the foundation for the success of our schools this service requires extraordinary commitment thoughtful decision-making and a steadfast dedication to ensuring that every student in Westfield has the resources and opportunities they deserve on behalf of the entire Westfield Public Schools Community I extend heartfelt gratitude to each of you for your leadership your service and your unwavering focus on our shared mission let's all take a moment to thank them and all school boards for their incredible contributions to the future of our students now moving on to the student uh student safety uh data system report the mandated ssds report covering period one of the current school year from SE from September 2024 through December 20 24 is listed as an attachment in the notes for the record included in this report are incidents related to violence vandalism weapons substance abuse and Cur uh confirmed HIV cases it also tracks incidents that resulted in students removal from class the use of restraint or seclusion and anti-bullying tradings all of these detailed summaries are used by the school administration to help us review assess and improve safety and anti-bullying efforts now next up uh Patty and I would like to begin the first of several presentations regarding the upcoming budget vote and referendum in April so if you recall each year uh the Board of Education um and the administration engage in a conversation starting uh at the the turn of the the new year and the purpose is um to be able to engage in conversations that will shape the development of the school budget for the subsequent school year um through a series of conversations that uh get increasingly detailed over the course of the uh next few months and the reason for that is because the amount of information that we have and the amount of information we receive evolves over time so what you will see this evening is an overview of uh of that budget development process but also uh use this opportunity to include an update on our uh other big vote in April and that will be our referendum public referendum um that has been touched on over the past several months but we'll proceed in Earnest in the months ahead so this presentation will cover uh once again both the uh budget and the referendum overview but we always want to make sure we um we focus our attention on the most important things which is ensuring that any time we have such a proposal uh to present that has an impact on our school district we want to make sure that that proposal uh is fully vetted by the taxpayers and by the voting public and therefore we want to make sure that all members of the Westfield Community um who are eligible uh go out to the polls on Tuesday April 15th to cast their ballot um during that time you will have the opportunity to vote on on three different things uh one will be the annual 2025 26 District operating budget the next will be the bond referendum and then of course the annual School Board election will also be on the ballot for that year so as we review both the bond referendum and the budget we thought it would be important to identify some of the key differences uh between a bond referendum and a budget vote and as you see on this slide we we provide a basic visual that overlays the importance of each of these in the fiscal future of this District on the left side you see the bond referendum and and really highlighting that the bond re referendum is intended to support large capital projects that are repaid over long periods of time they do not include staff they do not include basic uh supplies and textbooks um because of the nature of the um the repayment of that Bond over time and the interest that would uh certainly acre but also because of the size of the um the expenditure it would absolutely be more appropriate to do large scale Capital Improvements through the issuances of bonds versus daily operational costs which would find their way into a annual budget vote so when you look at our annual budget vote you're really looking at the da operational costs that it uh that are incurred in order to provide a thorough and efficient education to all of our students inclusive of salaries inclusive of supplies inclusive of basic services that are required each and every year um and we also take into account both the operating budget that fits within the tax levy as well as any cost that exceed the tax levy all of that will be accounted for uh in the April 15th uh board vote and election so let's begin with an overview of the budget the highlights um that we wanted to begin really are intended to talk about as the basis highlights from last year's budget cycle and how they have manifested into this year's uh school year so when we think about last year's budget and the development of that budget we really focused on two main areas one is the um continuity of education and how we were able to accomplish that through careful budgeting that included a base budget as well as an additional funding proposal that allowed us to maintain um current Staffing as well as um include additional Staffing that you see on the on the right side so in addition to the um educational continuity of uh current staff we recognize that not all staff are able to fit in our base budget which is why when we have to go out for an additional funding proposal we sometimes need to put existing staff into that additional funding proposal not because we don't need the staff um but because we need the staff to maintain our existing class sizes in course enrollments so through the budgeting from last year that educational continuity continued into this year keeping the exper experience for our students consistent with what they have seen over the past several years in addition we also were able to include an additional funding proposal that allowed us to add to our team of uh Educators and professionals as well as support staff so as you see under the uh budget enhancements uh we were able to include for this year the addition of enrichment teachers in the elementary school a high school elective teacher as well as an additional special educ supervisor to now give us the ability to uh expand our support in an elementary and secondary supervisory model in addition to our assistant superintendent we also added an assistant buildings and ground supervisor to work with our Uh current supervisor to ensure that all of our facilities improvements and the uh maintenance of our school uh is well supervised we've also recognized that in order to maintain our investments both of our building and grounds it would be necessary to uh include additional grounds Keepers in order to U manage the the fields and the grounds around all of our schools and all of those um facilities enhancements uh would be then supported by the uh assistant buildings and ground supervisor as well and then last but not least we've expanded our support for um school security so in addition to our full-time school security specialist we also were able to add three three part-time security Personnel um to our um our staffing so when we think about all the work that we are doing to build budgets each year we we are not looking anymore to just see how we could get by we are not looking just to maintain the status quo but we want to continue the work that we have done each and every year to build out our programs uh and make sure that our students and staff have the have the supports that they need in addition you'll notice on this slide um the 20242 budget that was developed last year and implemented this year included um those facilities improvements that you see noted the field Renovations um we also included the the continuation of the uh Roosevelt Intermediate School facade project and that was accomplished through uh capital reserve um uh accounts that had uh budgeted for that uh starting two years ago and that work Contin um we also included in our budget for last year the purchase of two buses and you see here the uh the first of those two buses was recently uh delivered to the school district allowing us um to take back some of our IND District routes as well as uh maintain some additional after school activities um that give us the ability to start to maximize the efficiencies that uh go along with maintaining our own vehicle Fleet we also included in the budget last year the ability to start to uh turn over the outdated Furniture in our classrooms slowly but surely we've included uh a line items so that each year we're able to take um either a grade or department at a time and create um new classroom experiences by refreshing the existing uh classroom environment through uh cleaning up the um the the technology and the facilities repainting the classrooms and also uh providing new furniture grade level and developmentally appropriate all built in within the exact uh budget that was um approved last year developed and approved we also included uh two enhancements to build on all the work that's being done to uh create a a meaningful and viable and consistent curriculum across all of our schools we also developed uh the opportunity to house that in a management uh system called edup Planet uh and in the coming weeks and uh month ahead the community will finally get a chance to see all of our updated curriculum in this new management uh platform so that it becomes easier both uh for both the teachers and the community um to see the learning expectations and the direction and pacing of that uh work over the course of the year we've also included in our budget and uh are working on implementing a new data and assessment management system that would allow us to take all the disparate resources that we have whether it be our student information system the different assessment uh modules that we have um that all are located in different platforms and bringing them under one umbrella to make it easier for our um School District staff to be able to review analyze and and really uh maintain data that creates actionable opportunities for us to respond to it in real time so our new intervention teachers our TSS program our gifted and talented and enrichment uh program as well as all of the existing uh staff have the ability will have the ability to uh uh make use of that platform in order to engage in deeper conversations datadriven conversations um about our students performance and where we can continue to enhance our efforts uh in District so when we think about the importance of our budget we think about you know in some cases what we've been able to do to continue that work and that's where the educational continuity comes in so much of what is going to be presented in the months ahead will be to continue the work that you see in front of you on this slide um but certainly being able to make use of the momentum that we've experienced over the past uh several years so now looking forward to the 2025 26 budget what what do we uh what should we expect well I think on the revenue side um it's been made clear To Us by uh the New Jersey Department of Education and all of our uh resources that we should be expecting Flat state aid and between all of us when I hear Flat state aid we uh expect that that means no increases but we are also preparing for the potential for maybe even uh a moderate decrease if in the event of uh the Flat state aid that is being proposed once that's flat at the state level once it gets distributed at the district level there's always the possibility for for some minor adjustments so we are uh certainly aware and grateful that over the past several years um the New Jersey Department of Education and the governor uh had increasingly um funded the state funding formula that had uh benefited our school district with increases to State any Aid any um each year um but as of last year that funding formula uh had been fully funded which is the reason why we're looking and expecting Flat state aid for this coming year and then last but not least when we then look on the expenditure side what are we looking at as I said before we are looking at continuing um our programs continuing our staffing as we have um uh in the past several years so educational continuity uh aligned to our strategic plan aligned to our existing um uh programs and plans so that the the budget for this year will will likely have limited uh additions or enhancements that are not necessitated uh by enrollments or or or anything else so just to remind everyone um oh actually just to remind everyone we have a wonderful ba who's is going to take the next set of slides uh so I'm gonna ask Patty to uh take the uh the range from here so as we go into our 25 26 budget plan as Ray said we're still in the beginning stages of this we don't have state aid numbers we won't have them as you'll see in future slides to the end of February uh what we do know is we still have a 2% Levy cap and what that means is we can increase our our revenues our tax revenue by 2% over the previous year's general fund taxes it doesn't apply to any new development in town anything like that it's whatever the taxes were last year 2% I can go up from that so then they allow us adjustments we're not going to receive an enrollment adjustment because our enrollment is pretty flat from last year in Westfield so the only thing that we would be eligible for is a health care adjustment which I believe that we will be getting it's not out yet but it'll be out at the end of January but the state health benefits plan has gone up by 15% this last year which you'll see on a future slide that we're doing better than that but um so when that happens they'll give us an adjustment above cap for the health cost which again again we would also benefit from even though we're not in state health benefits because health benefits are going up by more than 2% and those two things added together give us our budget at our adjusted Levy cap and in Westfield that's the majority of our Revenue so that's what we're looking at there's really nothing else to make up nothing else that we can fund that's where we'll be at so to recap again this year we have the base budget which the board will vote on and then on the ballot will just be the add additional spending proposal so on April 15th ballot would be the additional spending proposal for whatever does not fit within our cap plus the referendum ballot questions and then the board uh members vote uh you remember the first year we had to vote on the budget and then the additional that went away last year and it's still staying the same that we're just voting on the additional so then on the next slide I want to highlight um because we always talk about everything we're spending spending spending but we're also taking a lot of steps internally to try to cut costs and and to to make things more efficient in the district and one of those ways was the purchase of two new District owned school buses so when I run the numbers for next year and what what routes we can take back in um Lisa marzo our transportation coordinator has already looked through all of our routes and identified ones we can bring back in from outside contractors even with hiring drivers our transportation costs will only rise 1.6% if we didn't buy our own buses I would have had to budget 5% minimum across the board for an increase so already we're seeing a savings by bringing that internal um not only that but there'll be more consistency as I've told the board before we're looking to train um some people from the maintenance department to have CDL license Lisa marzzo has her CDL so we'll have backup drivers in case one's out whereas now we're kind of at the mercy of our outside contractors our IND District special ation programming um and our students that are aging out meaning that they're graduating they're either hitting 21 or graduating out of out of District programming we're going to have stable costs for outof district costs next year so that's that's a positive also and that was from us bringing some programming back in District we brought in the ER program and the MD program which opened up those spaces for middle school students to now stay in District uh and that alone is a savings of almost $100,000 per student by allowing them to stay in District and then they're also staying with the student the other students that they've been with since preschool so it's a better learning environment and then because we're self-insured our increases are below the New Jersey State Health Benefit increases as I said they're at 15% we're looking at about 10% now our Brokers are still working on it so that's not a final number um obviously there there have been increases in different drug costs and everything over the the last year that have impacted every District in the state and every business in the state but we are still below New Jersey state health benefits by a decent amount so it was definitely the right move to move into the um self- insurance so those are ways that we're we've been looking at internally to cut costs where we can there's a lot of static costs that we can't cut you know we I need to provide health benefits they're never going to be 2% I have to provide busing I got that down to 1.6% overall but there are a lot of costs that are above that our regular General Insurance costs are well above the 2% I'm still working with the broker on averages for that for next year and even those those are stabilizing they're still stabilizing in double digits so it's not it just doesn't equate when you look at the whole budget um salary increases are above 2% across the state I don't expect that to change anytime soon so these are all things that impact our budget overall so I I want to make clear uh that the um the budget has not been finalized obviously by any stretch uh with uh data still outstanding however there is no question that there is going to be an additional funding proposal that is going to be required in order for us to maintain our existing programming uh maintain that uh additional um supports that had been introduced last year into the coming year and the years ahead so uh as much as we'd love to to be be below the tax levy cap um in order to continue what we've done um the district will continue to experience that additional funding proposal year after year so what else is going on in April well we have uh that little thing called the bond referendum the bond referendum uh is uh still in the um early stages of uh development in only so far as we are waiting to hear back from the Department of Education uh who has uh received all of our projects uh as we submitted them last year um they receive the applications and are in the process of ensuring uh that they have everything they need to approve the applications and calculate um The Debt Service Aid that they would provide uh for each of the projects so the update for for the referendum is really what you see listed here that the date is confirmed for the the vote on Tuesday April 15th um we also have uh now before us the task of deciding how many ballot questions will be on the ballot on April 15th and what will be contained in each of those ballot questions um while we are waiting the final review of the Department of Education the Board of Education can still contemplate uh different scenarios in order to make those uh those decisions on a preim preliminary basis but the final ballot questions will not be decided until we have the firm numbers from the Department of Education to review with the board uh in the Pro in um in the process now we are also scheduling Community engagement uh sessions so both virtual and in-person meetings and opportunities to work with our school Community whether it be pto's or Community groups and organizations we are already scheduling out presentations uh for myself myself and Patty uh or anyone um to find out more about the bond referendum and really the budget vote at the same time in order to understand what is going to be presented to them on April 15th um we also want to highlight the importance of mail and voting why because on April 15th that happens to fall on um during the week of spring break and we want to make sure that every um member of this community uh has an opportunity to cast their their ballot every member of this community has the opportunity to let their voice be heard um and if you're not going to be able to cast that ballot in person um it's all the more reason why a mail in uh ballot is going to be important for this community really to uh fully vet and um fully lend their voice to the referendum and budget vote coming up so many uh questions have uh Arisen over time regarding the timeline uh not just the timeline of how did we get to the budget vote but uh pending voter approval how would that timeline then look in order to see the fruits of of our Labor uh come to fruition with programs and spaces coming online so in this referendum road map uh to the left you see everything from the the start of our work in 2023 with the approval of the the Strategic plan and the assessment of our facilities uh continuing through last year through Community input sessions and and thought exchanges in order to bring us to the point where we uh are able to present to the um State uh a series of nine applications uh for each of the schools that are going to have uh work being done whether it be additions or revisions so that in 2025 starting this year is when we when we look forward to moving um the decisions of the board of of the Department of Education into finalize proposals uh to appear on a ballot um as you see on April 15th once you once again that public vote will take place now pending voter approval of that referendum and um and all the proposals contained in the ref referendum we would identify really the next three years as being those years when uh Renovations would take place but the first year uh would be cons would consist of the development of the detailed plans and specifications that would then be put out to a competitive bidding uh process which is required under um state law to ensure that every opportunity is presented to uh qualified and responsive biders um to present their uh response to our um bids understanding that the um the law requires that we provide um or award the bid to the lowest responsible or responsive bidder so I do want to Echo that that may come up in the future but it is all part and parcel of the um public bidding laws and the requirements so next year after this year's referendum the next school year will be spent on um designing and bidding then the school years that follow will be spent on um constructing and renovating so the 2025 26 school year design 2026 27 school year will be year one of construction and renovation 2027 28 will be year two of construction and renovation so that if all the Moon moons and the Stars a line then we hope that in September of 20128 we will be able to open those spaces um for students to be able to be educated in a full day full day kindergarten environment as well as any additional programs that will um be included in the referendum so it's a lot of work to get to this point and it will be even more work to get us to the Finish Line um but it is all worthwhile and we we appreciate uh everyone's time and attention um this evening and in the months ahead so quick recap our presentation this evening highlighted the the Dual funding stream that is necessary to see um these hopes and dreams come to reality um the budget vote is focusing on the continuity of education and the bond referendum is really how we expand the opportunities for this District through Capital um expenditures in the years ahead so in the um the months and weeks ahead we just wanted to provide a brief overview uh with some specific dates uh on February 11th we will provide the second of our series of B budget and bond referendums hopefully with additional details uh with what's going to be included in our budget for the coming year as well as hopefully additional uh details regarding the review of the Department of education's uh project applications for the school districts um on February 27th we expect to um hear from the Department of Education what our state aid will be for the coming school year so that we can incorporate that into our budget so that on March 4th we'll present the preliminary budget to the board of education for their review and approval so that we could then submit that to the County Office of the New Jersey Department of Education um so that they could provide their review and approval uh as part of the process um the board will vote on hopefully at that same meeting um the bond referendum ballot language so that will uh both include the number of questions and the the content of each of those questions so that on March 25th the board will hold its public budget hearing uh and vote on the final base budget which is that um tax levy cap uh budget as well as the additional spending proposal that would be necessary to fully fund our our um educational program for the uh coming school year and that additional spunding uh spending proposal uh would be uh added to the April 15th ballot as well as in the event that we don't have the ability to uh vote on the bond referendum ballot language we would make sure that that on March 25th that that uh referendum language is voted on and approved by the board so what that means is by no later than March 25th we will know all the questions that will be presented by the community we'll know the content of those questions what's going to be included in each of those questions so that between that time and April 15th um our information campaign our presentations our Communications that go out to the community uh will be as detailed and specific specific as possible so that uh all members of the community will have a chance to cast their boat uh their vote um as informed an electorate as possible so on April 15th they will vote on the budget they'll vote on the bond referendum and they'll vote vote on Schoolboard candidates for more information we um once again will be highlighting uh any updates to our um budget as well as our referendum on our online portal so if you go to our website we have a banner that's posted on the main page uh that says Bond referendum and budget that will take you to our uh online portal which will focus on both the referendum and budget and with each new round of details and information that we present to the board we will then post that same information to that portal so everyone will have the same information uh as it becomes available we've also uh included on our mobile app if you don't have your mobile app uh downloaded onto your uh phone this might be another incentive to do so as we've included a direct link to uh the bond referendum and budget portal on the mobile app uh whether you subscribe to just a school or a series of schools um and or the the school district that Bond referendum link will be the same and will'll take it at the same place so we want to make sure that everyone has access to the information whatever way you consume your information uh about the school district and certainly we'll continue to uh expand and explore uh any opportunity to get the word out so a very subtle um slide to end with we just want to make sure that uh we recognize that as a community um to build a strong Foundation requires um the community support um not just the administration not just the board of education but really uh the entire School Community uh together to build that strong foundation for a brighter future so thank you for your time and attention and if there's any questions uh on what we've presented Patty and I could certainly um answer those at this time thank you Ray and Patty for that detailed report if any board member has any questions please let me know so I can keep track and I will call on you in turn okay Mary believe it okay so if I was reading it right um Dr G the Department of Education should be letting us know by February hopefully before February 11th when we meet correct that's that's what we are hoping we actually have a meeting on Thursday um with representatives from the county office as well as the Department of Education to continue to encourage them to help move this along so is there a chance that could not happen uh by by February 11th I I do not want to overpromise and undeliver so I'm going to say yes there is a possibility but I I hope not but not past February I would assume I would I would hope not okay um and then just just as a taxpayer question like if it's voted on um the referendum and it's approved hopefully um by the community um when does the increase start for taxpayers like right away or no yes so it's as we sell the bonds that's the that would be when we need to raise the funding so it would be if we sell bonds one year the payments don't start till the following year that's when it would go into the budget for the following year and it might increase over the course of a couple years because we may not sell all of the bonds the first year depending right now interest rates are high so it wouldn't be in our benefit to sell all of them at once if they were very low it it would be so um it's we have a financial adviser that helps with that with the bonds but the taxes would not go up until the following year after the bonds were sold when our first principal and interest payments were due so you're looking at 20 28 29 before there's appreciable difference to the tax bills do that in like simpler language Brandon appreciable three years three years yeah that's all I want to know thank you uh CJ uh yeah just one other question or request for clarification you know the where the bond referendum is talking about the structures being built but you mentioned that it doesn't it doesn't count towards uh additional Personnel uh that would occupy the new structures uh in the full day kindergarten um how would that be in the future how would that be funded just to to kind of elucidate that for uh the taxpayers no thank you and and and that is certainly something that we do want to emphasize and will emphasize in our our voter education um and and you're absolutely right the uh the Capital Improvements would be supported by the bond referendum but the salaries associated with the staff necessary to fill those classrooms would come out of the operating budget so when we look at our timeline the operating budget uh for the 28 29 school year would then need to include those staff additions so as we develop the budget for the 28 29 school year that would certainly be an additional uh spending proposal that would need to be included and recognizing and it's important for the taxpayers to understand if you are approving the uh addition of these classrooms then we are going to require an additional uh approval of the staff in order to uh round out the the addition of those programs without we we can't have one without the other thank you Julie um so um thank you for your presentation um always as always excellent very comprehensive um so with regards to the referendum um obviously you know we're all very supportive of everything we're trying to do um and obviously these are uh you know we we are hoping that the vote goes through but as somebody who um likes to have backups on my backups on my backups and understanding that so much of this is um infrastructure not just new infrastructure but fixing infrastructure that is so dated and so problematic things that it's impossible to find parts for it sounds like such a bag borrowing and stealing from the 60s kind of scenario for this the teams that you know you've got here so I'm just wondering if there are contingency plans in place for the most challenging things like that and if there are contingency plans if you could share that with us or if you have plans to share that with us because I'd like to understand what they are so uh I I think in brief the contingency plan is really um going to focus on the um use of the existing uh Revenue sources and and budget um reserves that we have available to us so within a school district um those two operating um budget and referendum sources are really the only two sources that exist for us so moving forward in the absence of having um the the support of um Bond issuance uh we would only have the ability to use our operating budget each year and then the capital reserves or maintenance reserves that we deposit into each year in order to um take care of everything uh associated with maintaining our schools so in the same way we've used those reserves to replace roofs and re replace um boilers over the years we would need to uh do the same for our um Heating and ventilation systems aging out as well as uh any other infrastructure needs as as you alluded to um and and really that is uh unfortunately going to result in um a a very difficult um experience for the school community in the school district because as I celebrate and I'm all excited to share all the the expansions and additions and the you know continuation of existing programs um we wouldn't be able to experience those same things moving forward um because we would need to ensure that we have the um the means to be able to address um those facility needs as they um emerge and just as an example if uh a boiler goes down if a roof you know um Springs a leak we have to fix those um and the only resources we have available to us are our operating budget and our Reserves and we're going to need to continue to build those up over time so if I hear you correctly just I just want to make sure I I understand because um I just want to understand the accounting and the risk that comes with with what you're saying um because I do think the public needs to understand that side of it and why it's so important to do this what you're saying is our reserves will go down potentially also affecting our risk rating um and um and and and how we can borrow and so on and so forth going forward our Capital reserves can potentially go down while our costs that would be used from our Capital fund will continue to go up up up because these things are getting more and more dated more and more so we really have we're we're literally at the worst possible Financial scenario where we're depleting our Capital funds more and more which means in an emergency we have less Capital funds to look back on we we would not be able to borrow as much in in an emergency and if we would we would have to borrow at a higher interest rate because we would have less Capital to go again and we have much more likelihood for emergencies that we have we could have anticipated um and fixed with this referendum is that a fair way to describe the situation that is correct so our our reserves do affect our bond rating the more reserves that we have the better Bond rating we have which means that we're able to borrow money at a lower rate so that is true and then also you saw the auditor had presented that we have n over $9 million in capital reserve but this year I budgeted 4 million of that for projects we did in District so I have 5 million every year we're looking at other projects that we're trying to do that Ry and I have already talked about would be put on hold because we'd have to address the most dire needs first and I think the biggest part of this is that you would lose 40% from the state so everyone here pays into taxes to the state and The Debt Service Aid on repairs to maintenance repairs is 40% they give us back on the cost so if that part doesn't pass the taxpayers Westfield will be paying 100% of those costs instead of paying 60% which is huge it's a coupon as as our public relations team has been talking about it like you got to cash in the coupon why would we not use it if we have it okay then I I also have a question just outside of the referendum we if even though our base budget has has increased because we still have the 2% cap we still could not um provide status quo with the 2% is that correct that's correct correct and in previous years with state aid increasing as they were funding the formula it would offset some of that for districts like us that we're going up but now with state aid going to be flat this year you know when I first was running my budget numbers I was like oh that's not bad then you look at Flat state aid most districts I was at a ba uh event last week and they were all talking about how much they're over and how there's no state aid so they were all just starting to make Cuts okay is there anybody else Julie go ahead Julie so you know I think the other comparison and and I'm just I'm asking this question in part to try to figure out how to communicate with the public because I do think this is very very important and I know we have a communication plan but I do think that this gets lost because it is complicated financially and it took me years to understand these things and I've never done it in the public area before so Patty's spent a great deal of time schooling me um on how to understand these things in this context but I think that you know for many people uh it's really an opportunity cost question um you know when did you buy your house did you buy your house at a certain interest rate did you wait until that interest rate interest rates went up and did you regret it later on did you wait until your credit rating went down and you regretted it because your credit rating went down and all of a sudden you couldn't get the house at the rate that you were expecting I think that it's really important for people to understand that those principles in terms terms of your own personal credit rating and you know how much money you spend and the pay me now pay me later whether it's buying a house or making repairs on a house or investing in your life are very very or buying Insurance on things in your life are not very different from this large scale spending that we're trying to accomplish here with this referendum we're not planting uh you know mulberry bushes here we are trying to make sure that the air conditioning ducks don't fall onto the students heads we are trying to make sure that we have breathable air we are yes are we trying to add a kindergarten program yes and that is super important and one of the last last districts in the state doing it um but if you look at the totality of what we're trying to accomplish here a lot of what we're trying to do is is um not keeping up with the Joneses stuff we are literally living in the 60s and 70s with our infrastructure and I think that you know when you look at your house and you have a boiler from the 60s and 70s everybody knows what that's like and everyone knows the longer you hold it off um the more expensive that flood's going to be the more difficult it's going to be and I think it's really important for us to put it into terms that people can understand because nobody wants to pay it more later the question is can you afford to pay it now um and thankfully um that audit report um just to tie it all together shows us why we can because the reason we can is our credit rating is exceptionally good right now thank you Patty thank you Ray um you know and since it's NJ BSA months thank you everybody at this table because that is not something that's true of every board in fact a lot of our neighboring boards don't have that and I think that when we don't talk about that um with each other much less with the public I think that that gets lost and so I just I know it's taking time I apologize but I'm I'm I'm saying this so that we can use it so that they hopefully people are watching and that this can be translated and we can use this to translate it for people in addition to the communication plan because I think if we try to talk about it at a higher level in terms of an accounting level I think that a lot of times that that gets lost in the weeds for whatever that's worth thank you Julie anybody else okay um then at this time I'll turn it over to our high school student representative James for his report good evening everyone I I hope you all had a relaxing winter break in a happy New Year Westfield High School has been full of spirit since we returned sgaa hosted their second annual game show event for all grades thanks to Holly Rock entertainment this event was a great way to start the new year off strong and give students a break from studying with midterms coming next week additionally student government and the community service Club have started preparing for their annual week of service while this event is still months away they will will soon be releasing an Amazon wish list in which families can purchase toiletry items and cleaning supplies to donate that students will make into kits for their families in need in the spring thank you thank you James okay we'll move on to board committee reports first report is uh sip Kristen good evening the Sip committee met on the evening of Monday January 6th during the meeting Mr jaro supervised of physical education health and Athletics delivered an overview of the district's PE health and Athletics programs he detailed the progression of skills habits of mind and curricular goals from kindergarten through the 12th grade the full presentation is available on the district website under Spotlight on education in the information series section the committee also reviewed two policies policy 5460 High School graduation and policy 571 academic Integrity policy 5460 is an updated version of an existing policy revised to align with public law 20 2023 c295 this Law requires that as a condition for receiving a high school diploma students and their parents if applicable must complete and submit a financial aid application using the form prescribed by the New Jersey higher education assistance Authority however parents and students do have the option to wave of this requirement policy 571 academic Inc Integrity is a newly introduced policy that establishes clear expectations for students parents and school Personnel regarding the production of authentic work it also provides a comprehensive definition of plagiarism including the misuse of artificial intelligence tools this policy aims to create a consistent and coherent approach for addressing all forms of plagiarism together with policy 5600 student codee of conduct and 2365 acceptable use of generative artificial intelligence policy 571 ensures that students families and staff have clear guidelines expectations and disciplinar measures to address issues related to academic Integrity the committee reviewed a request from Mrs Brennan supervisor of the K through 12 social studies and business education to purchase new textbooks for the high school United States history 2 course the textbook selection process involved a thorough review of multiple resources by a dedicated committee The Chosen textbook offers numerous primary and secondary sources that present diverse perspectives encouraging students analysis and critical thinking it also includes engaging activities that connect historical content to present day issues to ensure the resource meets the needs of all students a special education teacher was part part of the review process the textbook incorporates several Universal Design for Learning features such as reading strategies accessible reading levels graphic organizers bolded key terms and suggestions for writing and group activities a digital version of the textbook will be available for students requiring this accommodation the committee continued its discussion on the proposed start and end times for the school for the schools at all levels a topic first introduced during the new business portion of last month's board meeting per the board policy 8220 the start and end times for a regular school day as well as delayed openings early dismissal and early dismissals require annual board approval the updated start and end times were carefully developed to align with the new Master schedules for the intermediate and high schools a chart detailing the new times is included in the attachments to this evening's meeting agenda Dr Dr Bolton also presented to the committee with a visual demonstration of the district's new online curriculum database edgy Planet as previously shared during board meetings edge of planet is designed to provide faculty and family with a more streamlined and userfriendly way to access the district's curriculum documents subject supervisors are currently upd uploading content for each course into this platform the district plans to launch edop planet for faculty in February and make it accessible to the public in March finally the committee heard about a new program that will be hosted at Westfield High School for the students and teachers this summer the inspirit AI summer program is an intensive two-week in-person course designed for high school students to explore artificial intelligence and Its Real World applications taught by AI experts and mentors from Top institutions like Stanford and MIT the program offers a Hands-On learning experience with no prior Co coding knowledge required students work on impactful projects in areas such as health care sustainability and Robotics while gaining foundational skills in machine learning computer vision and natural language processing ethical considerations of AI are emphasized throughout the program fostering a well-rounded understanding of its societal impact more information on inspirit AI and the summer program registration will be sent to whs families within the next few weeks thank you we had a very productive meeting is that all that's all didn't you like hearing my voice for that long thank you Kristen uh report by uh finance and Facilities yep finance and facility committee met on Friday morning uh we spent the first hour of this meeting talking about what we did so I'll just we went over the budget and the audit uh talked about what the next year's budget's going to look like uh talked about the referendum we've talked nauseum about that so far tonight uh 95% of phase two at Roosevelt is done phase work Phase One Roof work is done and inspected and the warranty is reinstated uh obviously the weather's not cooperating right now so not much is happening on the rest of it uh and Fab laab lighting and is in an installation will begin after hours uh starting on the 16th and everything else we've discussed tonight so short and sweet Andie thank you Brendan uh policies Personnel uh Mary thank you um policy personnel and governance committee met on January 9th um we had um Dr Gonzales and Dr Greer made an appearance thank you uh Dr Greer provided a a comprehensive overview of Title 9 DET detailing its implications for our schools updates to the law his responsibilities as the district's Title 9 officer and the processes involved in conducting investigations this was an informational session and no board action or decision is required at this time the committee also addressed its goal of reviewing Central cabinate job descriptions a process scheduled for the spring this review will include the superintendent's job job description and any necessary updates to ensure alignment with policy P 1230 duties of the superintendent Additionally the administration will develop a protocol to fac facilitate the collection of feedback for the superintendence evaluation incorporating considerations from the superintendent contract relevant District district policies and resources provided by the New Jersey school boards Association uh following up on a topic referred from the December 17th board meeting the committee reviewed the specific recommendations and concerns shared by another member of the board regarding harassment intimidation and bullying reporting and review procedures while the committee appreciates the input it did not share the concerns expressed rather the committee acknowledges that significant progress has been made over the past several years to streamline the hit process align it with the law and ensure the board is well educated about its role and responsibilities this collaborative effort is evident in the enhancements made to the superintendent report and the refined wording of the board motion that is voted on as a result the committee believes that no further action is warranted emphasizing that the board has already completed its hip training for the year and additional training is not necessary at this time to gain insight into the annual Audits and accountability systems used to monitor District performance the committee reviewed a list of New Jersey Department of Education mandated reports compiled by the administration based on requests from state and federal agencies this review was conducted for informational purposes and no actions are required at this time on the topic of board self-evaluation the committee agreed to reach out to the New Jersey school boards Association to initiate the process of gathering feedback from board members to help identify strengths address areas of growth and align the board's activities with District goals the evaluation serves as a tool to enhance teamwork improve decision- making and ensure that the board operates effectively and efficiently in supporting student achievement and the overall success of the district finally while policy review was on the agenda time constraints resulted in tabling this item until the next meeting scheduled for February 6th at that time the committee plans to discuss the annual midyear non-tenure review Personnel review and continue its policy review included in the policy review will be a discussion of the governor's recent announcement and Senate Bill 3 3695 which requires cell phone and social media policy to De to be developed by Department of Ed and adopted in schools thank you Mary okay at this time I I'm going to move to the report by the referendum Communications committee I'm going to read that report so our referendum Communications committee met virtually on December 18th from 4 to 5: the meeting was attended by board members Mary wickins Kristen Sonic schmeltz Rob bacho and myself along with administrators Dr Gonzalez and maryan McAn the committee received an update regarding the November 21st 2024 Community Communications advisory committee meeting key discuss discussion points from that meeting included the role of the advisory committee as the eyes and ears of the community the importance of understanding the implications of state aid and a review of General Community concerns and priorities this ongoing dialogue aims to identify focal points for Community engagement and messaging strategies the advisory committee is set to meet again on January 13 2025 to continue its work a portion of the meeting focused on targeted stakeholder engagement strategies to raise awareness about the referendum proposed methods include leveraging Westfield High School seniors who are eligible voters and recent alumni collaborations with local media and the High's eye engaging the Athletics and arts communities and making sure we are ready to deliver presentations to any group regardless of size that seeks more information about the referendum the committee also received updates about our ongoing work with the district's communications consultant members reviewed and provided feedback on various draft materials including logos business cards and videos intended to support the communication efforts these resources will be used to enhance the district's Outreach and align with its strategic messaging goals the next meeting of the referendum Communications committee is scheduled for tomorrow 4M via Google meet the committee remains committed to fostering transparent and effective communication to ensure the success of the referendum initiative okay at this time I'd like to recognize the public on agenda action items only during this portion of the meeting District residents and staff are invited to address the board of education on agendas action items only as a courtesy 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 actions they are commenting on and ask that all remarks be directed to the board president or design the board ask that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically com comments regarding personel 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 phone letter or email although the board may not respond to items raised during the public forum all public comments will be considered each speaker statement will be limited to three minutes in duration and seeing that there's nobody at the podium I'm going to close public comment I ask the board to approve the December 7th 24 regular board meeting minutes can I have a second second thank you Kent all in favor just raise your hand okay thank you next we'll move on to the action item portion of the agenda I'd like to move items a to c under the governance section of tonight's agenda can I have a second thank you Lea okay okay Patty can we have a vote Rob bonio Kent Diamond yes Brendan gallagan Charles jinus uh no to a yes to the remainder Leila melli yes sonol Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg I will vote Yes on B and C regarding a um I am very worried because um it's clear to me that after recent um information come to light that tonight's report does not reconcile with the complete information I would have expected and I have to wonder for a if I feels a little confidence in the district hip controls despite my repeated training this is a time just for vote so just your vote sorry speaking I move that we call the question for a vote Julie procedurally there is no comment on governance items it's a yes or no vote it's just a yes or no vote I will be um voting to abstain because I do not feel that I have the information required so abstain from a yes to b and c m and Mary wickens yes okay next we move on to Personnel doing it it's all me tonight so okay I'd like to move items a to double a under the Personnel section of tonight's agenda is there a second second Kristen going with Kristen going Kristen Dr G do you have any comments I do uh I actually have comments to share regarding our three uh retirements listed on the agenda beginning with Rachel Rubin Rachel ruin Rubin has dedicated all 26 years of her teaching career to tamak Elementary impacting third and fourth and fifth grades with equal passion and commitment Beyond teaching she served on the district's curriculum writing committee for English language arts and social studies she played a key role in piloting the everyday math program and contributed to the school community events to school community events like the tamacas variety show and Story Time night during re Across America week Rachel also led the Revival of the tamaka family math night the first in over 15 years engaging students across all grades in the math Wars event her roles as a WEA building representative and Mentor underscored her commitment to both her colleagues and the educational Community as Rachel transitions into retirement her enduring Legacy at tamacas will continue to inspire those who were fortunate enough to work alongside her and learn from her next up we have Rose Camano Rose Camano has dedicated 22 of her 25 years to teaching uh um at Westfield High School significantly enriching the educational Community with her deep passion for Spanish language and culture she inspired students to to extend their language studies into their careers and personal lives through engaging Pro projects and cultural celebrations like Hispanic Hispanic Heritage Month and dios Muertos as the leader of the Spanish club and Spanish Honor Society and through the whs Spanish exch Exchange program Rose provided students with transformative cultural experiences abroad her thoughtful approach to education and her ability to connect cultural learning in practical application have left a lasting impression on all who have passed through her classroom renowned for her strong advocacy within the Westfield Education Association Rose's unwavering commitment to fostering deep meaningful connections between students and the broader world through language has truly set a standard in educational Excellence her Legacy of dedication and excellence in Spanish education will continue to influence Westfield High School for years to come last but certainly not least Maryanne McAn Maryann McAn has significantly shaped the field of school Communications in Westfield over the past seven years building on a robust 30-year career in print and broadcast journalism including significant roles at CNN in New York and Washington DC her earlier experiences also Encompass a stint on Capitol Hill as a press and Legislative Assistant deeply enriching her expertise in effective communication strategies during her tenure in Westfield Maryann has been instrumental in steering key communication campaigns that successfully won voter support for the district's operating budgets the first such approvals in over a decade she also played a crucial role in implementing the district's 5-year strategic plan with a particular focus on strengthening community relations a Cornerstone of the district's ongoing development Maryann spearheaded the creation of the comprehensive brand and Style Guidelines which includ included the redesign of district and school logos ensuring a cohesive and appealing visual identity with specific focus on Hex codes her leadership in the redesign of the district's website and her innovated use of multimedia tools to create Dynamic graphics and videos have not only enhanced communication but also en uh earned her several several accolades from the New Jersey school public relations Association through these efforts she has significantly improved the district's Outreach and cultivated and cultivated valuable Partnerships within the Westfield Community while we are sad to see her leave we're excited for maryan as she begins a well-deserved retirement after an amazing career in August not leaving yet uh We wish all of our retirees all the best as they begin this next chapter of their lives okay Mary you wanted to say something yeah I just wanted to wish Maryann good luck even though we have more time with you but it's been a pleasure and uh I also wanted to give a shout out to um and congratulations to Rachel Rubin who I taught with um at tamacas and we actually co-taught uh classes together there so I want to wish her good luck as well thank you okay uh next up finance and Facilities we didn't vote on the oh my gosh I'm so sorry yes Rob bonao 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 okay now we can move on to finance and Facilities Kent thank you I'd like to move items a to L under the finance section of tonight's agenda but before we ask for a second i' like to highlight a couple of donations uh westf Coalition of Arts donated seven different items I'm going to read them separately there's a $500 for the lighting design workshop for Edison Roosevelt and Westfield High School teachers $500 for two sculptures for the district art show $353 for a berry saxophone $2,341 for bass clarinet $11,000 for two teaching artists for choir drama $500 for Ceramics wheel throwing master class and $1,000 for five instrument special clinicians so thank you especially to them and also a special thank you to Ellie moras design for donating $155,000 to the Westfield High School faculty room renovation wow so that just brings our year-to day total donations to $9,99 may I have a second please thank you Christian Patty can we have a vote Rob bonio Kent Diamond yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens yes okay next up is uh policies I'd like to move item a under the policy section of tonight's agenda do I have a second Mary Patty can we have a vote and yeah Rob Bonia 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 uh next is a curricul cur curriculum instruction and programs Kristen I'd like to move items a through C under the curriculum um section of tonight's agenda a asks for the approval of four field trips B approves the purchase of a new Social Studies textbook at ws and C approves an intern to work with the whhs special ed Department one time a week over a 12we period can I get a second Mary can we have vote Rob bonio Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes sonal Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg um yes to a and c I will be abstaining on the uh social studies textbooks Item B Mary wickins yes okay I'd like to acknowledge notes for the record okay any unfinished business new business yes um I just want to say that um I am uh very concerned because um it is worrisome to me that the hi report for tonight does not seem to be consistent with um other information that I've seen and um that makes me feel underconfidence point of clarification the hi you yes the hibs that we voted on tonight the the red the the ones that we vot the 15 that we voted on this evening like item a yeah okay um you weren't in the meeting where this came through but I can tell you more about it afterwards if you like um and um I I have to wonder I previously I um people uh I guess there was been some mystery about why i' had previously abstained so frequently on hibs as I first joined and that was mostly because I was learning and I did a lot of extra training but I recently um have been as I've learned more felt uh anxious about the control R and processes surrounding Hib and um and this kind of confirmed things for me and I have to wonder if I feel underconfidence what it's like for the staff and um I've raised these concerns on the controls controls like the ones that we were talking about with the audit team before um before when I talked about the types of controls the internal controls that drive this that our policies and procedures and testing and training and roles and responsibilities these are all things that would give me confidence if they were independently reviewed I've raised this up and as we heard this evening they have been decided as not being necessary none of these things are necessary according to our team and I am stating for the record that while that is the decision I do not agree with that and I really hope that we can return to a discussion whether it's through the committee process or through some sort of executive session because I grow increasingly underconfidence and I don't want to feel that way about what we're doing there's so much good work happening so many people trying to do good work I don't think there's anything malicious here but I do think the Control process is not as tight as it could be and should be thank you so what is Dr Gonzales would you like to respond I just wanted to I just wanted to clarify what the new business was though like what is to business is that I think that the controls process should be independently reviewed as it relates to hibs so you need to make a motion to that effect and direct it to a committee or I have privately directed it to the PPG the PPG has chosen as you heard earlier to say no to that um and so I guess I'm making a motion for that now so I motion that we bring it under review um in executive session if possible to consider I think I think the issue here um is I don't I don't understand the the the question um what is it that you are motioning I think that we need an independent audit when you say independent audit independent audit of the hi Control process for the district independent audit of the pro of the Hib process of the Hib Control process I understand that you're saying Hib Control process I know what you mean by that as I was talking to the audit team earlier and I talked about the different types of controls on the financial audit so those controls are applicable to the Hib operational process policies and procedures training um roles and responsibilities testing those are all the kinds of things and more um those are the types of things that you do in order to confirm that the operational Control process is working I do not believe that uh it is a as it could be um and I am I've I've gone through everything I could think of to try to raise this as both independent controls considerations as well as holistically and I'm at a point now where I feel I have no other option but to bring it to the board's attention so I'm curious if this could go like under because we're going to be doing board evaluations where people can put in different things and they analyze it and then give us suggestions on trainings and everything that the board eval board evaluations are going to be done I don't know what the legality of an independ independent evaluation is with the hi process so that's why I'm saying when you're talking about independent audit someone coming from the outside so so I it seems like this would be something referred to committee versus voting on moving like a a motion to do an audit if no one understands what audit we would be conducting you'd have to know exactly what audit you were motioning to approve and right now you don't have that information but if I'm not mistaken we already went sent this back to PPG and reviewed it made our final conclusion and um we're not revisiting that so even after the information you saw tonight you actually before you continue I'd like to to speak on that because there are claims being made based upon a concern that a board member made uh an exec session a claim that a board member made that the administration is going to look into um so I I think to speak in factual terms when that has not been confirmed uh and to you know publicly criticize a process when we have yet to be able to look through that I think is premature so um as has been already mentioned the committee has reviewed the concerns that were raised with regard to a request for an independent audit the committee has made the recommend or or has not uh concurred with that recommendation that was approved tonight the concern that um that you're making this evening is based upon what um uh was what was raised during an executive private session that the administration is going to look into and we'll get back to the the Board of Education with the response through the PPG and right there he had two version of the same report that were completely different once again and the the the uh the issue that was discussed in in exec session is a A Private Matter so I'm not going to speak to it in um and the uh Administration will definitely look into it um to be able to provide the clarification and the misunderstanding um that that uh the board member raised so at this point we'll leave it with the administration to uh look into what was discussed and get back to just one just one clarification though just above this topic what does the new business process look like normally cuz it sounds like so you know if if there is new business theoretically it would not have been raised necessarily at the committee level how does that work just so in in the handbook we put the new business and old business so new business is any matter that is raised to the uh Board of Education uh through a committee that emanates from the committee uh to the full board so an example of new business was the uh discussion of the schedule um that took place in Sip and then from sip it then made its way to the full board under new business in the case of uh questions and concerns that were raised uh regarding um Hib and in the process as as has been shared this evening it was referred to PPG uh and through the committee it was discussed at the committee level so to bring it to a full board discussion would be appropriate at a new business uh uh point in a uh in an agenda if the con uh the conversation continued on any of the new business topics it would then uh exist in the old business section got in order to differentiate y but as we've you know discovered it it became more efficient to be able to First refer to PPG or I'm sorry to a committee first and then for the committee to review discuss before bringing it uh and and we've been following that since the uh initiation of the handbook gotcha and under Robert's Rules a motion can be made from the table it's more efficient if it goes through committee where groups can review it ahead of time but a motion has to be made it has to be I asked the board or I move that the board does XYZ then a discussion takes place after you get a so I make motion for XYZ you get a second a discussion can ensue things can either Pro that motion can then be referred to a committee can be voted on yes or no can be Ted or can be withdrawn by the person that made it so we had a lot of time discussing something that there was no motion made so it was all technically out of order well I think I think there was a motion made but but I I hear what you're saying you have to actually say make a motion we I think I think she did yeah I mean we tend to have a soft enforcement of that sure sure sure yeah so so maybe maybe what it boils down to is if Julie if you want to discuss you know because you did make the motion do we want to withdraw that for now or how would you want to proceed I I heard her say it just Julie I'm sorry uh there were a bunch of concerns shared during PPG um many were discussed regarding the Hib process um but the independent audit was not the only thing discussed it was talked about train uh doing additional training and um you know other such such issues so I think if you're making a motion for an independent audit I think that's different than the concerns that were expressed maybe I misunderstood but did we talk about an independent audit we did okay so I misunder it's important here though to understand that the topic was brought up in executive session the administration recognized the the situation and said that they would look into it and get back to the board and we have yet to give the administration that opportunity so before we make any motion or we ask any kind of audit I'm not saying that we shouldn't do that possibly in the future I think we need to give the respect to the administration and give them that time to actually review it and get back to the board and then we can revisit this suggestion that's a that's a great Point Kristen so I would suggest that we wait until your response well that's a fair that's a fair point go back from so I will withdraw for now um and um reserve the right to return to it once we have more information fair enough okay so then at this time I'd like to move on to Liaison reports any liaison reports go ahead Mary I just want to pull it up hang on okay so um I met with the rec Commission on January 13th um and the Westfield Rec commission has has um put out their winter catalog and there are numerous adult teen and youth programs now available and registration is open um they have a lovely brochure interactive brochure that is on the recommission website if you go to www. Westfield New jersey.gov 521 Recreation um the link to register for any of those programs is highlighted in the brochure and it's also available at the bottom of the rec website um so it's called Civic registration um I also wanted to highlight um I did speak to one today that Maryann gave me thank you um about the um inclusive sports program that they are starting but in addition um there's also some other really great programs um they have many many PR programs this which which are new this year for seniors um and I wanted to talk more about the inclusive programs that the recre has has initiated this year um in particular um I want to highlight a job preparedness class for special needs individuals from 10th grade and up which I think is wonderful that focuses on um helping these students with um special needs and and adults with special needs um to focus on making an they'll they'll practice making uh initial contact with employers they'll help them with the application process they'll help prepare them for interviews and they'll do social skills required to be a successful employer um so that is one program and they also have besides the um inclusive Sports they have other sports um for younger uh special needs students in our community that want to get out there and um be part of the community um and um all this has made possible I want to I want to give him credit um his name is Matt buek at the rec commission he did all of this um he's a new employee there and he's been wonderful bringing all these Special Needs programs and Senior programs to the rec commission and the community so you should check those out and hopefully you know advertise that among your communities and neighborhoods thank you thanks Mary thank you Mary any other liaison reports okay Julie I have two um first of all I just want to mention that Washington uh no sorry Washington Wilson the other W um sorry for whoever does Washington I Didn't Mean To Tread um Wilson is actually um looking for volunteers they are doing project playground and they are seeking volunteers um there's a link on the PTO um site and I can also provide it to you if anybody wants to reach out to me on my board site also I attended our uesc web uh meeting last week it's excellent they are moving forward with the um building purchase the former lindaman property um and uh it's going to have a lot of uh very positive synergies um secondly there was a really great and this kind of goes to Mary's program so maybe we should get our two programs together um there's a program that I wasn't aware of at the county level called the work Readiness Academy work Readiness Academy um is available to all Union County um um students who are transitioning from traditional programs um in Union County starting at age 18 through 21 it has life skills work skills um and everything in between it has a really large facility and also off-site options for life skills internships work opportunities volunteer opportunities they have relationships with Overlook they have relationships with um the why in um in Elizabeth and the Jewish Services Pantry food pantry over there um they um provide services to most of the major districts in Union County including um because I sent this information over to um to our uh special services team and it turns out from Dr Weissman that we to participate in it but um to your point Mary um I really feel like this is something that um that is a little bit unknown in the general population so I think that should be telling more people about it one thing that they also do is they have cottage industries and they are looking to try to work with um towns like Westfield they already think in Summit and Cranford have their products being sold in local businesses um and I think one is a granola business I think what the other one is and they're looking to try to get placements so um they're trying to encourage that as well but it was it was very impressive how well-run this was and how much they' flushed out with various relationships throughout the county so um if you know of anybody or if you could think of any folks who are looking for that I think it's something that's worth spreading the news about thank you Julie any other liaison reports okay then at this time I'd like to recognize the uh public during this portion of the meeting members of the public are invited to address the board of education on any topic um seeing that there's nobody lining up to say anything I won't read all the directions but they stand the same as the prior section of public comment um and each speaker statement will be limited to 3 minutes in duration okay close public comment and at this time uh Dr Gonzalez do you have anything you'd like to say okay then I'd like to uh make a motion to adjourn the meeting can I have a second thank you Kent all in favor raise your hand okay great thank you for