Monroe Township Board of Education 11.19.25 Regular Meeting

001Welcome. This is the November Monroe Township uh Board of Education meeting. Have a roll call. Miss Allen. >> Oh, wait. We have to do pledge of live allegiance. Sorry, I missed >> algiance to the flag of the United States of America. Indivisible with liberty. >> Now, Miss Allen, could we please have a roll call? Okay. Miss Alvarez, >> here. Miss Aziz. >> Here, Dr. Peek here. Mr. Piro, >> here. Miss Ratner here. Miss >> here. here. >> Here forum. >> See, let's get in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law. The Monterey Township Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published and electronic notice provided by having the date, time, and place thereof posted July 23rd, 2025 and November 12th, 2025 at all schools on the

002district website, Home News Tribune, Cranberry Press, and filed with the clerk of municipality. Thank you. You're welcome. Close session resolution. Whereas the Senator Byron M. Bay or Open Public Meetings Act NSA 10 col 4-6 etc. The act provides that the Monroe Township Board of Education may hold an executive session from which the public is excluded to discuss matters that are confidential or are one of the nine subject matters listed section 12B of the act. And whereas that the board hereby declares that its discussion of the following subjects will be made public at a time when the public's interest in disclosure is greater than any privacy or governmental interest being protected from disclosure. Now therefore be it resolved by the Monroe Township Board of Education that the board shall go into executive session to discuss the

003following items. Additional items may be determined and announced as needed. Item number one, pending or anticipated litigation and matters covered by the attorney client privilege. Two, matters involving employees in terms of their employment and contracts. Three, HIV investigation involving students. Be it further resolved that said discussion may be disclosed to the public when reasons for discussing and acting upon it in close session no longer exist. Action may be taken at on any of the items stated above. Mr. White. >> Yes. Um, so for the members of the public, the board is going to retire to executive session for approximately one hour. Um, the board will not be taking any action in executive session. To the extent that any uh action is going to be taken by the board, it will be done out here in

004the sunshine for all to see. Additionally, um, in view of the fact that there are several conflicts, um, amongst the board members as it relates to the topic of Dr. Chanley's employment, um, to the extent that we're going to be discussing that in close session, it's required that we, um, pass a resolution uh, invoking the doctrine of necessity. So, and we've done that here, I believe, the last two or so board meetings. Um, with that in mind, um, I think we should first take a roll call vote on the motion to go into executive session, after which time I will read the Doctrine of Necessity resolution for the board then to vote on, and then from there we can go into executive session. >> So motion >> second. >> And Mr. Zikner and Mr. Appiro.

005Thank you. >> Okay. Um, Miss Alvarez, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ziz, >> yes. Miss Bora, >> yes. >> Dr. Peek, >> yes. >> Mr. Piro, >> yes. >> Miss Ratner, >> yes. >> Miss Chararma, >> yes. >> Mr. Zikner, >> yes. >> Mr. Payne, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Thank you. Um, I will now read the resolution for the Doctrine of Necessity. Whereas Dr. Sharie Chanley serves in the capacity of superintendent for the 2526 school year. And whereas the board must consider personnel and litigation related matters concerning Dr. Chanley's employment. And whereas upon review of the various conflicts of interests of the current board members, it has been determined that seven of the members have conflicts of interest pursuant to the New Jersey School Ethics Act. And whereas pursuant to policy 0163, when a

006quorum of the board has conflicted interests, the doctrine of necessity may be invoked in order to allow conflicted board members to participate and vote only when the board of education has fewer non-conlicted board members than are required pursuant to statute to take action. And whereas when invoking the doctrine of of necessity, the board shall state publicly that it is invoking the doctrine of necessity with the reasons for doing so in the specific nature of the conflicts of interest. And whereas the board policy further provides that it shall read the resolution invoking the doctrine of necessity at a regularly scheduled public meeting, post the notice of the resolution for 30 days, and provide the school ethics commission with a copy of the resolution. And whereas the New Jersey School Ethics Act NJSA18A12-21 at SEC was enacted

007by the New Jersey state legislature to ensure and preserve public confidence in schoolboard members and school administrators and to provide specific ethical standards to guide their conduct. And whereas the school ethics commission, excuse me, has provided guidance regarding the invocation of the doctrine of necessity when a quorum of the board of education is not available because members of the board of education have conflicts of interest on a matter required to be discussed and voted upon. And whereas the board intends to have discussions concerning Dr. Chanley, whereas members of the board have conflicts of interest that would prevent their participation and vote on the matters related to Dr. Chanley as are as follows. Carmen Alvarez, Gail Depay, Peter Piro, Usha Chararma, and Charles Iikner are involved in litigation with Dr. Chanley. Sarah Aziz was previously involved

008in litigation with Dr. Chanley. Kate Ratner's husband, David, is a teacher employed by the board. Whereas as a result of the foregoing, the board does not have a quorum to discuss, consider, and vote on matters related to the superintendent's employment and related litigation, and the board's council and the board have determined that it is necessary to invoke the doctrine of necessity. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the above paragraphs are incorporated by reference, it's be it further resolved that the doctrine of necessity is hereby invoked with respect to the board's deliberation of and any public votes related to Dr. Chanley and be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution having been read at a public meeting of the board on November 19th, 2025 be posted in accordance with the board's standard procedures for

009not less than 30 days and that the board secretary reflect the same in the minutes of the meeting and be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to the school ethics commission. Is there a motion and a second? >> I'd like to make a motion. >> Second. >> Any questions? Any discussion? Anything? >> Miss Alvarez? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Aiz? >> Yes. >> Miss Bora? >> Yes. >> Dr. Peek? >> Yes. >> Mr. Piro? >> Yes. >> Mr. Ratner? >> Yes. >> Miss Chararma? >> Yes. >> Mr. Zikner? >> Yes. >> Miss Deain? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. Going into close session, we are going to need a well board member appointed as the secretary for our uh close session. >> Miss Everest, just a motion and a second, please. >>

010Motion to nominate Miss Everest. Second. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Miss Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Miss Aziz. >> Yes. >> Miss Bora. >> Yes. >> Dr. Peek. >> Yes. >> Mr. Piro. >> Yes. >> Miss Ratner. >> Yes. >> Mr. Miss Chararma. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zikner. >> Yes. >> Mr. Deayne. >> Yes. Motion passes. Um, who would like to take the minutes? >> Oh, okay. Well, I wanted I wanted to >> wanted to double check and make sure somebody else didn't want to jump up and do it. >> That's exactly right. >> So, um, you know, Miss Alvarez has been doing it for a while. Maybe somebody else wanted to try. Nobody does. Okay, Alvarez. >> Yep. All right. Thank you. I'm going to do the approval approval of the minutes opening the meeting

011back again. Um approval of the minutes public board of education meeting October 15, 2025. >> Motion second. >> All those in favor I. >> Anybody? That's it. session meeting October 15. >> Motion >> second. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Um, we need to vote. >> Point of order. >> All those in favor? I >> I >> Anybody opposed or abstain? >> Abstain on the portion where conflict exists. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Now we have our student representative who is on his own tonight. >> Hello everyone. So for our monthly report we'll get started with Barkley Brook Elementary School. Barkley Brook held its annual prek and kindergarten pumpkin patch on Friday, October 24th. Students selected their perfect pumpkins and decorated them in their classrooms. The school thanked the Barkleybrook/brookside PTA for the

012generous donations of pumpkins and decorations. Barkley Brook celebrated Halloween on October 31st with two parades and multiple class parties. Students were excited to participate in their classes parade and dress in costumes. The school thanked all families who joined the Halloween celebrations. Barkley Brook partnered with Regency, a local active adult community to write letters of thanks and appreciation for military veterans. The letters and thank you notes were shared with mil military veterans and their families during Greg Agency's annual Veterans Day breakfast. During American Education Week, families were invited to visit Barkley Brook to observe their children's learnings. The school thanked all families who visited this week and who will join later in the week. Now next we have Mil Lake School. Milake School kicked off the month with its first annual game night which was an

013overwhelming success. Um, also FBA from the high school participated, sent volunteers. I was there myself. >> Nice. >> More than 200 families attended for an evening of fun, connection, and community. Students and families played classic board games such as Domino's, Twister, checkers, bingo, and there was a Chick-fil-A truck and an ice cream truck as well. Um, these games supported the development of ex uh executive functions skills as part of the schoolwide initiative embedded into daily instruction. Several Mil Lake students were recognized by the Monro Township Basketball Association. The six and sevenyear-old students were part of the three Monro teams that won district championships this summer for the first time in township history. That three teams earned this honor. Mele thanks uh athletes Gavin Zamba, James Van Higgin, Jason Vega, Nicholas Stenhouser, and Colton Sizak. The

014school community celebrated Veterans Day through Miss Papa Andre's annual program. The first graders from Miss Meyers and Mrs. Tots's classes were presented to veterans from Monro Township American Legion Post 522 on November 13th. Students shared facts about the holiday, expressed heartfelt gratitude, and performed patriotic songs including a spirit edition of NATO alphabet. Halloween at Mille had the theme fairy tales dreams do come true. Staff dressed as their fair uh fairy tale characters and students participated in two festive parades around the campus. The school thanked all volunteers who helped make the day special. During American Education Week, families welcome were welcomed into classrooms to observe teaching and learning. On November 24th, Mil Lake will launch its annual Mac and Cheese Domino Challenge, collecting unopened boxes of macaroni and cheese for local food pantries through May 15th.

015This initiative connects two seasons gratitude and honoring while giving students the chance to design a schoolwide domino display before donating foods to families in need. In December, the school looks forward to Mil Lake/Woodland PTO holiday shop, the annual singalong, and Gingerbread Day. Mil Lake School continues to close out 2025 with confidence, purpose, and pride as a place for children to learn and grow. Now, moving on to Woodland School students and staff successfully completed the NJSLA field test in preparation for the spring. Woodland students and staff supported breast cancer awareness month by wearing pink and donating to the Mama Mayor Foundation. Students celebrated Halloween on October 31st, Friday, by wearing costumes and participating in interactive classroom projects and celebrations. Miss Herman and Mrs. Fleming coordinated the annual woodland wounded warrior walk along with a fundraiser. An

016assembly was held for veterans on November 11th. The seal and sunshine committees or coordinated staff thankful grams for the professional team. Fourth and fifth grade classrooms celebrated American education week from the 17th of November to the 20th of November. Woodland held the first marking period extravaganza to celebrate students growth. Students earned growth punch card raffle tickets for responsible decision-making and self-management skills. Tickets were included in the extravaganza prize bin drawings before Thanksgiving recess. Now we have Appleart school. Appleorg students completed a wide variety of classroom projects and activities to honor veterans. Code zero club code and art tag ran weekly at Appleguard school. Mrs. Patel and Miss Shepard, both fourth grade teachers, sponsored a group of fourth and fifth grade girls in the girls on the run program. Girls on the run empower students to

017lead emotionally and physically and physically healthy lives. Participants participate participated in running a 5K race scheduled for this Sunday. The school wished all Applegarth girls girls on the run participations for good luck. The PTA sponsored book fair was scheduled for Thursday, November 20th and Friday, November 21st. The principal's book club for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer is scheduled on Google Meet for Tuesday, November 25th. The first pep rally of the year is scheduled for Wednesday, November 26th at 9:30 a.m. Applegard school winter concert is scheduled for Wednesday, December 10th at 7 p.m. in the Monroe Township High School Pack Center. The school extended a um the school extend a happy Thanksgiving holiday to all families celebrating. Now we have Oak Tree. Oak Tree celebrated American Education Week in the November uh in November with parents

018and guardians invited to participate in school activities. The PTA Scholastic book fair was held on November 18th yesterday and November 19th today. The totally vocals assembly was scheduled for November 21st. The first one book one school event of the year was scheduled for November 25th. Mrs. Dinsmore will read the same story to all Oak Tree students throughout the day, focusing on developing executive function skills. December activities include the 10 days of oak tree spirit, a decorating contest contest, and theme spirit days. Third grade students participated in Native American day on November 24th routing rotating sorry through activities to learn more about indigenous cultures. We have the Monro Township Middle School. MTMS held its tri-anual veterans program on November 14th to honor local veterans. Students met veterans, asked questions, and participated in a militarystyle obstacle course

019thanks to Mr. Patrick Nortz and Miss Paulina Embell. MTMS thanks all veterans for their service. During the week of November 17th, MTMS celebrated American Education Week with several days highlighting staff. Parents were welcome to visit classrooms on November 18th, yesterday, to observe students. Students shadowed administrators on November 20th, serving as acting administrators. MTMS held the sixth grade leap day play on November 20th at 7 p.m. Annual virtual parent teacher conferences scheduled for December 1st, 6th grade, and December 3rd for 7th and 8th grade. MTMS wishes the Monroe community a happy Thanksgiving. Now, finally, we have the Monro Township High School. So, the Monro Township High School had a very successful event. We just noted Haunted Haunted High School hosted on October 29th and it raised over $4,500 for the Mamame Mir Foundation. >> There were

020over 200 people in attendance. It's amazing accomplish accomplishment for the high school and everyone who participated, including many school clubs, Spanish Honor Society, Future Business Leaders America, FBA, and Red Cross as well. For Veterans Day, the high school uh had a a moment of silence in the morning. This was done to honor those serving in the US Armed Forces, encouraging support for the military of our country. The high school key club hosted a CPR event allowing teens to become CPR certified without hassle. There were dozens of attendees demonstrating the student interest to ensure safety in the world. Finally, parent teacher conferences will be held on December 2nd and December 4th. So, parents and guardians should be prepared for when requests open on Genesis on November 26th. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. Very, very

021good report. Now, we know everything about the entire district because of you. So, thank you very much. I just wanted to say I was invited um Dr. Chedd invited me down to Woodland School for Veterans Day and um it it was wonderful. the children were didn't move when they were seeing veterans were on the stage and they showed like a five minute video of different wars and um then they had questions for the veterans and they were so receptive and they were so proud to be there and I I the fourth and fifth graders I have a fourth grader and a fifth grade grandchildren and they sat motionless just fixated on that movie and on those veterans And I it it was such so heartwarming to be there that day. And I just wanted to

022thank Dr. Chedda for inviting me. She invited me back this week. I'm going Friday for the fourth grade wax museum um exhibit that's for uh American Education Week. So I told her I'd come back. So I'm going back Friday for that. But it was great. It was It's so nice to be able to get into the schools and see what's going on. And you have to go in and get all the information. So that's >> I'm in a decent amount of clubs. So like the um FBLA uh I saw. Yeah. And then there was the PTO Woodland game night which was a big success as well. I was there too. So a lot of clubs are involved in a lot of different >> So you're very active. So you're right there on the spot to

023get the information like a a reporter. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Okay. Thank you very much, >> Mr. Pay. I actually wanted to just mention from his report, I saw him at Haunted High School and he made a point to say hi to me and my kids and give them candy which they appreciated and all of that. So, you know, it was definitely fun seeing him. >> Very nice. Thank you again. >> Okay, we have our committee reports this evening. >> Who would like to go first? Mr. Piro. >> Um, so on November 12th, we had our building grounds uh committee meeting transportation. We discussed the operant projects uh the roof project the electric service JBAC project update administrative provided us with an overview noting JCPNL finally energized the new building's electric service on November 7th.

024The HVAC contractor's electrical subcontractor was on site Monday morning the 10th to energize their new electric equipment. Now that the power is in place, we are waiting on the HVAC contractor to provide us with a revised updated schedule to reflect equipment start updates at which time we could plan our plan for reoccupying the building. Um the ESEP project update. Uh committee members review the weekly update report provided by Honeywell which highlights completion status of the LED lighting upgraded projects as well as confirming the early delivery of chillers for Barkley Brook and Woodland schools. Construction of the replacement of boilers at the middle school in Barkley Brook are ongoing. Uh solar construction under EEP is still going through the uh state regulatory commission for approval. Once we get them approvals, we'll be able to start with

025the solar the HV uh AC compressor replacement bid at the high school. So, the committee reviewed a bid tabulation which included only one bid received. The price is reasonable and the committee will recommend awarding at the upcoming public meeting. The compressor is a component of the roof air conditioning unit at the high school. uh administration noted that the HVAC equipment at the high school is now past 16 years old and will start to become an issue in the coming years. Um but until we replace this, there will be no air conditioning in the high school. So, uh Mr. T's working on that. We did a transportation review with Miss Martyr. She provided us with an update on bus operations, driver staffing, contracted routes along with Mr. Moraldo who is still working with her to pilot

026the program for our new bus app that hopefully we're going to roll out shortly. Uh that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Mr. Pero. Anyone else? Mr. Ratner, >> I just had one quick thing to um go with BG&T and then I'll I can do my report unless someone else has BG&T stuff. Um so I did want to compliment the administration on getting out the notifications when there are buses and things running late. I know this has been something that they've been working on. Um the only thing that um I have heard from a couple of community members is it used to show which bus it was. Um and parents are getting like a generic more generic message now that the bus is running late, but if you have multiple kids, you don't necessarily know

027which bus it is. So I I remember at one point it was showing the route. So I don't know if something changed, but if that can be looked at, that would be great. >> Yeah, I can take a look at it. My guess is the generic ones are preloaded and are very quick to get out because it's a standard message that we can push out to a bus list. Um, I'll talk to them about >> whether the personalized one again with, you know, messages coming in constantly and doing this at the same time. >> You know, we just want to make sure we get it out in time, but it should also be informative as well. Agreed. >> All right. Thank you. >> Okay, Miss Ratner. >> All right. Um the legislative advocacy and community

028engagement committee and the citizens advisory committee met on November 12th. Board of Education members present were myself, Mrs. Ziz, Miss Depay, Dr. Pek, and Miss Alvarez. The district administrators in attendance were Dr. Leman and Mr. Moralda. The committee was presented two letters um advocacy letters for Mr. Moralda. One regarding the funding formula, the other regarding full day kindergarten. Um, and these were revisions on what we've had, um, you know, with the addition of certain items in each one. Um, the committee decided to hold off on sending our full day kindergarten letter to our legislators until we get the numbers back from our design study because we know that's something that they have requested um, when we are asking for things. Uh, so then we then discussed the Department of Education survey regarding funding. Initially, we

029had the thought to send this survey out to the community. However, once we opened it, we saw that the questions were very nuanced. Even when we were looking at it in the committee, we noticed like if you answered a question a certain way, you were getting different questions. And you know, some of the questions aren't necessarily things that majority of the public would have information about. Even, you know, as a board member for four years, there were things I I wasn't really sure what would be best for our school district. Um, so what we decided to do is we said it would be best to possibly intertwine some of the information that the survey was asking about and put it into the letter um that we would then send to the Department of Education um

030to their school funding email address as well as also sending it to our legislators just so they're aware of our requests um as well as also including possible um options for the funding bills that are currently being proposed by legislators. Um, and so then the committee members were asked to share their feedback so that that way we can get this letter out as soon as possible. >> Okay. Thank you very much, Miss Bor. >> Um, I was wondering if uh, Miss Alvarez wants to go first and I can do my committees because I do have a little health insurance related. >> Oh, okay. Miss Alvarez discuss. >> Nobody had questions for Right. >> No one had questions. No. >> All right. The policy committee met on Wednesday, November 12th. Uh there is new legislation requiring

031districts to adopt a policy and procedure that provides standards for the curation of library material materi material and establishes criteria for the removal of existing library material. Um, this new legislation is effective December 9th, 2025 and Strauss Esme has made the necessary updates to the language regarding updates to include these new guidelines to policy and regulation guides 2530, 2535, and 9130. These policies and regulations are on tonight's agenda for first read. And additionally, we continued with the review of our policy manual. It was brought to the committee's attention that Strauss Esme that a Strauss Esme representative offered a similar service. Mrs. Ratner will reach out for follow-up information which will be shared in next month's committee meeting. And that concludes my report. >> Thank you. Any questions for Miss Alvarez? Miss >> hoping that we

032get the free. >> Well, can I I can follow up. >> Thank you for networking for the board. We did get going to a workshop. So I saw your update. >> So since the the meeting um we actually the rep from stress estate that I spoke to at the the conference reached out and emailed Dr. Layman and myself um and provided the actual audit completed. >> Oh wow. >> Um which at first I was nervous cuz I was like oh my gosh if we're charged for this like I did not request that. Um but they went through it in the same way sort of that New Jersey school boards did. I haven't taken a close look at it because we just got it yesterday, but it basically says which policies need to be removed or

033updated. Exactly what New Jersey school boards gave us except this is now aligned with their numbers and stuff. So hopefully it takes a lot of the puzzle work off of what you know we were sort of asking our our business office to do. Um, and then when one thing they did mention was if we want them to update it because there are several updates. I don't know if they're small or large. Um, that you know they would do it for a small cost. Um, and so we discussed possibly looking to see if it was cost effective to do that or if it made more sense for us to look at it and make those updates in house. >> All this from networking at the workshop. So, thank you for stopping by at Ross Esme and

034getting this. Um I'm going to do the curriculum co-curricular athletics and pupil personnel committee minutes first. Uh the committee met on November 12th. The first item on the agenda was a discussion on the MTHS final exam student performance data. This has been a yearly conversation on this committee since 2023 when many parents and student had brought up the concern that kids were failing the course only due to the final exam. In the first year of this discussion, the weightage of final exams was changed from 16% to 12%. That same year, the high school also instituted the current system of students getting higher rigor classes based on teacher recommendation and grades only. Um the data showed that 18% of the finals were failed in the last school year of which 2.6% eventually failed the course. Both

035percentages were slightly lower than when this data was first discussed two years ago. The original concern was that students were failing the course because of the final and that number has reduced from 45 to 29 in the last two years. Um the next item on the agenda was an update on the co-op for ice hockey by Mr. Barandica. He shared that we would be in an NJSIAA approved co-op with South Brunswick and North Brunswick for ice hockey for the next few years. We have 14 athletes drying up this week. I believe the dry try dryups are over. I'm not sure what the outcome was, uh, but they're trying out for one combined team. Mr. Barandica shared that the combined team will practice and play home games at Prokate Ice Rink in South Brunswick. The team

036will play under the banner of South Brunswick School District and one of the Monroe coaches will be part of the coaching team for this new team. Last on the agenda was a continuation of the update on the summer enrichment programs by Mr. Moralda. MTSD summer enrichment had an extremely successful last season with first Lego League, Project Code, Cooking with Caner, music and theater camps that were attended by not just Monroe students, but also Spotswood, Jamesburg, and Cranberry Kids. New this year was the viral Voyager Medalth focus camp. Mr. Moralda highlighted how we were able to break even on these camps due to the generous donations of community members and local businesses. This year we also pilot a Falcon's Nest enrichment program for pre preK kids which allowed our high schools in the working with children

037program to get additional experience over summer through this camp. The new mind in motion academy for kindergarten through 2 grade kids was also a huge success and was run by varsity coaches who were also STEM specialists that kept the kids engaged on the field and in the classrooms through wellplanned physical and mental activities. And that concludes the curriculum report. Are there any questions for Miss Bora? >> All right, I'm going to move on to the finance and shared services committee notes. Um board members in attendance were myself, Mr. Zikner, Mr. Piro, Dr. Peek, and Mrs. Depay. Um we had Dr. Layman and Miss Allen. And also in attendance was um our broker from Gallagher Associates um Mr. Mario Carse. The committee reviewed the bill list for August for a total of $914,988. An addendum was

038expected before the me board meeting. I believe the addendum is of uh a little over $13 million. The committee then reviewed the attorney fees for the month of September for a total of 6,917 and for the month of October for $5,897. The next item on the agenda was a presentation by Mr. Mario Carse of Gallagher Benefit Services about the proposed shift to Etna as the health insurance carrier. Before I summarize this part of the meeting, I would urge all community members, including staff of the MTSD, to listen to the video recording of this meeting to hear the detailed discussion firsthand. Earlier this year, all school districts covered by the state health insurance were informed that the cost would go up by 32% in the coming year. District administration requested a claims experience report and started

039shopping around to see if any other carrier would cover us. As shared by the broker at this meeting, of the 26 school districts he was shopping for, only four school districts were approved by another carrier, Monroe being one of the four. The cost of Etna would be 29% more than this year, which is still much less than the cost of the state plan. We expect to pay $800,000 less if we move to Etna from the state plan. The plan guarantees the same, if not better, coverage to our employees, and they will have access to a benefits website from Gallagher to help ensure a smooth transition in coverage. To make the switch to Etna, the district needs to give the state 60-day notice. A resolution is placed into tonight's agenda for board approval. I would um

040Mr. Payne, if I can, I would like to ask Miss Allen to speak to the part of this process where we did um meet with the MTA before the finance committee meeting. And I also want to let everybody know that we do have in attendance today a representative from Gallagher Benefit Services um in case any concerned community members have any questions they could bring it up in the public forum. But Miss Allen, if you could just talk to the process and if we've you know been in communication with the stakeholders and covered all the bases. Thank you. >> Yeah. So I I will start with um mid July um we requested from when we found out that the rates were going up so high um we requested from the state um our claims reports that

041took about 8 weeks to get from them. As soon as we got them and we sent them to our broker and he um looked you know he worked with his actuaries and he came up with and went out to um the market. So as soon as he came back and was able to provide us with a quote from Etna because we did not the other Horizon would not quote us, the shift would not quote us. Um so it was between Etna and the state plan. So he came back and and provided that information to us. Um that was I think on a Friday. The Monday after that um Dr. Layman and I met with him. He came and presented the proposal to us. The next day we um had a meeting with all of the

042um the union leadership reps um all together and we and Mr. Carich uh presented the plan the and all the information to everybody and there was a really good meeting and everybody had lots of great questions. Um after that um he went and prepared this um website with an employee portal and he has lots of information on there. Um the union leadership um MTA leadership actually um that week that we had fall break when everybody district was closed. Um I appreciate they took the time then to go through his website his everything and and really look at it carefully and come up with um any um questions or any um you know just feedback. So we gave that back to Mr. Carich who um updated its website with everything, answered questions. Um and as soon

043as we all came back from break, we um sent a letter to the rep to the reps, all the union leadership, um stating what was going to happen and and providing the link to the website so they could look at it as well because we were going to send it out the following day to the whole staff. So, the entire staff has has access to this information. Um, there's a cost calculator, there's um the doctors that you can visit, there's prescription um information, there's um lots of really good information out there and and it keeps building the website as the more information comes in. So, it's it's really a great thing and everybody we've been very transparent. We've been moving this as long as you know as as we had to. Um and so everybody

044has that information now that they can look at and we were waiting until we um they could see it and not be shocked or anything. And then we presented to finance um Mr. Cars came presented it and um we had a good meeting and that's why we're bringing it to the board tonight and then after if we are able to get this board approved um he will meet with um he has set up three meetings already virtual meetings for the whole staff to attend at night so that's you know after the workday um they can choose any of the three meetings or all of them attend the meetings the meetings will be recorded and put on the portal so they will anyone can go in and look or if they have other questions and they

045don't want everyone to know their questions, they can put that in there as well. Um, and they can reach out to the Gallagher team who is going to be there for any questions and any help with every, you know, with with this transition. Um, so it's everything, you know, we have done everything we could think of to just make everybody aware what's going on and to be to be out there to help. Um, and I do want to just mention it is a what we've been told is very easy transition. Anyone who is not changing their plan does nothing. It's only if you're going to change your plan that you would have to during the um I think the month of December you would have to do like the open enrollment process. But everybody else

046is just going to be seamless. It's well I should say seamless in the fact that you don't have to do anything. you will have um you may have different prescriptions doctors or something but it will be um an easy transition um and it has been Etna has provided a letter that it is better than or equal to the plan that we already have with the state. It's actually the same exact plan. Um Etna is with the state. So we are you know it's an easy transition really for everybody's records too to go into this Etna plan. I'll just add one thing and then I'll open it up for questions. So the timing of right I'll just last piece of information the timing of this resolution is such is critical because our premiums go up in

047January. So if we pass this resolution today we we need to give them 60-day notice to the state. So we will be paying the higher premiums for the month of January but we transition starting February. So with every meeting that we push this forward we will be paying an additional month of higher premium. That's why this was put on the agenda immediately. Um, please all board members feel free to ask questions and um I'm sure the administration will answer. >> Uh, will this will this change affect our retirees and if so, how? >> We don't have the retirees on on the plan. They're with the state correct. Yeah. >> Anyone else want >> I just want to make a comment. It's not unusual for school districts to switch insuranceances before the contract expires. That's happened

048to me many, many times in my 26 years working in a school district. As long as the plan is equal to or better, it does happen. Even though you're still under a three-year period under a contract, it's not unusual at all. >> And can I make a comment, Miss um Allan, can you >> describe the change with the prescriptions? how it's going to >> I would may I ask Mr. um Columbbo from Gallagher um to um assist with that please. >> Thank you. >> Welcome to the meeting. >> Thank you. >> Uh yes, the transition will be it's with Etna which also owns CVS. Uh it'll be CVS PBM which is this prescription benefit manager coming from the state plan. So each one could potentially have a different formulary which is the list of medications

049that they cover. They'll still cover every illness and everything. So I'll give you an example what I mean by formularies. The state may say Fllonese for allergies is is the preferred brand. You come across CVS may have it listed as Nasinex and that's kind of the type of thing. So all the same illnesses are covered. Uh it could potentially be some changes of medications but the vast majority of the exact same medications. I think what was told to us um if somebody has a medication that they cannot take a generic then the doctor has there's an authorization form for the doctor to fill out and very easy simple if I remember um the I can't think of his last name Mr. Carich. >> Mario Carich. Yes, >> Mario. I remember Mario, but I didn't want

050to say him by his first name. Um, and he mentioned that that that would be easier for them to switch from the regular and not a generic. But then I want to ask you too, what about mailin? Would they have a um a choice to do mailin and it'll be cheaper? >> It is. You have the two co-pays for a three-month supply instead of paying a copay every time. So, it's still that it's done through CVS mail order. Okay. Um and again we have many schools that are either direct with Etna, direct with Blue Cross or the state planned shift. So it's just each one has their own PBM and slight differences in terms of how you have to go about it. Um but yes, it's through CVS mail order and you get your maintenance

051medications at the cheaper copay. >> Okay, thank you. Anybody else have any questions? Okay, very good. Anyone else have any reports? We're finished, right? We're up to the public forum agenda items only. If you'd like to speak, please come up to the podium, state your name and your address. Good evening, George Gungkelman, 5K Court, Monroe. Um, I have some questions about Appleguard. I I heard the building and grounds report regarding what's going on. I I think I understand that. That's my old industry. What I don't understand is in the U agenda it lists Applegarth as having fire and lockdowns. How do you do that with no students? We also have an enrollment count with the school being closed. Um, makes me wonder about the other numbers on that list if if the >> Mr. Pet.

052>> So, under state law, each school has to do a fire drill. They're housed in Apple. >> I mean, the middle schools, >> so they're in the middle school. So, I'm sure that the drills are the same day, but it has to list by law every school. >> So, they're not in Apple. >> No, they're in the middle school. The Apple. >> They're in the middle school. >> Yes. So the Applear student, >> why do we call it attendance at Applegarth when they're not in attendance at Applegarth? >> Because they're still Applegarth students coded as Applegar students, grade four and five students. Their location right now is at the middle school, their temporary location. So when we conduct our drills, they're Applegar students participating in a fire drill or a lockdown drill or a bus

053evacuation drill. >> All right. Um there's I think I've missed a meeting but uh since a couple of meetings ago there's been a fair amount of slippage in the schedule of completion there and I understand from the report that some of the um items from PSNG and as well as a couple of the contractors are just now coming online which explains explains why we're still not in there. Uh but you know, do our contracts call for any delay penalties from any of these contractors? Uh and are we going to be able to uh collect on those or they're not collection, it's a deduction uh from amounts owed. And the other thing is is there a new date for when u the students will I don't know what to call it reenroll reoccupy um help me

054out a little bit here. So yes, there are uh delay penalties and uh to the extent that we can implement those penalties, we will. And I'm not going to get into detail because we anticipate there even could be potential litigation related to that. So um we intend to apply the contract as it's written. Um and that would be the extent of our comment. there are delay penalties that are written into the cont into the contract for the various uh contractors that we've been engaging with. Um so if they did not meet deadlines, we certainly will uh seek out restitution as as we can. Okay. >> Uh in terms of a new date, the new date will uh be defined as soon as so the last step that's going to that's in process is everything is

055energized. the manufacturer of the new equipment, the new HVAC, uh the new blower units and things. Uh they're they uh need to be on site, plug into these units, turn them on, verify that they uh link to the computer systems. That's part of the implementation of the warranty system that was scheduled for the uh fall break because JCBNL did not energize the building related to weather issues and things that had to be rescheduled. So they are scheduling that manufacturer to come back on and basically turn on these units and activate them as soon as that happens. Um we've been in on the weekends cleaning the rooms. We've been uh doing everything we can on the front end. So as soon as we get that manufacturer, not we, as soon as he's scheduled by the the

056HVAC contractor to get back on site and do what he was supposed to do, um we will have that building reoccupied. Um and we anticipate expect an answer any day with that new timeline. And as soon as we get that, we will communicate that out. Okay. >> Okay. A couple of months ago, we had a date. Now, two months later, we don't have a date. >> So, so every date that's been given has been grounded in a critical action path provided by the contractor. >> I understand. >> All right. Thank you, sir, for your comments and questions. Anyone else would like to speak? >> Hi, April Gardner. I live at 67N Amherst Lane in Rossmore and I've lived in Monroe for about 12 years now. Living 12 years. Um I'm not sure if mine comes

057under an agenda item or at the end. However, I think what I want to talk about is part and parcel of five. And I wanted to talk about the doctrine of necessity. And I think that's part of five. Yes. Okay. Um, >> I kind of come here, well, I do come here with a heavy heart because when I read this, I felt bad for our school and I felt bad for our students. And I want to explain to you why. because having to have something posted on our website that has to do with um conflicts of interest in the school ethics act, not having a quorum and having to vote to allow something that really shouldn't happen, but you have to have it happen to keep um business rolling, which is in essence the truth

058to have deliberation and a vote. And that's why this has to be completed. You have to have the doctrine of necessity. So what happened was I saw this posted and apparently there's another one tonight if I'm correct. And initially I had called a business office and I had left a message. In fact I called I believe twice because I was confused by this and I never got a call back. So to better understand it um I called the school ethics office and I want I discussed this with them. Oftenimes we live in this town and we're wondering why school bud um budgets aren't passed, why there's arguments of new school, we don't want to pay and we live in a world where perception is 99% of life. So when people see something like this posted,

059especially my concern was that quite frankly it was illogical to me that the two people who brought for it to be approved were named in it. And I have a little problem with that. But be that as it may, um I would hope that when there's a conflict of interest requiring this that people take a look and see if they really can act in the best interest of the school. This is a very very complicated issue. This is nothing new and I feel very sad to have to come here and talk about this. I've always raved I have a minute left. I've always raved about the town and I'm trying to convince my daughter to move here. I have a grandson. He's um in fourth grade over at St. Ports in East Brunswick and I

060tell my daughter Lauren. I say, "Why don't you move to Monroe? Grammyy's right here in infamous um Rossmore, you know, and he can come here and go to um school because I believe he would benefit from this school district." And then I see something like this and it makes me really sad because I don't know what your litigation is about. I just know that when people see this posted, they have a very, very, very sad, sour feeling about our school district because they don't know the complications involved, the legal ease. But I actually called twice and couldn't get a phone call back. So, I don't know how this is going to resolve itself, but I would hope that in the future that maybe people can say maybe I should recuse myself or not be on

061the board anymore because I have to have this type of paperwork brought forward. It makes me sad as a taxpayer here. I just don't think that our schools shine when I can go home and print this out. And I found out that this is part of a few. And that's what I wanted to share because I think we have a wonderful town and I I really think that this is a great school system. And that's it. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. Anyone else wishing to speak? >> Did you want us to sign this? There's a paper sign in on the >> only the paper's there only if we didn't get to any of your questions and we have to maybe call you back up. I wanted make sure we got to everybody's

062questions. >> Thank you. Good evening, Bob Valentine and Monroe. Um, I just want to ask a couple of clarifying questions on health insurance. One is kind of on the transition. When you go on, assuming this is all approved and you go on to Edner, you'll still have claims being adjudicated from the state plan. I'm assuming the state's going to continue to adjudicate those claims until some point over a period of months, they'll start to run out. And what I'm curious about, because I be honest, I don't understand the state plan that well. I'm not familiar with it. Um, does that create any uh financial exposure requirements for the district uh to cover that? And if it does, is that part is that factored into the calculation what you expect the savings to be from the

063transition? >> I'd like I think maybe we can ask the broker who's here tonight to answer the >> maybe just one other question for him. And you you don't have to go into the details of this. I'm just curious. I assume there's some type of stop-loss provision in the state plan. Is it going to have the same stop or will the stop loss provisions be in the adna plant at the same levels? Those are my two questions. >> Okay. Thank you. >> No financial liability when you're leaving the state plan. So although the state plan is self-insured, it's fully insured rates for the district. So you pay just for the the month you're there. So you're you're covered up until the date you decide to terminate and then you just start a new contract. The

064the Etna plan that you're moving to is also fully insured. So, it's not self-insured where you have stop-loss. It's built set rates, you pay monthly, and that's all you pay. >> Okay. Was that substantial to answer your questions? Thank you, sir, for your questions. Anyone else who would like to speak? >> Good evening. Uh Christy Scurvby, Monroe Township. Um I have a question for Miss Allen. Um so with the transferring over to the new plan, what is the increase in premiums um from last year's budget to this year's budget? What will the increase in the premiums be? The percentage >> from well so premiums are going up with the state 32% and I 29% with um EDNA. So, how much how much does that equate to in costs >> in I don't have that big

065it I don't have that figure. >> Okay. >> No. >> All right. Maybe potentially you can email that to me. I'd like to know how that's going to impact the budget for next year because that's a substantial >> it is >> a substantial increase in percentage. I know that from when I was on the board. Um, I did watch the curriculum committee um the other night and um I had a very nice conversation with Dr. Layman the next day. I asked for the report that the board had that evening. Um I was told that it's still in draft form. So when it's finalized, it will be made public. Um but Dr. Layman did share um the numbers that were was on that report. And while there were changes made and we reduced when I was

066on the board under Dr. Chanley um she had them reduce the percentage that the final exams counted toward the final grade. Um these numbers are still very alarming because the number of final exams still being failed has gone up. It hasn't gone down. Last year it was over 3,000 final exams failed. This year it was 2,98 final exams failed. We've not made any strides in bringing that number down. Yes, students are not seeing that weighted as high in their average and they're passing. They're not failing a course simply because they failed the final exam. But when I was on the board and I know Miss Bore, you and I really advocated for this. We wanted to have the data of what courses do we see students failing final exams in. That was three years ago.

067I asked the question the other day and the answer still is we don't know. We need to know and we need to go back and we need to examine where it is. And I watched Dr. Higgins mentioned that um it was a misnomer or whatever that when Miss Boris said that um it all came up because community members were concerned with chemistry and I think it was AP chemistry when I was on the board or honors chemistry that parents were reaching out to you and me about. Um, so that was not a rumor. That was something that was happening. And it is honors and AP courses that students are failing the final exams in. It's not just regular courses. So I really encourage I know Gazala, I'm very sad that you're leaving the board. You

068have done an amazing job with the curriculum committee. I hope somebody who takes over that role on curriculum has as much drive as you do to really be there for the students because this is unacceptable. This isn't a failure of the students. This is a failure of our district. We should not have 2,98 final exams being failed at the high school. We shouldn't. We need to look at why they're being failed and does the curriculum not match the final. we're doing a very very disservice to our students if we do not look at that and talking in percentages confuses the the confuses the community. I watched it and it meant nothing to me. That's why I called Dr. Layman and asked for the actual numbers. So while we may say the percentages of failing a

069final and it affecting the grade, the amount of tests being failed are going up and we need to do better. Thank you for your comments. Dr. Layman, did you want to Dr. Layman? Dr. Layman, would you like to say something or No, >> no, we appreciate the feedback. Thank you. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much. Anyone else would like to speak? Okay, we'll continue with the meeting. >> Okay. Okay. Um we'll close the public portion of the meeting and I know our student would like to say something so please. >> Yeah. So finals are worth I think 14 or 12%. I can't remember on the top of my head but the reason why final grade like we also realize the fact that more students started taking AP which looks better on college rigor. So

070the fact that more students fail exams is obviously due to the fact they're taking harder classes which is a good thing. Like failing I wouldn't say is a good thing but more students taking academically harder challenges is showing that our district is becoming stronger. So if the rate of failing stayed the same but more students took harder classes would that not be a good thing cuz students are reaching academic rigor. >> No. >> But I feel like if they're taking harder classes obviously the finals is going to be hard. That's the stuff they get into and when they take a harder class. >> Okay. No, that's No, we we're not going to that's Thank you very much for your comments. Okay. go on to these um Dr. Layman's report. >> Sure. Thank you. So, a

071couple breaking news hot off the press uh recognitions. We have uh our MTMS chamber singers selected for the NJMEA state conference. So for the third time, MTMS chamber singers auditioned for and were successfully selected to perform at the NJMEA state conference this February. Uh this is a huge honor that reflects outstanding work of our students and their director, Miss Nina Schmer. So congratulations. Uh the MTHS students, we had some accepted to the ACDA All Eastern Choir. ACDA stands for American Coral Directors Association. So, five MTHS chorus students successfully auditioned for the uh ACDA All Eastern Chorus. They're going to travel to Providence, Rhode Island to perform at the ACDA, Eastern Regional Division Conference in February 2026, singing alongside students from 11 other states. So, congratulations to uh even more of our talented students on this

072remarkable achievement. So, congratulations. I found out about that today. Um, and then before I get into my report, I just want to wish everyone we are already on that time frame where it's uh Thanksgiving is coming up. So, if you're visiting family or traveling, uh, be safe and have a safe holiday. And, uh, our next board meeting, we're going to be recognizing and acknowledging the achievements of our fall athletics and teams and students. So, uh, that's something to look forward to in December. So, under personnel items, uh, the 10 member vote, it's recommended that the board approve the attached personnel items A through O. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Okay. >> Miss Allan, roll call, please. >> Miss Alvarez, >> yes. >> Miss Aziz, >> yes. >> Miss Bora, >> yes. >> Dr. Peek, >>

073yes. >> Mr. Piro, >> yes. >> Miss Ratner, >> yes. Miss Chararma. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zikner, >> yes. >> Mr. Deayne, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Personnel items. Nine member vote. It's recommended that the board approve the attached personnel items P through AP. P through AP. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Miss Allen. >> Uh, Miss Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ziz. >> Yes. >> Miss Bora. >> Yes. >> Mr. Piro. >> Yes. >> Miss Ratner. >> Yes. Miss Chararma. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zikner, >> yes. >> Mr. Deayne, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Under board action 10- member vote, it's recommended that the board approve the attached board action items A through K. A through K. >> Motion. Second. Can I just ask a quick question? I just wanted to get clarification.

074The revision in the calendar, is that just the start date, the start time rather, of the reorganization meeting? >> Is there another change? That's all it is? >> Yes. Okay. We uh were requested by Jamesburg. They're having their meeting right before ours. So, if we started ours a little later, their new representative or their representative could come over and participate. >> Okay. >> Also couldn't do a close session that day because we >> Yeah. We're not doing close session. So, >> so it works out perfectly. >> Yep. >> Okay. Um, Miss Alvarez, >> yes. >> Miss Aziz, >> yes. >> Miss Bora, >> yes. >> Dr. Peek, >> yes. >> Mr. Piro, >> yes. Miss Ratner, >> yes. >> Miss Chararma, >> yes. >> Mr. Zikner, >> yes. >> Mr. Deayne, >> yes. Motion passes.

075>> And then board action nine member vote. It's recommended that the board approved board action items L through Q. L through Q. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Miss Allen. >> Yes. >> Miss Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Miss Aziz. >> Yes. >> Miss Bora. >> Yes. >> Mr. Piro. >> Yes. >> Miss Ratner. >> Uh, yes. Recused on letter M for Mr. Ratner. >> Okay. Um, Miss Sharma. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zikner. >> Yes. >> Mr. Depay. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> Okay. Um, it is recommended that board action items A through. >> Can I just Yes. >> Yes, Mr. Zikner. uh under the business uh administrators I'm looking at um G1 it says under G1 retire employees uh it was mentioned a question was asked about the insurance plan and um someone I forget

076I think it was uh Sarah had asked about >> you said it would not affect retire employees I think and so but it says on here retired employees E. So I think we need to make sure that that's >> this is um to my understanding it's just the standard um or the state stat resolution that we have to pass. I don't know if we can amend that. Is that Mr. Columbo? Do you know if we can amend that resolution to get out of the state um plan? >> I don't think I understand the question. I'm sorry. Um well I'm trying to get clarification on um a question was asked about whether uh the change in the health care would affect uh retire employees and I think the answer was no it would not and >>

077sure I'll I'll explain on that too. Yeah, if you would, because it says on here, retire employees. I just want to make sure we don't vote on something that's listed. >> Sure. The um it's called an A4 search charge when you are fully when you're have coverage direct with an insurance carrier and you're charged a percentage and it's built into the rates that we're going to be paying. So, you're paying for those retirees to stay in the state health benefits plan and they will stay within that state health benefits plan. >> Okay. So, they won't be in the Etna plan. >> Correct. they stay in the state plan which is is actually run by Etna within the state of New Jersey. It's at the Etna Medic Medicare Choice. >> We need to make a change

078on on this because it says retire employee. >> Yeah. So the resolution that we're provided with for this state um there is a a sentence that says we understand that the New Jersey Division of Pensions and Benefits will notify retired employees of the cancellation of their coverage. Is that something >> the the resolution the form is directly from the state and that's the language they want on there and it it can't be altered >> and if I'm not mistaken the retirees are actually going to be in the state health benefits plan because that's where the pension system has retirees. So >> I'll make a motion for the the 10 member business administrators and second I guess >> Thank you. >> Are there any other questions on that one? I apologize. I did not um I

079missed this in my email. So item E for the VEX benefits, the discovery benefits. Um I see that it's changing from January starting next year and the attachment shows the FSA monthly increasing for the minimum fee is increasing significantly. So if you could explain to me the process of communicating this to the employees and um is this an expected change because that jump in the FSA monthly uh minimum is significant. >> This is item E for the WEX discovery benefits. >> Oh yeah. Um, I just look at the rate sheet. This is something that would go out in an email from our benefits person um that who who addresses all the um changes in any rates. >> Okay. I will just obtain on it then. >> Okay. Okay. Any other questions? Mr. Ratner. >> Uh,

080yep. I just wanted to get quick clarification on um letter A number five um under the professional appointments um it says a fee up to $4,000 for neurossychial sorry neurosychological evaluations um and because parents are allowed to request it which I understand and we can't name any individuals because it's we don't know I guess just is there any is there any vetting on our part of who is doing those or they can select from anybody body. >> So, it's recommended that annually the board adopts um essentially uh rates that it is willing to pay for uh individuals who may want to have evaluations done at district expense. And so, this, if I'm not mistaken, is actually setting that rate for that specific type of an evaluation. And based on my experience, $4,000 for a neurosychological

081is pretty darn good. >> No, I I'm I agree. I just didn't know if they have to select from certain people or they can use anyone. They can use anybody they want. >> That's not before the board right now. >> That's just Okay. >> What we have to do is we have to set what we're willing to pay. That's >> okay. And if I can just add, it's been um $2,500 since um I think before 2018. So the the going rate now the going rate right now is about 5,500. So we >> like everything else it's going up less. >> But the problem but the problem is the result from that though if it was kept at $2,500 is that parents would have to pay the difference between the $2,500 and whatever they're being charged

082for the neurosychological. So we know that neurosychologicals are somewhere in the range of $5,000 or so. Um some are cheaper. Uh but the point is is that we want to kind of bring back ourselves up to reality because otherwise we could potentially be um shortch changing parents. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Sure. >> Any other questions, Miss Allen? >> Yes. Um okay. Um, Miss Alvarez. >> Yes. To all recuse on letter B for check number 11526 and 11 1920. Right. Ms. Aziz. >> Yes. >> Miss Bora. >> Yes, but abstain on letter E. E as an elephant. >> Okay. Dr. Peek. >> Yes. >> Mr. Piro. >> Yes. >> Miss Ratner. Um yes, recuse on uh due to conflict on letter E and G. Um and then recuse on the bill list for C11218 uh

083for Mr. Snider, C11605 for Mr. Lurri and C11526 for Methyl and Worbble. And then on the billist addendum for C11832 and C118989 for Mr. Snider. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, Miss Sharma, >> yes. >> Mr. Zikner, >> yes. >> Mr. Depay, >> yes. >> Okay. Motion passes. Um, it is recommended that board actions L through M be approved by consent roll call under a nine member vote. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Miss Allen. Miss Albert, >> just a quick question. Sorry, we have questions. I'm sorry. Uh just um first of all I'm happy to see another one of our schools getting the grants but usually multiple schools get it at that time for the unified champion school grant. Is there a reason >> I we didn't >> it it trickles in so yeah I mean

084usually we'll have them a couple months s you know sequentially. >> I was going to say and the awards vary as well. Okay. some but they used to be 10 12 $15,000 and they've >> they did reduce the amount. >> Yes. >> Right. I think it was on either last month or the month before for a couple of the other schools. >> Right. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Having questions again. >> I was going to acknowledge the grant. >> She stole my thunder again. >> She stole your question. Okay. >> Like always. >> Okay. >> Miss Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Miss Aziz. >> Yes. >> Miss Bora. >> Yes. >> Mr. Piro. >> Yes. Miss Ratner, >> yes. >> Miss Chararma, >> yes. >> Mr. Zikner, >> yes. >> Mr. Depay, >> yes. >> Motion

085passes. That concludes my report. >> Okay. Thank you very much, Miss Allen. >> Thank you. >> Um, my report is just to thank all these board members for their hard work and our administrators over the last few months since school started. Uh, Mr. Tague especially too with the um, Apple school and everyone trying to push to get that school open. So that's my thankfulness for you all of you being on this board, our students especially too who bring us a lot of vital information about the entire district. So um and I just want to say as uh the board president I have um something I want to say. I don't know Mr. Zikner if you want to say before I open it up. >> Um well you could if you want to go first or

086>> you want me to go first? Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. Um, as the board president, it is my responsibility to address conduct that affects the functioning, reputation, and integrity of our Monroe Township Board of Education. Recently, I was made aware of a public Facebook comment that someone posted on our board in response to a woman who expressed a political viewpoint different from their own. And that comment as it originally appeared and as documented in Facebook and here we go with the social media again which I said I think when I first sat down in this spot. Get off of social media. Just go through your day. If you want to look for your children and see what they're doing, your grandchildren, look at that. But please watch the social media. Uh as it originally appeared

087in this documented in Facebook's edit history, you wrote that you hope that she is amongst the many rapes that occur. And this is referring to Mr. Mandami being elected to the New York mayor. A statement invoking sexual violence toward any person is completely unacceptable for a public official and especially for a member of a board of education. Regardless of political disagreement, no board member should ever make comments that degrade, threaten, or wish harm on another individual. This remark caused significant concern within the community, including our high school students. Unfortunately, something was sent in error to one of our high school students. And uh no offense against you, just like anything, just like the uh it just went like wildfire and spread through the school. Um and it reflected poorly on our board. Although you later

088edited, the person involved with this edited the comment and issued an apology, the original language had already been widely viewed and caused great harm. This incident also comes in the context of our other concerns regarding conduct during board meetings this past year. There have been occasions where you left meetings abruptly, used inappropriate language as you were walking out, or displayed behavior inconsistent with the decorum expected of a board member. At this time, I urge this person to reflect on how their actions, both online and during board meetings, impact this board and the community we serve. If you sir decide to continue as a member of this board, I hope you do so in a manner worthy of the position that you hold. Thank you for listening. Anyone else would like to make a comment, Mr.

089Zikner? >> Yeah, but um I I noticed that you did not mention the individual. >> Um >> Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It should be other underboard business. >> So, I will wait. Other board business is next. >> Yes, Miss Bora. Would you like to speak, Charlie? >> Yes. Yes. >> To what I said, Charlie, or what's >> Yeah. I just I just um to the attorney. Uh >> can we can I say who that individual is to the to the extent that you're going to express your opinion, your personal opinion. That's what I'm doing. >> I suggest that you indicate that whatever you say is going to you're saying it >> as an individual as not a board member and does not reflect the opinions or thoughts of this board. >> Yeah. And

090I have already indicated that >> and I and I have to say that a disclaimer too that >> really hit me very badly because I'm a mom of two daughters and three granddaughters and >> it was terrible to see that. So it really bothered me. But now we're going to other board of education business. So Mr. Zikner, if you would like to speak now, you can. >> Yeah, I I would like to if I might. Um, first let me say the gentleman I'm going to reference is not here this evening and and unfortunately what I'm about to say has to be made uh for the record. Uh it has to be placed on the record. Um because I feel so strong about this and it's really upsetting to me because I do not really I'm

091not happy doing this. I mean it's something I do not wish to do but as it is I feel I must say it as a disclaimer. What I'm about to say reflects my own personal opinion as an individual board member and does not reflect the collective views of the board. Also, what I am about to say is not personal and is not intended to impugn this person's character. Recently, I saw a social media post by Mr. Tofano, a member of our board of education responding to a positive comment from a woman about Mandani's election as mayor of New York City. He wrote, "I can't wait for him, Mini Mandani, to work, and I hope you're among uh the many uh rapes that occur when there when he ties the hands of the NYPD." And then

092enjoy. And you're married to a cop. What a disgrace you are. This message was posted 11:18 and repeated at 11:119 a.m. About two hours later, he forwarded the same message, but he added the word not to soften his original response. It read, "I can't wait for him, meaning again, Mandani, to work. And I hope you're not among, so he used the word not, among the many rapes that occurred there when he ties the hands of the NYPD." And then enjoy. I assume he changed his comment in response to numerous negative reactions he received. Many hours later, he did apologize to the woman and claimed his remarks were a typo. Now, Mr. Tofano is a representative of the board of education. What he says in the public forum without a disclaimer reflects poorly on this entire

093board and its members. His word, in my opinion, were disgraceful, deplorable, and insensitive. Words matter. Once you say something derogatory or in bad taste, you own it. No matter how you might feel or say afterwards, this isn't the first time that this has happened that he's displayed poor judgment. He needs to find a way, a better way to express his feelings. For example, recently he walked out of a board meeting and he made a dis disrespectful comment to a newly elected board member and then use profanity against the board like because likely because he disagreed with their decision. This is an inappropriate way to conduct to conduct oneself. You you know you're elected by the citizens of Monroe Township and you have a responsibility to them. Okay, Mr. Mr. the Tfano's behaviors were negative. It

094just wasn't appropriate. In one particular exchange with a woman, she said, "What a strange thing to say as a member of the Monroe Township Board of Education." His reply was, "You think because I'm on the board of education, my right to free speech are cancelled. Sorry, that is not the way it works. Not yet, anyway. But keep voting these type of people into office." I don't know what kind of people he's referring to and they will take those rights away soon. Do you think perhaps you over you overreacted to her comment and that it was appropriately waited? I don't. Mr. Tofano, I sincerely, and I mean that I sincerely hope you'll consider changing your behavior. Look, none of us is perfect. We all make regrettable choices. And I'm telling you that speaking for myself, I'm

095one of those people. I I make some poor judgments at times, but I'm careful in terms of what I say and I'm careful in terms of how I respect other people, whether on this board, whether in the public domain. I must treat them with courtesy, dignity, and respect. That's the only way you can deal with people. So, and I try to learn from those mistakes. Why? because I'm looking to improve myself as a human being, how I interact with other people. So, I'm asking him, please, please adjust your conduct on this board. Maybe and I and I and I won't go on with anything else I want to say here. I'm just hoping that he he'll recognize that he he's just going in the wrong direction and I hope that he will make some changes.

096Thank you. >> Anyone else? Miss Moira. Um, I wanted to take a minute to thank Miss Ratner for running again and congratulate her on her resounding victory. Uh, the board is lucky to have you for the second term. I see Miss Forest is in the audience. I would like to congratulate her on her election to the Monroe Township Board of Ed and Mr. Marazine who's also elected. I wish all three of them a very successful term looking out for the students of Monroe. Um, I also wanted to take a minute to um I every time there's board business I make a motion. Tonight I will not because I am hopeful that we will conclude this investigation on Dr. Chanley soon and hopefully by my last meeting which is next month we would have some sort

097of an outcome on the investigation and I can see some closure to this before I step off the board because it has been a very harrowing experience um for everybody for the district as a whole like the nice lady also mentioned we are taking measures that are you know that are unreal just to continue board business so I would like to see the saga end soon um and hopefully before my term ends. But again, congratulations to the newly elected board members and happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Hope you get to spend good quality time with family. Thank you. >> I I you took my thunder, too. I was going to congratulate u Miss Ratner for winning her second term with us. >> Only like four more to go to catch up, right? >> Three more years.

098And then also Miss Forest is in the audience. uh congratulate her. She will be joining us in January. And Mr. Marazine, I don't think he's here this evening. Congratulations to you also. Uh we're looking forward to the two new board members and having our trusty sidekick with us. Um our legislative person who knows everything from soup to nuts and um glad you're back with us, Kate. Thank you. >> And um looking forward to have spending the time with you again. So, and >> I get to go next because I can show you again. Miss Bora stole my thunder. Like, I have it typed up right over here. But >> and I had it next to my notes, but I I jumped to something else. So, go ahead. >> Um, so really quick, I guess I'll

099start with that. I did want to say congratulations both to Eric and to Vanessa um on their successful elections and I look forward to working um with both of them in January. I also did want to just take a moment to thank Arcelon and Roshni and Somaya for running as well. um for their willingness to serve and all the ideas and conversations that we had like everyone up here knows it's really hard running for office not just on you but your entire family um so I did just want to also acknowledge um them for putting themselves out there um and then just really quick a couple things I had attended the haunted high school and you know I won't go too much on it but like it's honestly if you haven't gone try to go

100next year Um, it's one of the best events I think our district has. Um, I know I think I I had seen Miss Horse there actually as well. Um, you know, and it's just the kids, the high school kids do such a great job interacting with our younger students. U Mrs. C, I think I saw you in the hallway. Um, you know, so we we definitely, you know, they can probably attest to it as well. It's just a great event. Um, I also happened to see the fall high school musical, um, which was called Winner, and it definitely was in fact a winner. Um, I believe it was a worldwide premiere of the musical, like so it has not been done before, which was really cool. Um, because they had to not necessarily look at

101what other people have done in the past and they did a great job with it. So, congrats to them. Um, workshop, I know that there were a few of us that had attended. um is definitely very beneficial. I won't go too much into it. I did like bring the stuff that I when after I went through and got rid of the stuff I didn't really need to look through. I kept this stuff here and there's a lot of really good information that we can go through. There's stuff about boards and diligent and all that. And there were some really good workshops. I actually attended Mr. Weiss's workshop. Um >> I'll vouch for you. You were there. >> He and Mr. Bush, they're like a a comedy duo. So if you get a chance to go

102to that, that was fantastic. Um, and then I just, you know, want to say, and like this is something I think we've, you know, I've been saying, I'm sure, and we've all said at some point, I have to hope at one point our community can unite and work together. And it's I'm not like Mr. Zikner said it, and I'll say it about myself. I am not a perfect person, and I'll never say I am. Um, but the more that we can try to work towards the same common goals, the more successful we'll be. You know, I will say this is happening in other towns, too. There's a lot of divisiveness on a lot of board of eds. You know, I I watch some of the meetings and I guess it's that misery loves company type

103feeling. I don't know. But, um, you know, definitely agree like as much as we can try to limit our discourse. That would be wonderful. and while you know we're here on the board of ed just try to focus on the goals that we have because we have some really big goals that we want to accomplish. So you know hopefully we can all move towards that. >> Thank you. I know that's one of your special sayings and it's great to keep reiterating it. I I just want to mention um the duo that you said was Khan and what was the other person's name? I'm sorry. >> Thank you. I read on Facebook that whatever was left in their um chest for um running, they donated it to the Ed Foundation and I think it was over

104$600. >> $637. >> Yeah. And I thought that was wonderful when I saw that displayed on there's something good on Facebook and it was great that they donated their rest of their money they had to the Ed Foundation which is a great great thing. So I wanted to give them uh a heads up and thank them very much personally for that. Um for Mr. Ryback, I'm sure Steve appreciates it. >> Could I add a comment uh Mr. Pain? So to your point, Mr. Khan, Mrs. Samra, and Mrs. Shaw, and the other three candidates, I have to say that Monroe has seen some very difficult voted elections. This was my favorite year. We had candidates that were running for cause that were aligned together, were encouraging each other and it was very heartwarming to see that

105port of ed election and um my gratitude to the other three who were not here. I hope they will continue to try and hopefully find a seat here. Um sometimes when there are so many good choices, it you know it it does become hard for the community members. But um thank you to all of you for running such a studentworthy campaign. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good comments. Anyone else have any comments? Any board members dur at this point? >> Oh yes. Go right ahead. >> Yeah. So the concern I want to bring up is the idea of option two currently offered at Monroe Township High School for seniors which allows seniors to engage in physical activities outside of school. for example, go to the gym, uh, work out at home or participate in recreational

106sports instead of taking a designated class of physical education. So, they would go outside, not take the gym class. The recent announcement regarding the removal of option two has created many concerns throughout the student body. And as a as their representative, I find it crucial that I share their opinions on this. from what I've received um from students regarding we have a Google form so they fill out they can contact me about that or Siona about that and even my class president has reached out saying a lot of students want this to be addressed. So I feel that um the board of education look really deeply into this concern because by the time students start their physical education block half of the period is literally gone. So you only have about 45 minutes and this

107happens every two days. So I feel like 45 minutes is not a lot of time of phys physical education in two days. So this raises the question would it not be beneficial for students to work out at home or go to the gym to participate in physical activity which they actually want to do. And this is because a student might like want to gain muscle their senior year they're going into college but I know they could take um strength and conditioning but if they want to do cardio then it's different. It's like students might want to align their personal goals instead of doing what the gym classes do. So, I want the board to deeply consider the um opinion which my students have put forward to keep option two >> in the school district. >>

108So, option two isn't going anywhere. >> It's staying. >> Yeah. As far as as far as what I've been told. So, if you want to touch base with me and see what you've been >> Oh, sorry. Sorry. >> See see what you've been >> information you've been gathering. Uh I know when we have deadlines about engaging in option two and when you hit a certain deadline, >> say it's a more computer deadline, we have to put a cut off on it and then we revisited at certain times during the year. >> Maybe there's >> some confusion about that. >> But option two is not going anywhere. >> It's only for seniors though. >> Yeah, it is only for seniors. Yep. >> Yep. But if you want to touch base, we can you you and me

109or I can come over, Dr. Higgins, the three of us, whatever, that's fine. But option 2 is not changing. Um, so we just want to maybe get some clarity as to where you guys are hearing information from and it I suspect maybe it's one of those cut off deadlines so then we can kind of move forward with scheduling the rest of the kids that are here, you know, that aren't doing option two and things. So, >> but what you might want to do though is let your friends know that you successfully argued for it >> and that the board kept it. >> Give them a hand. Very, very good. >> Thank you. >> Great student rep. Yes. >> Yes. >> We we appreciate all your efforts. >> Thank you. >> Um I just want another

110comment. We have stu students back there who are videotaping our meetings. >> So I want to thank them for uh volunteering volunteering their time to come here and videotape our meetings along with our regular um IT people. So thank you for your time and volunteering with us. Okay. Um public forum public forum. Anybody wishing to speak can please get up and speak at this time. My name is Vanessa Forest, Monro Township. Um, first I would like to thank everyone who helped me get elected, people who voted for me. A lot of people, you know, just turned out and helped me out a lot and um, volunteered. It was it was amazing. It really was. I just want to thank everybody who you know helped me in any way and okay so um I have been

111contacted by members of the public that have some questions that I wasn't able to answer. So um what is it? Okay, some concerning process. Okay. What is the process or what organization should be contacted when a member of the school board uses language that a member of the public feels to be vulgar, offensive, or maybe hate speech? How is an ethics complaint filed? Also, what are the consequences of an ethics complaint when it is determined to be valid? So unfortunately that's not information that I can provide um to you. Uh I would suggest that to the extent you have questions about the school ethics act, the code of ethics for schoolboard members and um the jurisdiction and purview of the school ethics commission. I would encourage you to look up on the school ethics commission.

112you just Google New Jersey School Ethics Commission. They will have um a lot of information that you'll be able to look through um that I think will answer some of the questions that you posed. >> So that's the process. You have to go online and >> uh I I would I would I would strongly suggest that um that you visit that site because there's going to be a lot of information there that's going to >> Okay. So they should go to that site and ask. Okay. So then the second was okay. So what are um if so there are there consequences if u if it's found to be valid? >> Um I'm going to speak generally because I'm not >> that's what I'm saying. This is a general >> Yeah. I I don't want to

113address any specific issue. >> No, I'm not doing that. I'm asking >> I appreciate that. Um so let let me say this. Generally speaking, the school ethics commission is the only body that can um I'll call it make any decisions or judgments with regard to the school ethics act and the code of ethics for schoolboard members. >> The school ethics act um or I should say the school ethics commission is empowered to issue different types of discipline. The discipline that the school ethics commission can issue is uh going from least to greatest. it would be a reprimand, um, a censure, a suspension, and a removal. So, those are the the the the type of remedies that the or I should say the type of decisions that the school ethics commission can issue. Um, other than

114that, uh, you know, to the extent that I I really don't want to provide public legal advice. So, >> no, no, but that's what I'm saying. like they didn't even know like where to start like what is the process that's why generally >> the place to start would be the do the New Jersey department of education's website there's tons of stuff >> and then all right so is it different if there are multiple instances for the same board member >> I I really can't I can't >> but but it could it you it's just yeah okay could be might not be all right thank you I appreciate it thank you >> all right thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to speak this evening. >> Good evening again, Bob Valentine Monroe. Um, a question

115or request. Um, with the recent upgrades you've been able to make to the payroll system, I'm curious. Each month in the report, you present a staff count, like a body count of everyone in the district. Uh, would it be possible to add a column to that table with the number of full-time equivalents? That'd be far more meaningful from a resource management point of view because then it could it converts everybody to a full-time standard. It's much easier to understand resourcing when you have a commonality of basis of measurement. Uh number of steps is usually more an HR management tool whereas FTS is more a financial management tool. So I'm hoping maybe you could consider putting that in the packet. It would be it would be helpful. And my second comment would be um last year

116um there's a lot of attention effort put in to try to give us all a sense of where we were financially in terms of the budget and potential increases next year. Uh obviously has taken up more input with the fin with the benefits discussions you're having. I'm just curious if you think you'll be able to give us any kind of preview where we're headed uh prior to March. Thank you. Miss Almond, did you >> um Dr. Layman? Dr. >> Dr. Layman. >> Yeah, sure. I mean, we're we're already in the budget process as we typically are. And uh you know, one of the things we're doing is we're moving forward in the budget process with the integration of full day. So, um you know, health benefits, they just went through an open enrollment. So, those

117numbers will be calculated probably right after the new year. we'll get the the updated information because they're also going to go through a open enrollment in in the month of December with the change of carriers. So those numbers will start coming together, you know, right after the new year and um you know that is a huge huge piece in terms of our financial outlook. >> And one other question just quickly um I kind of touched on it briefly when we went over the budget back in March. Um I have no doubt that a lot of effort is put in to look at everything and measure and try to find whatever savings can be had. The question I have is and I don't know what is is available to you but trying to look at cost

118from for the district compared to other districts in the area how much we spend on education compared to say in Alipan or East Brunswick or you know I don't know what kind of data is available now but you know over the years you've you've talked and I I don't challenge you. I know the efforts being put in to do everything possible, but try as a way of checking that, corroborating that. Um, being able to look at some of your neighbors to see how you stack up with them would provide some additional assurance for yourselves that you know from a resource expendure expenditure point of view, you're in law. >> Yeah. So there is a tool available um it's actually a public tool the taxpayer guide for education educational spending and uh that is a district

119every district in the state is basically uh measured on a standard tool so similar categories similar subcategories um that data it's usually trailing data uh so it's not something that's in live or real time >> um and then uh you you definitely see variables between districts related to collective bargaining agreements so staffing costs and things like that but it's certainly you know, something that we consider ourselves, you know, when we look at a big picture. Um because, you know, if we're buying expense, you know, we're buying supplies for certain courses and things, those would be more consistent expenditures that you would see. Um but the taxpayer guide for educational spending subs it out by staffing costs per pupil costs. Um it's really a great tool. Um, and again, it's it's usually at least a year

120behind, unfortunately, but that's just aggregated data in the timeline, >> but it'll have every district in New Jersey, so you can, you know, figure out what's an apple and compare it to this apple. >> Yeah, because that I mean, that's just a valuable tool for the public and for yourselves to say, all right, are we really doing everything we can? How do we stack up? So, that's why I wanted to ask that question that that's a great tool. I I'll personally look into a little more, but I'm glad to hear that's something that you're taking into account as you go through the budget. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments and questions. Anyone else wishing to speak? >> Good evening again. Uh Chrissy Scurby, Monroe Township. Um I wasn't here at the beginning of

121the meeting. Um and I know uh previous speaker mentioned the doctrine of necessity. Was that um invoked again this evening? Yes. >> Could you um share what line item that referred to for voting? >> Uh we were discussing personnel litigation and to receive attorney client advice. >> So was it invoked only for that discussion? >> Uh for discussion related to Dr. Chanley as it's listed out in the complete resolution that we read into the record. >> Okay. So it was only for the discussion, not for voting on any items. >> We did not vote in executive session. Did you vote in the public on any items that you invoked the doctrine of necessity for? Okay, that's what I wanted to know. >> No, not not to my knowledge. There was nothing on the agenda related

122to Dr. Chanley from my knowledge. >> Okay. And I just want to say, you know, there is so much going on in our district. To sit here and argue with fellow board members is not productive. We heard Miss Allen say she has no idea how this drastic rise in the premiums is going to affect the budget, but there's no talk about what that's going to mean. You You sit here and continuously want to fight with each other. The board president's report is to disparage a board member. It It's really sad. And what you failed to do, Mr. Zikner, was read the comment publicly posted by Mr. Tfano. And this is what he wrote. Immediately upon learning that a typo in a message I sent to Carol completely changed what I meant to say, I immediately

123reached out to her directly to explain myself and make it clear that it was an honest mistake. I would never wish something like that on any woman. Anyone who knows me truly knows and understands that without question. To those choosing to twist my words or continue to try to damage my reputation, your opinions hold no weight with me. To Miss Dagnases, I am truly sorry if my words caused you any discomfort. That was never my intention and I deeply regret the misunderstanding and I apologize. That was posted publicly. You might want to go back and read that as well. When you come here to this board meeting and you sit at that table, your focus should be on the students of this district and our staff and how you could make a difference in the

124lives of children, not how you could come here and use your seat as an elected official to continue to disparage people. I really hope that you will take a look at yourself, Mr. Zikner, and why you're sitting here on the board. Because you are here to represent the students and the staff of Monroe Township. You were here to make decisions that impact children's lives and what you did here tonight was a disgrace. Thank you. >> Anyone else wishing to speak this evening? >> Someone make a motion to close the meeting. >> Like to make a motion to close. >> Second. >> Is there a second? Miss Bora. All those in favor? >> I opposed. Hi. You saying have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone >> and thank you for always being here. >> Thanksgiving. >> Yes.