001Okay, ready? Yes. Are we on? Okay. Um okay guys, we're going to get started uh this evening. Thank you everybody for coming tonight. Uh I'm going to call to order for the meeting of the Board of Education, March 18th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room of the administration building at 70 Conover Road. Uh Mr. Morasco, could we get a roll call, please? Sure. Mrs. Cameron. Present. Mrs. Horowitz. Present. Mr. Rico. Mr. Rigney. Mr. Scales. >> Here. Mr. Scarpa. Here. Mrs. Volpe. Here. Mr. Walsh. Here. Mr. Wickberg. Uh here. Uh thank you. You do have a quorum. We all over there? Okay. Are we okay? Everything okay? All right, no worries. Sorry about that. Hope you're all right there. All right. Um okay, pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act, Chapter 231, this meeting
002has been duly advertised in the Asbury Park Press in the schedule of meetings dated January 23rd, 2026, notice of which has been filed with the deputy clerk for Colts Neck Township, and the requirements of posting of notices have been met. Uh at this time, I'd like to invite everybody to stag for stand for our flag salute and also the national anthem. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Um can I get a board member to volunteer to read the mission statement? Mr. Rico. Okay. Yeah, thank you. The mission of Colts Neck Township schools is to empower and inspire students to be confident, creative, self-sufficient learners who maximize their strengths and
003talents and contribute as responsible participants in their ever-expanding world. Great. Uh thank you. Uh to start off the meeting tonight, uh the last meeting we had, uh I wanted to recognize uh the lost um military service uh people uh that were uh killed in the uh Iran conflict. Uh and I mentioned the four that we were notified of, and I just like to list uh the other ones um that died uh in the uh the Iraq um accident. Um and their names are uh Major John Clinard, who was 33 years old from Alabama. Uh Captain Ariana Savino, 31 years old from Washington. Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, 34 years old from Kentucky. Captain Seth R. Kovel, 38 years old from Indiana. Captain Curtis Angst, 30 years old from Iowa. Sergeant Tyler Simmons, 28 years old from Ohio.
004Sergeant Ben Pennington, 26 years old from Kentucky. Chief Robert Mazan, 54 years old. Major Jeffrey O'Brien, 45 years old. Um I just want to take a moment of silence um to show respect to these servicemen who gave absolutely everything so we can stand here tonight and speak freely. So, if we could just get a moment of silence. Okay, thank you very much for recognizing and their loss and service. Uh okay. Uh at this time, I want to take notice uh for the approval of minutes. Um if uh if anybody has any questions or comments on those, I I'd like to get a roll call to approve those minutes. Um are there any questions or comments? All right. Uh Mr. Morasco, we could get a roll call on those. >> a motion and a second. Motion.
005Second. Thank you. Roll call. Sorry about that. Mrs. Cameron. Yes. Uh Mr. Rico. Yes. Mr. Scales. Yes. Mr. Scarpa. Yes. Mrs. Volpe. Yes. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. Wickberg. Yes. [snorts] Thank you. The motion carried. Okay, great. Uh at this time, we are going to have a presentation. Uh one of our uh board liaisons is here, uh Kira Harland. She is going to get up and speak uh to some issues or maybe comments or concern from our student body at Cedar Drive. So, uh we'd like to give her our full attention and listen to her report. So, if you could proceed, Mrs. Harland. >> [snorts] >> Hello. I hope you are all doing well. On Tuesday, I had a meeting with Mr. Toscano to go over what we he has found so far in the midpoint
006check-in to look at the conditions of computers. He has checked over 204 out of 317 students' computers in the school. He found that so far 1/3 of the student body has no issues with their computers. Meanwhile, one main finding he discovered was that 28 of the 204 students had written on their computers. Mr. Toscano is continuing to work on this computer check-in during homerooms. I had a meeting with Dr. Rigby about the desks in the school because students like to have the storage compartment under the desks. And right now, there are multiple kinds of desks, and most do not provide storage. I'm trying to figure out how many many desks of each desk we have right now in the building. I have a I'll have a report for the next meeting. Thank you for your
007time, and enjoy the rest of your night. Great. Uh thank you. If I could ask you just a couple questions, and I want to open it to the board, too, if they have any questions for you. Once again, I want to um thank you for this initiative. It's going to save us thousands of dollars in expense over the course of the school years. Um do you find that this initiative has improved uh the protection of our Chromebooks? Do you feel like the students are being more cognizant of You do. Okay. And uh Dr. Rigby must be very happy about that, right? Yeah. Anybody have any questions or or comments for this particular initiative that Mrs. Harland brought forth? I have one for the second one, the student desks. >> Um so, you mentioned that the
008storage under the desks is something that you and other students um really find valuable. So, are you possibly suggesting that as we're looking to buy new new desks down in the future, that we're only looking for ones that have storage? Is that the the the future goal? Okay, that's really good to know. Any other suggestions with desks? Not really. Okay. All right, thank you. If I could Yeah, absolutely. Because we don't carry backpacks, right? In the in the middle school. So, that was that for for different reasons, we don't carry them. So, it's a place for storage, which I can understand that perception and that perspective as well. So, thank you. Great. We're looking forward to uh the next report. Hopefully, uh everybody's going to really, really take care of the Chromebooks, and we don't
009have one single bill for the rest of the year. Uh thank you very much. We appreciate you being here. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Uh I was just going to say, folks, if you want to come in, we have plenty of seats up here. Please don't be shy. Right right up here, miss. Right right here. Great, thank you. Uh okay, moving on. Um I always like to take note of our communications. Everybody could look through those. I just want to make a few comments on the communications. Uh we always appreciate feedback from the public. I have uh personally responded to most of these. Uh I believe the ones that came in yesterday and today. Uh I apologize, I will be getting to them. I just uh I just haven't had the time uh to do
010that the past day or so. Uh but I wanted to just make a comment. There were some um communications that uh had concerns about the safety of our campuses here regarding, uh, the school name change. And I want to make it clear to everybody, the people watching at home and the ones that came tonight, um, our district has not received any type of threat, uh, regarding the proposal. There has not been anything brought to my attention, to the police department in town, uh, to I already confirmed with Dr. Garbaye, uh, over the past uh, week or two. There hasn't been any threats, uh, threatening violence, uh, any incidents whatsoever. Uh, so I just want to make the public clear, uh, of the, you know, in answer to some of the people that wrote in about
011those things. Uh, at this time I'm going to move right into my president's report. Uh, it's quite lengthy, so, um, if I could just get everybody's attention for that. Okay. All right. Before I begin my president's report, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge my fellow board members. Each of the nine mo- the nine members of this Board of Education work endlessly to serve our community, ensuring they maintain the best interests of our students, families, and our taxpayers. As board president, I respect the initiatives, proposals, comments, and ideas that each board member brings forward. Healthy dialogue and diverse perspectives are essential to sound governance, serving as a backbone of the very success of our district. This board values respectful public discourse, and through those efforts, we have established an extremely successful Board of
012Education here in Colts Neck. On Wednesday, March 4th, during new business section of this Board of Committee Board's Committee of a Whole Meeting, a portion of the meeting where we discuss new programs, new op- opportunities for consideration, a sitting board member brought forth the idea of a potential name change of our primary school. Please be reminded, many ideas are brought forward every single meeting, especially during new business. Some advance forwards, forward, others take on a hybrid variation, while others cease to proceed. With that said, I want to make it clear, very clear, the board will not be moving forward on the proposed name change of Conover Road Primary School. As a board, our priorities remain firmly with the responsibilities that directly impact our students and taxpayers. Following Governor Mikey Sherrill's budget address last week, I
013am once again saddened to report that our district is facing a 5.5% reduction in state aid. This will rep- This will present another challenging year as we work to offset those losses in an environment of increased student enrollment, further pressure pressuring our near capacity schools, while failing districts in this state receive millions of dollars in state aid. Despite these challenges, we remain steadfast to our commitment to making responsible decisions that support the educational experience of our children, while remaining mindful of the taxpayers who support our district. We remain advocates of respectful public discourse and fair and open dialogue. Over the past 2 weeks, I've had the opportunity to attend several events with within our community. With that, I'd like to I'd like to show that on Monday, March 2nd, I attended the human trafficking event
014with Dr. Garbaye, Mr. Scarpa, and Dr. Rigby and supporting staff. Uh, the awareness event, um, I'm sorry, it was an extremely informative and eye-opening discussion on an issue that continues to affect communities across our country. I want to thank Dr. Garbaye for bringing this important initiative forward and for providing parents in our district the opportunity to learn more about this critical topic affecting our society. On March 10th, I attended the New Jersey School Boards Association's eighth grade dialogue, uh, in Oceanport. I am proud to share that Paula Kozik's represented Cedar Drive School and did a fantastic job highlighting her daily experiences, as well as the many programs and opportunities offered at Cedar Drive. I would like to thank Dr. Rigby, Mrs. Homs, and Dr. Garbaye for attending with me. It was a great event. It
015was truly truly a pleasure to be there and recognize Paula's outstanding representation of our district. Also, I took the liberty, uh, of inviting, uh, Committeeman Buzzetta and Committeewoman, uh, Committeewoman Tarabusi to meet with me, our finance committee, and members are of of our administration team to discuss long-range facility planning, projected enrollments related to affordable housing developments, and the potential impact on taxpayers. It was a very productive and informative meeting. Both sides gained valuable insight, and we look forward to continuing these discussions as needed to ensure we are planning responsibly for the future of our community. Uh, I also, um, just to speak candidly on this, I also, uh, spoke to, um, Committeewoman, uh, Bus regarding the bus stop arm cameras that, uh, I had went to the meeting to request that we be reimbursed a
016percentage from that initiative that Mr., uh, Walsh brought forth a few months ago. And unfortunately, she had told me, uh, due to state, I guess, regulations, um, the state gets 70%, our town gets 30%, 30% we still are not entitled to a percentage of that. Um, I'm not sure the reasoning, but that is the law, so. Uh, sorry, um, to report on that. Uh, last night, I met with Colts Neck Sports Foundation's leadership, uh, Mr. Litman and Mr. Carfora, uh, as promised. I also, um, invited Mr., uh, Wickberg, who is our sports liaison, and, uh, Dr. Garbaye to discuss their needs for the upcoming season. During our conversation, we rem- reviewed several important topics, including, uh, scheduling overlaps that were an issue recently, uh, concerns regarding, uh, doors of the school locked upon student arrival
017for their sports, and a potential use of our facilities, uh, for their advertising opportunities. I have extended a second invitation to continue these discussions, which will take place before the end of the school year. Um, I am very proud to partner, uh, to continue our valued partnership with the Sports Foundation. Lastly, on Tuesday, uh, me and the finance team met with external resources in regards to the potential opportunity for our facility updates. Uh, I will I'm going to defer to, um, maybe, um, Mr. Rico, Mr. Scarpa, if you want to, you know, add some comments regarding those discussions, I I'd invite you to do so at this time. So, regarding the long-range planning, we've looked at a few options. Uh, we looked at every option when it comes to leasing, possibly, uh, you know, reserve
018accounts, and also, um, you know, possibly referendum. So, these are three items that are at our disposal. We have an amazing, uh, AAA bond rating, so it'd be very advantageous for us to take advantage of that with lower interest rates, and, you know, 3 years, um, of financing. So. Yeah, and I'll add that this board remains steadfast to long-term strategic financial planning, and in doing so, we're exploring all opportunities to both im- improve our current state of facilities, and also set ourselves up for a better tomorrow, especially as we uh, deal with some headwinds with potential influx of students, uh, and families throughout Colts Neck. Uh, so this is right level conversation that we are having with the right people at the right time. These things take time, especially facility improvements. We will certainly communicate
019our strategies as we proceed forward, but good conversations are being had. Yes, and the good the good news is we do have very good options, um, and we are juggling a few obstacles, you know, regarding the affordable housing, but I believe with the conservative approach and the options that we have at our disposal, we will be in very good financial shape in the future. Okay. Um, at this time I want to make some I candid comments in regards to, uh, some social media posts regarding our district, um, and I'm going to have Dr. Garbaye chime in on some of the actual facts that are kind of never reported, uh, in in the media. Um, recently, Senator Vin Gopal, um, called this district out once again, and I'm not sure why, cuz he, uh, he's our
020representative, and our district has been performing exceptionally well, exceptionally well. So, I take offense to his negative comments about this district. Um, you know, he, uh, is on a mission to uh, consolidate districts around the state and I'm against doing that here in Colts Neck because I feel that we are going to lose our student to teacher ratios and the fact that we are highly we we are highly scored. I feel like doing the consolidation will only hurt Colts Neck. So, I am I'm against it and he he just made some negative comments that Um, he claims that somebody from this district called him to express their concerns about how Cedar Drive, our middle school here, does not prepare our students for high school. Well, my daughter is in eighth grade here and she does
021exceptionally well due to the guidance of all the teachers and staff in this district and she is completely ready for high school and I think they did a fantastic job bridging that gap from the mathematics that we present to our students from here and while they're transferring into high school. I want I asked Dr. Garabay to basically speak to this because I was very insulted on his comments regarding our district and how we operate. So, would you mind discussing some of these issues that he's accusing of us and what exactly we do with our students when they're transferring. Sure. Thank [clears throat] you. So, I you know, we we work in partnership and tandem with our legislators for the betterment of our schools and communication. And so, I made outreach to Senator Gopal regarding concerns
022about reading um you know, statements that were brought forth to him by a constituent, a Colts Neck parent, former parent, it seemed that and asking him about a little bit more about that so we can always be proactive in our reflective practices and trying to you know, for the betterment. It's not you know, the first time that a legislator has reached out to me personally as a superintendent. Um, in past where there's been a concern that's been brought forward and I was given an opportunity to do that. So, I wanted that same opportunity and and we engaged in a conversation where I shared was able invited to and did share with the senator regarding mathematics instruction which was the excuse me, specific area of concern. That currently our eighth-grade students utilize the same textbook series
023which is Big Ideas as the Freehold Regional High School District ensuring a seamless transition in terms of content, terminology and structural approaches. We schedule articulations not just with the regional high school district but also with the other sending K-8 districts. We have conversations about math acceleration pathways. Not all of the K-8s that send to the regional go to geometry by the end of eighth grade. So, our students are able to take high school level classes and complete them before entering high school which opens up advanced pathways for them when they are in high school. With regards to standards and assessment, the curriculum is aligned to the New Jersey State Learning Standards. So, whether you're in eighth grade or seventh grade or progressing through, we always want to make sure that our we have standards aligned
024curriculum and that's something we do as we build forward you know, in our articu- articulation making sure that we have that type of articulation with the high school. When we look at our particular growth over the past four years, we have significant growth in middle school. I attribute that to changes that we've made in programming, our math coach, our our administrators who are working hard, our teachers who are being more and more receptive to our building thinking classrooms that we've shared. I know Dr. Reynolds and I know Mrs. Camera spoke to it a little bit as well. Our Big Ideas, the structures that we've had in place. We also uh participate have memberships in Association of Mathematics Teachers Educators, Association of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics as many other teachers have those professional affiliations.
025There's also summer advancement opportunities for students in the regional and for students who have graduated from Cedar Drive and heading to high school, there's an established pathway to take Algebra 1 over the summer through the Freehold Regional High School District summer program if they choose to do so. So, I think that you know, being able to share and open up a dialogue about what we do really prepare students as they're going into the regional, whichever school of their choice. There's a lot of options and that's part of the benefit I think of the Colts Neck Township schools and any of the sending regional districts. There's many many high school options and if you listen to our students, not to call on you Miss Harlan again, but it becomes a little even overwhelming at times where
026there's so many options and and in seventh grade starting those conversations about where we want to go and if it's Colts Neck High School, if there's a magnet program they want to go to, a vocational school they want to go to, a private school that they want to go to. There's a lot of options. And we have acceptance rates in all of those areas. So, that's something we're very proud of. So, we want to open up that dialogue to make sure that publicly there's an understanding and if any parent has a concern in any way, shape or form about the preparation once they leave us you know, one of the things we say to students all the time is that once you're ours, you're ours, right? You never really we always have you in our
027hearts and and moving forward we want to certainly support you. So, any parent that has a question or a concern about how a child is performing once they leave us, so encourage you to reach back out to us to let us know so that we can incorporate that into our constant professional reflective practice. Okay, great. So, I just I'm glad you explained that because Mr. Gopal seems to continuously like I said call out this district and we have been nothing but successful and high achieving. So, I just wanted to point that out to the public. At this time Just real quick Dr. Garabay, did he agree to apologize publicly for those comments? I wasn't something that wasn't part of our communication. Mrs. Camera, did I do have a question. When you attended the New Jersey
028School Boards um dialogue or meeting virtually with Mr. Oscamlin and Mr. Gopal, did he ever return your questions return your call or on the questions you had asked? No, but that was the school board that was supposed to get the questions answered and returned. But as of now, I have not received any responses. Okay. All right. Seems he has a lot to say in the media but not when we contact him. Okay, I want to um go over some of the state aid that we lost, 5.5% is a lot higher than not a lot percentage higher than last year. So, like I said, I'm very disappointed to hear that and I'm not sure Holmdel was raised by 1%. So, I'm not really sure why that they got 1% increase. I was discussing it with Mr.
029Scales. I don't know if you want to make a couple of comments on some of the districts that are failing that are getting excessive amounts of state aid. If you can touch on that and then I'm going to have Dr. Garabay speak to a few items as well. Yeah, I think I mean you can see it's sort of you know, it's in the media. It's um one of the the biggest challenges that we've got as a school district at the moment is that the the state algorithm that determines penalizes financially successful districts. So, in other terms, the Robin Hood equation if you will. So, if you look at districts like Camden, if you look at districts in North Jersey, South Jersey, even Ocean, Lakewood Jackson those you know, historically fiscally irresponsible districts they will receive
030an increase year over year in taxes. So, just so the public is aware of I think you understand how taxes work. You know, you your property taxes go towards the school. So, if you look at Mr. Gopal's um sort of his his proposal to to move the districts together to consolidate districts and this this Robin Hood algorithm, what happens with your tax dollars is you pay for your own district but now you're paying for another district. And then what happens on top of that is now because you have the state funding that the state funding that was removed from our district, another 5% as President Volpe had mentioned, your state income taxes now are used and money is taken from your pocket and put into a pool that is given to other school districts. So,
031you as a taxpayer here in Colts Neck, New Jersey now pay for three different school districts. So, that's all my comments on that. All right, thank you Mr. Scales. Dr. Garabay, do you want to add anything about these figures? While we have it on the table. Sure. >> [clears throat] >> So, the reduction in state aid that we have it exceeds the cap what was proposed cap of 3% in losses. That was something that was very publicly made known before the you know, before the state aid numbers were actually released. And our loss is in our biggest area of revenue loss for next school year is in state military impact aid. Now, that is different than federal impact aid that we receive which is for the land. This is for the students. This is more
032about an allocation that you get directly for within the formula. This falls outside of the categorical aid of school districts that was incorporated or addressed through the 3%. So in other words, it was aid that we get specifically because we are a military affiliated school district that not all other districts get. And so therefore it wasn't beholden to the 3% cap of loss. Um it is one area of revenue where we lost money. We had, excuse me for a second, we had Excuse me. For one second. Okay. So that loss was $302,000 from the prior year. That being said, we had a 12.9 per two 9.2% increase in transportation aid. I'm sorry, special education categorical special education aid. So when you look, as we know as a board, as we look at a budget, we
033lost in total of that 5.4% which is the loss, $186,349 because our percentage of state aid is not vast, right? It's not we don't get a tremendous amount. We're very heavy on our tax levy. So that being said, that's where it falls. That's one part of our revenue that went down. Now a question that was asked, I think that came through a constituent was where is that going to be met at? Because I don't want to mean we're automatically cutting in 100 $186,000 worth of stuff out of the budget. The answer is no. We're still shaking out the tentative budget that's going to be approved next Tuesday. But what it does mean is one of the things we also look at is this year moving forward from the last year, we have um audited surplus
034that has to go into the budget which is increased from last year. So as those numbers, you have to your revenues have to match your appropriations. That's what has to happen. That's referred to as a balanced budget. So when everything shakes out, everything that we spend uh has to match with all of our revenue, whether that comes from state aid, whether that comes from a um uh uh tax levy, whether it comes from our reserve accounts, wherever it comes from or revenue that you know wherever it comes from, we allocate it, that's where we make it up in that balance. So it's one source of revenue that was decreased, whereas other areas of you know monies that will help sustain the budget might be increased. So it's all being shaken out at this point in
035time. Mind if I summarize? Sure. Okay, yeah. So if we if we look at, you know, what our oath of office is essentially as board members, um we're we're whole we're held to fiscal responsibility, right? Our job is to balance the budget. You just heard from Mr. Scarpa and from Mr. O'Rico of how of how hard we work and how financially successful this district has been. Um so given the comments from, you know, Dr. Garabed, what I had just mentioned about um affordable housing and things like that, you now look at what the state is asking the town of Coltsneck to do. The state of the the state of New Jersey is asking Coltsneck to build over a thousand units into our district. Right? So we build we build a thousand units. They're now taking
036money away from our district. So those two things in itself is the the state of New Jersey holding themselves to the the constitution of having a financially successful state and town? The answer to that is no. So we've got some attention in town over the last couple weeks. So what I would urge everyone to do as well as to use that passion that you all have and to write to your senators and to write to your governor and to write to your representatives because they are forcing you as Coltsneck taxpayers to take money out of your pockets and to force us as a school district to make very tough choices. We have 500 additional students that are estimated to come to the district. We'd have to build an entirely new school. Entirely new school costs
037a lot of money. So use that passion that you have and ask all of your government officials to stop what they're doing because it's no longer financially stable. Great. Thank you for those comments. Okay, that will conclude my president's report. We are going to move right into the board liaison reports. Um Mrs. Horowitz is not available this evening. I'm just going to I point out for the parent advisory committee. Our next meeting will be Monday, this coming Monday. The last two meetings unfortunately were canceled for snow reasons. So this will be our first meeting that we've had in a long time. So that will be on this Monday at 7:00 p.m. I will be attending as usual and Mr. Scarpa will be joining me this Monday. Moving into the Coltsneck PTO, I don't have much.
038The only thing I do want to recognize tomorrow is the gala, the PTO gala. I want to just wish Mrs. Kaufman and her entire team a fantastic evening. I know it's such a huge event for our school district. They make so much money in fundraising to put back to our kids and all all great things that they donate to us. So I just want to wish them well and all the parent all the moms of the district have a fantastic time tomorrow night. Moving into the Coltsneck Township School Newsletter, I'm going to pass it off to Mrs. Camera. Thank you. Um so I'm just reminding residents who do not receive the newsletter via email that you can go to the school website, Coltsneck Township Schools. We have a link to subscribe. It's the Board of
039Education tab. You go under newsletters. And I'm encouraging all residents to subscribe. Our spring edition of the newsletter will be published at the end of this week. Um tomorrow I'll be sending a draft to Dr. Garabed and the board just to edit it and look over it. That's all. Thank you. >> Looking forward to that. Okay. Um Coltsneck Township sports, arts and extracurriculars, um Mr. Regnetta is not here tonight. I would like to ask Mr. Wickberg to say a few words on the if you will. Uh yes, I got two things. Uh [clears throat] the soccer tryouts are going to take place uh the week of April 13th through 17th. Uh the boys U8 through U11 will be Monday and Wednesday 5:00 to 6:15. Boys U11 plus is going to be Tuesday and Thursday 6:30
040to 7:45. Girls uh girls will be Tuesday and Thursday from 5:00 to 6:15. Uh all players are expected to attend both tryouts. Uh also there is the spring basketball skills clinic that was just announced. Uh this is going to be co-ed to sharpen players uh fundamentals, improve basketball IQ, and just to stay active this spring. The dates are it will be six consecutive Mondays, April 13th, 20th, and 27th, and May 4th, 11th, and 18th. Uh location will be at Conover Road Elementary School. And it will take grades uh second through eighth. Session times uh for grades two through four will be 5:00 to 6:00, and grades five to eight will be from 6:00 to 7:00. >> [clears throat] >> That's all. Okay, great. Thank you so much Mr. Wickberg. We appreciate that. Moving right into
041the Coltsneck Township Committee, Mr. Walsh. >> [snorts] >> Mr. Scarpa you may have to assist with that. For some reason Mr. Walsh always >> on. >> [laughter] >> Um the Township Committee, the basic uh one night the big concern obviously for the whole Township is the affordable housing ruling by Superior Court judge decision was made March 9th striking down our the Township's submittal under round four. Uh the judge basically had enough with the Township's uh their plan is the interpretation interpretation of the judge then sit right with him. Uh or her. Forget the name of the judge. Basically um the three sites in the town where uh the town has to change the master plan for those three sites and we have to build over 865 units to comply with the judge's order. Uh two
042one of those particular zones was a low density. Um the judge has basically had enough. He decided to rule completely against the town. So um a lot of the residents came out and and came out and angry, upset. Can't believe this is happening to the town. Um it was a legal ruling. The town is going to be appealing the decision. Um and so they have to comply by a certain date. I think it's early April. They change the zoning for the master plan and compliance by May. Um and if they don't, basically the builders are going to build be able to build anywhere in this town on any piece of property. So um again, the the Mount Laurel housing is forced housing on every town town in the state causing economic chaos. Uh infrastructure for
043the schools, the residents tax taxes, infrastructure of the town, police, fire, and everything else. So um that was basically the meeting. I have to say there was a lot of other things, but that took predominantly that was the focus on our town. Thank you, Mr. Walsh. Um back to you, Mrs. Camera, for the Colts Neck 250th Celebration Committee. Thank you again. Um our last meeting was Thursday, March 12th. A reminder to families and Colts Neck High School families that the calendar contest is on. Um Dr. Garabay updated the flyer for the township's contest. It's also on the Colts Neck Township schools website under USA 250. So, great news. Um our seniors will receive um $200 if they win. And they will get the cover of the calendar contest. And winners um from grades kindergarten through
04411 will receive $100. That was the newest update from the meeting. So, I thought that was very exciting. Um Likewise, we have our Board of Education video contest under the same tab. So, again, I encourage families to go on and get your kids involved. Under that same tab, we have links to all of the Monmouth County events, including what's going on at the Monmouth County Library, um all the national events, such as the White House, the National Park Services, etc. Um I also had sent links to Dr. Garabay to order flags. Residents may have noticed um there are flags around town hall, 1776 flags. So, I'm hoping maybe after spring break, our schools, if we could have that maybe as a goal to have the schools decorated. I think it Great. I think it'd be
045amazing for the kids to come back after spring break and get really excited for the 250th birthday. Um the next township event will be the barn tour. That's Wednesday, May 6th. It's sponsored by the CMBA. And as I get more information, I'll be sharing it. And just a reminder for all residents to join the Colts Neck 250th page. It's on Facebook and Instagram, so you can see all the highlights. That's everything. Yeah, that's a lot of fun there. Uh okay, back to uh Mr. Walsh with the Colts Neck uh seniors. Met a lot of seniors at St. Patrick's Day last night. We had a great time. Okay. All right. Um Mr. Scarpa with the Naval Weapons Station Earle Liaison. >> Uh this board continues to be an advocate and supporter of our students through the
046Naval Weapons Station Earle. And we have extended the summer camp program to them at a great rate. So, uh we continue to offer that opportunity for any students through the through the base that want to participate in the summer camp, please reach out. Uh the that communication has uh been sent to our representative. And we look we encourage that continued partnership throughout the summer and in future years. Great. Uh >> Here's the flyer for the summer camp program. Oh, great. Yeah, if you could leave it out there if anybody wants to pick it up for your kids maybe, take a look, grandkids. Great. Thank you, uh Mrs. Camera. Uh okay, the state and uh county school boards, I don't have much on this. Just a reminder for the board members, please put in your financial
047disclosures uh and uh anybody who needs to do their governance training, um please make sure that you're within the uh required amount of time to submit that. That's all I have for that. We're moving right into uh the superintendent's report. Uh Dr. Garabay, if you would like to proceed with that. Yeah, thank you. Um I just wanted to first start because we were in Read Across America uh when at our last meeting. And I just wanted to It was a great success again, thanking Mrs. Frick for all that she did, our our our media specialist. But just wanted to point out, we also got the results from our Read-A-Thon, our PTO Read-A-Thon. And there were approximately $42,000 in donations through the Colts for the PTO Read-A-Thon. 12% increase from last year. So, absolutely, you can
048absolutely clap for that without a doubt. >> [applause] >> Bigger round of applause for the amount of minutes, over 250,000 minutes logged reading by our kiddos. 500 And that was spread amongst 543 registered students. Um winners are are have been announced. And there's categories such as the winning class, the top fundraisers, and then the top three readers per school, as well as the top three fundraisers per school. So, much thanks and appreciation and keep on reading. So, it it all of that is just wonderful. Um I also wanted to uh follow what President Volpe said with regard to student voice uh when having Ms. Harlan here and adding that and having that great conversation, being a part of that eighth grade dialogue is such a high highlight where there's a panel of questions. Um eighth
049graders from all around the county, from the different sending districts. And they are asked questions about um you know, what would you want your principals to know about about what would you What advice would you give yourself uh going into high school. And they the kids just If you ever want to know what a kid is thinking, ask them. Like, that's honest, 100%. Ask them. And I think that that it's a great opportunity for eighth graders to come together in the region and get perspectives and learn a little bit about what's happening through their eyes, which is just great. Also, that same week um was the Monmouth County Schools Partnership for Wellness, over 300 attendees. And we had another student selected to participate in a panel. It was fifth grader Daphne Kaufman. It was the
050first time we invited as a I'm one of the um uh individuals on the steering committee with many other uh school leaders across Monmouth County. It was a fifth grade panel. And it was a based The questions were based about social media and influences and the types of supports that family and things. And she did another outstanding job. So, um Paula Kozik's and Daphne Kaufman truly just represented the district so beautifully uh in Monmouth County. So, I I I I commend them, their parents, and everyone who supported them in in that role. So, um also just very, very well done. Um I also wanted to point out that it is a busy time. Really, it feels like once March hit it hard hits, it just keeps going. So, uh this week is Alice in Wonderland
051Jr. from senior uh at Cedar Drive. Uh performances are Friday at 7:00 p.m., uh Saturday at 2:00 p.m. And we have a special presentation at 2:45 tomorrow uh in which case we've invited our seniors community, as well as our fifth graders from elementary school are coming over to see it as their kind of their dress rehearsal. Uh so, we're excited to see that tomorrow. I wish the casting crew uh very uh you know, all the best of luck. Break a leg. It's bad luck, I think, to say good luck. So, break a leg. Not literally on school property. So, but anyway. So, if you're going Um I also just wanted to to talk for a minute. There's a and and to talk very briefly because I know that President Volpe is going to speak more
052about this. Um there's a lot of conversations. And being out in the community, we've had a lot I've had a lot of questions um posed to me about um consolidation. There's a lot of you know, communications that is out there about that. What would that mean? What would that do? So on and so forth. So, on a very big scale, just to put in perspective what what has happened. In November, there was a bill proposed. The bill has not been signed. That bill has not been approved. Has not moved forward yet. The bill directs the executive county superintendent of schools, in this case our county superintendent is Dr. Last Richens, to put together a plan to consolidate school districts of 500 A plan that could potentially impact schools of 500 or less students. That's the
053bill right now that's in place. And if you notice on attachment S1 that appears on the RAM meeting every month, the enrollment of Colts Neck Township schools currently, as of the end of October, was 1,014 students. So, as it stands right now in its current form, again, what it means, so on and so forth, is that that bill would not apply to our school district. Okay? Now, that being said, future thoughts and so on. Um there's many resources available through various state agencies, school boards, NJASA, so on and so forth, that talk about regionalization. Know that Colts Neck as a K to 8 district already contributes to a regionalized regionalized model of education. So, we're going to the nuances of that. Um but much like conversations about tax, there are avenues of pros that could
054be explored. But much of it comes down to um financial benefit and or not benefit to school districts that we can look at. So, I think that um there's a very broad scope of of conversation um which much more. But I think the immediate just to hear about the bill that is in place now really does not, as it is written in its current text right now, does not apply to Colts Neck Township schools. So, I just wanted to level set with everyone at that point in time. Okay? Finally, last thing, I promise. Under person under personnel, number one, um I would be remiss if I didn't mention two um very long-standing uh teachers, outstanding teachers in our district, um want and uh note their retirement uh that is on for recommendation. The first is
055Mrs. Hope De Lea, who has been an outstanding part of our math department at Cedar Drive Middle School for 24 years here. And she is retiring in June. Um she's taught class levels. She's been our intervention math teacher for quite some time now, for a couple years now. And she is just an outstanding member of our school community. Um a true cheerleader for students, uh support of of of colleagues. And she will be very, very sorely missed as a staff member at Cedar Drive. Also, expressing equal thanks and gratitude for the versatility that Mrs. Tatiana Mrs. Tatiana Burgos has she she's shown and demonstrated throughout the years. Um she has been uh foreign language teacher, uh Spanish specifically, at the elementary, at the middle school. She at one point uh was a uh targeted intervention
056teacher in the district. And she, too, is retiring after 20 years of service here in the Colts Neck Township schools. So, teachers with a lot of experience who have been part of our school community for some time and of course we on behalf of everyone wish both of them the best in happiness, health, and relaxation in their retirement. And that concludes my superintendent's report. Great. Thank you for those kind words. Okay, we are moving right into our information items. If everybody would like to take a notice to one and two of this information items. Okay, and at this point we are going to open the floor to our constituents, our residents, for public comment. Uh that's okay. Um I just wanted to ask just out of respect for the community, I'd like to go have
057the opportunity for the parents to parents of kids in the district to speak first, residents of the district, and then everybody that came from outside of the district. So, if anybody here has children in our district that would like to get up and speak. Anybody with children in our district. Or our children in the district. Or what? Or our children in Yeah, if there's any kids here were or were children. Okay, I got what you're saying. If there was any kids I see some younger people. Okay, I see none. At this time we'll take taxpayers residents of our district. Okay, to be the clear, my name is Dan Fenney and I do have kids in the district. And I just wanted to come and applaud Mr. Scales and this board for all the great work
058that you've been doing. And um I understood from the last meeting that there was discussion about renaming one of the schools in honor of our president. And I just want to applaud that. I know there's some you know people that are averse to that idea. We have people on both sides. But I think as Americans um that people should really think about the big picture and I wanted to share something with you that might give you some additional perspective. I was selected in 2004 as a mid-grade naval officer to attend the Army Command College and study to become a joint service warfare planner. And in that time we studied previous wars. We did um risk and threat assessments of current geopolitics and other things, asymmetric uh threats and things like that. At that time Iran
059was the number one concern. I was privy to classified briefings and other information regarding their um active efforts to undermine and harm American interests and our allied interests. So, the interesting thing today reading the news about was Iran really an imminent threat is really a an absurd question from my perspective and my background because as of 2004 we already knew that they had committed acts of terrorism and they have been funding proxy groups and activities notwithstanding the fact that their leaders have chanted and fomented death to Israel and death to America for many years. And that the potential for them to commit an asymmetric attack on our cities because they're they're not going after military targets. It's a deeper ideological uh threat. And um you should know that I was astounded that we have not
060addressed this threat to our country from 2004 to this day. It astounded me that we uh people have lived uh thinking you know that everything's just fine. But we have been an imminent threat um from Iran and some others. And I'm so blown away and proud that this president uh popular or not is acting to protect and defend the United States of America. So, that we can have a future and our kids can have a future. And I also will note that we have Trump National Golf Course here and they do a lot of good things. It brings a lot of good things to our our community. Um my two boys are signed up for a uh character development program that's starting soon uh you know through Trump Golf Course. Thank each of you. May
061God bless each of you and may God bless America. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Okay. Anybody else from the community? Alan Ryan. Thanks to your service to our country and anybody in here that served our country, thank you. This is the freedom that [applause] we got because of you guys. Never forget. That's what this hat says, never forget ever. To you guys, applaud. Applaud. You have the guts to stand up and remember the country. Beautiful tribute to the eight. You you have guts. Let me tell you. Really. That's a gutsy move that you made. Okay, and I have to tell you I wouldn't mind to see it, but that's a whole 'nother issue. All right, but I'm going to tell you you have guts. Good job. Great job by all of you. And just remember
062never forget We don't. >> what our I know you don't. And what these people have done for us to give us this opportunity here. And even if we don't agree we can agree to disagree. But we do it in a civil manner. I remember hearing a story about Reagan and Tip O'Neill. I'm really aging myself. Every St. Patrick's Day they sat down and they had corned beef and cabbage and beer. And they were friends. They didn't agree. They disagreed more than they agreed. That's the way it should be. Thank you and God bless Colts Neck and God bless America. >> [applause] >> If I may on that one. Anybody else a resident? You a resident? Okay, come on up dear. Yeah. Todd Shackleton, 20 Mulberry Lane. I did have my daughter was a student here
063in town and been uh going uh Cedar Drive and at the high school. Um however, I was here tonight. I don't I hadn't come to these too often, but I was here tonight to you know, and I do want to also thank all the service members and and the people here that are feel it you know what they're saying. Um I do want I just I was actually going to come here tonight to try to I was looking at this list of names. I was going to speak on the the idea that my I was also going to add my name to opposing the idea of renaming the schools. And however, I understand that you your board has come to a conclusion that you may be going to do that. Okay, not do that. All
064right, so that's I just want to appreciate you guys considering that and the work that you did and the thought process going into that. And um I guess I don't have to complain. I appreciate what you're thinking about. Um but I just think that it was going to be you know, it's a little bit of a divisive issue. Now might be the board be better served to try to focus their efforts on on things that are going to directly help the students and and you know sounded like there could be a lot of expense involved and and then the and Conover name in the is is a very traditional and you know, it's a local name for the town and it's worthy of being on the schools as far as I'm concerned. So, I guess
065I just want to thank you for your hard work and uh I appreciate you reconsidering the idea of leaving things as they are for now. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Yeah. >> [applause] >> Oh, look at that. Hi. How are you? So good to see you. Um my name is Sean Kayla. I live on Conover and Loretto. Can I just say something really quick if you don't mind? Just everybody, you were one of our student liaisons. The first class when when I first put this program in play with the help of the board, he volunteered to be one of our first student liaisons. I remember you. I'm so glad you came back. >> were on the building committee together. Yes, we did. We did that long tour of the facilities together. It's so
066nice to see you. >> see you, too. I just really wanted to thank all of you guys for not renaming the schools, you know, I went to Cedar. I really did enjoy it. I feel like all of you actually do care about the schools, but some of the time we can get misconstrued misconstrued and clouded with politics and all that. So I really do want to thank you for staying clear with Conover and that's like a good name. Like no need to change anything. The school system's good. We've been doing good. So I really do want to thank you and I feel that you guys do care about the kids. So We we certainly do and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to meet you and work with you and the fantastic initiative
067initiatives you brought forward. I actually remembered all that you brought forth and we thank you for coming back and and sharing your opinions with us. It really means a lot to me that you came back and see saw us. So thank you very much. YEAH, THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> ALL RIGHT, ANY OTHER RESIDENTS? OH, MRS. DINA, how are you? I'm in places with my daughter too. Oh, excellent. Yeah. She's doing school work. That's okay. Uh Tracy Deener five months yellow court. Just want to also tell you all thank you. Thank you very much for for thinking about not renaming the school. I came here tonight to say that I didn't want it to be renamed for a plethora of reasons but most importantly safety. And unfortunately the world that we live in now has
068a lot of crazy people. Whether or not we're Trump supporters or we're not, the fact of the matter is there's crazy people in the world. Uh unfortunately. Right. So while there's been no direct threats, I appreciate that and thank you for saying that Ms. Volpe. You never know what's going to happen. Mhm. And honestly the kids are are why you're all here. The kids are why we're all here and so I I just want to tell you all thank you. I know what you guys do is hard work and so thank you very much but thank you also for for not moving forward with that. Much appreciate it. Yep, no worries. I just want to make a comment. If you could pull please. Um Like I said earlier, I I know a few people came
069in late to the meeting but I just want to reiterate during new business at every meeting we I always open the floor to gain insight, opinions, suggestions, arguments, whatever to for the board members to bring forth an idea. No committees were ever formed. This discussion lasted about three minutes and I I understand Mr. Scales' sentiment when he brought forth the idea and I just want to add some comments. Um President Trump has been an advocate for parental rights and I think everybody here knows that this board is a strong supporter of parental rights and the fact that he upheld the integrity of title nine was very big to me having a daughter that she can compete in sports fairly and and equally without the shattering of males competing with her. Um and all these wonderful
070things that he brought forth regarding regarding students and their well-being um means a lot to me and I believe it meant a lot to Mr. Scales and the fact that he just proposed it in a meeting nothing was ever moving forward. It was just a nice thing a sentiment and I appreciated it Mr. Scales. I'm sorry that this got blown out of proportion but I just want to let you know that Um so anyway, those are just a few comments. All right, we'll open it back up to any residents any residents that are in our town. Yep, come on up. If you could state your name I forgot to say sorry Vince I forgot to say state your name and address for the record. I'm so sorry. Cathy Gisel 32 Yellowbrook Drive Coltsneck. I understand
071that also at the March 4th Board of Ed meeting Ms. Volpe brought up the um information that she had contacted President Trump to visit the district. Ms. Volpe and Mr. Walsh contacted him. Um and I thought well well why why would that be the case? Why is board president acting really individually on something like that. So in an attempt to you know gain some perspective I reviewed your strategic plan which I know is a five-year strategic plan that represents the priorities of the entire community. All stakeholders are involved in preparing that document and I also reviewed your board goals and district goals and there was nothing in there about you know naming a school but we won't talk about that cuz that's not happening and you know inviting a sitting president this president to come
072to visit our district. So I want to just state that I strongly oppose inviting President Trump to this district. And the reasons are that it's controversial it raises safety and security concerns it imposes undue stress on our limited resources in this district and it really will divert the superintendent's attention from the important work of this district. So rather than impose your personal and or political views onto this public school I urge you to focus all of your time and attention on the priorities that have been established by this community which are clearly specified in the strategic plan and your board goals and district goals come from that. And to provide the superintendent with the support she needs to deliver on those priorities. Uh if I can just address you Mrs. Gisel if I could just
073respectfully address you. First of all this board remains totally committed to making sure that Dr. Garabedian gets everything she absolutely needs to make sure that our our district strives and achieves the highest accolades around the state first of all. Secondly, inviting a sitting president you know my opinion I'm sure the board would would support me. I I don't believe would be a negative for our kids. I really don't. He's a sitting president and it was an invitation like I said I I highly doubt it would happen but the invitation still stands and I'm not going to retract that but I do appreciate your comments. Thank you. All right, anybody else resident of this community that would like to stand up anybody latecomers a resident? Nobody? Okay, all right, we're going to open it up to
074the did you no? Yes, no? Okay. You're resident? I believe she's a resident. It's up to you. You don't have to but anyway I just want to give the residents the respect to come up first. Okay, so no? Okay. All right, anybody else could open up to the public I just state your name and address for the record. My name's Diana Hanett. I am a resident and I am also a graduate of Cedar Drive for the Coltsneck schools. Oh, that's awesome. Welcome back. Thank you for not renaming the school. I I have always I mean Conover Road is named after the original family here. Sorry. Sorry. Yeah, it's on the mic unfortunately. If you can try to raise your voice a tiny bit so the folks in the back could appreciate your comment. I'll try.
075Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you. All right, we we appreciate you coming in and sharing that with us. So thank you. Yeah. >> [applause] >> Hi there. My name's Patrice Swarbreck and I'm a licensed clinical social worker state of New Jersey. I've worked in school-based settings, child study teams, system of care. My vested interest in Monmouth County is because I predominantly work with families and children in Monmouth County. Um and I'm also coming as a a lover lover of New Jersey history. So my um it's kind of moved but my proposition was to propose an alternative name. Uh how many here are familiar with Captain Joshua Huddy? Yeah. Okay. So I got some information from Coltsneck historic preservation committee um through this undated book you have in your library. They're approximating about 1965.
076So I do want to kind of give a shout out and maybe there's a way that we could incorporate this. My idea I've already reached out to Ted Maturo of Monmouth 250. I didn't know you guys had a Coltsneck 250 and if there's a way that the historical committee, the Monmouth 250, the Coltsneck 250 and the schools can collaborate and here's why. Captain Joshua Huddy was appointed legislature in 1777 to the command of the company of artillery to be raised from the militia of the state. Huddy, a resident of Coltsneck, and whose site where he lived is currently owned by Tom Camarada on County Road 537, right next to Coltsneck Inn. September 1780, refugees commanded by Colonel Tye attacked Captain Huddy's home, set it on fire. He was taken, but Huddy was able to escape
077when refugees boarded their boats right near Black Point, which is between Shrewsbury and Navesink River. Huddy was finally captured while defending the fort of Toms River March 24th, 1782. On April 12th, Captain Richard Lippincott, a neighbor of Huddy, took him off his ship and accused him of the murder of Philip White, a loyalist and half-brother of Lippincott's wife. Huddy claimed White had been killed almost a week after his own capture. Apparently, British were planning to exchange him for another prisoner, uh but in retaliation, they suggest having Huddy hanged. So, guess what? They hanged Huddy, right? His body was left hanging. When the Americans came, they took it to Freehold, the house of Captain James Green. He was buried with honors of war, but this wasn't the end because there was a great outcry against the
078injustice of his execution. There was a commission reported to Washington and Congress and uh indicating that intention to retaliate unless Lippincott surrendered to uh revolutionary court-martial. So, um uh In retaliation for the murder of Huddy, a British captain was uh to be executed in his place, but his mother managed to obtain the sympathy of the king and queen of France, who were able to intercede with Congress. Uh he was sent a passport. He was able to go to the British forces in New York, great relief that had been spared the killing of innocent man in a retaliatory measure. And this is the most important point. For once, blood was not answered with blood. My idea is what are the learning objectives for the students? They can learn about history of real New Jerseyans from around
079the area. >> you off with your actual time, but if you want to wait, you you could come back up. I just don't want to, you know, uh take from their time. And even to track local lineage. I'm sure there's I'm sure there is descendants of Huddy somewhere >> I'm sure. I'm sure. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> Good evening, Madam Board President. Um as you probably know, Carli Denneyan representing NJ Voters for Church and State Separation. Um we are a non-partisan statewide organization focused on the separation of religion and government in New Jersey. Um when we had heard about uh the potential proposal to uh rename an elementary school after Donald Trump, we were obviously very concerned because to us there is hard to imagine a another US president in recent history more
080against the separation of church and state than Donald Trump. So, we put together a little bit of a contest uh to give you some ideas should you ever in the future pursue renaming a school or opening a new school with a name um that you have some alternatives to choose from. So, I have condensed them for you. We got a lot of submissions in and this is a condensed version. Uh Well, number one was probably Conover Road Elementary School. Multiple submissions uh were to not rename the school at all, citing that it's already named after a local family who donated their land, which I know your superintendent did bring up during the last meeting. Um a similar sentiment was found in the I I kept off some of the nastier ones, but this one was
081uh Board, B O R E D, of Education Elementary uh with the the submitter writing, "This is a waste of time and resources and is bringing much unwanted negative attention to the Coltsneck school system. The Board of Education should instead just focus on children's education and not this entirely unnecessary nonsense." Uh there was a note that if we should name a school after someone who's living, it should be someone who's both local and has historical significance. And we got multiple submissions for Bruce Springsteen Elementary. Uh some noting the charitable contributions he's made to the local uh local community. We similarly got Jon Bon Jovi Elementary. Good choice. We got Queen Latifah Elementary, which I actually didn't know that she had lived here. Uh we got Jon Stewart Elementary. No, no, all right. Uh we got
082fun ones like Schooly McSchoolface, uh which if you're not familiar with the lore behind that, you have to you have to Google that. You have to Google Schooly McSchoolface. Um the Coltsneck Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good and Who Want to Learn to Do Other Stuff Good, Too, which was a a Zoolander reference. Uh this one was my my personal favorite, I think, uh was Coltsneck Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, Knees, and Toes. Uh The one that I came up with in honor of America 250 was "Ah, let me out of this coffin. This isn't the country I wanted. Let me out." Elementary, subtitle A School Dedicated to Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. In case the secretary is taking notes, that's "Ah" with six A's and "out" with five T's so that it lingers a little
083bit like the screams of Thomas Jefferson from inside his coffin. Uh another revolutionary one I thought Excuse me, I thought was really good was Joshua Huddy Elementary. the last speaker sold that way better than I could here. Uh we also got Molly Pitcher, General Von Steuben. I mean, there's a never-ending supply of those involved in our local history. There was also a mention for Purple Heart Primary School with the submitter writing, "I went to school in Coltsneck and they always had a strong military family presence there and I think that that's an interesting uh suggestion as well to honor um military service as a whole." We got some cute ones like >> time is up. You have two more >> Okay. Two more just out of respect, two more if you want to say Okay.
084Well, I could I could come back if you prefer. Is that easier for you? I think I'll come back for the second session. >> Um anybody else want to come up and um make a comment? It's open to anybody at this point. Just state your name and address for the record. Hello. Good evening. Sorry, it's a little warm in here. My name is John and since January I've been living in hell. I'm relieved to hear that the plans of um dedicating a building to a living president has been done away with. With all due respect, we've elected a rapist in the presidency whose concepts are led by conservative think tanks lined with deep pockets. Whose concepts are led Oh, I already read that line. Whose concepts are aligned with deep pockets, undermining the Constitution and
085giving power to arbitrary authorities all while all while running cover for a child trafficking ring. It's been said hard times create Strong men create good times and good times, they create weak men. The weak bastard masquerading as someone special >> Please watch your language for the public and the board. Okay. All right. Okay, yeah, you can The guy >> Okay. masquerading as president doesn't give a darn to anyone who doesn't kiss the ring. I applaud your placation towards a toddler. I'm glad you see that every what every foreign power also sees, his easy manipulated ego. I pray your intentions aren't nefarious even though history often rhymes. The Middle East is perfect example why religion has no place in government. To think Christian nationalism is in is any different is not only a slap to our
086grandparents, but is also a clear indication you have no business in education. The greatest the greatest generation also sacrificed their lives fighting the evils in our world. When Nuremberg was finished and the trials concluded, Trump's grandfather was banished from Germany. Thank you for your comment. Okay, hello. Hello. State your name and address for the record. My name is Sean Sgrillo. I live on 11 Deep Wood Lane. I just wanted to say, first of all, thank you for um the continued attention. Uh I wanted to mention the bus stop uh recording because I think that's so incredible and that's been something that I know when I was a kid, that was something I was always concerned about. Um A little bit older now, but when I was uh in the elementary school, my neighbor would always
087walk across the street and I'd always see cars running right by and and I was scared and so I really do appreciate that attention. Um I do want to thank this kind kind sir who came up here and presented one of those um Purple Heart Primary School. I actually submitted so that was really cool to hear. Um I do want to not to bring the mood down, but I I do want to just mention that I think Conover, what it stands for, is so is such inclusion and um one thing that was really important to me was the inclusions of disabled and people who who can't who don't think alike. And I think our president uh some comments were made the other week that just really disheartened me about people with disabilities and that's what
088I think honoring is so dangerous. And I think honoring somebody who we don't know that their legacy is permanent. It could change. And I think that's something so important, you know, even inviting him to our school, I think that's such a cool opportunity. Um but I just worry about um people with disabilities and and people who we strive in our school system, you know, who can really do anything. And that's such a cool thing that Conover Road represents. But I do want to thank you. I mean, this is it's incredible that you we came out here, you know, and immediately you were like shut this down and I appreciate that. So, thank you, guys. I just want to address you. Um What was your first name again? Sean. >> Sean Sean, I thank you so
089much for coming out. You're such a well-rounded young man. I appreciate your sentiment and the the comments and um you're going to do good things in life. You're you're you're a true leader. Thank you for coming out and sharing your opinion with us. Thank you. Uh good evening. Uh Rick Cohen, two Old Farm Road. Uh I'm going to thank the board and and servicemen for all their service. Uh what you do takes a lot of time and energy and we appreciate all that you do and as well, Dr. uh uh Garabed, thank you. Superintendent, it's not an easy job. So, I appreciate all the work that you're doing. I I did want to echo the thank yous for not renaming the school. Um having been in education all my life uh one thing we know
090for sure with kids is that when they see themselves in the school and they feel that they belong and they are included uh they learn much better. So, I see this decision as to make is is a a good job on your part to ensure that all kids feel like they belong and they can see themselves in the school, no matter what their thoughts are, their perspectives, their beliefs, or their decisions. So, thank you for your dedication to ensuring that all kids feel belong. Thank you for coming. Yep. >> [applause] >> I just want to let you know, sir, um all of us on the board, we we always uh remain cognizant of what you just said and we are firm believers of making our district, all three campuses, a welcoming environment for every student,
091regardless of disabilities, handicaps, um you know, grade performance. Uh we we really prioritize that. So, we really want to appreciate um thank you for your comments on that. So, thank you. Um yep, coming up. State your name and address for the record. Kevin O'Brien, 18 Ian Closure. I appear this evening to comment on the school closings in Middletown, Paterson, Montclair, Westwood, and others. Um and to ask about the state funding cuts. So, thank you for responding on the state funding cuts. Uh while we hope nothing's going to change in Coltsneck, hopefully they'll keep the schools open. That's first and foremost. Thank you for again, the reductions in the school funding were really appreciated. The affordable housing discussions uh may not be what we all want, but it's not going to change the charm of Coltsneck.
092Naming a school after a president is an honor. Uh Trump is polarizing. Most people love him or hate him. You got one side of the coin or the other. There's no in middle in the road. He won the presidency twice. Uh in our country, we have the right to free speech and I appreciate that. In other countries, you could be arrested or worse for expressing your feelings. Uh while I I look I took no position on the name the renaming change, I thank you for listening. And I even thank the the residents behind me who shared their views politely, logically, and calmly. It works best. Decades ago, little story, I had the pleasure of um speaking at my high school um public speaking class. I gave Nixon's Watergate speech. He resigned, but he also ended
093the war in Vietnam. I sat directly in front of him at the NCAA basketball game. I had better seats. We met again years later. I also met G. Gordon Liddy and had a drink with General and Secretary of State Alexander Haig. I did not always agree with their actions. I did and I still respect them for their time in our nation's history. We've had 45 people as our our leading our country over the past 250 years. Not one has been perfect. Not everyone is willing to be as Teddy Roosevelt wrote, the man in the arena. As a resident and an independent voter, the board committee has been solid in support of Coltsneck and the children of our community. As a team with the teachers, students, and parents, you made one of the best school districts
094in the state. So, thank you. The quality of the education matters most, not the name on the building. I trust the board's judgment in what they do. Thank you. Can I um >> [applause] >> I'd like to uh respond to you with some comments. I appreciate you recognizing um the loss of schools in Middletown. It's a shame that their district is closing, I believe two campuses over there. Three. Uh I'm sorry, three campuses. Uh I know our district is much smaller, but this board is committed to making sure that we remain fiscally responsible in all the decisions we make. Uh thanks to our finance team, we oversee every single dollar going in and out of this district and we do it very well. We were able to be perform a zero tax increase for this
095town over the last two years thanks to um Mr. Walsh, uh previously uh Mrs. Camera, uh Mr. Scarpa, and Mr. Rico. The amount of money we saved um to make sure that no programs were cut, no teachers were fired, no campuses are going to be closed. We're very proud of our record here and we appreciate you noticing how hard we work, uh that we are not in the papers for closing districts. Uh as far as we are concerned and we are on this board, none of those cuts will happen regardless of Mikey Sherrill's um uh negative impact on us with her 5.5 uh reduction in state funding. So, thank you very much for recognizing that. Um And you could clap. We appreciate at least someone at least someone thanks us. Thank you. Um Yep, come
096on up come on up. Hi, I'm Al Spinney and I live in Coltsneck on Five Points Road. I thank you guys for everything that you do and for spending your time volunteering your time. You do a wonderful job. Um thrilled about the parental bill of rights. I've said in past um I just wanted to say I looked up on Google since everybody does that, that President Obama visited numerous public school districts throughout his presidency, but not a specific finalized total number is explicitly documented in the search results. He frequently visited schools for events, town halls, and to highlight initiatives like My Brother's Keeper and American Jobs Act. Um so, there are often times presidents do visit um the school and there are over 4,889 schools that are renamed after presidents of the United States. Um
097I know it was just a suggestion and it just an exploratory committee that you were suggesting, so it didn't even get very far. But I do think it was a great idea. I think he's going to go down, President Trump is one of the best presidents of this century. I think there's a lot of misinformation and I just hope that some of the young people really listen to all sorts of information and actually listen to what is produced by the White House and what people are saying, some of the politicians are saying because I think um there's a lot of second-hand information that's coming out and I think that, you know, we will history will um you know will tell what the truth in the end. We'll find out. Um I also wanted to just
098comment briefly on um you know, this group. I feel like it's very organized, too. I think the resistance is very organized. Most people are very happy with what's going on that are informed with the presidential and and I feel so bad going after the last minute spoke cuz he really summed it up so well. Um I wanted to just comment on separation of church and state. It was originally in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Society who was afraid that the church uh that the state was going to get involved in their faith in the schools and anything um political and because it happened in England when they were out there um and that's why people had to came to this country because the state suppressed people allowing to freely worship their
099faith and forth forced everyone into the Anglican religion. And so, it was in a letter, it's not in the Constitution, but it was um made to protect the people the the people with faith from the Danbury Baptist Society um in again a letter um to say no, we're not going to um force you to um follow state-regulated religion or government-regulated religion. So, it's we are allowed to express our faith freely in the public arena and it was originally um the Squares hired, you know, the lawyers and politicians and teachers and people's faith and the the pre the pastors were all there and it was all part of our early forming of our government. So, when everyone says, oh, no, separation of church and state, that's a fallacy. We are allowed to freely express our faith
100and I'm allowed to freely express my faith according to the New New Jersey state constitution even in my job. Okay. Thank you very much and um for all you do again and thank you. >> [applause] >> Uh anybody else welcome to come up and speak at this time. Just state your name and address for the record. Anybody else like to come up? Yeah, come on up. I just want to say I'm from Marlboro, Jennifer Woodruff and just want to applaud the board. I come here just to find out information on what I can go to Marlboro and say you what this is what you you need to be doing. I'm trying to convince my daughter and son-in-law to move to Colts Neck to be part of this school system and I just I just this
101is a school board that is like no other. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> Anybody else like to get up and share comments? Complaints? Suggestions? All right, I think we're we're done with that. We do have another comment later on in the meeting. So, if anybody walks in and miss this opportunity. Okay, we are going to move into our action items now. I'd like to get a motion to move action items. Oh, just one. There's one action item. I'm sorry, two, with the field trips. But can I get a motion to move those action items? >> Motion. Second. Roll call, please. Second. Mr. Rica? Thank you. The two action items, Mrs. Cameron. Yes. Mr. Rica? Yes. Excuse me, Mr. Scales? Yes. Mr. Scarpa? Yes. Mrs. Volpe? Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. Whitburg? Thank you.
102The motion carried. Great, we have nothing under curriculum tonight. Um Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. Wait a minute. I'm sorry. I I I can't see. I'm so sorry, Mr. Okay, I need a motion to move um the four items under curriculum. Motion. Second. Any questions or comments before we vote? Questions or comments? All right, I'll take a roll call. Curriculum and instruction items 1 through 4, Mrs. Cameron? Yes. Mr. Rica? Yes. Mr. Scales? >> Yes. Mr. Scarpa? Yes. Mrs. Volpe? Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. Whitburg? Yes. Thank you. You have a motion. We have a quorum and a motion. All right, we're one for one. Repeat on the quorum. Yes. Okay, I need a motion to move items 1 through 4 under finance. Motion. Motion. Second. Any questions or comments on those particular items?
103All right, roll call. Mrs. Cameron? Yes. Mr. Rica? Yes. Mr. Scales? >> Yes. Mr. Scarpa? Yes. Mrs. Volpe? Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. Whitburg? Yes. Thank you. The motion passed. Okay, I need a motion to move the one item under policy. Motion. Second. Any questions on that particular item? All right, uh roll call. Mrs. Cameron? Under policy? Wait a minute. Yeah, just one. It's really small. >> page of the Okay, yes. I just didn't see it. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Rica? Yes. Mr. Scales? Yes. Mr. Scarpa? Yes. Mrs. Volpe? Mrs. Volpe? My head hurts. Um yes. Mr. Walsh? >> Yes. Mr. Whitburg? Yes. The motion carried. All right, excellent. We have quite a few under personnel. I'll take a a motion to move those items. Motion. Okay, there's quite a bit. Anybody have any
104questions or comments on those particular items? I do. Yeah. Um so, I love all the extracurricular activities we offer, but um under number 10 when I was just reading through it, there's one club just hanging with Mr. H and I was a little the activity didn't really explain to me what that that really is. So, I just like a little more information on that one. Games and activities and things like that. That's what it is. Like an after school hanging out kind of um non-athletic competition type of thing. >> No, I was just curious. Yeah, no, absolutely. I get it. Okay, any other questions on those items? Nope, I thought I saw somebody or somebody Okay. Uh All right, I'll take a roll call on those items 1 through 17. 1 through 17. Uh personnel,
105thank you. Mrs. Cameron? Yes. Mr. Rica? Yes. Mr. Scales? Yes. Mr. Scarpa? Yes. Mrs. Mrs. Volpe? Yes. Mr. Walsh? >> Yes. Mr. Whitburg? Yes. There's a lot of gaps. There's a lot of gaps in there. Okay, so that brings us Oops, wait a minute. Let me just make sure where we're at. All right. Okay, we are done with our action items. We have one more comments from the public section. If anybody wants to get up at this time, they're welcome to do so again. State your name and address for the record. Okay. Actually, that was not that long of a wait. Uh Kylie De Neine representing NJ Voters for Church and State Separation continuing off of the list. Um we did Purple Heart. Um Oh, this All right, so we had some cute ones. Like
106Kindness Elementary, Kindness Elementary and the caption was, what matters more than kindness? We had Delicious Orchards Elementary with Tasty one. the subtitle the subtitle being, when I think of Colts Neck, I think Delicious Orchard. As a third generation shopper, which that that was a new one, a third generation shopper, I think the small family business deserves recognition. Naming a school after a small business is just as American as apple pie and in parentheses, one of Delicious Orchards bestsellers, I believe. It was Excelsior Elementary School. Saying the word Excelsior signifies continued progress or excellence. This clearly reflects the youth of Colts Neck, New Jersey. We got one that was just literally anything besides Donald Trump. Please, I beg of you, literally anything else. I think that's perhaps too long for a school. I inserted my my
107own because I have the privilege of being able to do that, which is both Pork Roll Elementary and Taylor Ham Elementary, which is to say that we are if we are to get controversial, we might as well go all the way. Um >> [laughter] >> We got Danny DeVito Elementary. Someone said he's from NJ and brings joy into people's lives. Similarly, Judy Blume Elementary. I know she has the the rest stop as well named after her. Um this was a new one. Nina E. Allender, who I was not previously familiar with, but was a suffragette cartoonist. There was a mention for Lenni Lenape Elementary School for the Native American heritage and then there was the very generic Colts Neck Elementary School. We had more, but that was the shortened version. Someone on the way out
108mentioned to me the first principal of Conover was um Yeah, but what was it? Shirley Anderson. Shirley Anderson, yes. Which I I Right, yes. So, I I wouldn't know that particular person, but she said that she was a very good principal. So, that is the end of the list. I did want to clarify for the previous speaker, we very much support the free exercise of religion. A big part of church and state separation is making sure that the government is not giving preference to one religion over another, which is why we have the free exercise clause in the constitution. Um so, that people are able to choose to spend their time worshiping how they choose to or not at all. So, anyway, thank you and good evening. Thank you for your comments. Anybody else like
109to make a final comment? Dan Finney, 96 Five Points. So, just quickly, I it occurred to me when after I spoke last that uh uh something I remember is that in looking at these different threats, global threats and and threats to the United States, they explained different reasons why armed conflict with the threat of conflict with several countries including Russia and China were diminishing because of common interests, trade partnerships and couple other uh details I forgot, I'm sure. But um I thought that was very interesting uh because there was common ground and uh and different efforts to to uh keep an open dialogue in those things, whereas it was brought up over and over again about the great ideological divide that uh we have with uh Iran and uh that their national leader uh leader's
110declaration of death to America, death to Israel and their coupled with their aspiration for weapons of mass mass destruction um was was a very unsettling uh factors. And so uh you know, just thinking about you know, how we can uh uh have peace and the pursuit of life, liberty, and hap- happiness in the world um has been extremely hampered in in in the Middle East region uh because of Iran. So, I I don't know. A lot of people aren't really uh fully aware of some of those things that are going that have contributed to this, but uh I just want to share that with you. Okay. >> Yeah. And Thank you. >> freedom is the simple simplified version is freedom of religion, not freedom from religion was the intent of our framers. And the Danbury
111letter by Jefferson did not intend to uh you know, diminish that. Thank you. >> [applause] >> All right. Anybody else like to get up? No? It's okay. All right. Okay, just want to make sure. All right. We're going to I'm sorry? Um all right, great. Thank you um everybody for uh participating in our public comment. That will be the last one of the evening. Um at this time we're closing public comment, moving right into new business. Um if anybody has any new business comments, questions I do. I um okay. Mr. Walsh. >> I'd like to propose a um our school district host all the school boards in Monmouth County. Invite all the superintendents. Invite all our residents. Invite all the politicians to discuss the impact of affordable housing on each town. How it affects our
112school budgets, how it affects our education. A forum where we call all speak, stakeholders, particularly the school boards, have a constructive conversation, dialogue with all everybody in attendance, and let's us our district be the genesis of trying to fight affordable housing in the state of New Jersey and its impact on our our taxpayers. Okay, regarding this initiative or proposal does the board agree to move forward on something like this? I like I like to I think we should socialize, but I'd like to second that. I think this board has stood on its basis of good communication. Today would be an excellent example of that. I think it's a wonderful opportunity to bring in other jurisdictions, you know, in our state so that it would and welcome less dialogue. This we are not alone. This impacts
113the entirety of the state. we will be impacted. There's no denying that. We will be impacted. I think it's incredibly important to Mr. Walsh's Mr. Walsh's point that we socialize this and we demonstrate our effectiveness and how we can collaborate and let's share ideas, you know, there's possibly some other ideas out there that we that we are not taking into consideration right now. Let's open it up. So, if no other jurisdiction has has thought of it, why not us? So, I I support Mr. Walsh's uh piece here. I would love to hear from the rest of the board on what they think. >> Superintendent, I'd like you to spearhead that being our superintendent. Um I was just going to say before she speaks um if we all agree, and I don't know what um road
114of action you want to take, but we could reach out to Tim Teehan first um to see start there, I would think. Um Sure. I I yeah, I think that that we can always um I don't think it's needed to reach out to our school board if we take the initiative of discuss the impact of uh affordable housing. I don't think we need guidance from the school board. >> Okay. I think we need to take the action as a school board and just start this. Okay. All right. >> Let's cook in the kitchen. Get it done. That's fine with me. Okay. Is it from a timing point of view? >> if there's a time frame in the next few months, have this meeting at the primary school and maybe you communicate uh President Volpe, Superintendent
115uh Garabed with respective school boards and superintendents and try to get this a date and and let's get this out to the community and make them aware of the the meeting. All right. Everybody good with that? >> Let's do it. Yeah? Yeah. Okay. All right, so we'll work on that. We maybe mean you'll have a discussion, a preliminary discussion um in your office about it uh just to um get some details and direction on it. Uh okay, anybody else with uh new business? Taking this week off. >> [laughter] >> Anybody else? New business? No. Uh okay. Seeing no more new business um before I close uh the meeting and move to executive, I just want to ask everybody to keep our military personnel uh in their prayers with the ongoing conflict. Um just pray for
116these families. Some of these people that I mentioned earlier were just days away from coming home to their families, days away from um you know, being relieved of their duties and they lost their lives for us. So, just keep them all in mind. Continue to pray for them. Uh okay, at uh this time we are going to move into I need a motion to move into executive session. We have two things on the table here, negotiations and a confidential student matter. Um we are going to uh conclude with the live stream. Uh no action's obviously going to be taken on this. Motion. Um I'd say uh 30 minutes. No more than 30 minutes, I would think. We'll we'll try to keep it way under 30 minutes. And second. Okay, got a second. All right. Okay,
117great. Thank you everybody for coming tonight. We appreciate your uh participation.