So if you change its meaning contextually, then you get into a non-compliance issue. If you change something like a threshold or a reporting deadline or something like that, you just have to make sure that when you get a push for an updated policy, you make sure those numbers align. Right. Right. I'm just trying to like as an example and if we can find this out before we have our meeting so that we can talk about it like fun fundraising must comply with all the applicable provisions of board policy and regulation relating to the safe the sale of healthy foods and beverages in school grounds or at school sponsored events. So like what defines healthy like right. So that's all we sell soda, sometimes we sell candy. It's a school program. Yeah. So that's the national school lunch program that I think that's a thing I read.
Okay. So, the goal of the city um we have findings that come from the audit team that say that we are late um in our audits. It's it's what gets us um all of these extra meetings and explanations and everything. So um if you have those findings more than two years in a row or any um significant finding um then you need to do reporting to MFAC um at the state um which is the committee that oversightes um the municipal finance um so we'd like to right we'd like to move away from that um so we could have more time to actually work on um doing our daily um functions. So if we bring that up, my goal for 24 and it's the only goal I've set um is that I need to receive a draft of the ACER by no later than the first week of August.
In recon of the recognition of their achievements, each educator will be invited forward to have a few words said and receive a beautiful trophy as we capture this special moment. Uh to our honores, I just want to tell you how deeply deeply grateful I am for all the hard work that you do, the care that you show to our students, your colleagues, and the community. We really appreciate you. Let's all give them a round of [Applause] applause. Okay, at this time, I would call up from Lamont School, Lamont Annex School, Dr. S. [Applause] Okay, introducing one of my many dream teams that I have over at Lamont in the Annex. Mrs. Meliso and Mrs. Pena, please come on up. Come on up. Come on. I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with this amazing team for the past six years. From the very beginning, it was clear that Mrs.
Um, and so And I'm looking at those big windows and just the windows. I'm thinking to myself, okay, so if the owner of Lunkers wants to put in new windows, how many how expensive is that going to be? if there is some sort of um funding mechanism where we could help support that maybe they maybe they would and it you know I'm not looking at like the business incentive program because that's kind I'm thinking that's a little separate from this this is really specifically for why would you think that because it's it's such a facade I mean it is but it's not so if we had something very specifically for historic preservation if we were able to talk to town council and figure out like what how we can potentially do it. And if we can't do it through CPC, maybe we go the same route that we went when we did the um when we did the the business incentive program because the business incentive program is really to bring businesses here and to improve their you know to be able to to help them not necessarily specifically for historical.
So that's that doesn't have anything to do with fundraising. Um it it does, but it that has to be compliant within the school hours, the school day. Like you can't sell, you know, Snickers bars during a fundraising event. So if it's out, if it's beyond the school hours, it's defined I remember reading like the school hours are defined by like 4 p.m. to something. So, it's in that big long. I just remember this last year, too. Yeah. We had concerns about funing. There is a fundraiser I think at the high school now that's like a candygram and it's like sold during So, do those have to cease? Those something like that sold during the school day. I think it is um cannot and should not um you know take place. Selling the candy or they selling the They're selling the gram and the candy. is.
So So we are aggressively um marching um to that date because if we can turn around a draft in early August, we can have the report by August, early September and then start working on the next one. Um any advantage we have in pulling that date up we will we will be doing. Um we've hit a milestone um I would say last week and this week um the planning stage of the audit for 24 is almost complete. Um just give a little statistics on on the DPS side. They started with planning items I think of about 30 items that were requested by the auditors. We're down to five um out of that and out of the 30, 27 are already accepted by the audit team. Um the ones that are remaining um have to do with just administrative um issues between um RSM and us.
Millisorggo and Mrs. Pena are a perfect match. Dedicated, compassionate, and always smiling. Their strong bond, shared vision, and genuine love for their students shine through everything they do. It's no surprise that both parents and staff nom nominated them for this recognition. They truly are a dream team. Mrs. Meliso is a pre-K teacher at the Lamont Annex Elementary School. She's been teaching there for seven years. She loves working with young children and believes we should always look at what they can do, not what they can't do. Mrs. Mrs. Melisle cares a lot about her students. She helps them learn and grow in every way, academically, emotionally, socially. She also works closely with Miss Mrs. Michelle to make their class a fun and welcoming environment. Mrs. Pena, known as many as Miss Michelle, was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York City when she was 6 years old.
I think the historical stuff is important too, but so maybe we do a home rule like we did um with the business incentive program. Maybe we ask, you know, Senate President Karen Spoka had given us some funding to get that up off the ground. Maybe we figure out another kind of program like that to be able to help these businesses and support. It would be similar, but it would be separate because I wouldn't want to take away because we don't have a like it's not like we have this unlimited budget for the business incentive program and we want to continue to to to do that too. But maybe we can figure out something else and just be kind of concern I would have with that to see just for example seller insurance over a So, Michael, you grabbed the grabbed the microphone pretty quickly. I feel like you have something you want.
Yeah. So, so we do have we do have to be compliant with the national school lunch program. Um but that would be right now. That doesn't have anything to do with this policy. That would be under the National School program. That is what we are to be compliant with. So, um this is just putting it in our fundraising policy. So, to make everybody aware, but even right now, we have to be compliant with that. Yeah. Yeah, we should look into Valentine's Day. Yeah. And then another piece of context with student activity just to I think policy committee is aware of this. The student activity is one of the very last areas of Bloom Shapiro recommendations from eight, nine years ago that we made sure we got to. Um it was something I asked Casey in her first year to start thinking about and strategizing and she's obviously worked on that this year and you could see um we all know we've had conversations.
They're confirmation letters and and something called SIDA um which is the software um component of um a new Gazsby that went into place the prior year. Um we have to we have to scrub all of the dispersements um of the city on both sides. um and respond to whether any of those software agreements exceed our threshold or they um are greater than an agreement with the software company of one year. Um and that requires us to book a a special gross up asset and liabilities on the books of the city. So you won't ever see that on Mike's reports though. Um that's an overlay of the reporting that will be done at the city level. Somebody call my name. Yeah. Can I just ask a question? So at this time do you have everything you need from the board of ed side? That is correct.
She's been happily married for 27 years, is a proud mother of three children and a new grandmother. Mrs. Mrs. Pena has worked in a school in our school in school for 20 years. For the past six years, she has worked in with preschool students in Bound Brook. Mrs. Pena is kind, hardworking, and care deeply about her students. She works closely with Mrs. Meliso, helping in fun and creative ways. She also speaks Spanish and often helps translate for families, making sure everyone can understand and feel included. Congratulations to Mrs. Meliso and Miss Pena. Mrs. Pñena, thank you. [Applause] Okay, next. I'm so into the ceremony I almost forgot. Um, next, uh, from Lafayette School, let's call Miss [Applause] Cahas. Our first educator of the year is Mrs. Stephanie [Music] [Applause] Ackley. Miss Ackley is a dedicated art teacher whose passion for art has enriched the Bound Brook School District for over 13 years.
There's a couple of things. So, first of all, I think um the ability to use CPC funds to um benefit private businesses has uh is is a is a pretty slippery slope, but we've done it here in town. Yes, but certain conditions have to be met. Okay. But because someone mentioned that to me and I'm like, we have, right? You know, we've done it with the Telegram building. We have two clocks on there that were paid with CPC funds. But if you look all across the But we also remember that it was turned down for the federated church, right? Oh, I forgot that. Yeah, I remember that. For the stairs and there were arguments brought up against that and there were that makes no sense. It was ridiculous. I I didn't know if it was the right decision, but sometimes the right decision is not always the legal decision.
um it does cause some constrnation when you're updating things and changing things to be super compliant with what you need to do. So um as opposed to actual practice that that's been going on. And I put that in the previous minutes meeting when we first started talking about that, but I should have included in this as well that the student activities manual that you've drafted is based on Bloom recommendations and it's not like we just pulled it out of the air. It's actually like the nationalmandated recommendations. So, as you review that, you can I don't know if you want to is there an explan you had given the policy committee sort of a little explanation on that? I'll see if I can find it because you had like typed like you had given us like the blurb thing was so I'll see if I can find that from Yeah, I have I Yeah, there's there's several resources that went in went into this.
So that is the that is the uh the milestone. Excuse me. Thank you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Yeah. So so now I I don't want to say we sit and wait. We move to something called fieldwork. Um and fieldwork is a little bit more intensive. Um we have some stuff we can fulfill already for fieldwork. Fieldwork requests from us. Um cash bank reconciliations. um subsequent um ledger and bank reconciliation. So we have to provide them with July and August of 25. Um that is so that they can test um under reported liabilities um of the city. Um I'm trying to think. So so we are ready now that planning stage is over. I'm actually still working to get um the multitude of trial balances from the city um to the auditors. Um schools have been submitted. Um we submitted the entire general fund today which is uh schools are consolidated into that but it might have been yesterday.
She consistently goes above and beyond to inspire her students through creative instruction. In addition to teaching second and third grades, Miss Aley contributes significantly to the school community by designing event decorations and leading arts initiatives. She designed, sketched, and painted our sensory hallway mural with our students, adding color and joy to Lafayette. Miss Aley highlights her students talents through local and national art contests. Recently, eight pieces were selected for a Somerset County show, and out of thousands of entries in the national contest, 25 of our students participated, nine of whom were selected for publication. Miss Ackley's dedication to fostering creativity and student growth makes her a respected role model and a valued member of the Bound Brook School District. Congratulations, [Applause] Stephanie. Our second educator of the year is Miss Renee Jacobs Grower. [Applause] Renee Jacobs Grower is a bilingual district speech language pathologist committed to delivering culturally responsive and comprehensive services to students across Bound Brook School District.
Um the other thing I think what we also have to take into consideration is the um the administration such a program. That's number two. And number three, I think we're in a place uh financially where we're talking about needs and not necessarily wants or extras. And we're talking about a program that I don't know of too many other communities that have. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do it, but I do think we need to kind of look at the priorities of um of the community and what we're using our funds for. Um it could I mean depending on what happens in the future CPC funds it could be used or maybe an option to use that for other you know other things although it's very limited in what you can use it for. So just a few considerations. So so the the federated church was before my time.
Absolutely. Yep. Um, so either I or Casey will get you those if you guys want them because they're of what she pulled from. And it's really thorough and it asks there's a there's a um a lot of interesting questions that might come from it, but they all are pulled from the policy and then these recommended sources. Uh, and it's all in an effort to really not only make us compliant, but make it consistent and make it very clear so that one organization isn't, you know, able to do something another organization doesn't have the resources for kind of thing. So is that is that everything for policy and communications? What else do you have? The very last thing is uh the 6162.51 which is a survey of students PP. You'll notice it is not on the agenda for a under the consent agenda tonight because we didn't want anyone to feel like they could not approve the policies under the consent agenda um with this being uh having objections to this one.
Um so these are significant milestones. What's going to happen now is the auditors receive this um the general ledger detail reports provide them with what's called population. They sample those populations and then we get hit hard and strong um in about a couple of weeks time where we then uh need to provide them with very detailed procurement bidding um invoice paid payroll records um on that end. Um and I will state we're we're almost through um I think within the next week we'll be through with the pension audit um which involved us getting records. Um I've just heard um today that there's been seven or eight samples on the side of the schools. Um so we'll fulfill that maybe you know next week. Um came in with a a total request of 50 records. Um the rest are for the city. Um but you do have um some sampling involved in that.
She has worked with students from pre preK through grade three and ga grades 7 through 12. Known as Mrs. Renee, she leads engaging personalized speech sessions that support both academic and social communication. She helps students build real world skills and guides them through transitions between grades and schools. Mrs. Jacobs Growers builds strong connections with students and families. Her bilingual skills help her support Spanish-sp speakaking families, and her expertise in language development allows her to accurately identify language needs and provide effective services. Respected across Lafayette for her professionalism and compassion, Miss Jacobs Grower supports student growth with her clear communication, empathy, and a strong dedication to their success. Congratulations, Renee. [Applause] Can we take a picture? Are we taking pictures? Oh, okay. From here. From there. Oh, sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. All right. Another round of applause. And next up from Smalley School, we have Miss Winter.
Did that get denied by CPC or did who who put the kaibosh on that? It it got voted down at town meeting because uh a lot of the legal arguments that was put forward, I guess the legal argument carried the day, I guess you could say. Um there were some competing legal thoughts. Um I think it wasn't I didn't I thought I felt as though that the presentation needed to be different. Yeah. because I don't think anybody would not have supported it had they thought about if if tomorrow that building was in danger and we had the town had to step up and do it. I feel as though the town would do it. I mean that that's a historical building, you know. And we have we have 800 I think it's $865,000 in the historic bucket. Um, so it's like I'm I'm thinking could we talk to town council and get some guidelines and see and that's that's where we'd have to start, right?