001good evening the meeting of the Monroe Township Board of Education will come to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge aliance to the flag flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all I should have before we get into our meeting I know that all of us were affected last Friday by the horrific events in New Town Connecticut where 20 beautiful young children and six of our colleagues lost their lives in an unimaginable way so at this time I'd like to have a moment of silence and Remembrance thank you may we have a roll call Mr Gorski Mrs Co Pono here Mr cherella miss antelis here Mr Braverman here Mr calman here Mr Klein here
002Mr lirry here Mr Master here Mr tesler here Mr Brony here board president you have a quarum thank you in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey open public meetings law the Monro Township Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place thereof posted December 14 2012 one at all schools two home News Tribune three cranberry press and four filed with the clerk of the municipality okay um at this time um this evening we have an opportunity to honor three of our board members who have decided not to run for another term on the board um they will be leaving us and this will be their last night on the board and I'm not sure that we've ever lost three never lost or we
003haven't lost them we know where they are um but that they back I I don't don't doubt that I'm not sure that this has ever occurred before so um we'd like to honor them tonight do you want can I get in the FL or sure okay up the FL I'm always first last in first out that's true Mr Klein is completing his first term on the board and it's um been an interesting time the last three years I know that um there are no words to describe you and what we've gone through but we'll try I know you've had a difficult personal time during the last three years so we appreciate all that you've done for us you've always made our meetings very interesting and I think if there's one thing I could say about
004you is that you've never stopped fighting to get our fair share of money from the state and will not stop I'm I'm pretty sure that this is not the end of Mr Mar Klein and you've written more letters than anybody I know so I appreciate that so the plaque reads presented to Mr Mark Klein in sincere appreciation for dedicated service to the students and schools of Monroe Township while serving as a board member of the Monroe Township Board of Education from 2009 2012 it has been an honor thank you thank you and if you'd like to speak you've got three minutes I'm changing that in the motion 10 minutes yeah okay though I'm only on the board three years I tried to make an impact I tried to represent not only the students and the
005parents but also the taxpayers and though I did not complete what I wanted to complete I will continue on as a resident the reason why I did not run is my wife passed away in May and I didn't know how I could handle it but I'm not ruling out running again next year so I may be gone at the table here but this coming year I'll be out where all of you are fighting for our students our parents and the taxpayers to get our fair share and I just thank everybody on the board in the administration people in the main office for all the backing that I've gotten all the help I've Gotten and the friendships that I made and as far as uh Miss kapovich she's the best she's the only president that I
006know of since I've been on a board that has enough guts to stand up for what is right and what should be corrected and I wish you all the luck in the world I will be here to support you and anybody else on the board and I just thank everybody thank you doc thank you Mr L I'll be there in a moment okay we'll wait Mr L is completing his third term on the board he's been with us uh nine years and when we first met John he was proposing that we build the new High School in the parking lot of the old high school we knew we were in for a lot of trouble he has sat on most of our committees and has been the chair of the finance committee for the past
007few years and has done an exceptional job for Monroe making sure that our money is in the right place doing the right thing and helping out our taxpayers he was our representative to the middle sex County Regional ed Service Commission and he is a history buff and if Mr cherella was here and I know he's not um it is because of John that Mr chel and I received our history degrees while we were negotiating District contracts so we appreciate that and John we wish you the best and you definitely will be missed oh and whoever build on what Mark said everything Mark said I fully Endor and uh I'll be out there and you know who knows well your plaque reads the same presented to Mr John Larry and sincere appreciation for dedicated service to
008the students and schools of Monroe Township while serving as a board member of the Monroe Township Board of education from 2003 to to 2012 and if I had an opportunity to make an inscription it would say to one of the brightest men I've ever met help thank you very [Music] [Applause] much as many of you know uh I broke my hip in uh March so that precluded doing any election heing but as bark said we'll be out there and we'll be representing a uh both the students the taxpayers and what we think is the right thing to do and I think Mark and I have no fears about saying what we think is the right thing to do and thank you I want to again say Kathy has been a wonderful wonderful leader she showed
009great fortitude when we were in negotiations I mean I'm a hotthead I make no bones about it you have seen me do that on television on numerous occasions she has a moderating influence that keeps things on a steady even Keel and thank you very much and uh we'll miss you definitely and it's it's been a great experience thank you very very much thank you and this is the last one we have tonight and probably the hardest uh Patrice [Applause] we're going to cry um Patrice has been a the representative from James Jamesburg Board of Education according to um the the law we are sending receiving District Jamesburg sends their their students to Monro to the high school we accept them and we have a representative from Jamesburg so Patrice is completing her 16th year as
010the Jamesburg representative and while it's a remarkable service in it of itself she's also completing 17 years on the Jamesburg Board of Education so whatever she's done on Monroe whatever she's um committee she's been on and the help that she's given us she's also been giving it to Jamesburg at the same time so that really is remarkable um she has sat on and chaired our committees she has supported the new high school and she was instrumental in coordinating our Ka curriculum with Jamesburg so that their students would be on the same page with Monroe students as they entered our high school as friend freshman when when their Jamesburg students arrive in Monroe they are not Jamesburg students and Monroe students but they're all Monroe tanip High School students and that's something that Patrice truly believes
011in and she definitely will be missed here she's not only been a colleague on her aard but I consider her one of my good friends Patrice your pla reads this same um the only difference is the term uh presented to Patrice Fon in sincere appreciation for dedicated service to the students and schools of Monroe Township while serving as a Jamesburg representative to Monroe Township Board of Education from 1996 to 2012 and you have been a very nice balance to this board very much thank you thank [Applause] you I had to write mine down I would never get through it and I get to speak a little longer than Mark and John because I've been here way longer than I would like to thank the Monro board of education for this amazing experience when I became
012the rep in 1996 the administration at the time was not of the mindset that there should be a shared effort between the two districts to exist in a respectable amicable existence even though Jamesburg had already been attending Monroe for 17 years this mentality trickled down to staff and board members as the administration changed so did the mentality I would like to commend Dr Ralph Ferry and Dr Chris tanken along with Mr Wayne holiday for having the vision to create a positive environment which has continued with Dr Hamilton Dr Gorman and Mike Gorski I've had many firsts on this board my first friend was Marv Braverman and Carol Harring who I do see sitting in the audience tonight Kathy calipo gave me my first chairperson title as head of curriculum Luke Hoffman gave me the honor
013of speaking at my first graduation high school graduation my son Brian followed by Kathy allowing me the tradition to speak at Caroline's graduation I've sat through countless interviews over the years some that directly enrich my children's lives such as maretta ruell Mr Rob Goodall the principal Bonnie Burke to name a few others that have benefited the K TOA program greatly such as Dr Lynn Barbieri Miss Sher Chanley and as recent as Patty Densmore just tonight we talked about the administrators athletic directors staff staff and board members that have come and gone in my tenure as a parent I am forever grateful for the education my children received while here at the high school I could never thank all of them for their endless support and dedication to my children the child study team alone consisting
014of maretta Irene Bara Erica fredman Steve McKenzie Miss pil and the entire special ed staff finally I thank my husband Tom for his support and my kids Chris Bryan and Caroline who have suffered through years of me running out the door at dinner time and my dearest friends Sher and Van steinard who are also here tonight Sher was the reason I joined the Board of Education initially for her dear dedication to the children of Jamesburg in light of recent events in New Town Connecticut our children are our most precious and protected commodity and I thank you for the opportunity to serve so many of them [Applause] [Music] we also have a plaque this evening for Kathy Leonard whom I do not see here so Kathy if you're here just let me know um and her
015plaque reads the same presented to Kathy Leonard and still in sincere appreciation for dedicated service to the students in schools of Monroe Township while serving as a board member of the mono tangent Board of Education from 1996 through 2011 and I'm I'm just going to open this up to the board in case they have any comments that they would like to make on our three board members who are leaving because they they've had a a lot of service nobody Mr Klein I just want to make a motion to uh extend the public portion being that I'm going to be a resident now from 3 minutes to 10 minutes can't do that nobody second it so we'll go on with the discuss huh you want to discuss nobody seconded no discussion don't you do I was
016just kidding okay at this time we are going to number six on the agenda the 2012 Henry Rickles Holocaust Memorial committee essay writing contest and I'm going to turn this over to miss analis thank you the mission of the Henry rickless Holocaust Memorial committee is to sustain the memory of the Holocaust and to Foster education and the lessons learned from the Holocaust the committee sends Holocaust Survivors into schools to relate their eyewitness experience to students the Henry rickless Holocaust Memorial committee is committed to spreading the message of Tolerance and understanding amongst all people every year the committee donates money to the Monroe Township Library to purchase books about the Holocaust also sponsor a Monroe Township Library program and the annual yamas showa Memorial to remember and honor the murdered 6 million Jews another program and
017one of my favorites is the annual Monroe Township High School student essay program at this time I would like to introduce Mr David Rothman chairman of the essay committee [Music] pleas I I also wrote my notes down so lest I forget first of all good evening Dr Hamilton board members evening um faculty students members of my committee the Henry rickus memor uh Holocaust Memorial committee ran another essay contest this past June uh we had two of our three survivors in fact sa Lori one of them is here this evening they addressed your freshman class and told their life stories uh afterwards they took questions from the audience uh details about it and then the students were made an offer as they've been made in all the years years past here are four questions and the
018questions are what would you do if you came face to face uh with the Holocaust Den another one could the Holocaust happen again and could it happen here in the US have you shared what you heard from these eyewitnesses uh with your family or friends and what was their response and lastly why is it important to learn about the Holocaust the top essays and in this case there are 12 of them that you'll hear about uh would receive a gift certificate it was the first week in June normally we are able to pull this together uh a few weeks earlier it turned out to be that time oh excuse me I did not to mention Bonnie Burke and also Matt D philippus in the back they run this so well they make it seamless for
019us great jobs guys superb so back to the story last year when I addressed you I told you we had our highest essay contest ever it was 160 this year it's now into June two weeks they've got finals they're going to go off and do whatever they're doing this summer my colleague Harold who's on my committee said to me you know we probably should have done this in April we're not going to get much of a turnout we received 194 essays an alltime record is what was received from your freshman class they did an outstanding job with that we reviewed it um we reviewed all the essays 194 of them we only looked at the ones that were in a scale of 1 to five and we had five different reviewers judging it 4.5 or
020higher just to be concerned for the awards then we sat around and reviewed them and called it down further down to 12 um we put put a lot of time in and I want to tell you that these essays are just outstanding Harold is going to hand out the awards to all 12 of them I'm just going to give you a sampling of two of the essays and I made sure they were here today I'm going to call up first Jason andreadis [Applause] [Music] Jason now he's going to give you his essay of what would you do if you came face to face with a dener Jason um as a freshman at mon Township High School I attended assembly on June 7th 2012 where two Holocaust Survivors shared their experience with over 300 usually Rowdy
021ninth graders I was amazed at how quiet the room got you could hear a pin drop as the survivors told their stories what they told us was shocking and hard to believe even more shock shocking is that there PE there are people who denied the Holocaust ever happened if I ever came face to face with someone who claims that the Holocaust did not take place I would Enlighten them with the facts that cannot be denied first of all there are countless photographs and film footage taken during The Liberation many soldiers and other people interested in history recorded the events in great de detail not to mention the survivors Recollections there's an abundance of Visual Evidence that still shocks us today the actual physical remains of the con concentration camps cannot be watch away I would
022recommend that the Skeptics take a trip to the what is left of these hell camps they could travel to Poland and walk the grounds of owitz where the largest number of European Jews were killed in the gas Chambers another place arti suggest their visit would be Burgen Bell in in Germany where Anne Frank died troly before World War II ended there are many other Concentra and camps that the non-believers should visit which would leave them speechless in addition I would direct them to read some very impressionable books about the Holocaust they should read about the nberg trials that were a series of military tribunals of war crimes unfortunately Hitler was never brought to Justice because he committed suicide i' would also recommend that they read the countless eyewitness accounts of the Brave survivors and victims
023of the Holocaust starting with Anne Franks the dire of a young girl there are so many moving stories that would touch any Den's heart if that does not do it a visit to the the Holocaust museum in Washington Washington DC would be another suggestion my final comment to anyone who states that the Holocaust did not take place would be to quote Eli weissel a holocaust Survivor himself Mr weissel said to forget the dead would be aen to killing them a second time there would be nothing else I could add to his words thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you nothing else he could add to those words that just when you're reading 194 you go through them quick that stopped me the next person up and this person addressed the question of why is it important to
024learn about the Holocaust I call upon Yasmin abbid please come [Applause] up the Holocaust is something I learned about every year since I was in the fourth grade and every year I learned something new about it it never seems that I'm being retaught anything I think it is extremely important for students both older and younger to learn about the Holocaust because it is a reminder that anything even something you think might be impossible can happen it proves that one person if not stopped in their tracks can make a huge tragic impact on the world there is no such thing as a perfect world I remember the first time I Leed I learned about the Holocaust I was mindblown and shocked at 10 years old I couldn't understand why someone would want to to do such
025a thing to innocent people and honestly made me look at the world differently and appreciate that here in the United States we don't have a dictatorship or a mean control crazy dictator who blames the country's problems on a specific targeted group of people I felt so sorry for the Jews Jewish people and read many books both fiction and non-fiction on Holocaust Survivors and with my fifth grade teacher we donated that year to an organization that researched Holocaust Survivors and helped them financially with my with my fifth grade teacher before 2006 I thought the world we lived in was a perfect place and that everyone was good at heart I found sympathy for everyone and anything when I watched The Diary of Anne Frank film I saw a visual of what hiding Jews was like and
026began to develop hatred for the Nazis and began viewing the world with a new set of eyes year after year when we continued to learn about the Holocaust I realized that hating the Nazis wasn't going to help anything but maybe raising awareness would both make people realize that something like this can happen to anyone at any time and to also prevent it from ever happening happening again when you learn about the Holocaust it shouldn't be seen as a repeating procedure but a process of digging deeper in what we are learning personally I feel like every book assembly or movie I watched about the Holocaust made it seem more real and mor realistic I would never want anything like that tragic I would never want anything like that tragic event to happen to anyone anywhere at
027any time the Holocaust is a perfect example in the fact that it proves that we don't live in what one might call Utopia or the perfect ideal place to live but if we were all to learn about this event in history during the 1930s and 1940s we can all work together to prevent any type of event like it to ever happen again for centuries to [Music] [Applause] come and there are 10 more that are just as excellent I'm calling up uh my colleague Harold please come up and we have the awards for the award WI winners Harold thank you okay I'm going to call out the 12 winners for the 2012 essay contest uh in not in alphabetical order or any order uh Jason [Applause] Andreas Jacqueline B [Applause] congratulations thank you s Pachi s
028is at a wrestling contest and his mom is here to accept for him you Yasmin Abbott [Applause] congratulations Chris Christa tomasulo [Applause] tomasulo Sher Bo [Applause] un Max [Applause] OG that sound do that sound right Neil [Applause] Patel Carolyn [Applause] Earl Sharia [Applause] tabali congratulations Nan Sha [Applause] congratulations [Applause] Nicole congratulations to the board Dr Hamilton I'd like to present the 2012 Holocaust ESS contest win thank you very much I know that um today earlier today Miss anelis had sent us the um a copy of all 12 of the essays that were Award winners and if you haven't had a chance to read all of them or some of them they are very moving and um just we have great kids here and I'd like to also thank Amy for her leadership in the Henry
029rickless Holocaust Memorial committee um I know I've I've turned U Channel 28 on many times and there's Amy interviewing Holocaust Survivors and it's really important to keep getting these stories on tape so what you're doing has been a benefit to Monroe and our students so thank you very much thank you it's been an honor believe me at this time we will go to our student board members reports student board member um good evening ladies and gentlemen my name is Franchesca spranza the junior class Board of Ed Board of Education representative the following events took place this month SATs took place in Mt M mths on December 1st parent teacher conferences were on December 4th and December 6th there were half days on December 5th and December 7th um also last week on December 13th a
030wonderful winter chorus concert took place December 21st is a half day and school will be closed for winter break from December 24th to January 1st thank you thank you thank you next our public forum anyone from the public wishing to speak to the agenda please come to the microphone and state your name and address for the record Donna Ritner Renaissance at Monroe is the 20134 school budget going to come in below at or above cap Mr Cory would would you like to answer that [Music] y I'm going to steal a little bit of the Thunder from the finance uh committee reports which are going to uh come at the end of the meeting but yester there was a finance committee meeting um which followed a special board meeting on the development of a budget philosophy
031and as pertaining to the 2013 budget um bear with me as I give you some of the variables that will affect the answer that I'll conclude with first one of the revenue sources is excess Surplus which is unexpended Appropriations from two years prior that figure is reduced by $1.4 million compared to last year so the 1314 budget is going to be constricted by this excess Surplus depletion which was uh allocated to Applegarth School Renovations above what was budgeted number two there is a new instructional equipment lease that's $430,000 where the payment is due next year in 1314 additionally we have three buses 54 passenger buses and two vans that according to the State's schedule must be replaced because of their age the annual lease payment for that is about $100,000 for the budget of 1314
032and most importantly there's an estimated 225 new students for the 2013 2014 school year at an average cost per pupil which is documented in our caffer comprehensive annual financial report and also the budget documents from last year the average cost per pupil for this district is about $5,250 so the cost that the district is going to Ur to educate those 225 students is above $3.1 million all of these variables um taken into consideration on next year's budget really require in administration's recommendation that the district consider going to cap now the tax levy cap by going to cap is approximately 1.8 million of additional tax levy to be raised that does not cover even half of these extra costs that I've explained before so they will have to be adjustments made to existing programs and services
033to in order to accommodate that another budget priority for next year is some of the roofs throughout the district that have been neglected for over a decade more buildings in this District need roof attention immediately than have roofs under warranty I have a picture here of what was uh passed around at the finance committee meeting and also the building grounds Transportation committee meeting identifying pictures of the Monroe Township Middle School roof both the classroom wing and also the section above the morasco Performing Arts Center it looks like when my kids used to build a Lego house and put a roof of different colored shingles all throughout due to the patchwork it's not one consistent color throughout the mon the um classroom Wing is leaking when we used to have to have board meetings in that
034room it was accompanied by buckets and tarps over the library books so the board of education has addressed this um on an installment basis in the 1314 budget by um wishing to address the Monroe Township middle school classroom Wing roof replacement project for a cost of about one $1.25 million I'd like to conclude by saying that these roof Replacements we did one last year at Brookside School 13 14 we're doing another one here most School districts cannot afford to do these projects within the general fund budget because of the 2% tax levy cap it simply can't fit with inflation and everything else going on especially student growth so it's taken some extraordinary cuts and reductions to the existing budgets in order to accommodate these roving projects and it avoids a much more expensive Bond financing
035program to um address them in aggregate is there anyone else from the public sh arm min9 Nathaniel Street um first I'd like to take a moment to uh thank Mr Klein for his dedicated service it's been very colorful and I appreciate you bringing a lot of information to the floor well at least he deliberates the inform and and disseminates information to the public so thank you so much Mr Braverman congratulations on your reelection to the board and I hope you keep up the good work and congratulations to Mr proso and Mr poy and I know it it has to do with it has to do with the we we're talking about it um the agenda sorry uh congratulations Mr presos and Mr Po on their election to the board of education and thank you in
036advance for the hours you'll be expending on behalf of the children and the residents of Monroe um and I'd also like to thank the wonderful children who put beautiful words together for a very very horrible event and I hope we all learned from that constantly um what I would like to also say uh because everything on the agenda has to do with my next statement I would like for it to I I appeal to you to have it in its entirety in the minutes um the Monro Township Schools system is an educational institution where much lip service is given to moral and just behavior and where we claim to educate and put our children's first next month we you will be electing a new board President and Vice President I implore you to act by
037example not in self-interest we are educating the children and we expect them to follow zero tolerance for breaking the rules but here at this institution and and this board we sometimes have seen the rules that were interpreted to accommodate members where instead a zero tolerance should have been the standard again I implore you to elect a board president and vice president who is not encumbered by having a full-time or part-time salaried family member employed by the school district often those members of this board have had to recuse themselves on important financial and policy issues I believe it is necessary to elect the board president and vice president who could lead us on all issues and not have to decide whether to recuse themselves from a leadership role please make an ethical choice and elect a
038board president and vice president who do not have family members working for the school district thank you thank you the time is there anyone else from the public who wishes to speak good evening I'm Doug poy for tamarak Road I have uh several specific questions pertaining to the agenda under board action item G uh it's indicated that there is a student being placed in uh UMD MJ uh beginning basically around the beginning of October uh I know you can't disclose the nature uh nor the the name of the student but uh looking at the price that we're paying per month uh I'm just wondering when the board uh places a student in uh a facility of that nature uh on the average how long is that student in that facility and this is just for
039informational purposes for for the public I'm not questioning it it but when you're looking at $5,500 a month I I think the public should be aware that we do have some students in some very unusual circumstances and that is uh far and above the $1 15, $300 per year to educate that student so do we have any idea what the anticipated duration would be for that student or on the average how long those students are in those facilities I'm hesitant to answer that because um anything that may allude to the age of the student um because certain students depending on their classific well students who are classified are eligible for Education until they're 21 years old um so I'm going to try to answer your question as accurately as I can without breaching making causing
040any breaches um it varies depending on the circumstances the condition and whether or not the student's handicapping condition can be um reversed as a result of being in these specialized programs but we do have some youngsters that enter our program um as early as kindergarten and need these services and they will require those kinds of services until they age out at 21 there are other students who enter these specialized programs and they are able to be remediated to a point where they are able to be educated within our district which would then would meet the definition of lease restrictive or until we are able to create a program in District so I know that's a long winded answer that doesn't really answer your question um but it is there is quite a Continuum uh and
041and I I assume that UMD MJ is a hospital cting that is correct a therapy either a medical or the either medically or therapeutically necessary but because it is a hospital setting does the state give the board any additional assistance with the cost of that student being placed there or is there any type of insurance from the federal government or elsewhere that would help with that cost no to your second question um there are occasions where we can be able to offset some of that tuition through Ida grants thank you Mr bski there's also a semi- program where we could apply for Medicaid re Medicare reimbursement if the if the child's eligible and uh that that's Federal money that we apply for we we annually receive about $40,000 under the semi program Mr ly I
042speak with a fair degree of proficiency I spent seven years on the Monroe I mean the middle sex Regional Educational Service Commission and I was the chair of the finance committee there also and uh we not only looked at the 25 school districts of uh middl Tex County we had a reach that went way beyond that it involved at least 50 other school districts and we also looked at what were the other providers for special education and it's a tremendous thing if you go to Jan handlan up in ruter is $100,000 per year plus Transportation if you go to academy Learning Center and I'm talking slightly dated numbers uh because I had to uh retire because I turned in my driver's license uh the it's about 33,000 per year at the Academy Learning Center so
043you can see uh a and when we do it inhouse right here and we do have very very good programs it is significantly less than even Academy Learning Center depending on the degree of involvement of the student and the other thing you have to remember about this Doug in the state of New Jersey the parents are given enormous discretion we are in the Third Federal Circuit Court which bends over back backwards for parents administrative law judges in the state of New Jersey again bend over backwards so if a parent comes in and protests they're going to get a hearing and they're going to get a very favorable hearing more open than not so uh we have attorneys we have professionals and they work very diligently to come to some amicable solution but they can be
044costly if a person says Hey I want to go to Jan handlan and they stick to their guns I've got a good lawyer you're writing a check for $100,000 a year plus Transportation on top of that thank you Mr ly uh items I and J um also in the board action part of the agenda uh it refers to um a settlement being made um my question is and I know once again you can't reveal the nature of the individuals but uh is it a financial settlement and if so uh to what extent uh is that and uh is that settlement paid for from uh uh through insurance or is it having to come directly out of board funds you want to answer that I can answer it okay Hamilton both of these uh item J
045was a very lengthy litigation um that went before the administrative La law judge and that was the decision of of the Court it does have a monetary both of these matters actually have a monetary settlement associated with it because it will result in services that will be required to be provided outside of the district and so the cost of that will come directly out of board funds not from any kind of insurance that is correct okay thank you uh and under the business administrators report uh there are several items uh b f and g uh they all refer to uh the payment of bills related to uh the new high school bonds that we've had at various times you know uh my question is uh why are these funds still being expended and how much
046longer do we anticipate that will happen because those are coming from unspent Bond money if I'm not mistaken Mr gski even though the facility is completed there are still um some areas that need address some items of repair or modification are still going on some close out with the contractors is usually a reason why you still see some of these item on here uh Mr T does a a very safe job of holding retainage on all of the contracts so that um until everything on his punch list is satisfied um he doesn't pay until in full satisfaction on the money's owed so so um you know this is not unusual to have payments going on these Bond accounts this long plus certain administrative costs are paid from the bond account such as the time spent
047auditing Each Bond referendum uh Capital expenditures on as part of the audit and those costs are allocated To Each Bond account um generally speaking a a bond referendum account has to be closed within five years of uh the issuance of the bonds and uh we're approaching that um the oak tree series project will be concluded this year and the first High School referendum project fund 34 which was the original referendum is also slated to close out this year thank you uh one other item it's item K it talks about an e- rate funding uh what is that the e- rate funding is um it's a grant program that our technology director um sought and um the way it works is there's vendors who Supply various technology products to the district telecommunications like Verizon um computers
048and so on and with the application of this money the vendors who charge customers a sear charge on their bill called eate uh tax return 40% of the invoice cost to the district that has exceeded over over $100,000 last year of um cost um set offsets which we returned back to the taxpayers thank you Mr lry yeah um erates a very interesting thing uh I retired in 1995 and partner and I started a little business right after 1996 when the telecommunication Act was passed the other name for the eay tax is the gore tax it uh former vice president Gore was very instrumental in uh creating this and it really is tied into that great indicator of all things in education what is this pre lunch rate and if you have a high uh lunch
049rate uh pre- lunch rate you get quite a flow of money and if you're with a relatively low uh pre lunch rate like we have here in Monroe you get a pittance but uh again it really shows that it is a intervention into the telecommunication industry and it's you know working on the old Legacy mythology that it was a monopoly but we're now living in the internet world and I think that eate is going to be seriously looked at in the coming days and weeks and uh we'll see what happen happens but keep your antenna up it it's a state of flux thank you Mr ly is there anyone else from the public wishing to speak to the agenda good evening my name is Tracy bamoo 94 Anderson Avenue um I have a question I
050noticed last week radon testing was being done in a couple of the elementary schools um my question to you is could you explain why this testing was done while school was in session um I understand it is not a danger to the children the canisters I totally understand that my question is how accurate are the results going to be when the doors and the windows are constantly opened I was in a classroom window was wide open I did mention that window should be shut it went to deaf ears so now my question is why wasn't this testing done during a weekend or during Christmas break Mr Gorski um through the building grounds Transportation committee there was a recommendation that the board approved to have radon testing um performed at all school facilities not just the
051schools but the administration building Transportation building and so on and um Mr tar facilities director scheduled these tests for last week now in consultation with the contractor he said that normal operational um address opening Windows opening doors traffic in and out of the school or the administration building would not affect the radon test and the most important area for the testing of radon is the lower levels the basement and the first floor generally like in apple Guard School most of the windows are open in the higher level to um moderate the uh heat from the boiler so the windows and the door really will have no effect on the radon test it's a perfectly safe test as you mentioned it doesn't have any contamination or anything with the kids and um you know as far
052as I can see there's really no benefit of waiting till the schools were closed it wouldn't affect the test at all it wouldn't affect anybody's safety and it was just convenient for Mr T to do it now okay because I did look into it and um I I know it's not up to discussion about but the reason why we're testing it is to get the the the from the soil okay to find out you know what P I think it's pcis they are to get and once that window gets opened or a door the air quality changes the PCR are changing constantly so you're really not getting an accurate reading so my concern is is maybe instead of doing it while the children are in session and again I know it's not harmful to the
053children but to make sure that an accurate reading for all of us for the staff for the student students that it be done when sessions are you know when we're not in session thank you anyone else from the public may make a comment no Mr we'll get through the agenda we'll let you go later no no no just this is a very brief one oh the uh I lived in hun County before I came here 21 years ago and there's a formation of rock called the breading prong and it's the source of of radar if you go into parts of like Clinton and other parts of uh Hunter County you see readings that are off the scale we're on the Flatlands and we have readings that are so low it's you have to get a
054very sensitive meter to even find out what level of radar we have in the in the Flatlands where we live right now but in other parts of New Jersey it's quite a significant isue thank you Mr lry yes Maran Lester 44 Avenue I I just want to go back to um the agenda item I that Mr Po was talking about um since you submitted um an agreement can you tell us the amount the monetary uh settlement and the cost legal fees for that I don't have those numbers off the top of my head but you can certainly fill out an O form and we can get that information for you okay anyone else from the public okay seeing no one we'll have approval of the minutes for the public Board of Education meeting of November
05514th 2012 I'm moving second Mr CL Mr Kaufman on any comments or questions all in favor I opposed extensions okay the approval of the minutes for the closed session meeting of November 14 2012 M Mr Klein and Mr cofman again comments or questions all in favor opposed extenstions okay the approval of the minutes has passed we will go to the superintendent Report with Dr Hamilton okay good evening everyone and again to um our departing board members thank you very much for all I learned from you uh during your tenure on the board um before I get into my actual report I just want to uh share some information with the board um most of which I've communicated by way of email but just like to take take an opportunity to reassure the board and the
056members of the community that we are working very diligently in concert with the Monroe Township Police Department to assess our buildings and the safety of our facilities to make certain that we are uh reviewing all those parameters and protocols necessary to ensure that our kids and staff members are stfe safe our principles um will also be retraining staff in addition to the annual training we're required to have on our Emergency Management plan and making any necessary recommendations for changes um We believe We believe we're doing everything we can to make sure that we are covering um our basis um included in your report this evening of course is the enrollment data um for the district along with the uh number of students who are Homebound and those that are placed in out of school uh
057facility out of District facilities and our fire drills and lockdown drills which are um conducted each month in accordance with requirements um moving on to the Personnel report Madam board president members of the Board of Education it is recommended by the superintendent that person items action a Personnel items a through FF be approved by roll call vote Mr cofman Mr Braverman are there any comments or questions for Dr Hamilton seeing none we'll have a roll call Mr Gorski Mr calman yes Mr Klein yes Mr liry yes Mr Masters yes Mr tesler yes M Fon yes Miss anelis yes Mr Braverman Mrs kapano Madam board president Personnel items a through FF passes thank you and board action items under the superintendent report Madame board president and members of the Board of Education it is my recommendation
058that board action items a through K be approved by roll call vote Mr cofman second by Mr Masters are there any comments or questions Mr Klein under SE which are field trips the print out that we get explains the field trips there's no explanation as to what the transportation costs are in other words if it's a program I have it in front of me somewhere here that the program is $99,000 it's $9,000 but all these other field trips that are going out of the district we have to use buses I think it should be put on the report what the cost is to the district for every one of those field trips they're not free you want to speak to that in some instances I know the children pay for for make a contribution that
059may cover the cost of Transportation yeah if it's if it's District versus there field trips depending on the nature of them at different levels fall into an approval process there's a form that's filled out by the building level by teachers by principles sent to us and then sent to Transportation which includes all expenses at my level it's an approval for district funding a lot of the times um field trips at schools are supplemented or paid for totally by children and we denote whether paid or by teachers or parents or were students and PTO when I look at denoted well the forms the actual forms do denote District funds or um Bill school PTO or Student Activity accounts um usually it deals with pure academics um and that's the decision making process most of them okay
060that's fine and I just have one other question why do I showcase will we get into um the disciplinary problems I have it written down here as a note again this is a pet peeve that I've had for the three years that I'm on the board including trying to rewrite the penalties which we met with the high school administrators in principle to try to put more meat behind the penalties and and what I see here is just the same thing over and over again for three years I see the same penalties and I'm sure if I go to my spreadsheet it's probably the same children starting from uh grade five all the way through uh the three years including high school so whatever the penalties are that they're using they're not working and also only
061on a couple of those did I see parents' involvement that parents were uh were notified and I think when a child Cuts School a second time walks out of a Class A second time curses at a parent um excuse me um curses at or shows um disrespect disrespect to a staff member the first time a parent should be notified I do not see it on here and these were things that in the in the uh suggestions that I made all this was covered parents know nothing about what goes on in the school unless it's really serious I see things students walking out of a classroom the same class five times we're halfway through to the uh the semester or I should say the year so evidently the penalties that are being used are not sufficient
062um parents are are generally notified um and parents can access discipline reports uh online so anytime a student receives a detention uh certainly if there's an Hib letter whether it's founded or unfounded um or if there is a disciplinary action that requires a youngster to serve a detention in school or out of school suspension uh particularly for an out of school suspension a parent is required to come in for a conference before that student can come back with someone on the administrative B body for excessive offenses uh or something pretty egregious something that may involve uh a up to a 10day suspension that parent would generally have to meet with the assistant superintendent and the principal before being allowed to come back and in some instances I've even said in on those meetings depending on
063the severity good thank you anyone else then we will have a roll call Mr Gorski Mr calman yes Mr Klein everything except I and j i andj I vote no so noted Mr ly yes Mr Masters yes Mr tesler yes Mrs Fon yes M antelis yes Mr Braverman Mrs K Pano Madame board president board action items a through K passes that concludes the superintendent's report then we will Mo move on to the business administrator's report Mr Gorski Madame board president and members of the Monroe Township Board of Education it is recommended that board action items a through P be approved by consent roll call Mr caufman and Mr Braverman are there any comments or questions for Mr Gorski Mr tesler just real quick I did have some questions but uh Mr Po stole all my
064Thunder thank you we're sorry about that any else then we will have a roll call Mr calman Mr Klein yes Mr Larry yes Mr Masters yes Mr tesler yes Mr cron yes Mr anelis yes Mr Braverman yes Mrs colano yes Madam board president board action items a through P passes thank you that concludes my report okay we will move on to the board president's report and it's going to be just very brief wishing everyone a very happy healthy and safe holiday and we will move on to committee reports are there any committees that need to report this evening Mr Kaufman uh yes there was a curriculum committing uh start over there was a curriculum meeting this evening uh in which we discussed uh a couple of items first uh Greg Byer proposed the creation of
065a table tennis club uh he the uh number of students that are requesting the participation has been met uh this first year will be next year uh it will be at no cost to the district for the first year and its success uh will be completely depend upon its participation uh in subsequent years after the 201314 school year uh there was also a proposed sidebar for three different um um uh help me out agreements to cover um uh the Arts the Arts related to a sixth grade presentation and a couple of other things uh which came before the curriculum committee uh and we advised the administration to go ahead and move forward to be able to support um these particular efforts uh for our students uh the last item uh which was the I Falcon
066store um myself and some of the other board members uh spoke to some of the students out in the foyer to find out about more about how they're using the iPad program uh here in the district so so uh that's my report thank you does anyone else have a report this evening a Mr ly Mr Gorski made a complete recitation of what we did at the finance committee last night thank you short and sweet wow caught me off the card um then we will go is there any other committees yeah I have mine hold on I'm getting got the agenda Mr lirry I could never resite excited as well as you do I apologize in advance I got to read off this because I did forget my notes and my wife didn't remind me well
067played SAR well she's gonna go up to the mic uh all right we had a pretty pretty full buildings grounds and transportation meeting yesterday uh we discussed the renovation in the Middle School of a room uh for the expanded Special Services Program uh we discussed some roof replacement designs um for this for the Middle School uh which Mike already discussed about the 1.2 million we're going to expend on fixing one of the roofs um we discussed more student lockers actually in this building we're actually out of student lockers they're very close to being out of lockers in this building R capacity with that uh we talked about the parking lot extension at Applegarth just just the permit extension excuse me um we had a Brookside roof project update where it's supposed to be done in
068the next month or two roughly right be complete yes uh and we had a really good um psng is we we entered into agreement with the psng for a direct install uh which should net us about 18,000 a year in savings um and we also discussed briefly the autistic classroom in this building also the SP a month or two and that should be completed uh I think that's about it I miss anything no okay that's it okay thank you is there any other committees okay seeing none we'll go to Other Board business is there any business from any member of the Board of Education Mr Klein a parting words they shot first of all I just want to start off before I get into what I really wanted to talk about is to thank Kathy
069for a fabulous job this year and would hope that it'll continue on next year and just keep up the great great work thank you Michael Gorski you have a tough act to follow I mean you in the three years that I'm on the board I think you've been in charge I guess it's the VA for two years one fantastic fantastic job for this district for the students for the parents and for the taxpayers you deserve a round of applause is he leaving too and $25 if you going to pay me will donate that to the schools okay uh now to get more sery something that I have brought up through the past years and some of our other members brought it up at the last meeting is with all these um Family communities being built
070why can't we receive money from the builders to use for the schools for extending the schools building new classrooms and so on and I've asked that question uh Amy asked Ed last month and it only makes sense you know you read in the paper you see seille uh there was a build to putting in 34,000 units and he he donated $2 to3 million so I figured it only makees sense well I did have the opportunity at the council meeting to speak with our mayor mayor pooi Jerry tambur who is the president of the council and also Joel Shane who is our uh Township uh attorney and it seems that when it's something that is already in now I'm paraphrasing so the mayor listens to this and and people on the council if I make a
071mistake I apologize but in essence when it's something that's within the Zone an approved Zone that all they have to do is go to the planning board you are not allowed to ask them to pay towards the schools on the other hand if they have to apply for a variance that is the time that were able to say okay we can approve the variance but it's going to impact the schools therefore we request you pay towards the schools so in other words if it's a zoning issue we have a leg to stand on if it's a planning board issue which is within the zone and it's approved for the Zone we don't have a leg to stand on and approved for the pudding is is the SEO act that was where um the Trenton gave
072approval to the builders is that if they were approved for a PRC an age restricted community and they did not take a deposit they have a right to ask for a conversion to a family community now the idiocy of this is that the two Builders who applied for the conversion one was Hab Manan and the other was Renaissance properties did absolutely nothing to promote the sales of anything there were no signs up no nothing just empty lot and our elected officials that I did not elect in order to protect the builders allowed them to apply for this conversion I testified against hannanian as a resident because I'm also on the zoning board and I brought up the point about and I walked them through it well what happens with the schools what about all these
073kids you have roughly I'm going to round it out to two kids per family in reality I think the federal is to a third or two and a half so if you're putting in 400 units that's 800 kids where do you put them the answer I was given right then and there according to the Salo act you can't use that as a reason to turn it down yet they give you nothing towards the schools and then they have uh affordable housing where uh Ingram came in the those of you who are familiar with English town as you're going down 522 the new development on the left that's affordable housing and it's based on what the parents or the people earn to be able to live there and it's rentals I just so happened to be
074at the affordable housing Committee in Monroe Township the night that the Builder was there making a Spiel on putting in 100 rental units and in his statement he says we want to put in 100 rental units for families and it will bring in $72,000 a year more in taxes to the municipality not 2 seconds later he says and we will pay nothing towards the schools so what you see there is as you go by look on the teres and see how many kids toys are out there and bicycles and all all those kids there's 100 units let's say minimum 200 kids that development is paying absolutely nothing towards the school system and this is what goes on in Trenton so we really don't have a leg to stand on to get money toward of schools
075um my last request and this is for everybody that's here is when we were elected to the Board of Education we were elected to carry on the business of the Board of Ed to oversee the administration to make sure the kids get a proper education and to protect the taxpayers in what they pay in taxes I wish and I I ask all of you that remain on the board and the new members who I wish all the luck in the world to please you cannot keep spending we have to cut there has to be programs that uh that are unnecessary there has to be other places to cut the cap is not the answer the cap means an increase every year I don't care if it's 2 cents 3 cents 5 cents 100 you have
076to start to look at cutting from the year before and my recommendation was 2 months ago that you look to cut $3 million out of the budget every year for the next 3 years all I ask is think about the taxpayers I wish all of you all the luck in the world I wish this District continued success I will be here I will watch I will speak and at the same time I guess that 10-minute deal is no good huh okay so we lose that but again I wish everybody a happy and healthy New Year Masters you want me to Second for you so we can vote on It come on at least give me no but anyway we just you know just continue you know improve and don't spend otherwise I'm going to the
077British West Indies does that conclude your your speech here do I have more time no I'm only kidding Mr Mr ly uh my swan song will be that uh building on what Mr Klein said uh when you look at our next door neighbor the state the Commonwealth of Pennsyvania school boards are exofficio members of zoning boards and planning boards and therefore they can say oh you're going to have 200 families and you're going to have approximately 800 children that says we need another oak tree School what are you going to Pony up to build an oak tree school and uh there's a completely different dynamic in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania than there is in the state of New Jersey and the sad and sorry sorry state that Mark was talking about is really a testament
078to the lobbying power of the real estate interests and developers of this state watch it because there has to be a change Monroe is a dynamic rapidly growing community and if you go and look at reasonable projections we are going to go we're going to bust out of all our walls and depending on what the national economy and the international economy uh happens in the the coming months and you know things are in a great muddle right now with the fiscal cliff but if we return to anything like what was happening in the period from 2003 to 2008 uh we're going to have to start serious discussions about Monroe Township South High School and we're going to be talking about additional middle schools and definitely more elementary schools Kathy I just have to add something
079I forgot okay um I'm going to limit you to three minutes this time no no this is short and sweet at one of the meetings it could have been the last meeting we discussed about having right now I've been doing it because I go to the zoning board meetings because I'm on a zoning board I go to the planning board meetings Phil and I and we try to speak up I try to speak up as a resident anything concerning the school district but I speak only as a resident and you'll see that if you go to the tapes um something that we discussed was having a representative from the Board of Ed sitting on the planning board and perhaps the council not voting but to be able to sit and question and I spoke to
080the mayor about that and I think there is interest in doing that on the same hand so we work closer with the township is to have a representative from the township sitting on the school board not not as a voting member but be able to ask questions so they will know the council will know what's going on here the planning board and the council will know or will we'll be able to let them well how it affects us I'm all screwed up but anyway there'll be more working relationship between the council and the Board of Ed and a board of ed with the planning board in councel so we can voice our opinions when there's an application of that wants to put the bit with huban that was supposed to be 300 about 390 homes
081as prc's they applied for 390 families you're talking 800 kids after the testimony it was shot down and they came back with a a uh the following month cutting it to 139 prc's and only 129 families unfortunately I had to recuse myself at the hearing with Renaissance and the zoning board approved it and that's another 130 homes to now the only one that's doing any building is the Renaissance property not Renaissance excuse me the hannanian property they've already started clearing and they're getting ready to build Renaissance I seen nothing yet so it's just to keep you informed I mean this is what's hurting us and then we get no money from the from the state that's worse than anything but that's I shut up I'm done that was my last we've heard that before is
082there any any other any other board member who Mr Masters um I just wanted to recognize rise apparently is recognizing which is that community service organization I just want to read from a plaque they gave to the oak tree Applegarth PTA uh thank you for bringing joy to 300 families with your donation of pretzels for Thanksgiving so I know Chrissy's probably here I just wanted to thank her and Rise thanks you I'm sure she's here somewhere there she is hey Chrissy thank you and it was a lot of food because I know it's sat in my living room for about about two hours so so thank you very much thank you anyone else Patrice all Mr Larry and Mr Klein I will not be back so I did just want to acknowledge I did just
083want to acknowledge um Marv and Amy and Ira and Lou and Ken and Lou and Kathy Mark and John for the endless hours um that you have put in people in the public don't really realize the countless days and weeks and months and years that have gone to trying to better educ at the children of Monroe and while the public doesn't always agree um I can assure you that the best interest of the children is at heart for all of these people I've known them for many years and and the township should be very appreciative to hold to have all of you along with Mike and Dr Hamilton and Dr Gorski I will truly miss all of this um and I thank you for for the time thank you anyone Mr Kaufman yeah this is
084really quick um this is our last meeting before our reorganization meeting and I really wanted to just uh ask a question of the board members that are here really for also the benefit of new board members who will be sitting in these three seats at the next reorg meeting I I would like to know because one of the first things we do at the reorg meeting is to elect a new president uh just by a show of hands who is of the board members who is looking to be the board president when we have the election next month Kathy yeah right yeah I'm toing with it too Mr M I'm coming back all right so Kathy Lou and Amy and Patrice and Patrice that's all I need to know okay thank you Kathy just want
085to say something because nobody said anything before I feel bad I just wanted to thank all three of you although we haven't agreed a lot so much so um I I I really appreciate the time that you put in the time we've spent together it's actually been for my first term it's been very enlightening thank you very much thank you L [Music] Amy many years ago when we first did the bo first Bond referendum there were two gentlemen from the retirement communities that really were opposed to it and then those two gentlemen ran and became board members one was Harold Pollock U who passed on a wonderful board member the other was Mr ly Mr ly joined our board and uh we were a little nervous at first and it turns out that if you
086needed some number information John was the man to go to um John became one of the best board members we ever had I know when I needed some information I could call them whether it was historical or in numbers um John I think you've done a great job on the board um I wish you and your lovely wife Tina the best Patrice we've known each other a real long time um Patrice has always been a huge advocate not for just Jamesburg but for Monroe as well and um you talk about the hours we put in you doubled it and God bless you for that because I don't know if I could have done what you did um you've been a great advocate for the for the children of Jamesburg and and I believe that you're
087um the person following you will uh do well in your footsteps and Mark um your time on the board been very interesting um certainly you know your um speeches about Abbot District are so true and about the um you know about getting us to where we need to be I know that you've stalked the um Governor I heard and uh it still didn't work but you know I I applaud your efforts I applaud anybody's efforts who runs and sits here for hours on in you don't see our committee meetings but there's good discussion and we might not always agree but there's always good discussion so to the three of you I wish you the best of luck thank thank you okay anyone else okay we will move on to the closed session resolution be it
088resolved that the Board of Education of the township of Monroe hereby moves to go into Clos session in accordance with Sunshine Law chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 njsa 10 col 4-6 through 10 col 4-21 to discuss the following subjects harassment intimidation and bullying incidents 9 through1 13 and legal advice in relation to pending suits against the district the discussion conducted in closed session can be discussed disclosed to the public at such times as the matter has been resolved come on second Mr Kaufman Mr Masters all in favor I opposed okay at this time the board will move in to close session conratulations it was he dove into a pool like at this time the board will move back in into public forum back public session I got email back so we'll go
089to the number 16 on the agenda the public forum is again anybody from the public wishing to speak please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record ni good evening Chrissy scurby 8 seminal court on behalf of the oak tree Applegarth PTA um I wanted to thank the board members who are leaving um for your service Mr Mr Klein Mr Larry and Patrice um thank you for all your service being a volunteer for our students we appreciate all the time that you give um to our school district and I wanted to thank um Kathy for her leadership this year as board president um we had a very uh busy year getting Applegarth opened and I want to thank the board um for all that you did with the renovations because clearly
090we knew the building needed more than just a coat of paint and I think where we are today is a great start um I think we need some more Renovations over there but I think we're moving in the right direction um and I just wanted to reiterate um what somebody else said about the board president for next year I think it's really important with the um teacher contracts coming up that we have strong leadership from our board and that it's somebody that can partake in all of those negotiations thank you thank you anyone else from the public Michelle armino 9 Nathaniel Street um I'd like to go back to the discussion about the iPads I I guess I was really not clear about it's costing us in what budget $400,000 this budget just do you
091want me to Dr Dr Gorman um the first payment is next budget is the next budget it's a $400,000 payment is it a lease purchase or just a lease for 3 years uh there's an option to purchase at the end but it's a lease so it's a lease purchase so we're not obligated to purchase them or or is it contractual that we are purchasing them we would own them um so we could do what we did and refresh is the is the terminology they use to sell the lot and enter a new lease okay so we have no option not to purchase them what is is the is the amount of rental going and not a pure rental we are not renting them so it's so we're in a lease option um so essentially we
092have a payment plan to buy the you by the iPads okay so it's really not a lease we're going to own them at the end of the three years M okay but they may be obsolete by then um we would make decisions on whether whether we were going to refresh again or keep or whatever we did with our technology plan fiscally moving forward okay we didn't have a very good one the first time so I hope our plan is a little bit better on the second round because we spent a lot of money that wasn't really wasn't available um and the funds are coming from where next budget it's not the school construction it's not anything left over from the uh High School construction Bond right Mr Mr Gorski Michelle the funds for the um
093second year of the Le Le payment is coming from the general operating fund okay um the bond referendum paid for the iPad 2 units which were auctioned and now we have What's called the new iPad okay and um another question I have there's been a lot of mention about uh you know increased enrollment and who you know what we're going to do how we're going to finance it but the issue is it's not just the state that we're that's not funding us properly I get that it's it's not just um the builders who are not giving us money I get that it really is our community we do not have to to put the high density that's going to be coming down the line we the the township Council and the mayor sits on the
094on the township Council he doesn't vote but the township Council and the planning board the mayor sits on the planning board and is a voting member and Leslie Coppel is a Township council member and she sits on the planning board in the last year they have redone the master plan land use uh land use element and we are urbanizing Monroe in this next land use plan so I would encourage anyone who C who cares about how many schools we're going to have to build to go to planning boards and Township Council because that's where the decisions are made to put very high density communities in we have about four communities that are either approved or in the process of being approved proved that they going to be high density hundreds of units of nonage restricted
095building so let's not point fingers it's us it's what we're doing it's what we're allowing to happen to our community and the builders are going to make all the profits and the taxpayers are going to have the pain and I'm not saying that putting children the school system is painful I'm saying the rapid growth is is going to be very difficult for this community to absorb and we had a very wise and capable Board of Ed member years ago Rita aagger who Who members of this board ostracized no pun intended um and she predicted all of this happening and now you're all on the bandwagon but the poor woman couldn't speak years ago when she said this kind of thing was going to happen so I would ask the members who've been here long term
096who've watched the evolution of this to re-evaluate some of the votes you've had in the past and absolutely you know there this should not be a divided Community the Board of Education and the township Council and the planning board we're it's all coming out of the same pocket we have got to really act as a community know what's going on speak to your Township Council let's worry about cleaning our own house before we ask the state to clean it thanks thank you is there anyone else from the public little high for me here hi there Deborah Pella 15 Louise Lane um I would like to first thank you Dr Hamilton for keeping us in the loop with your messages that we get I get them my cell phone and at home letting us know what's
097going on particularly not even just School related but we did get information from you during Hurricane Sandy whereas I heard nothing else from the township so thank you very much for keeping us updated on those things very welcome thank you I yeah thank you so um I would like to also Express condolences for the horrific horror that happened in Connecticut last week and it's one of the reasons why I'm standing up here I received your voicemail I thank you for letting us know you're investigating the situation as a parent as a citizen anyone has great you know investment in this town in this community in this country um I'm using my phone so I don't forget my notes here so I apologize uh I want to know a couple of thing specifically um while you're
098assessing the situation with the Monroe Township police are you open to parent recommendations staff recommendations are you looking to form a committee with all of us parents who actually do have a strong opinion about some things that can be made to help perhaps with the situation overall without divulging information I know you cannot yet do so okay well first of all thank you very much for for your comments um we've been looking very carefully at this and of course there are some very practical things that we can do immediately like lock all your doors um insist that everybody use even though it's an inconvenience insist that everyone uses one door uh where there is someone there who will be buzzing them in or verifying their their identity so that's something that we can do as
099an immediate response but because of the potential um the potential gravity of this matter I think it's really important for us to have expt who do this for a Liv do security assessments and make recommendations because that's what they have been trained to do so I've had conversations with the chief of police and he has been extremely extremely helpful and available and accessible and they are going to the police department along with some of our security people will be conducting that um that assessment so I'm not opposed to hearing and i' I've heard from parents over the weekend I'm sure you've been getting tons of emails so I've heard I've heard everything from installing bulletproof windows on all the first floors of our buildings to uh metal detectors to arming teachers I've heard it all
100over the the the last week um but ultimately I'm going to be most comfortable with relying on the recommendation of people who do this for a living so I while I can appreciate parents want to know what's going on and I don't want to give part of an part of the information I want to be able to have a recommendation to share with this board that comes from people who know what they're talking about and then put that out to parents but of course parents are going to have some practical input of course which which I welcome and anyone who wants to email me those those serious recommendations I'm open to that totally fair thank you additionally if there are recommendations given by these experts including the Police Department Security Experts how will that budget
101if it does require a certain monetary amount where will that play into effect will other things be immediately cut will will there be an emergency session to say oh my my gosh we need police cars at every school immediately and we need to fund this how will that work that's a very good point and I will be prepared to recommend if that is the recommendation of a security person that they say you know the most prent thing to do for example is to hire um police off off-duty police officers or folks who are or retired police officers if that is the most prudent thing to do I will be saying to this board we need to find X number of dollars in order to do that so yeah that is going to mean that if
102we add that expense has got to come from some place else okay yes ma'am for the last four years our district has applied for a safety Grant through um our insurance Consortium and each year um I'm going by memory but we received about a 20 to $25,000 Grant and with the money the Board of Education directed us to install a Lobby guard system at the school whereas visitors have to furnish us with um information to make sure they're not on a um sex offender list in a criminal list and then you know we have protocol for how to handle that if someone like that should come in so some of that money is coming externally um so not budgeted money while the licensing is great particularly for pedophiles I do not think it will do
103anything for an armed man walking into a school asking for an ID when he's shooting someone so while it works for pedophiles I do not agree that it works for a a lone gunman or many um opinion based on your um voicemail about um marked and unmarked police cars yes from a marked car standpoint I have personally not seen any at the school that my children attend uh I would feel much better if I saw a visual deterrent than an unmarked car um as a person who may commit a crime I would be more nervous as I am being followed by a cop if I'm speeding than if it was an unmarked car so visually I I'm sure there's proof behind that research that it would be a deterrent more so being marked than unmarked
104but that's my opinion I can't give you the research right now I I appreciate that but they have been there um the police have been I could attest to that yesterday I was picking up my kids at Oak Tree and he act I was actually going the wrong way mine don't mine don't mine don't go to Oak Tre so I will just tell you from different people that so I I I do hope that that presence continues um and then regarding lockdowns is there going to be some sort of I know there's new uh training Etc but I just know in our school second grade classrooms they all are doing different things will there be some sort of protocol that teachers will have to follow uh as some classes do one thing and others do
105another they uh we do have an established protocol and uh one of the things that we discovered is that we have to revisit our Emergency Management plans retrain our staff um but you know parents have asked me what can I do and what I would say is make sure you reiterate with your children that they have to take these drills seriously because what happens is after you do the drills over and over again it's just a matter of routine and kids are talking and they're they're not taking them as seriously as as they ought so we're really encouraging our children to take them and our staff to take them very very seriously and we are revisiting the protocol to make sure that it is uniform throughout the district so that when we call for a
106lockdown or any kind of emergency evacuation that everybody is operating from the same script great and that's that will be the same across the county this is a unified approach across the county great if there's information that come home to the parents then we could reaffirm what you're doing in in class per these particular situations some of that information we won't be able to specifically because there will be codes that we will be using that will signal a certain level of of threat but standard procedures what kids should do in in emergency absolutely okay well thank you for your time I know I've passed my time thank you anyone else from the public uh doug4 Tam I did have one other question that I overlooked uh it's on page 17 of my agenda but it
107comes under professional appointments uh it's number three where the board approved uh read sound to provide theatrical labor at the following rates for next year uh I'm hoping that you can give me an estimated total cost for the year for that uh because I notice that uh the the three positions they're guaranteed a minimum of 5 hours 10 hours Etc and I would assume that's per event um so do you have any estimate of what that total cost would be I do not have an estimate on that because a lot of the functions that will be served by readed sound as a Lighting and Sound contractor um will be through the use of building program where all those fees are paid for by the renter so I would have to go through and and and
108segregate which school functions are related just to this but I can tell you that it's very competitively priced and read sound would be performing the lighting and and sound at this building um the new high school okay and we don't have staff on payroll that can perform those duties and therefore when we do have an outside group that are doing this that would bring Revenue into the system unfortunately no the design of the equipment is so sophisticated and so expensive that an error made on behalf of a student could be very costly and then therefore it's was the recommendation of the architect and others to have this performed by a professional who understands and has been trained in this very complicated equipment okay I wasn't so much thinking of a student as I was thinking
109of uh some adult that's on staff that could be trained to do that there is no one on staff who's trained to do that no okay could they be trained to do it since since it's just that equipment it's not a matter of they have to go from equip to a different set of equipment to another set of equipment it's the equipment that we have here in the building and if they could be trained in how to operate that equipment correctly in the long run I would think we might save money there I don't look at that sure okay thank you anyone else from the public Tracy b 94 Anderson Avenue I wanted to just reiterate around um regarding the radon that we had spoken about earlier um I did do some searching um I
110am a licensed real estate office um for cury 21 in Monroe and which I should have said that earlier um but it does state that EPA protocols state that windows and doors should be kept closed as much as possible 12 hours before starting a test and throughout the test period and it also states that um do not Place canisters in drafts near drafts of doors windows firplace heating or air conditioning units so to reiterate what we spoke about before this is something that should look be looked into okay yeah ma'am I the advice I gave you before wasn't wasn't my opinion it was that of our environmental um engineer and consultant and they administered the tests so we're following their directive and um you know I'm confident that the results will be accurate okay and
111when will we get well when will the public get the results I I'm not sure exactly when the report will be available but you're certainly welcome to oah request the report and uh we'll make it available to you okay and Dr Hamilton I want to thank you I also am a substitute in the Monroe Public system and I have seen more cars at mil Lake and Bley Brook within the last couple of days and I want to thank you for that and and um there was one more thing I wanted to say but you know what I think we're all tired so I guess I'm going to say good night and happy holidays thank you you too anyone else from the public okay there somebody somebody's cominger 44 Avenue ey um first question if Jamesburg
112doesn't pay the interest on the debt for the new high school that is included in their tuition rate for their students attending our high school what is the estimated loss of re Revenue second how much of the taxpayers dollars are we willing to expend in legal fees to fight Jamesburg they say they just don't have the money are we going to just end up wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and what exactly are we hoping to accomplish by taking legal action starting with the last question what are we hoping to accomplish um the board of education has directed Administration to follow through with the agreement that's been in place since 1979 whereas actual costs are calculated for tuition rate the actual number of students are determined and the costs are then settled
113with Jamesburg and they pay their fair share they always have paid the amount that they vote us the Nuance to this is the debt service for this school it becomes due in 1314 at $630,000 approximately and it has a difficulty fitting in the cap which did not have any consideration for these agreements that may have been in place prior to the law so with this would appear that we're in a losing battle are we in a losing battle yes and I just don't want to expend like hundreds of thousands legal fees for a losing battle and would this set a president then in send receive relationships where if a district that sends their students to another uh area and they just can't pay their bill in New Jersey that the other receiving district has to
114just eat the money that's an interesting comment I can't I can't give you a predicted outcome to this because it's a very unique situation and no one's been through this before the county office has been working with us this has gone all the way to the governor's office to no resolve and um yes there are costs involved Monroe and Jamesburg are going to suffer from the legal costs and if you ask my opinion on the matter um Jamesburg like Monroe has suffered deep state aid cuts through their years more than of which would um help them pay this debt service to Monroe the state has been unwilling to anti up anything to address this although it was their mandate that Jamesburg comes to Monroe Schools so um can they force them to sell assets to
115pay us and James Berg has assets I'm sure our attorney will look at every Avenue possible yeah all right thank you anyone else from the public okay seeing no one our next schedule public public Board of Education meeting or organizational meeting will be held on Thursday not Wednesday but Thursday January 3rd 2013 not 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at the high school a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn oh Mr lary and I'll give it to Mr kleene yeah all in favor opposed exstension meeting is meeting adjourned