001Good evening everyone. Uh, I'd like to call this meeting to order. My name is Vincent Morasco. I'm the Colts Township Board of Education's business administrator and board secretary. I am serving tonight as temporary chairperson until such time as a board of president and vice president are nominated and seated. So, at this time, pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act, chapter 231, this meeting has been duly advertised in the Asbury Park Press in a schedule of meetings dated January 16, 2025 and March 4th, 2025. Notice of which has been filed with the deputy clerk for Colts Township and the requirements of posting of notices have been met. Would everybody rise for the flag salute? To the flag of the United States of America and to the standy for all standing Bear with us for technical moment.
002Thank you, Dr. Garbe. Okay, at this time um I would like to um discuss the school board election results from the November 4th, 2025 school elections. We have a certification by the Mammoth County Board of County canvasers relative to the election held on November 4th uh for the Colts Township Board of Ed a full term and the county board of canvasers has officially certified that Phyllis Camera, Angelique Vulpi, and Richard Wickberg were awarded uh the full term uh three years. So, they have been duly elected and certified by the deputy clerk um I'm sorry, the uh county board of canvasers for Mammoth County. Okay. At this time, uh I would now like to um administer the oaths to uh these three members. And with us tonight is Mr. Richard Wickberg's uh spouse, who is a
003New Jersey um attorney in good standing according to the New Jersey uh courts and she is going to administer the oaths which is legally permissible um to our members. So we're going to do it in alphabetical order. So I'd like to first call camera I, Phyllis Camera, >> I, Phyllis Camera, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and that I will bear true faith and allegiance >> true faith and allegiance >> to the same >> and to governments established >> in the United States >> and this state >> under the authority of the people. >>
004So help me God. I, Phyllis Camera, >> I, Phyllis Camera, >> do solemnly swear >> that I possess the qualifications >> prescribed by law >> for the office of member of a board of education >> for office of member for the board of education >> and that I will faithfully >> impartially >> and justly >> perform all the duties >> of that office >> according to the best of of my ability >> according to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. Furthermore, >> Furthermore, >> I affirm and declare >> that I am not disqualified >> as a voter, >> nor disqualified due to a conviction of a crime >> nor disqualified due to a conviction of a crime >> or offense >> listed >> in new NJSA >> in NJSA >> 18A
005>> 12-1 >> and that I will faithfully >> discharge church the duties >> the duties >> of the office. >> So help me God. >> [applause] >> Our next um elected member to be administer the I, Angelie Bulpi, >> I, Angelie Bulby, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support >> the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and that I will bear true faith and allegiance >> I will bear true faith and allegiance >> to the same >> and to governments established >> in the United States >> and this state >> under the authority of the people. So help me God. >> So help me God. I, Angelique Bulpie, >> I, Angelique Bulpy, >>
006do solemnly swear >> that I possess the qualifications >> prescribed by law >> for the office of member >> for office of member >> of a board of education >> and that I will faithfully >> and I will faithfully >> impartially >> and justly >> perform all the duties >> of that office >> of that according to the best of my ability. >> according to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. >> Furthermore, >> I affirm >> and declare >> that I am not disqualified >> as a voter >> nor disqualified >> due to a conviction of a crime >> or offense >> listed in NJSA. 18 A >> 18 A >> 12-1 >> and that I will faithfully >> and I will faithfully >> discharge the duties of the office. >>
007So help me God. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. And last but not least, Mr. Richard Wickber. Please come forward. [snorts] I, Richard Wickberg >> I, Richard Wickberg, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution >> I will support the Constitution >> of the United States >> and the Constitution >> the Constitution >> of the State of New Jersey >> and that I will bear true faith >> I will bear true faith >> and allegiance >> to the same >> and to governments established >> to governments established >> in the United States >> and this state >> under the authority of the people under the authority of the people. >> So help me God. I, Richard Wickber, >> I, Richard Wickber, >> do solemnly swear >> that I possess
008the qualifications >> prescribed by law >> for the office >> of member >> of a board of education >> and that I will faithfully >> I will faithfully >> impartially >> and justly >> perform all the duties >> of that office office >> according to the best of my ability ability >> to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. Furthermore, >> Furthermore, >> I affirm and declare >> that I am not disqualified >> as a voter >> nor disqualified >> due to a conviction of a crime >> or offense >> listed >> in NJSA >> 18A >> 12-1 >> and that I will faithfully >> that I will faithfully >> discharge the duties of the office. >> So help me God. >> Congratulations. [applause] >> Thank you very much. And uh [applause]
009Mr. Wickberg, at this time you may take your seat at the deis. >> Thank you very much Marissa for administering the oath. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. So now that we have Mr. Wickber uh seated and I will now take a formal roll call of the constituted board here. Mrs. Cameron >> here. >> Mrs. Horowitz >> here. >> Mr. Rico >> here. >> Mr. Retta >> here. >> Mr. Scales >> here. >> Mr. Scarpa >> here. >> Mrs. Vulpi >> here. >> Mr. Walsh here. Mr. Wickber here. >> Thank you very much. You have a quorum. Okay. At this time, we're going to move to the election of president and vice president according to statute. Uh this process will be that I will open the floor for nominations on the board for uh president and
010I'll entertain you know as many as there are and then that I will call for a roll call vote for each of the board members nominated. So at this time I will open the floor >> for nominations of board president. >> I nominate Angelique Vulpi. I second. >> You're making the same >> nomination. >> Are there any other nominations? Okay. Hearing no others, seeing no others, we will close the nomination, close the floor for nominations, and I'll take a roll call for the election of Angelie for president. Mrs. Cameron. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Harowitz. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mr. Retta. Excuse me. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scales. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scarpa. >> Yes. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Wickber. >> Yes. >> Okay.
011The motion carried. Congratulations, Mrs. >> Thank you. [applause] Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I can do it. >> All right. Uh, thank you. At this time, um, I'm going to call for a nomination of the vice president. >> I nominate Phyllis Chimera. >> I second. Uh any other nominations? >> Okay, seeing no others. Um roll call for the election of Phyis camera for vice president. Mrs. Cameron. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Mrs. Harowitz. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ro. >> Yes. >> Mr. Retta. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scales. >> Yes, >> Mr. Scarpa. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Baldby. >> Yes, >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes, >> Mr. Wickber. >> Yes. >> Okay, the motion carried. Congratulations. [applause] And now at this time, I will turn over. >> Okay. Um, >> all right. Great. Uh, thank you,
012Mr. Morasco. Um, all right. At this time, Uh it is customary that we do the adoption of the school board association code of ethics. Uh at this time I'm going to start uh with Mr. Wickberg. We will read aloud all 10 of them. Uh so if Mr. Wickberg if you can proceed with that with number one. >> Sure. Uh uphold and enforce all laws, rules and regulations of the state board of education and court orders pertaining to schools. Desired changes shall be brought about only legal and ethical procedures. >> The next one, >> make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sex, or social standing. confine his or her board action
013to policym, planning and appraisal and help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them. >> Carry out his her responsibility not to administer to schools but together with fellow board members ensure they are wellrun. recognize that authority rests with the board of education and make no personal promises nor take any private action that may compromise the board. She is to surrender his heritical groups or to use the schools for personal gain or for >> hold confidential all matters pertaining to the schools which if disclosed would needlessly injured individuals or the schools. In all other matters, he she will provide accurate information and in concert with fellow board members interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community for the school. >> Vote to appoint the
014best qualified personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrator officer. >> Support and protect school personnel and proper performance of their duties. >> Uh I will finish up with number 10. refer all complaints to the chief administrative officer and act on the complaints at public meetings only after failure of an administrative solution. Um, at this time I'm going to ask the board members to please sign that code of ethics and pass it down uh so we could submit it to Mr. Morasco. >> [snorts] >> Okay. So, I just want to take notice of the Oakland Public Meetings Act. Uh all those dates are listed there for the year and uh we are going to uh take it as a motion of consent all those additional items up until the uh the yes
015up until the mentors. So, Everybody wants to take note of that. If any of the board has any questions or comments, um you can uh ask now. Any questions or comments on that? >> Okay, great. Uh moving on. I >> a motion >> to a motion to move that. Okay. Can I get a motion uh to move that >> organization? >> Second. >> Great. Can I get a roll call for that? >> Mrs. Cameron. >> [snorts] >> Yes, >> Mrs. Harowitz. >> Yes, >> Mr. Rico. >> Yes, >> Mr. Retta. >> Yes, >> Mr. Scales. >> Yes, >> Mr. Scarf. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Vulpi. >> Yes, >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes, >> Mr. Wickber. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Motion carries. >> Okay. Uh, at this time, um, I was waiting for the results
016of the presidential election. So, uh, I obviously did not appoint or do any committees. Uh, I was the state um school representative for the New Jersey school boards. It shows it's pending. I probably will assume that role again. If anything changes, I'll report out on the January 14th meeting. Uh, so as of right now, I'm going to assign myself to the school board um liaison. Um, I am also going to mentor Mr. Whitberg. Uh, so Mr. Whitberg, at this time, anything you need going forward, you could ask me addition to the full board, but I will be mentoring you going forward. Okay. Um, at this time I'm going to pass it off to Dr. Garbeay. We have a fantastic presentation to honor all of our children, uh, which is why we do this job. Uh,
017so we have a lot of awards uh, to be given out um, regarding sports achievements and uh, a first place winner of the Mammoth County Poetry Contest. So I'm going to pass this off to Dr. Garave. >> Thank you, Miss President Vulpy. Congratulations to Mr. Rick, Mrs. Cameron, and Mrs. Vulpi. Um, if I could have Laurel, do you join me at the podium, please? Laurel. Okay. So, it's uh we have a big birthday here, right, in our country and our state and all the celebrations that are going on with that, right? So, why don't you tell us what happened? Like why why do you think why are you here tonight? >> I won poetry. >> Because why? >> Because I won the poetry contest. >> And what was your poet poem about? >> America. >>
018Really? Do you have it with you? >> Yes. >> Would you like to read it? >> Sure. >> Small towns. To me, America is all around. High mountain peaks, great lakes and creeks, big valleys, and green land. All right. In America's hand. People come together in this place. Some say America is a melting pot. Kids play football. Parents cheer. Families host barbecues every year. We are one great nation. Hard fought. [applause] >> So, we think your poem is super fantastic. We think you are super fantastic and we're so proud of you for entering your poem into the Mammoth County 250th poetry contest. As a fifth grader, we on behalf of the board of education, all the people sitting behind you, we want to present you with a certificate that says the Colts Neck Township Board
019of Education proudly recognizes Laurel Dudak, fifth grader, Connor Road Elementary School, for winning first place in the Mammoth County 250th poetry contest. The board celebrates this exceptional talent and creativity in poetry, which serves as an inspiration to the whole school community. Congratulations, >> [applause] >> You're welcome. Okay. And at this time, we're I'm going to ask Dr. Colin Rigby, who is the principal of Cedar Drive Middle School, to join me in celebrating some of our student athletes um that we want to celebrate. We're very proud of our extracurricular programs here in Colts Neck and we have some stellar coaches, stellar athletes and I'll let Dr. Rigby speak to that. >> Yeah. First, thank you Dr. Garrett Bay and members of President Boly and members of the board of education for your time and support tonight.
020We appreciate the uh the opportunity to be here with you. Um yeah, we're very excited. We have a number of um exceptional student athletes that we want to recognize. And just a quick uh note to all of our our student athletes is to see you during the day and shining in the classroom is one thing, but then to see you after school on the soccer field, on the cross country courses or just competing um is something really special for us. We appreciate all the time and the effort and the dedication that you bring to Cedar Drive and know that we are so proud of you. Um and also congratulations on certainly well-deserved honors. And just for everyone for the record, they were all stars for our league which is 10 schools um including uh we
021are the smallest school uh up against schools um of you know student populations of a thousand or so. So uh they should be really proud of your sons and daughters and uh we certainly are. All right. So yeah. So [applause] we also just a real quick note about I think student athletes. I think how how valuable that is. We have three former student athletes. I'm looking at them right now in the audience as Cedar Drive alumni. So, I think um you have some role models behind you uh to our current students. So, um yeah. Anyway, I'll let you do your thing and then we'll >> absolutely. So, first we're going to recognize uh students who were selected. Not everyone could be here tonight, but we're still going to recognize their name publicly. Um, Colts, uh,
022Board of Education first wants to recognize students that were selected for the all-star soccer, uh, team for the county. First up, Jonas Cameron. And it's my understanding his sister is going to accept this award for him tonight, [applause] Griffin Corbett. >> Corbett, sorry. Ethan Ruifer, Maline Kick. Maddiey's here, [applause] Addison Linham. >> There she is. [applause] And Avery Tan >> night here. Okay, great. Okay. Next, we're going to recognize and honor our students that were selected for cross country all-star athlet uh team. Ava Luring, [applause] Carolyn O' Conor, Alexandria Hornick Horenheimimer. [applause] >> I got it. I got it. LAYA SETI [applause] Finley Cloon, [applause] >> Giana Nicholson, [applause] Aubrey Smith, >> Ryan Coer, Daniel Lee, >> not yet. Michael Connor >> Michael [applause] Andrew goer excuse me gozair >> Patrick Fredauer >> Zayn Russo
023>> and Zay [applause] and Nicholas Torres [applause] on behalf of the Col Township Board of Education administration staff we we just to echo what Dr. We said we're just so proud of all of them and we thank our coaches um who also inspire them. Mrs. Slack, Mr. Mr. Truizy, um Miss Coast Johnson and Co Espazito um who all send their best and and couldn't be here with us tonight. But thank you to all of them for working so closely with you and to getting you uh to go even further than you ever thought. So, thank you for being here. Thank you for representing Col Town School Cedar Drive so well. We're so proud of all of you. So, thank you. [applause] Um yeah, uh Dr. Gar, I just want to add to those uh comments.
024Um you know, the board appreci appreciates all of the fine students we have in this district and we are so very proud of you. Uh I also want to address Dr. Rigby tonight. Um the amount of work you put into this district is amazing and you are one class act. you do your job with grace no matter what what is thrown at you and I'm so proud that you are on our staff here. So, thank you for all that you do for us. Thank you. [applause] All right. Um yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Um at this time, um for those of you who are new, I see some new faces here. We put in a student liaison program uh about a year or so ago and our student liaison are here to report into us uh some
025you know topics that they want to address. So we'd like to call them up one by one. I don't know who would like to join us first this evening. Um yeah sure come on up. I'll just make sure that mic is on. Hello, I am Kira Harland and I have a report about the destruction of computers. I had a meeting with Mr. Tusano, Mr. Mercer, and Dr. Ricky about having a midpoint check-in. A midpoint check-in is where Mr. Tusano would go to every home room and check the computers for damage and other concerns. Mr. Tuscano already approved this. The midpoint check-in will probably start soon. Thank you for your time and have a great rest of your day. Thank you very much. Uh we we appreciate your continued attention to this. Uh it's such a
026big initiative to save the district money and to teach our kids to respect uh you know the uh computers that are handed to them every year. So we appreciate all the time you're putting into this. Thank you. >> If you want to come on up. Good evening board members. Circling back on my eighth grade legacy idea, I have come up with a couple of projects of what we can do for the eighth graders. First idea is a giant piece of poster board with a memory from each graduating class's memories from the past couple of years. For example, for the class of 2026, we can do Stokes or any concerts or any memory that screams class of 2026. Um, we can make a drawing of it of said memory and then the whole class signs it.
027The whole graduating class will sign it. If you want to go any further, we could hang it up in the gym or another place in the school. The second idea is a t-shirt signing. Every student buys a white short sleeve t-shirt and wears it on a specific day. Then all the eighth graders meet during that day and sign each other's t-shirts. And that makes some longlasting memories written out. The third and final idea is clay octopi. I make clay octtopi out of a certain clay. What we could do is I can make a video or a projection of how to make them. And every eighth grader makes one and etches their name their initials into the back. I brought one here to show you. >> Oh, bring it up. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Oh
028my god, this is adorable. >> And if you turn it around, my initials ed etched in the back. This is so cute. >> All right. Don't touch it, Jason, if you're going to break it. [clears throat] >> And then just pass it back. We'll we'll have the other members take a look at it. It's adorable. Yeah. Yes. If you would like to keep it, you can certainly do that. Um, >> can I tell you I if you don't mind, I would like to keep that. >> Of course. >> Thank you. Yeah, thank you. >> Um, after we make them, we can put them in a uh display case until graduation where they can be displayed in the room where all the eighth graders graduate. This creates some more memories with each eighth grader and it
029could also be a new hobby for them. I started making them three years ago and I haven't stopped. A question someone might ask is, "But Emmanuel, how will we get the money for this?" Well, we can do a fundraiser. I'll bring some of my own clay from home and buy some myself as well. Kids will pay a certain amount to get the clay, or they can bring their own. The clay that I use is the Sculpey brand and it it it's a very durable and it's good to use so it won't break. Um I believe that this could be a start of a great legacy project that eighth graders will do forever. We are still coming up with more ideas and are going to figure out which one to do and we can make sure
030and we could send out a Google form to all the eighth graders of seeing what option they want to do, what approved option they like the best. That's all I have for you tonight. have a great rest of your night. Thank you. >> Uh Emanuel, I'd like to make a comment. [applause] Um first of all, I loved all the ideas, but uh the one that um this is adorable. Um the one that sticks in my mind is the t-shirt. And I just want to share something. Um in 8th grade when I graduated, my eighth grade class, we actually have had a red shirt with the emblem of the school and everybody's signature of my eighth grade class. And I still have that shirt. Um and I absolutely cherish it. I remember it actually reminds me
031of all my classmates. I think it's a fantastic idea and the fact that I still have mine uh resonated with me and I think it's a fantastic idea. So, thank you for bringing it to our attention. Hi, I'm Sophia Bush and I've been working on to I've been working on enhancing the variety of school lunch options for students with special dietary needs and I recently met with Pmptonian who is the vendor for our school lunches and we've had a nice meeting on like how we can advertise that there is a menu and how and uh Dr. Rigby suggested that I should create a form and so I'm in the process of doing that and getting it approved. So yeah, that's it. >> Great. Excellent. [applause] Um Mrs. Boucher, I'm not sure if you could see
032me. Um did they add any new selections uh to the menu? Yeah, you come on up. Yeah. So, we're still waiting for the survey to like come out and then we'll see like what people want, how many about how many people have an issue that they need to, you know, like not an issue but like a dietary need. >> Um, but we've I've seen like they've separated the cheese from like salads and stuff. So, like there's progress being made and it's it's really great and they're and especially the staff. They're they're really nice. >> They're they're exceptional. So they're they're actually implemented um your uh recommendations. >> Yeah. >> Excellent. I'm glad to hear that. I'm very pleased to hear that. So thank you for your initiative and your continued oversight of the cafeteria food.
033We appreciate it. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. [applause] Okay. Um All right. Is that concluded? Okay. All right. At this time Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm going to do that. Yep. Um at this time um you know we want to thank all the students who came to receive their awards, our student liaison. Um we we're going to take a recess. We have an audit presentation that's probably and it's that it's it's that guy right there that's going to break up the fun now. And um I certainly don't want to keep the children here to have to listen to that. So if just the adults. So um if you folks, you know, want to cut out at this time, you're more than welcome. If you do want to join us, we'd absolutely
034love you to stay as well. So, we're going to take a fivem minute recess and resume uh resume at that time. Congratulations. Tell you what, >> Congratulations. That's nervous. Wow. Ready? Hallelujah. Everyone Is that okay? All right. >> Good job. Congratulations. Thank you guys very much. Yeah, that was fun. Celebrate them. I hate to let you down. I don't have an octopus. I don't have anything. >> I got nothing to hand out. >> Okay, folks. We are going to continue at this time. Uh, I'd like to um introduce Mr. John Schwisser of Sup Clooney and Company. Uh, he's going to um address us and go over the audit. Uh, welcome. >> Thank you very much. Come on. Okay, fantastic. My name is John Swiss. I'm a partner with firm supple company. Our firm was selected
035to conduct the audit which is required by the state of New Jersey uh for the district for the year ended June 30th, 2025. The audit report is due generally speaking December 5th. Although the uh the deadline is extended this year to January 15th, the district was actually in compliance with the original deadline was filed towards the end of November. Um so the audit report you have two reports that were given to you the large report which is the ACT for the annual comprehensive financial report and the auditor's management report. Um I'm going to start with the larger of the two the the acter as it's called and in the acter in the front of the ACT there's a opinion on the financial statements at the end of the day that's really what you hire me
036to do is to render an opinion on the financial statements to tell you whether they are free from material in the statement i.e. Can you rely upon them as a board of education, as the public, federal, state government, bond rating agencies, etc. What you're looking for there is an unmodified opinion, and that's what you've got. Most districts in the state of New Jersey do get an unmodified opinion, but it's still very, very important because it gives you that reassurance. You can rely on the numbers that are contained within the report. Secondly, in the report is a the auditor's management report. And in that auditor's management report um actually the second opinion I should say is the gas opinion government auditing standards. In that we talk about internal controls and compliance. Okay. Internal controls your own
037internal rules and regulations to make sure everything gets classified properly in the financial statements. Compliance is everything from bid awards to payroll uh all kinds of different things. And this is where you will see if there's any findings in the report. I do have two things to report this evening and they're required to be read into the record and I will do so now. The first finding is that the cash balances per the board secretary's report did not agree to the reconciled balances uh of the treasur school monies report for the last six months of the year. Okay, so that's from January 1st to the end of the year. There was a turnover in a key position in the uh business office and that's unquestionably the reason why this occurred. I know that Vince has
038put together a corrective action plan uh to fix that. But basically, you want those two reports to agree on a monthly basis that will be reported to you. And again, the corrective action plan that Vince has put together should rectify that. It also didn't help that you changed accounting systems at that exact same time as well. So, it was kind of a little bit of a perfect storm. I've been with the district for a number of years. We've never had this problem before. Um and I'm hopeful that the corrective action plan will be implemented. That'll be taken care of for next year. Uh the second thing is of a similar nature and it involves the payroll records and the payroll agency account. Payroll agency account is where the deductions are put into your federal taxes,
039state taxes, pensions, all these different things. And there's an analysis of that balance at the end of the there should be an analysis of that balance. Uh this year there was not. There's about $11,000 extra in that account. Uh I believe the account was probably overfunded and relates to that first comment about the the records not tying back to the treasures report. Again, that's something that's a little bit easier, I think, to fix and uh we've had conversations with Vince and he put a corrective action together for it and I believe that one should be pretty readily repaired next year. So, those are the two findings that are in the report otherwise clean and and bear in mind that we're doing a lot of testing on a lot of different elements. These are the two
040that we came up with this year and I would would say that this may be the first findings you guys had in several years. Um the last letter that's in that big report is a single audit opinion. Okay. a single order is when you have over $750,000 either federal or state expenditures. Once that happens, the auditors have to do additional work. We have to go in actually test these programs based upon compliance supplements that are put together by the federal and state government. Um this has been where the ESSER money that has come in from COVID has been tested for the last several years. The ESSER money is now fully expended and now we're back to testing what I would call the normal programs. Okay, your IDEIDA, your title one in this particular year, impact
041aid, which you get as a result of having the uh Earl Naval Base here. And on the state side, we looked at transportation and we're given certain uh compliance things that we have to look into for each one of these programs. I'm happy to report there were no problems with either the federal or state programs. Um and the auditor's manage report again the small report is required by the state department of education and that's where they have the various compliance elements in there that they deem to be important that they want us to look at and that's where you'll find those two findings. In the big report it's going to reference them and in the small report it spells them out. Um I do want to before I go into questions I do want to
042touch on the financial uh condition of the district which continues to be very good. um their surplus at the end of the year is up and it is indicative of of just really good management over the course of the years they're in excellent condition um financially speaking again um I do over 30 school districts across the state that is not the uh condition in all of my districts and and and specifically recently over the last couple of years I mean everybody kind of reads the papers and knows what's going on and so it's good to see that you guys are in strong position at the end of the year um so I'll Stop right now and take a deep breath and take any questions from I'd like to thank the board as a whole for
043the financial discipline and oversight of our district which you know hence your report one of the probably top districts in your accounting firm to see a 5% reserve. >> Yep. >> Um so we now again we really watch the taxpayers money. We want to make sure the kids are get a great education. Secondly, I want to maybe make a mention in reference that six month gap. >> Uh I think there's new software that we transition to. So in all fairness to Vince and the team, there was a learning curve on it. So, I'm sure that's going to be corrected immediately. Um, and we look looking forward to again maintaining a strong financial discipline for our taxpayers in 2026. >> Without looking at the the background and numbers, uh, 16 million from the long-term liabilities of
044last year down to 13 and then other of 10 from last year down to two. That's a major drop. >> Can you tell me which which page you're on? Yeah, that's at page 20 of the detailed report. The >> larger moment from point of liabilities and I get >> I'll so and we didn't get the opportunity to speak before the meeting. So it's a little bit complicated this report. We are in the state of New Jersey. So things are complicated. In the report there are three varieties of financial statements. There's districtwide financial statements, GAP, and then budgetary. >> Okay. One of the key schedules that I would recommend anybody on the board look at is the C1, which is in the back behind the notes to the financial statements. That's on the budgetary basis. And
045one of the key differences there is you're allowed to recognize the last state aid payment that the state probably about 101 15 years ago held back from you. Only gave you 11 payments in that year. And since the state doesn't have an accounts payable, we cannot recognize the receivable. So the gap statements are always going to be a little bit different. Now go forward to the district-wide schedules, which is what you're referring to here. In those schedules, we're required to acrue for pension and OPED, other uh your post-retirement benefits. Those numbers are supplied to us by the state of New Jersey through actuarial actuarial reports. And those actual reports go w in my opinion wildly up and down as in terms of what our pension liability is or what our oped liability is. And generally
046speaking, that that's where that liability is changing. I would truly direct you and I and I can sit in more detail and we talked about getting together. I can break that out into its component pieces for you. But you're going to see the main driver there is going to be these two standards under government accounting, Gazsby 68 and Gazsby 75. And that's what's going to drive those numbers and th those variances. Uh, again, I direct most folks in terms of your budgeting and the day-to-day operations of the district to the budgetary schedules in the back, which of course I'm happy to go over with you in greater detail as well. >> Absolutely. >> This is why the kids didn't want to stay. [laughter] >> I'd like to make a a comment. Um, I'm very pleased.
047Uh, I'm very pleased to hear this report. I want to thank the board. Uh, echo Mr. Walsh's sentiments. Um I uh I just wanted to know I know you said you had 30 districts and we're on the more successful end of that. >> So can we get an exact number where we are in district? >> So if you're asking whether I have a power ranking of my clients I will tell you no because this will go out and everybody else will yell at me. Uh I I I'm asked that question by a lot of my districts. Okay. And what I like to see and what you have here in Colac is consistency in your budgeting. the reference that that uh that the board member made before about the 5%. Okay, you're budgeting each year. Okay,
048you know, it's not a zerobased budget situation. You have to have some flexibility in your budget. And I see budgets in some of my other districts, which I will not name here, that go up and down. They could be 10% one year, 2% the next year. You're very, very consistent and that shows good budgeting. Again, we talked about bond rating agencies. You guys got an excellent bond. Are you AAA? You're AAA here. Okay. Okay, that means when you do go to borrow money, you're borrowing at a much lower rate. One of the things that the pond rating agencies look at is the consistency of your budgeting. Okay, and your surplus it trends up, which is good, okay? But it's the budgeting and what's left over at the end of the year. We talked about it
049briefly before about a school budget, how challenging it is, particularly with special education and how do you figure out what that's going to be when it can change at any time. And so the districts that really, I think, thrive are the ones that budget properly in that way. and other I don't want to go too deep into it, but you do certain things within your budget that's very conservative. Okay? And that way you're regenerating the surplus that you're using in your budget. You're regenerating. And so that's when I rank you amongst my clients, I'll say that there's a good bucket and maybe a bad bucket. Okay. And you're in the good bucket. How about that? >> We better be the number one good [laughter] bucket. >> I I just I plead the fifth. >> I
050just want to add to the comments. I know the board obviously we're very strict with our oversight but without uh Dr. Garbe and Mr. Morasco uh basically uh expediting our wishes and working with us to achieve this uh the past couple years um I just want to thank you because you play a big role in meeting these goals for us. So we have to acknowledge that and we really do thank you. Uh I think our town of CoN really thanks us of how wonderful we are with their tax hardearned tax money. So thank you both very much. All right. Um, yes. Go ahead. >> That's it. Basically, we were joking about how thick the report is. It is thick and there's a lot going on. You're not supposed to memorize it all this evening. I
051can come back at any time. I can meet with you individually via Zoom or if I'm right up the road, so I can come by if you need it. So, any questions at all that come up as you look through the report, I'm happy to come back and address them. >> Sir, I had one more statement and um I appreciate that. page 21 uh of the same report I was referring to before. This board focused on a zero tax increase for the past two years and uh and that's been successful for the program, the board and the town. So looking at the property taxes 24 fiscal year 24 26 million and change and then fiscal year 25 26301 actually came down about 60 some thousand. Does that represent is that the right line item that
052represents is the zero tax increase uh as it relates to the taxes because while we uh residents are paying more taxes, it's not due to the pressures of the board of ed. So am I reading that line correctly? >> That that that would be correct. That would be correct. I you guys your your taxes have been very very stable here. >> Well, they've been stable. They did go up, but it wasn't due to the impact of the board here. So looking at that line, I just want to make quick reference. further down the line, we're going to 30 million from fiscal year 24 at the year at the net position June 30 to 34. So >> again, so I I would I would caution you again the numbers that you're looking at that are required
053to be there's a management discussion and analysis that he's referring to >> are on a district-wide level that's required under GAP. >> Yes. >> I don't care for these numbers. These numbers are skewed by these actuarial numbers that are required to be put in again on pension and oped. Okay. >> And to to again the better example would be I would say warn everybody to tears for that number back behind the notice to the financial statements on page 96. Okay. on page 96. And again, just very quickly, this this schedule tells you the activity that happened against the revenues and expenditures that you guys budgeted. It shows what you budgeted and the activity, whether you know, we took in the revenues at an excess or deficit, and what we spent against our appropriation, which will
054always have an excess and never a deficit. If you go to the very last page under page 96, that's going to give you the beginning balance of your fund balance, which is under the actual column is 10,748, and you'll see at the end 12,556. That's indicative of your increase in this year on a budgetary basis which is what you need to do in terms of when you're preparing your budget. You guys are thick in budget right now already like most school districts. These are the numbers that you should be concentrating on with regards to that. The numbers that you referenced prior again are skewed by these necessary under gap which I don't always agree with. They're skewed by these mandatory disclosures they have to put in on let's let me put you this way. you
055pay a pension bill every auh April 1st Vince plays the pension bill they have that that number is X what the actuaries say your liabilities it's not a bill that's on anybody's desk is way greater than that okay and that number is just it it vasillates greatly based upon different actuarial assumptions I'm not an actuary I don't know exactly what they're doing down in trend but that changes a lot so I would really focus back on this and that's truly your increase >> excellent thank you so much >> not a problem at all and again there's so much in the report, please reach out to me and let me know and I can come out and revisit. >> All right. >> Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. >> Folks. Have a great evening. Take care.
056Happy New Year. >> Thank you very much. >> Okay, as we move on uh from that presentation, um we're going to take note. We have several communications on the agenda if you want to uh look through that. Um I believe I answered all these. If not, uh, Dr. Garbay may have chipped in on one or two of these. Um, that's going to move me right into my president's report. Um, which is, uh, just going to be a few, uh, statements. Um, good evening everybody. I want to wish everybody happy new year. I hope everybody enjoyed, uh, the rest restful holiday with your family and friends. Um, looking forward to a new year filled with uh, growth and opportunity for all of our Colts neck students. Uh I want to first start by thanking my fellow
057board members uh for entrusting me with the opportunity to serve as president for a second consecutive year. I value each of your contributions. Uh and it is because of your dedication and resilience and strength that this board has remained effective, focused, and principled. As we work together for the best interests of our students, I will never silence your thoughts or opinions. Neither will unions or special interest groups. My success as president along with the successes of this board belongs to all of us. Belongs to all of us. As we enter the new year, I'm prepared to lead this board with even greater determination and purpose. I have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to protecting our taxpayers dollar, keeping the safety of our children paramount, and ensuring that every decision we make serves the best interests of
058our students and parents. This board has spent countless hours planning, debating, and standing firm. We united in our defense of parental rights, local control, and the belief that decisions about our children are best made here by the elective representatives of this community, not by special interest groups and bureaucrats in Trenton. As a new administration takes office in New Jersey, this board will care carefully scrutinize any proposed mandates or policies from the state that infringe upon our parental rights, compromise student safety, or impose frivolous requirements on this district. We will not hesitate to push back against overreach, and we will always place the will of Coleneck families above compliance. To the voters of Coleneck who granted me this seat, I am honored to accept this three-year term. From the beginning, I was transparent about who I
059am and what my mission is, and I remain focused on that mission regardless of intimidation. I will not waver from my conservative values, and I will continue to unapologetically advocate for them as we govern. I thank you for trusting me with your most precious valuables, your children, and your tax dollar. Lastly, I'm looking forward to working with you, Dr. Garbe, uh Mr. Morasco, uh and the administration to have another year of success for our district, and I look forward to serving uh the community over the next three years. So, thank you all. Um thank you. Um on the 14th, we'll be back uh to a regular president's report. I'm sorry, the 21st. I apologize. Uh we'll be back to a regular uh president's report. Uh at this time, we're going to move right into the
060board liaison reports. We're going to start with uh Mrs. Harowitz with the parent advisory committee. Um our January meetings will be held on Monday, January 26th at 10:00 a.m. and 7 p.m. Our discussion will focus on reviewing teacher input regarding technology uh device uh device use and revisiting questions that were submitted by our pack members. Um, by the end of this week, Dr. Gar Bay Ray will send out reminders to the staff and our members to complete their submiss uh submissions as soon as possible. >> Um, okay. I have a comment on that. The 26th, um, I may I don't know if we could reschedule that. I'm not sure. I didn't realize that. That is my mother's 91st birthday and my anniversary. So, it's actually a big day for me. [laughter] And I certainly >>
061and I I would I would like to be with my mom if that's >> possible. So may maybe we could leave it and I could tap somebody to to fill in my position. I hate to reschedu since it's been brought out to the community already. Uh so let's work on that behind the scenes and we'll decide, but I I like to not ruin it for the parents that are attending. Okay. >> Of course. >> Um yeah, the 26th. Okay. And um just for the record, I will be restructuring this uh we are going to uh rename this committee um and due to the fact of um the issues we had, me and Sarah uh did this faithfully over the year and with our careers um being here during the day uh really uh you know
062puts stress on on our um on our work. Uh so I think I'm going to um make the uh the um PAC an evening meeting only uh 7 pm at evening. So we could honor the one that's been already placed since it was you know expedited to the public already. Uh but going forward we are going to do just PM meetings at 7 p.m. Uh so that like your your work life will not be stressed. I know you sacrificed a lot with your your businesses and all to be here. So to prevent that, we are going to move it to 700 p.m. and uh we'll we'll keep informed about the 26th. Okay, >> perfect. >> All right, moving into the Cold Neck PTO if you want to report out on that. >> Yeah, there's a
063couple um events to share. So the winter wonderland is taking place January 22nd from 6:45 to 7:45 in the primary school cafeteria. The prek dino party story time is scheduled for January 29th from 5 to 6 in the primary school foyer. Third grade trivia night will be held February 5th at uh from 6:30 to 7:45 in the elementary school cafeteria. Um the book swap for both the primary and elementary schools will take place on March 5th. The book collection will run from February 5th through the 28th. Um and the PTO needs volunteers. So, if anyone is interested, please reach out. Um, lastly, the 42nd annual Lady Spring Gala is scheduled for March 19th at Southgate Manor. >> That's it. >> When is it again? >> That is March 19th. >> Okay. Wow, that's coming up
064fast and furious. Okay. Um, okay, Mrs. Harwoods, thank you. We're going to move right over to Mrs. Cameron with the Colts Township uh school newsletter. >> Okay. So, the December board of education newsletter was sent out on December 18th. And for the public, um, our families get the newsletter emailed, but for any other residents, um, you are able to access the newsletter on the board of education website. You could just put your information in and anyone is able to access the newsletter. Um, board of education newsletter is the best way to receive important board of education updates, district news and announcements, um, information that impacts our students, staff and schools. So, um what I would like um I did ask at the last meeting, it hasn't happened yet, but if um we can make sure
065Dr. Garvey that the link for the public is shared on all our social media platforms so that the entire community has the opportunity to subscribe versus having to go into um our web page to subscribe. I think that would make it a little bit easier for the public subscription. [snorts] Thank you. >> Okay. All right, that's all. >> Yes. >> Okay. Excellent. Um All right. Uh we are going to move to uh Mr. Ragnetta with the Colts Township Arts, Sports, and Extracurricular. >> Thank you. Um [clears throat] flag football registration is uh now open. Um for kids from uh kindergarten through 8th grade, it is co-ed. Um the early bird uh fee is $180 and that is through January 11th. And after January 11th, it goes up to $195 through January 31st. And after that,
066it goes up it uh goes way up to 225 uh through J through uh February 12th. So you want to sign up early uh if you can if you know that you're going to do it. Um and then after that, you uh the 12th is when it closes. So you get put on a waiting list if you want to sign up after then. And if you get approved from that waiting list, it goes all the way up to 275. So again, early the better. Um, games will be held on Saturdays starting March 14th. That'll be opening day. Games will be 8:00 am to 1 pm. Uh, usually the younger kids will start first and it goes up to the older grades. Um, there will be playoffs. The Super Bowl will be uh May 30th. Uh,
067but there no games will be uh the week of uh March 28th for spring break and May 23rd for Memorial Day. There will be no games that week. Uh, so if you'd like to sign up, uh, go to team snap, um, your team snap profile. If you don't have a promo file on team snap, please sign up for one. Uh, so you can, uh, and if you do, go to go.teamsnap.comforms510362. Uh, and also, uh, the Col Sports Foundation is looking to expand their regular football program, uh, for kids, uh, from, uh, seven, uh, year olds all through 14 year olds. Uh they're looking to gauge player interest to see if they can expand it, player and coach interest. Uh so the interest form you could fill out is at go.teamnap.comform10369. And if you have any
068questions pertaining to that, you can email uh the Colport Sports Foundation at afolkportsfoundation.com. Thank you. >> Great. Uh thank you, Mr. Rnado. Uh we're going to move into the Colts Township Committee. Mr. Scarpa, Mrs. Cameron. >> Okay. Um, I would like to extend my congratulations to Mayor Michael Viola, Deputy Mayor Dan Busetta, and our newest councilman, John Tobaya, following the township committee annual reorganization meeting on January 2nd. I look forward to continued cooperation and open communication between the township committee and us, the school district. My hope is that this governing body moves forward in a unified manner, remains conservative and responsible with taxpayer dollars, and continues to make thoughtful, transparent decisions that benefit our entire community. So again, my best wishes to Mayor Viola, Deputy Mayor Vizetta, and Councilman Tibia as you take on these
069important leadership roles. Uh may you work always um may your work always put the residents of Colts neck first and strengthen our township for years to come. Uh, Mayor Viola announced the 2026 township committee liaison assignments which are available on the town website. The meeting continued with the recognition of the Colts Neck Township first responders, our police, fire police, first aid volunteers. So, um, thank you to them for your dedication, professionalism, and willingness to serve at all hours. Again, our first responders reflect the very best um, of our community. And so the board is very um we're incredibly fortunate to live in a town where we have so many individuals stepping forward to protect and care for our neighbors. >> Uh the next meeting uh is January 14th at 7 p.m. >> And I'll just
070roll right into the Colts 250th Celebration Committee. There's no new updates to report because tomorrow is our next meeting. So it'll be the following meeting I'll report out. So nice and short. >> All right. Excellent. Um, okay. Moving on to the Colts Township Planning Board, the subcommittee, Mr. Scales and Mr. Walsh. >> Yep. Nothing to report on my end. Just um not a little news because of the holidays. Um, but as Miss Cameron had mentioned, new leadership involved in town. So we'll have a meeting with them or request a meeting with them to just look at the future of the planning board and the COA subcommittee and find out if there's going to be a schedule of meetings over the next year. Um but now is time is of the essence as the um leases
071will begin in Levana. So we need to get our ducks in a row and figure where exactly we stand so then we can present um what the impact will be to the school. So over the next two weeks I will have um some more information to report. I've got some requests out to the Vina Square management as well with haven't returned just to find out the specific dates of when things will be turned on if you will. So hopefully here back in the next two weeks and then during my next report I'll have some good news for you all. So >> and um our newest committeeman is the Levana liaison John Tobaya. So might want to reach out to him as well. >> There you go. >> Mr. Mr. Walsh, do you have to add
072anything? >> I'll add to that. We're going to be expecting our first new students to our school district probably in April or May. >> April or May? >> Mr. Scales, can we I'm thinking we going to expect possibly our first new students coming from affordable housing in spring if they the leases go out next month. [snorts] >> Jason's gonna respond. Yeah, they there's still nothing online that says that they're accepting leases, the regular leases. The I I I so I did speak with the um affordable h the person that's in charge of the affordable housing and they're expected to start um giving out the CFOs I think sometime in March and April. So, I don't know what buildings I don't know if that's going to be strictly for the affordables or if it's going to
073be for the for the market rate rentals. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's a possibility that as soon as um April or May of this year that we will see um new children being enrolled in the school systems. Yes. >> Anything else from I just want to >> just um leave your mic on. Probably be easier. Yeah, your mic uh always has an issue down. >> Um again, I want to uh have you write a letter to the mayor requesting that our two subcommittee members on our planning board be permanent members, have a real voice on our planning board and planning what communities fit best for Closank Township. >> Okay, great. I will uh do that and I will report back when it goes out. Um thank you for both uh volunteering to continue that
074position. I we appreciate it. Um moving right into the Cold Township seniors. Mr. Walsh >> right here. They have 292 members January 2026. Um they had their meeting today. Colin couple big um trips are coming up. They have January 24th, they're going to the Al Gangquin Theater. Same time this year. Reminds me of this board meeting. Okay. We have February 21st, Spring Lake Theater, The Wedding Singer. March 12th, Hunter Hills Playhouse, The Sunshine Boys. They have a three-day three-day twoight trip to Gettysburg. I wish I can go on this trip. >> Yeah. >> They're going to Gettysburg and Hershey, Pennsylvania. >> So, they're touring No, the National Park. And the cost is 350 per person. Seniors out there want to go on this trip. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Walsh. Moving on to a Naval
075Weapons Station Earl, Mr. Scarpa. >> Yeah, I think we have a uh um an onsite coming up, right, Dr. Gar? Is it sometime in January? January January 22nd, Miss Jones. >> Okay. So, we'll shoot for January 22nd, honorabout if possible. And of course, we'll >> Okay. And we'll extend that to Mr. Ramirez. >> Yes. Yep. We'll definitely send that out as soon as we get confirmation. >> Excellent. And then we'll be working on uh the um the three school walls, you know, to represent uh students that were part of this the program and have them sense of permanency. So that'll be in flight in the early part of this semester. That's all I have for now, but let let's connect on that 22nd. Looking forward to it. Thank you. >> Great. Uh thank you, Mr.
076Scarpa. Okay. New Jersey County School Boards Association representative. Um we have a couple things. We have the third annual women's leadership conference. That will be Friday, March 20th. Um the at the Brower Student Center at the College of New Jersey in Euing. Uh the registration is $149 and it's now open. So if anybody's interested, you can uh register early. Um this is important. January uh is school board recognition month. Um, so it's time to bring public awareness to the roles and responsibilities um of board members around the state. Um, as president of this board, I always recognize all the hard work um and time away from our families that we put in and dedicated service every day. Um, not just in January, but every every day of the year. So, um I just want to
077let you know I wish more people realized how much goes into being on the board, how much time and um aggravation and uh fun stuff, too. Uh but I just wanted to thank everybody for your service uh during u the school board recognition month. Um moving on, New Jersey School Boards Association is offering a lead master class series. It's a three-part series to enhance uh your executive skills and help with leadership effectiveness. Uh the three sessions are January 21st, February 2nd, February 19th, and they're all from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. Uh all the details, registration, and fees are all in your email. So, uh if anybody wants to do, you could sign up for that. Uh I'm going to move right into my adv advocacy and government relations. Um to start off, uh bill A6166
078is up for a vote. Um I don't know if anybody's following this. Uh this hit home for me. Um federal guidelines were recently put in place regarding immunization practices. Um the New Jersey Department of Health uh wants to move away from that nationally um CDC guidance uh the national CDC guidance. Uh so it would place the recommendations solely with the New Jersey Department of Health. um and they will become the final authority on which vaccines are required by law. So we had a great win uh with the federal government that they uh redacted some of the force vaccination which I was very pleased to see uh that you know basically gives back to the parents if you want to get them or not without being forced to. Um but once again um this will impact
079religious exemptions and it will give exclusive power uh to the department of uh health, New Jersey department of health and that would be without input from the public legislative review or a vote. So um uh this will basically destroy religious exe exemption and infringe on our rights as parents. So uh this is something uh personal to me. I don't believe that the state should tell me what I put in my child's body. Um, so I really hope people voice their opinion against this. Um, and uh, I appreciate if the board members, anybody wants to write in or advocate for that. Um, I certainly could see I don't know. I I didn't find out when this votes going to be. I I actually it slipped my mind to check before I came. Um, but if if
080I could make it, I certainly would go down and and advocate uh against it. But we'll see what happens. So that's the first part. Uh secondly, I just want to touch base over some events. Um, obviously everybody knows we had uh Secretary McMahon visit here on December 5th and one of our uh politicians um uh Democrat Vin Gopal for some reason um put his two cents in um basically criticizing uh the secretary's visit which I found appalling. whatever side of the aisle he's on, it was still a great recognition to have a cabinet member recognize our students. I can't stress it enough and I can't stress enough that I will never apologize. He did not feel the same way for whatever reason and he is our representative of this district and I'm actually appalled and
081ashamed that he would dismiss such a fantastic opportunity. So instead of encouraging and praising that we were recognized, he doubled down and commented on um uh certain media outlets about the polit politicalization of this board by us and what have we done? Meanwhile, we had a whole list of achievements um and just this particular one stood out to him. not all the great work we've done, not all the discipline we've had with saving money and, you know, being respectful of the voters of this town and most importantly giving our kids everything we possibly can. Everything from security measures to the best education books. I I can't even go on. Um, and this loser is telling us that we did nothing. So, I I hate to be irritated. I I just hate to be irritated on
082this foolishness. The reason why I bring this up now, he seems to be singling us out, uh, I don't know if anybody heard, but New Jersey.com, which is not a favorite media outlet of mine, but this here uh, article came out, I believe it was yesterday, uh, I'm sorry, January 6th, and, um, they are planning, he's, um, proposing to merge districts. Um, and in the original, I guess, proposal, it says any district under 500. So, I'm saying this is great. We're over a thousand. So, this isn't going to touch us. We're a great district. We want to keep this district the best we can. Have the personal one-on-one, have the teacher class sizes, have our administration um not be spread thin. We're responsible board members. We are not like uh in arars. We're not in
083uh deficits. I mean, we we we're doing phenomenal. And this this gentleman is singling us out here. Let me see where he says it. Um Oh, I'm sorry. Uh do you see uh hold on >> something? >> Yeah. Uh anyway, it's somewhere on here. I can't I can't look at it, but uh he had the nerve to call us out. So, the only thing I could say uh about this particular issue is he's going to threaten this district, not worry about the districts that are um mismanaged and they're they're in deficits of money like you said. Um but he's going to actually name us, the only district, name our district and threaten us about merging. So, um Mr. Gopal, get your priorities straight and uh uh I really hope that people start realizing what kind
084of joke you really are. Um that'll be my comments um regarding uh but yet Oh yeah, wait before I forget, he had the nerve to send a little proclamation, you know, acknowledging um our Purple Star status. Uh to be honest, I couldn't care less what you recognize. Um okay, we're going to move on, >> but I want to just add on. So, I signed up for and I'm encouraging other board members to on February 3rd, um, Senators Gopal and Ocanlin. You can have a conversation with them. Uh, you just have to register through the Mammoth County School Board Association. I already signed up for it. So, um, I would love if some of the board of members would also join me on that call. Okay. And with that, would you like to read >> um
085>> February 3rd? >> Okay. I'm gonna um make note uh because I certainly certainly would love to address him. Actually, I would like to address him face to face, but if that's the option at this time. >> Um yeah, please do. Mrs. Camera is going to read uh the comment of him calling uh Colts neck the only district in New Jersey. Gopal's bill might also lead to eliminating eliminating larger districts. Gopal gave as an example Colts Neck in Mammoth County which has three schools with nearly 10,000 students and sends high school students to Colts Neck High School which is one of six schools operated by the Freehold Regional District. All potential changes would be thoroughly reviewed. He said, >> "Okay, great. Uh just to add additional comments, um I did speak to um some legal
086counselors, several different ones, and they had advised me that uh he's getting a lot of push back by everybody, no matter what side of the aisle you're on. Um and I don't believe merging districts is going to be as beneficial as he thinks it is. Uh that is my opinion. I think we all agree on that. I think it's only going to hurt us. It certainly will help hurt us here in Coulseneck. Um, and I I just want to let the other politicians know um on the Republican side, you know, they're very quick to um to praise themselves and all the good work, but I haven't seen anybody on the Republican side, including the uh Golden team, Hanlin and um Arnon and anybody from our township committee fighting or standing up to defend our our
087our small district. So I call upon them to uh start representing us and fight against the merging of our district. >> Just like to add a comment as a board member. I can't speak as a whole for the entire board. I'll be damned the state of New Jersey >> merges our our township school district with any town. I'll be damned. I'm going to fight like hell to make sure we keep our own school district, educate our own kids. That's why we moved here. Beautiful town and great schools. I'll be damned if that happens. If that if that would happen, it'd be so disruptive to our families and our parents. Getting the kids to a different section, different school, it'd be it'd be it'd be just silly and stupid. Silly and stupid. >> Yeah. Well, like
088I said, it it's still preliminary. Let's, you know, um give give the facts as they are. It is preliminary. Uh with all the uh the push back about it and backlash, I I'm not even sure if it's going to move any further. But in the new proposed plan, he is um lowering it. I believe the number to to 500, which like I said, that will certainly affect us. And I just don't understand his thinking. Stop punishing districts that are exceptional like ours. Go down to Camden. Go down to Newark. Start following where the money trail where where the, you know, mismanagement is and stop picking on districts like this that are exceptional. So, like I said, uh if Mr. Gopal has the nerve to meet me and defend his position. Um, I'll wait for the
089invitation. >> Would it be pertinent to invite him to one of our meetings so we could speak? >> You know what? In my experience, like I said the last meeting that I addressed him on the affordable housing and it seems to me when he's faced with hard questions, um, he he cowards out. I don't think I don't think he'd ever show. >> No, I don't think he would either. Um the only thing he he in and his office is good at is sending birthday cards and inviting people to free um ice cream and cake events. >> Um but I got I I get it every year. >> But the [laughter] actually I didn't even expect that fellas. But th this is this is what what our our representative here in Coleneck does. Doesn't defend us.
090Doesn't come to our aid. doesn't congratulate us on a cabinet member, but now he's singling us out. Um, >> your birthday is March 12th then. >> Yeah. Okay. Well, anyway, like I said, I I'm doing this to enlighten the public on what we deal with. You know, don't don't pick on us. It makes yourself look like >> he's he tends to be so involved he has no idea that that that's probably going out. >> Uh, yeah. Who knows? >> Yeah. I I would like to hear from the the um from Dr. Gar Bay because this is going to affect her greatly. >> Yeah. Consolidation has been [clears throat] a conversation in uh the legislative p world before and it's something >> uh it's something that uh without detail without so on is is conceptually an
091idea right and that's really what it is conceptually and it targets specifically administrative costs. There is a belief that you know sharing a superintendent across district sharing a business administrator sharing all of those things wind up saving money when at the end of the day it's about capacity. How much capacity and do you want to thrust upon the administration who are responsible for administering the district and serving their boards of education. Now for some communities it may be right. I never want to judge specific situations and what's best for local control over your districts. But when you start regionalizing and and selling um you know that idea um obviously you want fiscal oversight and you want to manage and you want to do what's best fiscally for your taxpayers. But at the end of the
092day the one thing that's not showing is what is the states where there's larger regionalizations and stuff. There's a reason New Jerseyy's number one in the nation. There's a reason local control specified being able to give attent attention. Um, so I never want to begrudge. I know districts have done it recently. The Henry Hudson Regional School District has done it and they did it successfully and so I wish you know that that's something that their taxpayers and things like um local control is important in boards of education representing your community representing all those things. So until that there is substantial sound data that not just mirrors that of a financial nature but of an academic student impact nature as well that's what that's when I'll start to become a more less of a you know
093more of a believer in something that to in in in my mind is more of a fiscal concept because they're also targeting school district public school districts where there are other as Mr. Scarper pointed out, there are other factors that contribute to public taxes. You know, school dollars are one of them, but there are others. And so, I'd like to be at a table where there's more conversations about all of those other things besides public school dollars because in my opinion, if you're looking for different ways and management, to your point, I think that there's a lot of other ways that we can look at different things as opposed to just saying it's about adding thrusting more upon school districts when and and and stretching the capacities. That's really what you want to do. And
094the the goal of administration is to reach, you know, uh develop capacities, move things forward, and so on for. And the more that that you're doing and sharing and whatnot, you know, I I I don't see a positive of that yet. >> You're welcome. I like your comments. >> We're saying how disconnected from reality things really are, right? So rather than looking at how the town's impacted, right? Like we've got obviously what I sit here every two weeks talking about affordable housing, right? overdevelopment like there's no thoughts of that the school may already be overcrowded before you even go to the public and mention these things. So it just shows there's disconnect. It doesn't it shows that you're not there to actually help and if you're successful you're actually going to be you're not going
095to be rewarded for being successful. Sorry. are you going to look to take money from the successful districts? >> Why would you use um um Mr. >> So it's more it's more of a Robin Hood approach, right? It's it's more of let's look at the successful districts and let's take money from them. Let's make them over like capacity in order to satisfy others. Like we get it like we want to help everyone. We want to make people safe. But like you said, no thought and I don't think there's any comments in that entire article that is there for the welfare of our students, our administrators, more importantly, our teachers who work here every day, the unions. There's nothing in that article that is there to support anyone of those people who are actually on the
096front lines and impacted by what this could possibly take. So that's what I call upon as well is that call upon take a common sense approach. look at this with a fine tooth comb and don't just say something just because you think people are going to like what they want to hear. If the facts don't fit the narrative, then they go a different route. So, they need to they need to wake up and and ask maybe ask the impacted parties before they decide to do something. So, >> yeah. And I also I want to go on record too is that you know critics or someone it's very easy for someone to say of me, well, of course she doesn't like it. She's a superintendent. Her job could be in jeopardy. I want to make it
097very clear as a taxpayer in Mammoth County, New Jersey of where I live, that's not what this is about. This is and and in 29 years of public service and public education, no one has shown me yet that consolidation is a dancer. So that's in terms of my expertise and my opinion in this matter as well. It has nothing to do with my position or job security in any way, shape, or form. It has to do with with what I still need to know and see presented to me to decide whether or not this is a good option or not a good option for the state of New Jersey and for different local, you know, uh, municipalities and boards of education. >> I I appreciate your input. Once again, I just want to reiterate um
098Mr. Gopal brought this on himself. we were just doing what we do in this district and his criticism of the of McMahon's uh visit uh started all this and like I said he is our representative and I find it appalling and I just want to make it clear he does not represent us uh so let's uh end it at that uh we are going to move on I'd like to ask Dr. for um Gab Bay to move on with her superintendence. Oh, wait a minute. Did I miss something? No, superintendence report. So, if you'd like to um proceed with that. >> Thank you. Yes. I also want I wanted to just first uh give a second congratulation to all the students we honored here today. It's always fun to have the students here and see
099them recognized and congratulations to our student athletes. And to Dr. Riggy's point, I'm glad you pointed that out that we are the smallest district in our 10 school division and to have athletes selected and participate in our all shows. um you know from a community partnership you know our athletes start at the recreation and and travel levels right and little as soon as they're five years old they can kick a soccer ball around at four years old they start in in terms and different programs so uh kudos to uh the programs the theater programs and recreation kudos to the coaches and the opportunities that we provide students and thank you to the board for supporting our extracurricular activities both at the athletic arts all the things that we do so thank you for that um
100as we welcome back uh as we welcome in the arrival to 2026. I'd like to extend my warmest wishes to our students, families, staff, and community members. Uh, a new year brings with it renewed energy, fresh opportunities, and a shared sense of purpose as we continue our important work together. It's funny uh that we say a lot of people believe that the winter break is the halfway point. We still have six months ahead of us. Four, four down, six ahead of us. [laughter] >> Think it's six ahead. And these six months are filled. They are jam-packed with learning um you know the the with assessments with uh planning preparation and and some uh you know long months ahead before spring break but well worth the time. The time will fly and uh I look forward
101to all the experiences that our teachers develop for our students. Uh the new discoveries our students are going to have and all the things that come along with the remainder of the school year. It will fly. We will be here on our last meeting in June before you know it. So, hope everyone takes an opportunity to enjoy and be present in their learning experiences for the rest of of the year. Uh, just as a note, upcoming important dates, Monday, January 19th, Martin Luther King Day, we have a staff professional development day. School is closed for students. So, uh, that was just one thing mindful. And, um, stay tuned for all updates from your I know the PTO is busy. I just met with the leadership for our monthly meeting and they're already planning well into
102June for 8th grade graduation and all the things that go along with that. So, thank you to everything that everybody does uh does with uh along the way and looking forward to a wonderful 2026. So, that concludes my superintendent report. >> Great. Uh thank you. Okay, we have um just one information item there if everybody wants to take note of that. Um and then we are going to uh open the uh comment section, open the floor to the public. Uh anybody want to come up? You're more than welcome to uh come state your name, address for the record and uh ask or comment on anything related to tonight's meeting. Um okay, seeing none, we'll close that. Um we'll we do have another section if anybody wants to add to that at that time. Um okay,
103we're going to move right into the action items. Um I'm going to need a motion to move the action items uh one through two. Um, if I can have a motion to move those action items. >> Motion. >> Second. >> I just have a question relating to number two. Um, >> uh, what happened from 33 to 15,000 uh, for this one particular student? >> Sure, I can speak to that. Uh, the original contract that was the original added district tuition contract that was approved in June uh, did not include the shared transportation aid that was part of the actual contract. And so when we when they provided it back to us, they said we have a shared transportation aid for there's an aid on the transportation for the student. And so AP driven expense is
104an expense that wasn't included in the original contract, which is why this is a amended contract. >> Yeah, we're extraordinary aid for that, but we we use that um as Mr. Swisser reported out extraordinary aid for extensive costs with that. So it's it's part of an additional cost for appropriation that we have. Anybody else um have a question? Mrs. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. I'm sorry. That's right. Okay. Um I'll take a roll call then for action items one and two. >> Yes. Mrs. Cameron. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Harowitz. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ro. >> Yes. >> Mr. Retta. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scales. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scar. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Valy. >> Yes. >> Mr. W. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wicker. >> Thank you. Motion did carry. >> Okay. Uh great. Uh
105nothing under buildings and grounds, nothing under curriculum. We're going to go right into finance. Uh if I could get a motion to move, uh items one through four under finance. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All right. Uh anybody want to make any uh comments or questions on these particular items? Nothing. >> Yeah, I know. Take your time. This is a little lengthy. There's an award of a contract on there >> for the electrical switch here. >> It's It's not on. Can you just um use somebody else's? I think some of the batteries are dying. >> All the batteries are just >> Thank you, M. >> A big project in 2026, as everybody knows, is the replacement of the switch gear room at the Conover Primary School. The bid came in a lot lower than we
106thought. >> Oh, really? >> Elementary school. I'm sorry. So, >> Oh, it did? Oh my god, that's excellent. total bids came in and the lowest bid for total amount of 529,000 >> right good as low as I thought it was going to be >> yeah it's going to be a lot lower than we thought >> okay all right >> oh you thought it was a million okay all right I I got I got to take that >> the original budget that project as it was approved by the board was based on a of slightly over a million dollar you recall that was the estimate that was given by the professional architects and engineers on the project. So we were fortunate that we did have enough you know soliciting you know biders on this on this
107project and three lowest obviously were vetted through council and the architect. So you know with this award we'll be able to proceed and see where it goes with the alternates that are built into the bid opening. >> Can we say the word surplus? >> Don't even say that. We don't want >> ultimately go back any of those funds would ultimately you know go back to the capital reserve fund which is where you approve the funds come from. >> Um anybody else want to comment on >> Yeah. And you know no thanks. Um that to your point there are six bids there. That's a lot of work. So, thank you uh uh to your team. Thank you very much um Vincent team for going out and getting as many bids as possible and to know that
108there is interest out there in our town for these project. These projects are kind of complicated and not all contractors are interested in them. So to get six I'm going to assume they're close to apples to apples as possible in this space is very helpful and to procure the savings. So thank you Mr. Presco for your team in in procuring that savings. >> Great. Uh thank you Mr. Uh, anybody else want to add last comments? >> All right, we'll take a roll call for the items uh one through four under finance. >> Okay, Mrs. Cameron, >> yes. >> Mrs. Harowitz, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Retta, >> yes. >> Mr. Scales, >> yes. >> Mr. Scarpa, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mr. Walsh, >> yes. >> Mr. Wickber, >> thank you. Um, okay,
109great. We have nothing under policy, nothing under negotiations, nothing under transportation. We're going to move right into personnel. Um, we have quite a few. Uh, so I'd like to get a motion to move items number one through 10 under personnel 1 through 10. Uh, if you want to look it over real quick. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All right. Uh, anybody want to comment on any of those? >> Yes. Go ahead. >> Um, I just want to encourage um parents to sign their children up for some of these activities. Um, they really are amazing. We have coding. We have Lego Masters. Um, we have the Crest Scoop, that's like the newspaper, great for improving writing skills, a handwriting club. Um, they just sound like such wonderful opportunities. So, I encourage families to get their children
110involved and hopefully our students want to be involved. >> Yeah, that's great. Yeah, please comment. Yeah, >> thank you, Mrs. Cameron, for pointing that out because these are actually proposals. We budget each year for creative proposals from staff >> for creative proposals from staff. And so things like the scoop are standard and those are things that that are in the contract that we have. But like the handwriting club, that's because a teacher volunteered and created a club that wanted to do it. So it that's what we budget for each year is a number of certain creative clubs and it's part of the crest um as well as as as Cedar Drive does the same thing just come up with these ideas to do it. So kudos to it and again encouraging families to get involved
111let their kids participate. It's a great opportunity. >> So thank you for highlighting that. >> Great. Uh anybody else want to add to that? Okay, seeing none, if I could get a roll call on the personnel items one through 10. >> Of course. Mrs. Cameron, >> yes. >> Mrs. Horitz, >> yes. >> Mr. Rico, >> yes. >> Mr. >> I [clears throat] need to recuse 3 to five and seven to eight. And yes to all the rest. >> Thank you, Mr. Scales. >> Yes, >> Mr. Scarpa. >> Yes, >> Mrs. >> Yes, >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> Mr. Eric, >> thank you very much. The motion did pass. >> Um, okay, great. Uh, we are done with the action items. We'll open the floor again to the public. Uh, if anybody wants to come
112up, you're more than welcome. Okay. Um, okay. Seeing none, we'll just close that. At this time, I'm going to open it up to the board for new business this evening. Uh, if anybody has any new business comments, um, uh, you can do. So now >> I'll be very brief. Uh the sports foundation and the wreck foundation both of them are nonprofit uh organizations in Colts neck. Um I would say probably you know 98 99% of the children um play sports um through the um through the sports foundation and the wreck um Coleneck recreational uh foundation and um I already spoke with Dr. Garbay regarding um keeping the fees the same through this year and it's simply because um they were collecting fees back in September, October, November for sports and then when the new fee
113schedule came out in late December, they were just blindsided by that. So we're I guess it was the January 21st meeting. It'll just be on the agenda that we'll retro the we're we're going to retro the fees for 2026 starting January 1st and then um from that point on we'll discuss as a board you know uh what we should be charging. >> Um I I'll make comments to this. I definitely agree uh with your position on um allowing them to honor the price. Um but I do believe all the um fee schedule that was implemented recently should stand firm. I mean we we have cost uh to uh uphold here just like we do with businesses and any place else. Um uh my daughter played sports too. If anybody's you know involved with that people
114will understand we do have to pay staff, lighting, heat. Nothing comes free. And the reason why this district is responsible is because we make sure that we handle our appropriately. Nothing personal against the sports foundation, but um you know, things have to be paid and it's not it shouldn't be coming out of any taxpayers money or, you know, people who pay sports. I mean, just like we go to Starbucks and spend $9 for drinks, we could pay the bills that we need to pay here. So, that's just my comment. We could certainly discuss it as a full board. Um but what is appropriate is appropriate. >> Yes. I'm not saying that the fees need to be set forever, you know, um like I don't need they don't need to be fixed. Obviously, you know, as
115our costs increase, they can increase along, you know, with everything else. Um they were just, you know, taken back with the fee schedule just because they weren't prepared for it. >> Yeah, that I I do apologize. I I certainly could see that if I wasn't a So, I definitely apologize. we will honor that per your direction. I agree with you. But like I said, we, you know, if we weren't responsible and charge accordingly, that's what makes >> things go bad. So, we have to follow up with the increase in cost and um, of course, it gets passed down to everybody, just like our households. Um, >> Sure. Sure. >> So, I'm sure, uh, Mr. Wickberg, I'd like to include you. I know you're very big. Um, I certainly would love to hear from you on
116this. I I hope the sports foundation doesn't take this in a negative light, but I'm I'm sure you understand the cost of running uh these buildings are is not cheap, you know. So, um people are using the facilities. I I feel my opinion it's only fair that we we do collect um >> the cost to pay for the um the venue. >> Yeah. I mean the cost will increase but um I I think having a cost that goes up like three or four times in a matter of you know in a matter of a year it's it's it's a lot you know it's a >> so when when things and I'm I'm only brainstorming >> right right >> things go up in my house an enormous amount and I say to myself what in the
117world but if I don't pay it what happens I mean, I'm just trying to say it, you know, like I mean, realistically, when things go up, I I I just don't say, "Well, I'm just not going to pay it, and the utilities are going to let me go on it." We still have to reduce the revenue. Well, the issue is if we if if it costs like 175 or 185 or whatever Vinnie said, you know, you know, per, you know, per child and and and we I feel like if we say, "Okay, listen, this is your new fee schedule and all of a sudden it quadruples to, you know, um you know, whatever, $600 or or $575 bucks or $550, or whatever it may be, it's like a huge jump like, you know, like right
118from the beginning. So that's all like I I agree that you know obviously as the years go on everything should be raised because everything goes up. I absolutely agree with that. I'm not saying hold the, you know, hold them stagnant at whatever they're paying, you know, now, but, you know, maybe gradually getting them up there because I mean, look, 200 usually like, you know, $200 is what the a was what it costs per child for wreck in this town. Um but you know if it was if it was going to go up if it was if the average would go up to like 500 or 600 now it's you know >> you won't see that increase we well they're right now the sports foundation because of the fee structure that they're at right now, they're
119able to pay exactly what Vinnie just said. You know, if you pay early, it's 185. Pay a little later, it's 200, whatever. So, what I was gathering from what I was told from the sports foundation that if the this new fee structure, you know, um were to take place like it would be it would be a double or triple expense whatever you know whatever it is just >> yeah let's take a look at it um >> we'll pass the fee schedule on uh through email we'll we'll certainly like have an open discussion about it but >> I want to add one thing um so again the sports foundation are our students we want to support our our families when we want to be able to keep prices low for our students who are participating because
120we all agree that the extracurricular activities activities are so important in addition to the academic and um just for people who don't know the sports foundation for our military families they give a tremendous discount um I know um they will work with you if you're if you're struggling so they really try to um work so every child here can play sports and so I do agree with Jason I think we might want to relook at that schedule and and really you know rich like Angelique mentioned you know something maybe they're comfortable with. Maybe let them propose something back where it's an increase but maybe a little bit less so we can really, you know, step up and work with them because we don't want to we don't want to prevent families from being able to
121register their children in sports or them not being able to use our gyms. >> Go ahead. >> A lot of these teams um their rosters are very small as is. If uh if we have too much of a pay payment increase, we could lose them. you know, lose some kids. >> Okay, let's continue the conversation. Um, I hope you vision have a breakdown. Does the schedule have a breakdown of what breakdowns A B C D E >> and they will go to other towns and then we'll lose all the money. So, we we want to make sure we're not, you know, being greedy. I don't think we are, but I agree with you, but I I I don't think if if if we're not making anything and we're losing money and they go to another
122town, I certainly don't want that. But um you know if we're losing money I I don't think that's in our best interest either. >> Let's just take a look at the schedule and >> yeah I mean I really don't know how much money we're losing. I mean we've been able to survive for for you know so many years >> and we can say we're losing money when we're paying for all these clubs but we all recognize the benefit outweighs the cost of all these wonderful >> Mayor activities we provide. >> Sports foundation is building a new building in off of five points. Is that am I correct or incorrect? >> Trying to. >> And that's a $1.2 million project. >> No, it's No, it's way less than that. That's what the township proposed and and
123they never got it done. >> Where's the funding coming from? Who's funding that project? >> It's the state. >> State. >> Yeah. >> Grants. >> Yep. >> All right, let's keep the conversation open. Um, like I said, I I I definitely don't believe the district should lose as a whole. I certainly want to always um have our kids in our sports programs and be happy, but uh we can't cut our nose to spite our face either. You know what I mean? So, let's let's continue the conversation. Uh anybody else have uh any comments for new business. Um I'll make a comment. I just want to uh welcome uh Mr. Whipberg to our board again. I know you served uh um a year or so ago. Uh we appreciate you volunteering again. Congratulations on your election
124and uh we're all looking forward uh to working with you. So >> honor to be here. >> Yeah. Yeah. So thank you so much. >> Uh anybody else have any uh new business or comments? >> Nothing. Rich, you don't want to say anything? Nothing. Um okay. At this time, uh I'm going to call for a motion uh to adjurnn. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carried. >> All right, great. Thank you. >> Yeah.