001with the open public meeting act NJSA 10 colon 4-6 adequate notification of this meeting has been provided by advertising in the record and the Herald news posting notice in the board of education administration building and filing notice with the city clerk to ensure accessibility interpreters services are available upon request. Please submit your written request at least 24 hours prior to the board meeting to the social to the school business administrator Dr. Steven A. Lewis at Steven Lewisle Ewis at hackinacschools.org. I hereby call to order the regular meeting on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026 in the Hackinac High School Auditorium at >> 6:16 p.m. >> At 6:16 p.m., Can you please stand for the flag salute? >> To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God
002indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Please be seated. >> At this time, Dr. Lewis will do a roll call. >> [clears throat] >> Trustee Austin Balapuchra >> present. >> Trustee Amrahamza >> present. >> Trustee Carol >> present. >> Trustee Gilmore >> here. >> Trustee Jones >> here. >> Trustee Pringle >> present. >> Trustee Stein >> here. >> Vice President Martin >> here. >> President Harris >> present. >> We have Carl. Thank you. Hey, so uh good evening everyone. Welcome. Uh as we all know, we are all here for um one purpose at this moment. I do have a statement that I'm going to read first. After this statement, we will go into public comments and then after public comments, we'll go into executive session. And for tonight, no public action will be taken. When
003the leadership of the board changed in January of 2025, there were concerns about the district's financial status and we took steps to assess the district's financial and administrative health. One of those steps was to appoint a new auditor firm. These steps were taken in addition to repeated questions and inquiries posed by current board members who served on the board prior to January of 2025 to the former board leadership. However, those inquiries were unanswered and the board was kept in the dark with no answers to our financial questions. In the summer, we started to receive accurate and complete information from central office and with the cooperation of central office staff, we directed district administration to conduct an internal review and to work with our newly appointed independent auditor. This work included not only a comprehensive audit
004of the district finances for the 2425 school year as required by New Jersey law, but also an analysis of the 2526 school year. The audit process began this fall. Now that the 2425 audit is complete, it has been found by an auditor firm that as a result by actions by the prior board leadership, the district is now facing an estimated $15 million budget shortfall for the current 2526 school year. This change in numbers is the result of updated information we received regarding this year's health insurance premiums and updated information about our state grant funds. This news is deeply troubling and disappointing. We understand the concern and uncertainty this creates for our students, staff, families, and the broader community. As our independent auditor will confirm, this problem was not created overnight, meaning in the current budget
005year. Rather, it is a culmination of improper budgeting practices over the past several years. To ensure that the public understands these findings, the auditor will publicly be presenting the audit to the board of education and will answer the board's questions during our January 21st public meeting. Addressing this projected shortfall will require difficult decisions, including reductions in expenses that will impact resources and staffing. Please know that this board does not take these decisions lightly. As part of the process to address and remedy the shortfall, we will continue our work with the county superintendent, our independent auditor, legal counsel, and our staff associations. While we are legally limited in discussing personnel, and confidential matters publicly, we are committed to ensuring that the community has the opportunity to fully understand the audit findings. We want to thank the
006community and staff for their patience throughout this process. as the board has had to wait for our audit to be finalized to ensure accurate information is provided to the community. Tonight, the board will not be taking any public action, but we'll be meeting in executive session to discuss next steps. During our January 21st meeting in addition to the auditor's presentation, our acting superintendent, Miss Andrea Oats Parchment, and the central office staff will present a proposed corrective action plan to the public. Public action will be taken to begin the required corrective action process. On January 28th, we will have a special meeting to take additional public action towards the corrective action plan. Our focus remains on accountability, openness, and working diligently to stabilize the district while prioritizing the educational needs of our students. We will continue
007to keep the community informed as next steps are identified. This concludes my statement. We know this is devastating. Again, we encourage you to attend our meeting on January 21st to hear the presentation from my auditor firm as well as as well as the corrective action plan process that will be outlined by our central office staff. Thank you for your attention. At this time, we will open the floor to public comments. Public participation shall be governed by the following rules. If in person, a participant must sign the sign-in sheet and be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface comments by an announcement of his or her name, municipality of residents, and group affiliation if applicable. Two, each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three minute duration during the public session. Three or
008all statements, questions or inquiries shall be directed to the presiding officer and any questions or inquiries directed by a participant to another board member shall be redirected to the presiding officer who shall determine if such statement, question or inquiry shall be addressed by the presiding officer on behalf of the board or by the individual board member. And four, all board and or acting superintendent responses to questions or inquiries shall be held until the end of public participation. At this time, the floor is open to whoever would like to speak in person. Oh, just one second. Just want to make sure that we can hear you. >> Oh, sure. Yeah. Awesome. My name is Katherine Fletcher. I'm a parent at Jackson Avenue. State law says that school districts are required to have a gifted and talented
009program. On the district website, it states that enrichment students are invited to participate in an afterchool enrichment opportunity with Junior First Legally League. It also states on the district website that students in third and fourth grade that are identified as gifted and talented are invited to participate in a pullout gifted and talented class that meets each week for 40 minutes. There is now a potential non-compliance given the elimination of the Junior First Lego League at Jackson Avenue. This Lego League is specified in the district's policies as one of the primary ways of meeting the requirements of the strengthening gifted and talented education act for district elementary students. I understand there is a budget issue which clearly is indicative of a faulty system to begin with, but cutting teachers and programs is hurting our children. This
010is not an acceptable response for a lack of checks and balances. who is responsible for ensuring that HPS will comply with all applicable laws and regulations, specifically those required by NJAC 6A88. Good evening. My name is Pedro Delveio. I live in Hackinac, an alumni of the schools, parent of four alumni, and I'm speaking as a teacher at Fairmont School for the District. So, I first want to begin by thanking Mrs. Parchment for her integrity and her leadership during this difficult time and as well as my Fairmont school administration for handling this with compassion and thoughtfulness. Um, I have to acknowledge that many of the positions have changed since this issue began, since the problem started. So, I'm really speaking these words as a caution going forward rather than a reprimand. So, as board members, you
011might sometimes hear statements like the union won't let us or the union is giving us a hard time. Our union, the Hackinack Education Association, has come to many meetings to advocate on behalf of both staff and students. Instead of listening to and responding to our concerns, there has been an us against them mentality. When we brought problems to the attention of the proper people, we were dismissed as being troublemakers. I wonder if what we're facing now could have been avoided if decision makers had trusted the right people, the educators. It is HA's job to be sure that educators are fairly compensated. Of course, sadly that was distorted to imply that we don't care enough about our kids. HA is not just a union. We are teachers with PAR educators. We're secretaries, nurses, counselors, social workers,
012therapists, and child study team members. We are the ones who plan for our children's learning. We consider every child and we work to meet them where they are. When a kid loses a tooth, when they have a birthday party, when they learn to ride their bike, they run to school to tell us and we care. When they're struggling, we comfort them. We hug them. Some of them are going through desperate times right now and they are faced with more. We're the people who tie their shoes. We wipe their noses. We help them resolve their conflicts and we worry about them at night. Over the past few years, we've been told repeatedly that we don't aim for excellence. We've been told that what we are doing isn't working. We were even told that we were failing
013our kids. I guarantee that every HA member that every one of us has contributed money out of our own pockets to support and help our families and kids and every one of us has given of our personal time to the kids. I've heard it said that we might all be experiencing the same storm, but we're not in the same boat. Some of us in this storm are going to be rowing desperately to the shore while this ship is trying to stay afloat. This problem was not caused by us. We will be working double and triple to keep the boat afloat because that's what we do. We support each other and I promise you that any of us who are remaining will do everything we can to support our kids and families. We always have been
014all about the kids. And I want to leave you with this reminder. This is my cautionary reminder for all of you. We have not caused any of the problems facing the district right now and we have never failed our kids. >> Good evening. My name is Alvania Martinez Boos, taxpayer, resident of Hackinac, former PTA president, Fairmount School, but most importantly a parent. H this is difficult and because I'm angry and I'm trying not my anger to get the best of me. So, I'm going to try. Um, but it breaks my heart to hear this terrible, disappointing news once again. The responsible adults put in charge to protect our children have failed them. This is very disheartening. But this is not the time to put blame and point fingers. It's done. Now we got to move
015forward. But it's time to finally come together as a community and fix this problem to ensure we do right by our children and provide them with an environment where they can thrive. I feel for the teachers and the rest of the staff who are about to lose their job. where most of them are the bread winners in their highest in their household and they're about to lose all the benefits. As a parent, I can just imagine how terrible it is. What's the stress that they're going through right now? It is it's it's not a great place to be. Mrs. parchment and members of the board, I I pray for you because you have a mountain of a problem ahead of you that you had to fix. But I pray that you find the strength and
016the intelligence and that you do whatever decisions you take, you put the kids first. Keep them at the forefront of what you do and decisions you make cuz that's what you guys are here for. It's I just want to leave it there because if I continue just the anger is going to come out and I just don't want to. So I just want to keep it nice because it this is not the time to to fight with each other but to come together and um and find a solution that this problem is going to end soon and that we're able to um refocus on our children and provide them with what they need. It's been too long where they have gone without resources and the teachers have had to deal with whatever they had what
017actually the lack of resources and now they it's going to be worse. So um you know blessings to you and I hope that God helps you figure out a way to do so. Thank you. Have a good evening. >> Thank you. >> This is Eva. She's a four-year-old student, prek4 student at Nelk Parker. She's my daughter. Um, she wanted to tell you how she feels about it. >> Uh, >> what do you want them to do? >> I want them to give the money back. >> Why? >> So they the teachers can stay. >> I just wanted to put that in perspective for everyone because this is what it's all about. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Jacqueline Munz, 15 years as a special education teacher at Hackinack High School. I stand before you
018today with a heavy heart because what is being proposed is devastating. The decision to eliminate over a hundred staff members in the middle of a school year because of a $15 million debt is not just a line item correction. It is a lifealtering blow to educators, to children, and to our entire Comet community that depends on its schools to be a place of safety, stability, and hope. Behind every one of those jobs is a person. A person who has built a relationship with students who trust them. A person who notices when a child is hungry, anxious, or silently struggling. A person who stays late to help, spends their own money on supplies, and goes home worrying about students long after the final bell rings. When you riff over a hundred staff members, you don't just
019lose employees. You lose mentors, protectors, advocates, and lifelines. Sorry, I'm shaking. You lose the deans who calm a child in crisis. You lose the counselor or social worker who talks a student out of giving up. You lose a parah who provides safety and consistency. You lose the teacher who inspires and creates successful community members. Classrooms will become more crowded. Hallways will become unsafe. Needs will become invisible. Teachers will be asked to do more with less until there is nothing left for us to give. And make no mistake, this damage will not be temporary. This decision sends a message. It tells educators that their dedication is disposable. It tells students that when money gets tight, they are the sacrifice. And it tells this community that the heart of its schools can be cut out to balance
020a budget. A $15 million debt did not happen overnight, and it should not be paid for by destroying trust, stability, and people's livelihoods. The staff and students had no part in money-making decisions. Yet we are the ones paying the bill. We teach our students to take responsibility, to problem solve, and to care for others. We tell them that leadership means protecting the most vulnerable, not abandoning them when it's inconvenient. So I ask you, who is protecting our children right now? Who is protecting the staff who give everything they have every single day? Because our schools are not numbers. Educators are not expendable and children are not collateral damage. If this decision moves forward, it will re it will be remembered not as a financial fix, but as a moment when we chose dollars over dignity
021and savings over souls. You still have a choice. Let this be the moment. Not when we choose to give up, but when we choose to stand up for our students, for our staff, and for our community. Okay, the pen is out of ink, but I'll make sure I sign my name. Um, hi everyone. Nancy Velos. I am a homeowner. I am a comment. I am a community mom. Um, so first I would just like to commend the new leadership on prioritizing and bringing the issue forward with transparency. Right? we could have kept on brushing it under the rug for a long time and we didn't. One of the first things we did was bring it up, talk about it, and and and share. Um, I'm looking forward to hearing the remediation plan and to continue
022transparency from you all because that's what Real Comets do, right? They look out for each other. We wave our blue and gold. We defend each other. And I get a lot of slack for saying this, but we are highly qualified to run our school system. our own school system. So, let me start there. However, during a lot of the election cycles, we keep hearing, oh, we're going to make sure we prioritize financial um stability and that we're uh fiscally um you know, sane and making the best decisions for the kids. And this did not reflect that at all. Right? It didn't. How we got here, why we're here, those are other questions for another day. Anyway, I just want to say that I'm praying for anyone and everyone in this room that may lose their
023jobs and for the kids who probably will miss out on their favorite teachers and activities because we were irresponsible as adults. Um, and I'm hoping that this is a change in the positive direction. And if there is any support from any of the community that's needed for ideas or to get us out of this and get us out of this negative kind of um, cloud that we're in, um, you guys can count on me and my family and the people that support me. Um, and that's it. Thank you. Patricia Lozano, Hackinack High School assistant principal. Um, I've had the honor of serving this district in multiple capacities for over 20 years and for the past 15 of those years as an assistant principal. Sorry. During my tenure, I have seen this district overcome many challenges.
024Yet, I can say with complete honesty that this year has been one of the best, if not the best, I have experienced. Our students are thriving. Our teachers are collaborating like never before. And our support staff, our counselors, social workers, and school monitors to continue to create a safe, supportive, and vibrant environment. That's what makes this moment so difficult. The news of a 15 plus million dollar deficit and the possible cuts to staffing is devastating. These possible cuts are not merely numbers on a spreadsheet. They represent people. People who care deeply for our children. People in this room. People who listen when students are in crisis, who step in when tempers flare, and who ensure that every student has someone looking out for them. Losing teachers, counselors, social workers, and school monitors would strike at
025the very heart of what makes our schools safe and successful. I understand that none of you created this situation. Many of our board members are new, and I want to acknowledge the dedication it takes to assume this responsibility and face such difficult decisions so early in your tenure. My message tonight is not one of blame, but one of urgency and shared responsibility. I ask that you hold accountable those who allowed this deficit to occur and more importantly that you fight for our students as if they were your own and as I know you will. It is imperative that the cuts we are making are balanced. If staff positions are being eliminated, please ensure that we have adequate campus monitors, deans, counselors, and social workers in place to manage the increased challenges and behavioral impact that's
026going to accompany large class sizes. Without that balance, we will be placing both students and staff in an extremely difficult situation. There must be other ways to address this financial crisis. There must be other programs, contracts, expenses to examine before cutting the very people who make a direct impact on our students every single day. When we remove the adults who build relationships, support emotional well-being, and maintain order in our hallways, we jeopardize not only learning, but the safety and stability our students depend on. Our students deserve better. They deserve stability. They deserve the same dedicated staff who have worked tirelessly to help them succeed. Board trustees, your vote on the recommendations put forth make the difference. And you're the final say. Please, before any decisions are made, remember the faces behind those numbers, consider the
027balance of our staffing needs, and always put our kids first. Thank you and God bless all of you. Hello, my name is Hen Lee Thomas. I'm 15 years old and I've been at this I've been going to Hackasak High School. I'm a sophomore. Um, I've been here for 15 years and so far my education has been hot. I very much like learning in Hackinack. I never looked at other schools and said I wanted to leave just to go to another school. All these almost half of these people in in here has helped me and guide me and told me who I am today. And I couldn't learn about myself until now. And I learned so much and I I really just don't want these teachers to go. They help so much to me and they
028guide me through life. And I feel like other students out here, especially younger students, deserve the experience I had and they should learn to get mature in life just like how these teachers had taught me to. This teacher has always been positive and so has other staff members. But these teach these teachers has always been positive and always said that I am a bright student and I have a far way to go in life and I will succeed. They never looked down. They never said I will ever fail in life. They always looked high and above for me. They helped me throughout everything. And I I just don't want any of these teachers to go away because they will be helpful for younger students, too. >> Thank you. Hi, my name is Yana Garcia. I
029am a current high school senior on the AP track and do enrollment course classes. Senior students are already stressed out waiting to hear back from colleges. My current course load has already been submitted to all the colleges that I have applied to. We need clarity on which high school's teachers will be jobless. AP classes cannot be mixed with non-AP classes. The same is true for honors classes and dual enrollment college classes. Any shift to this will jeopardize the college admissions process. As you make your decisions about staffing, please remain in compliance with the college admissions process. Also remember the purpose of the board of education is to serve the students. Today's seniors will be voting in the next school board election. We are loyal to those that are loyal to the students. As the student
030as the adults in the room, you must protect us. I am also a part of the um academic dathlon team at our high school and have worked very hard since my freshman year. For 3 to four years, I have started school earlier than most students at 7:30 in the morning. We expect to go to nationals in Anaheim, California this year. I actually went to the nationals last year in De Mo, Iowa, and it was a great experience. As a senior, I expect no cuts to this as well. Hello everyone. My name is Madison and I am a comet sophomore. It alarmed me when my math teacher had discussed with my adul class how he might be let go due to the 15 million debt in Hackinack. The devastation in his voice made me think back
031to my single mother who is a teacher and the only provider in my household. I can only imagine what might be going through his head right now. My mother put me in Hackinack High School to help me achieve my dreams. I refuse to let the unresponsible decisions of others affect not only my future but others as well. Good evening. My name is Michelle Tvarez. Tonight, I'm here to speak not only as a parent and resident of our city, but also as an advocate for our school district. I serve as the president of the president's council of PTAs. First and foremost, the statement is not a collaborative or coordinated message. Rather, it reflects the collective values of our district PTAs, which exists to support the children and educators of our schools. We are about far more
032than holiday gift shops and book fairs. Many current district staff members also serve on PTA boards within their respective schools and share a deep commitment to the well-being of our students and educators. Even educators that go to sleep at night not sure if they're going to be continuing employment, they stay loyal to our PTA and to our students. We understand that you're unable to speak publicly about legal or personnel matters. We also recognize that there are many complex and moving parts contributing to the reported 15 million budget deficit, far more than we as parents can fully comprehend. However, as a PTA, we respectfully and humbly request that the district be as transparent as possible and provide families with adequate time to adjust and have thoughtful age appropriate conversations with their children. We ask that you
033consider the impact on students when abrupt changes occur. Please do not have a teacher present on Friday and gone by Monday. Please do not allow our students to be excited for a program on Tuesday only to have it canceled on Wednesday. We are not requesting advanced notice regarding individual educators as we understand personnel matters are confidential. Nor are we asking for detailed explanations behind staffing program decisions staffing or program decision decisions. We are simply asking that consideration be given to the emotional well-being of our students and families during this process. Now, speaking as a parent, it is no secret within this district that I am proudly stand behind the educators of my own children. I am the proud parent of a class of 2025 graduate, and I am now once again a proud parent of
034a senior class of 26. I have always been and will continue to be on the front lines in support of this district. I am proud that my children bleed blue and gold. I understand that there are confidential matters that can't be discussed and commented on publicly. And I want to be clear that as a supportive parent who believes in and supports this district as a whole, even when I may not agree with every decision, I recognize that responsibility cannot be placed solely in one dis direction. Budget overruns of 1 million or $7 million while concerning, we understand can occur. But a 15 million deficit is significant. I know this question can't be answered tonight, but I feel it is important to state it for the record. How does this happen? How can a district find
035itself facing 15 million deficit without anyone, no one currently within the district having known this is coming? We understand that you are new. Some of you are new and we it I get that. I respectfully and urgently ask you that you work to resolve this situation without placing the burden on your youngest students. Please ensure that today's kindergarten's parents can one day stand before you as parents of the class of 2036 and proudly say, "Once a comment, always a comment." Thank you. So along those lines, uh, my name is Laura Martin. I'm a Hackinack Middle School teacher, the AGA secretary, a parent, and a taxpayer. When I say the following, I do so with all of the affformentioned tax on. One of the strengths of Hackinac is its comic pride. We have merch that says
036we bleed blue and gold. For many, many years, the public has put its trust in us to responsibly educate their children. It appears that for the past couple of years, the district lost sight of what makes this place so special and took for granted the support that it had. Tonight, we need to find a way to course correct. And part of that is finding our way back to our shared common identity. Part of that is knowing that the decisions that will be made are going to affect the most vulnerable among us. Part of that is remembering that our commitment needs to be to the well-being of the children we serve. When you go into close session, please keep our students at the heart of your conversations. Remember who and what has the greatest impact on
037their lives. We are counting on you to do what is best. Please keep our Comet pride alive. Thank you. Good evening. Most of you know me. My name is Victor stakeholder in Hackinet. I can't believe that we're at this stage and then like everybody else, how do we get here? That's the question. Where who dropped the ball and how do we fix it? Let me give you some numbers. The end of the end ofear budget for June 30th 24th general fund had $27 million and a surplus of $5.3 million. 2.6 Six of that was placed in a reserve that for the next year the budget it would have left 2.7 million as a s surplus. So please explain how everything with checks and so-called balances because I don't think you people were balancing nothing happened
038to the end of at the end of that fiscal year. I know you're not going to answer it, but hopefully next week when we have another meeting, you will answer these questions because we deserve to know. And if some of you got to go, you just got to go. That pen didn't work. uh Tantraano U Hackinack High School graduate class 93 current teacher at the high school and uh second vice president of the HA. Um I know that this is going to be the first in a series of meetings this month. uh thing that I think we all want to be aware of is that as details end up uh emerging and you have a chance to consider all of the different options of what information you're willing to share or can share uh legally
039um a timeline will end up um kind of forming a timeline about what has been uh and a timeline that hopefully in the case of your um creative uh jurisdiction you can end up helping us uh see what the plan will be uh in terms of how things will be uh in a corrective mode moving forward. Um when I end up thinking about things like um accounting and auditing, I also end up pairing that with accountability. When I end up thinking about things with respect to u responsibility, I also think about what your response will be considering the uh the hole that we've dug ourselves. And uh ultimately I kind of wonder if and when we are able to um kind of imagine what the state of affairs will be in the near future. I
040wonder if you'll end up contemplating what the message is in terms of a reduction in force right reduction in force. uh on the surface it seems like someone ends up losing their employment but what we are losing is a coency an ability to be able to attack some of the challenges that our students end up facing. Um we're not able to have the the wide ranging farreaching opportunities that we currently have the uh the structure that we currently have to be able to to meet the students where they are. There are going to be some students who end up falling through the gaps because of a reduction in force. And so, how will the board in the next coming weeks decide to control that narrative? How will you end up amplifying the force that we
041will be left with after the fact? And will it be enough? Can you say confidently that it will be enough? Um, I love the people in this room. I love everybody who ended up speaking tonight. you end up speaking from a place of compassion and bravery and I respect that deeply. I think uh honoring that would also be coming forward with an accurate timeline um which should be forthcoming in the next couple of meetings um without any stone unturned so that everybody can get a fullest possible picture of everything that ends up transpiring in the last few years that put us in the situation that we're in. And then since we uh you know need some kind of beacon that ends up guiding us moving forward, we need some kind of direction that says, "Hey,
042we've got a plan in place. We're working on a plan currently." Uh instead of the the current situation, which seems as though we're attempting to put a tourniquet to a deep wound, we would want to end up talking about a restorative health process. And I think that's what we um we deserve, gladly deserve. Thank you. Evening. I'm Josh Bournestein and uh I've become a a real admire of the Hackin Sack Schools and of the high school. I teach educational leadership over here at FDU and I've been a principal and I've been a school board member and you don't you know that you have hard hard decisions to make. You've heard that all night. And uh what I'm hearing from the community, I know you're taking to heart as you make these. I hope um that
043you're hearing from the community that you could make them these decisions could be made by the community, with the community, for the community, or to the community. I think you're hearing folks saying that they want as much transparency and involvement as possible. I know having been on a school board, school boards tend to keep their cards close to the vest. I would encourage you not to do that. I'd encourage and ask you to hear the outpouring of love, support, and intelligence that you get tonight and use that to help go forward. Thanks. Anyone else from the public? We can go for PE. Okay. I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if uh Carmen Bren Morton um resident and proud parent of Nel Parker. Uh I wasn't sure if I was going to say anything tonight because I
044did want to wait to see what the plan is. And um but I do want to say that when you do make this decision uh to keep us in mind because we are going through some crazy times right now and there's a lot that we have to handle at home and in our outside world. Um our school community is where we need to feel safe. Um our children need to go back to stability. um they need to have that one place where they can have stability and see people who they are used to seeing on a daily basis. Um so for the sake of things um remaining as stable as possible in a very unstable world right now that we are living in. Um as the gentleman just said, I know that most school boards,
045as he said, keep their carts close to them. Um, I feel that this community, as from what I've seen in the years that I've been here, um, has tried its best to be as community as possible. If we can continue with that through this process, I know that you guys inherited this problem. And I'm not here to point fingers. I'm looking at all of your faces, and I see the pain in some of your faces. I do not want to be where you are right now. Um, but you're here. We are here. And these teachers are here. And my son and these kids are here. And they are being affected by this. And we're all being affected by this world right now. And we need stability. We need something that is stable. And school should
046be stable. So hello, my name is Chenica Thomas and I'm a Hackinack High School alum of the school. I've attended school here for four years and I've had a great time here from the community both from faculty and students was it was awesome and the experience I got here the school has supported me through my journey. I've even this was have even gotten me given me chances to get scholarships to go to a great school such as Cornell and the experience I've got here is definitely very helpful. Thank you. Now I'm just also here to fight for school and help us to you know get make you know keep us in mind for how you guys helped us. You've definitely made an impact on the students although not many have said it to you. I'll
047be the representative to help let you know that there are many students who are grateful that have come to Hackinac High School and gotten great experience here. And I just I just hope that you fight for it and continue to give us a chance and continue to keep people that show us love and support us throughout this journey. Thank you. Hi, my name is Tracy Pontiseeka. Um, bear with me because there's a lot there's a lot coming with this. Um, I am an alumni. I've been born and raised in Hackinack. My dad was born and raised here. I am a teacher here. I am a resident and a taxpayer. I am also a parent, a PTA president at Fairmont School. I'm a building leader for the HA for the teachers union at LA Park Barker
048School. I wear a lot of hot hat hats here and I also hear a lot of different conversations between our different stakeholders. Um I'm speaking as an individual not on behalf of anybody else. I feel completely blindsided. There were a lot of rumors going around over the last many months or year. Um, but I do agree with a lot of the sentiments of the speakers before me. I realize that this problem was not created by the current board or our current uh central office administration. Um, and I do understand that you are truly trying your best to rectify the situation and get to the bottom of every issue so that can be dealt with properly and effectively. Um, I'm also kind of mourning what Hackinseack was. I feel like in the last many years um
049I don't recognize Hackinack as the place that I started to teach or the place that I went to school. It is completely different. There's a lot of turnover. There's not a lot of buyin. Um there is still no place like Atkins. There is no quality of education and diversity combined in any other community that I have found thus far. Um, a few things just to think about and some of these are just my personal thoughts from wearing the different hats and seeing different things that hopefully you can take into your conversations and consider and possibly bring answers back. Um, I know staff cuts is a big way that we are looking to rectify the shortfall. I was hoping you can give some update on ECDC and that lease and if any of that situation can
050help alleviate the budget shortfall. When is the lease up? And is there any talk of bringing preK back to the elementary schools? Um returning fifth graders back to the elementary schools has come up in previous years. Is that still on the table? populations that have been underserved, our bilingual population and our special education population have been out of compliance and have been losing services. So, how do we justify them losing even more services as well as our G&T population who has not been serviced at all this year at the elementary level as far as I know? Um, as far as staff, really quickly because I know my time is almost up. um teachers that are in their first year and in their certificate of eligibility and have to finish their mentoring program. How is this
051going to affect those teachers from getting their standard certificate at the end of the year? Benefits p per pupil spending. If our per pupil spending is going down, does that mean that the amount that the charter school pay that we pay out to the charter school will also reduce? I think all of these factors I have a couple more things on my list, but I know I'm out of time. So, thank you for your effort and your time. I really appreciate all of you. Hi, Kimberly King. Um, I was born and raised here. I've been a teacher here. This is my 21st year. I'm a very proud teacher of Hackinack High School. And before this night ended, I wanted to make sure that I said something. And I have the same sentiments that most other
052people have said already. And I understand that this isn't this issue that we facing right right now is not anybody's fault that's sitting up here. However, I feel like some of you should have seen this coming and I feel like some of you should have said something sooner. I feel like some of you should have known that there was something rotten in hackin sack to paraphrase Shakespeare and something should have been done sooner. And had that been done when it was being done, because we certainly didn't need ice sculptures, and we certainly didn't need temporary air conditioner for one day, and we certainly didn't need a communication media person to go around and take pictures. We didn't need t-shirts. All these extra things that these extra positions that were done by one person, now we
053suddenly need two people. A principal of one school, now we suddenly need two. These things weren't done on the up and up. But who said something? Who alerted somebody? Who listened? And now we're in this deficit and we can't get out. We're drowning. We can't get out. And the only ones that are going to suffer are the kids. And they're the ones that have that we're here to serve. But what were you thinking of when these decisions were being made and the votes were being tallied? I wanted to make sure that that was put out there because the things that are being said in our classrooms, the things that certain parents are saying, I feel like the brunt of the blame is being put on us. Hi, uh, Anthony Ziza. I'm a Parker parent. You've
054heard a lot tonight about the instant moment, the choices facing us in the immediate future. However we got here, one of the things I think that's very clear is that we also need to start thinking about the future. 15 million doesn't disappear in six months. Part of this is a lack of transparency, but more importantly, a lack of community engagement that became the rule for many years. And I think that's true both on the level of the teachers who sit here today feeling like they're in the firing line for this, but also the residents. And so one of the things I hope going forward that as we grapple with the fallout of what's going to happen is that we remember you have an incredibly dedicated and educated and passionate staff and they want to be
055here to build the district that our students deserve. And I hope going forward their input starts being solicited. I don't think we would have been here. I don't think we would be here if for the past decade their opinions were drawn into these conversations, these important conversations about the future of the district. the input of the residents, the input of the people who hold not just the district in their heart because their kids go here, they graduated from here, they've worked their entire careers here, but the people who love this district because we see what it represents, what it's always represented in this county, in this state. And I hope going forward that finally we'll start seeing that collaboration. Thank you. Republic. We'll go to online. Good evening. My name is Bridget and I am
056This is disturbing. This is disturbing to the stakeholders, the taxpayers, the community, the kids, the parents. But the problem that I'm having here is this board cannot ask this community to raise taxes. And the reason being is because if you could not control the narrative of the taxes that we give you, how would you be able to control the narrative of the taxes you would ask for? So with that being said, checks and balances always happens. It happens through the auditor. It happens through the business administrator. It happens through the state. So going back, I would like to know how did we get here when we had checks and balances through the state and we were okay? Where did the checks and balances drop? Because the narrative right now, we need at this time a
057state monitor to come in to show us the pass of the checks and balances. And I believe you should be asking for one for the meeting that will happen on the 21st. If you need help getting one, I am here to help you get one here for the 21st. Thank you so much and have a great evening. >> Um, hi, my name is um Amanda Martinez. I am a parent of three students um that [clears throat] go to Hackinack schools. Two go to um Nelly K. Parker and my son is a senior in high school. Um [clears throat] um this is very disheartening to hear um about the deficit. Um we recently moved here about six years ago. So I'm from New York, recently moved here and I absolutely love the school district. my kids
058have prospered and it's thanks to teachers primarily school staff um and their support. Um just a just some information I looked up in statistics here. Um C Hackinack has about 5,300 students with district budget of roughly 154 million. This could be inaccurate just kind of random numbers I kind of googled. Um so that's equates to nearly 29,000 per student with funding at that level. reported 13 million deficit is not a lack of resource issue. Failure, leadership, oversight, governance. Um, [clears throat] some advice may be on different methods before you guys start cutting staff members. Um, Hackinack has about 46,000 residents, about 3500 uh 35,000 of them being adults. If you guys need help from the community so these people can keep their jobs, I'm more than happy to start a a citywide fundraiser. Um, if
059every adult donates about an average of $380 that can cover a $13 million deficit, we can raise it as a community, if that's even something legal. Um, again, this is just poor decisions. Um, oversight, weak forecasting, inadequate internal controls, delayed transparency with the public. It's it's utterly unacceptable. Um district of the size typically maybe $3.5 million annually on you guys spend on central administration including a superintendent that makes about $260,000 a year. Um multiple central office directors earning six figure salaries um that teachers don't even make and they just they do a lot of the work. Um these uh positions exist to pretty much steer the ship, identify risks early and prevent exact kind of uh crisis like this. So when a sinking ship um when a sink is shipping, true captain does not push
060the crew overboard to save themselves. Captain takes responsibility. So I'm hoping that this leadership takes accountability and starts from the top when you consider cuts, cutting large salaries like that rather than having people lose their jobs. Um leadership's about setting the example. Uh kind of points out this meeting began 60 minutes late, not physically present. Um but if a student arrived 60 minutes late to a school, they would be marked as late. So as a veteran, I was taught if you're on time, you're late. Standards matter and leadership sets the tone. So we also can't ignore the human impact of instability. Nelly K. Parker recently lost a long-standing principal, foundational leader who helped build the school's culture. On top of that, the possibility that the school like Nelly K. Parker could lose some of their
061staff, teachers, essential um lunch aids, custodians, whatever the case may be for the back. >> Please wrap up what you're saying. >> Okay. >> Thank you. All right. At this time, public comment section is closed. We're going to move into um we're going to go actually into board comments at this moment. gonna start with Trusty Pringle. I want to thank everyone um who did come out. I want to thank everyone who did come up to speak. I want to thank everyone that called in. We have to stick together. I'm praying for us all. Just have faith in us and please remember to come out on the 21st. Thank you. >> Trusty Gilmore. >> Hi, good evening everyone and um thank you for coming. Um, this is just as devastating to me. Um, because I love
062Hackinac. I'm a proud Comet. I'm a homeowner. Um, and just know that we will take the care and make the right decisions for our district and more importantly for our children. So, please trust us and know that we are in this together. And um pointing fingers right now is not going to help. We need the community um to help us. And we pray that we can get out of this and bring Hackinside Public Schools back to its glory days. Thank you, >> Trusty Amraham. Um, again, thank you so very much for for coming out tonight um and for your attention. Um, and I do want to reiterate um our board president's um uh urging that everybody please um come back on January 21st. Um tell others to come on January 21st to hear from our
063auditor, to hear from our central office staff. Um, as our other trustees have said, this is absolutely devastating. And we don't look at this as a decision of spreadsheets and cuts to to dollars, but as decisions that are impacting real life students, real life staff, um, and our real life community that we all love. Um, so just thank you all very much um for coming out and making your voices heard and and please continue to do that. >> Trusty Carol, excuse me. This this is a difficult time. Um, I would like to thank everyone who came out and spoke and uh virtually as well. Um, we do hear you and we do care. Um, I'm a lifelong resident here, alumni. I have children here and um, us as a board, we we will do the
064best we can to fix this problem. And, um, there there will be some tough decisions, but um, again, we we do care. And, um, just want to thank you guys for coming out. Uh good evening everybody. Um thank you honestly everybody for coming out and speaking. Um we we are listening. Um and this isn't a position that anybody wants to be in but we are in it together. Um we all have you know we have kids in the school. We have kids in the district. I have a sophomore. I have a seventh grader. I have a 2-year-old. And I have another one coming. So um So, in it for the long haul. Um, and and this is this is the the transparency and the collaboration. We we hear you. We hear you. We understand. And
065uh and and we're looking forward to having those conversations and there are going to be some difficult decisions made and we understand that these are not numbers on a page. Like, we get that. Um these are our children's teachers and and other stuff and and and we're listening and we're we're doing our best to try to solve this thing that's that's kind of put before us. and we appreciate you guys coming out. We hope you come out next week and any other meetings because to be honest, the feedback really helps um and it helps us make some of these decisions. So, thank you to everybody for coming out and uh you know, we're looking to to do the best that we can for you guys. We really mean that. Thank you. >> Trusty Austin Bure.
066>> Good evening. Um trustee, the root of the word is trust. Right now the the burden of the public trust is crippling. We owe you and the students so much. It is difficult a difficult task that we face. $15 million is a number that I can't even comprehend. It's like trying to pay your mortgage with the change in your couch cushions. like I just can't even compre comprehend how big that number is. What is most telling for me um is what all the people involved with trying to figure this out and fix and do and save as much as we can so we can give as much as we can to the children of this community. It is a burden that is unbelievable. I've watched our leadership building leadership, central office leadership, and the toll
067that it's taking on them to contemplate how to protect our children and to hold this together with spit duct tape and paper clips. It is an unbelievable burden. So, I ask that as a community we give them grace. So much is going to happen over the next few months and definitely over the next couple of years. The amount of grace and togetherness that we need to have to make sure we can salvage as much as we can for the children of this community. I hope that we can stay focused on that. I'm super proud of the children of this community who spoke tonight. from from Eva on up to all of our high schoolers, we appreciate you. We hear you. But $15 million is a big number. And I don't know how we get through
068that without there being some pain. Our job is to minimize that to the extent that we can. But pain is inevitable in this and we will do the best we can to protect all of our students from from as much of that pain as possible. Thank you, >> Trusty Stein. I think what you've heard tonight has come from the heart of everyone in this room. Believe me when I tell you having gone through this school system myself, my kids, this is a hard nut to bear. But we will come out of this stronger and better than the way we are today. We have our professionals in line to give us the suitable direction to correct this problem that started well before I was on this board and the others who were on this board. And
069we're dedicated to doing that to you and to our families and to our kids. Thank you, >> Vice President Martin. Wow. My heart is um oh I want to tell you I um went through um in my career as a detective police officer the first school resource officer in this state hack who brought the program of SRO to this state my heart's full 52,000 students I went through most of these students are now teachers. I work shouldertosh shoulder with you in the trenches. I've seen every one of you and encourage you to come and be a teacher, be a principal, be an assistant principal and to go through what we have to go through is tough on high school. Please believe us. This whole entire world will be really um is concerned of what we
070have to do and hope we don't have to do anything if possible. But something has to be done. Let's be real. We have been transparent from the beginning of this um ordeal that we've been going through. Very transparent. And as you see uh there's been different phases that went through. First phase was our presidents who read a statement. Second phase were our superintendent who addressed the staff. Third phase is today. Fourth phase is going to be the 21st. And that's going to be the most I'm serious. The most important day to be here everyone. This auditorium should be full. We encourage you to come and and be here and listen. A lot of information is going to be given. We can't really get into it because all your answers that you asked for today will
071be answered on that day. We hope and please just bear with us and look at our hearts. We are people. We are human. And again, I understand what you do. I've been with shouldertosh shoulder. And again, this is extremely hard for every one of us at this board. pulling uh uh uh from the bottom to our attorney who is a alumni. I was his SRO and a few others on this board. I was their SRO. You guys out there, I was your SRO and T and and seeing you as a teacher, secretaries, custodians. I always encourage what you do. I believe in what you do. I love what you do. and you're gonna keep hearing me constantly praising you up on this board on the work that you do. So again, I can't say you
072more. Please come out the 21st. Encourage your friends, family, neighbors to be here. Thank you. And I hold the rest of my comments on the 21st. >> Okay. >> So, um, we have very hard decisions to make. Um, I hear you. I thank you all for coming out in solidarity. I love the shirts. Um, it's I I hear you as an educator, as a non-tenured educator, as you go through year to year not knowing, do they want to renew me? And this is not even the end of the year. I hear you. teacher. The the profession of a teacher should be the one that is always in high demand. It's the one where everyone always says we always need teachers and we're at a place where we're saying we we can't fulfill that. Again, it
073is extremely devastating to all of us as alumni, as parents. My child also goes here as well. Many of our children go here the change. But one thing I will say is that we will make sure to communicate to not only to the staff but to our students and families to ensure that everyone understands what is going on. Resources will be available so that people aren't just left out there. That's not what we are. That's not who we are. Someone said when you look at this document or we get the information these numbers they represent people and we understand that we know that these people are our neighbors they're our friends co-workers babysitters we are Hackinack because of that we are hacking sack because we care about each other and we take care of each
074other. I hope to see you all again next week on the 21st where we will have more information for the public and hopefully before then we will have more information rolled out into the schools as individuals. At this time we are going to move into executive session. Be it resolved that the Hackasad Board of Education determines it necessary to meet executive session on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026 to discuss legal personnel, student related matters, HIV reports, negotiations, and other confidential matters and be it further resolved that these matters will be made public when the need for confidentiality no longer exists. Can I have a motion to go into executive? >> I'll make a motion. >> Motion by Trustee Martin. Can I have a second? >> I'll second. Second by Trusty Jones. All those in favor say
075I. I. >> Anyone opposed? Any abstensions? Okay, it is 7:31. So that the public is aware and for online we will be in executive session. There will be no voting, no public action and that will be the end of our meeting. Thank you and have a great evening. >> Thank you. 6:15. Thank you.