001will come to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice may we have a roll call Mr Gorski nice to see you Mrs colowit here Mr tesler here miss antelis here Mr Braverman here Mr Chella Mr calman here Mr Master here Mr Po here Mr proso yeah Mr zareski Madam board president you have a quorum thank you in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey open public meetings law the mono Township Board of Education has caed notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place thereof posted July 11 2013 one at all schools two home News Tribune three cranberry press
002and four F filed with the c Clerk of the municipality uh number five is the student board members reports and since there is no school we don't have any student board members we do have a new board member for Next Year Corey haer and at the next meeting we will introduce her publicly to everyone so at this time we will go to the anti-bullying School self assessment grading presentation and I believe Dr Gman is going to handle that y I do believe I could do this um right from here and I don't need to get up unless you request is that okay all right good so um the new anti-bullying laws um have been significant over the last two years this year there is a self assessment grade that the Department of Education is requiring
003um as part of that self assessment and part of the laws um part of the requirement is to share this presentation with the public public to have it posted on the websites within 10 days and um submitted to the Department of Education electronically through new J New Jersey Home Room on August 15th so this is the Public Presentation to you um it's a quick overview um of the core elements of the anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act um there are eight core elements ranging from Hib programs approaches and other initiatives training on the board of ed approved policy staff instruction and training programs curriculum and instruction Personnel School level harassment intimidation bullying incident reporting procedures Hib investigation procedures and the actual reporting process and it's all tied to New Jersey statutes um each question each school
004was annually established a program and um and they were asked to self assess their school so I meet with the anti-bullying specialists at each um building uh a minimum of twice a year and uh we meet to assess the status of the programs in place each building was asked to rate um themselves on meeting criteria exceeding requirements meeting requirements um partially and doesn't meet I also asked each um each anti-bullying specialist with their school team to have a um a Frank conversation with their building Administration to share the results and to get feedback from their principles in a face-to-face format which they all did an example um of one of um the questions the annual establishment of programs approaches and other initiatives involve all the following groups and um as you see up there staff
005members administrators volunteers that was an example of one of the rubrics um to meet exceed or not meet um and here are the preliminary results uh that I shared with the Board of Education through Dr Hamilton's um confidentials I believe two weeks ago um on all the questions the results will be the full um piece will be um put on school websites and District websites once it meets with Board of Education approval um and again this is a self- internal assessment and uh this is the public reporting process and the review of the grades the grades are presented at tonight's meeting um each School must post a grade received on the homepage of the school's website the district must post a grade received by the district and each School in the homepage of the district
006website typo on school um the district and schools must post a grades on the websites within 10 Days of the New Jersey Department of Education notification that the grades are available and uh there is a statement of assurances that Dr Hamilton has to sign off on um on the New Jersey Department of Ved homepage and you could find this in our website on our homepage under the human resources and uh it's listed the entire Hib policies and each school team any questions or comments about the reports that we shared with the board or any um any public questions about uh this whole process this is a this is a first time process implementation as the extension of the Hib laws and policies in the state of New Jersey okay seeing none we will move to
007the presentation of New Jersey cusac and I will turn this over to Dr Hamilton okay thank you good evening everyone um as you know each school is required to uh go through a uh thorough review which is conducted by the State Department of Education and and our scores we received our scores about a week or so ago and Monroe did exceptionally well um the NJ qac process is really designed to Monitor and evaluate school systems and its primary purpose is to measure and improve School District performance in meeting state standards and it is also designed to ensure that all districts operate at a high level of performance in order to meet State Standards you have to score at 80% in each of the five areas that the state reviews if you fall below that 80%
008um there is a plan that is required to be put in place if you fall below 50% then it requires State interventions um in our case in the five areas our scores are as follows in the area of instruction and program we received 93% in fiscal management we received 100% in governance 100% in operations 95% and in personnel management 100% so under instructions and programs going to ask Jeff to talk about that since that falls under his domain but let me just share with you what each of these areas look to uh review and assess in instruction and program the indicators are focused on student performance curriculum instructional priorities mandated programs early childhood and high school graduation practices Personnel indicators look very specifically to make sure that every every teacher is in uh a position
009that he or she holds an appropriate certification and that all the evaluations are conducted in a timely fashion and that per professional development hours are documented um we implemented a system when I came in the district four years ago now called um what's it called Jee give me a my learning plan my learning plan um which is a software system that monitors all the professional development throughout the district and it is essentially provides a transcript for teachers um upon review which the state was very impressed with when they came in to do our audit uh under fiscal management it focuses on budget planning financial and budgetary control the annual audit which has continually to continued to be exceptional uh treatment of restricted resources and efficiency ratings under operations the indicators look at Public School District
010facilities how well we maintain facilities student conduct School Safety and Security student health and student Support Services speci particularly those students who may have an IEP or a 504 plan requiring some kind of modification to their educational program to make sure that we are compliant with state and federal guidelines and finally under the area of governance the indicators focus on District board policies promoting student achievement District board training disclosures and operations at comp liance with ethics and board policies um and I'm very proud to report that we are one of the few districts who have managed in the last two year three years to completely go through our policy manual um we received compliments from the state about how that is so rare that we have been able to maintain the level of consistency with
011reviewing and updating our policies in the manner that we have so Jeff I'm going to ask you to talk a few minutes about instruction and program and where we are and why we're there and the operation and the operations yes those are the two areas that we receive less than 100% And Me make and the intent is not to highlight uh those areas in a negative light at all because in comparison um even at 93 and 95% we were exceptional in fact we rated ourselves lower in one of these two areas than the state did they came in and said you're actually doing better than you think you are um but where there's an opportunity for improvement we want to talk about what those opportunities are um actually to uh continue what Dr Hamilton said
012um 80% um if you reach 80% on those five indicators you're deemed highly efficient um by the state so our numbers were much higher than that in all areas um as far as the curriculum and the instruction and curriculum program um I'll read you the response on where we were at um initially we self assessed ourselves at a 91% the state the county came in and when they provide us with certain results that we can assess ourselves on it comes from state reports um so the first one um was um at the time we completed the self assessment the score was 91% for instruction and program we verified scores and updated indicator 7 that's graduation rate specifically specifically at the time we completed the self assessment in November 2012 we used the 2011 graduation rate
013which was 83.5% that was the most up-to-date data anyone had at that point since that time the New Jersey Department of Education updated the adjusted cohort graduation rate and the graduation rate data from Monroe for 2012 was 94.9% um and then this resulted in an increase in the two points for instruction and program and that's what you had referenced in your question to me Mr poy um as far as the other piece um you need to look at the indicators that we did not score the maximum of um indicator three the district would need to have at least 95% of the student population achieve Proficiency in the most recent year assessed for language arts literacy Monroe um achieved um between a 75% and 85% rating and that just generates a score um indicator four would
014have to be over at least 95% again of all students achieving proficiency um in for mathematics and Monroe achieved at least 855 to 94.9% and lastly indicator 7 The District would need to have an adjusted cohort graduation rate of at least 95% to obtain the maximum grade of 9 of Four Points Monroe scored three points for having 94.0 n% um and adjusted cohort graduated so those were the indicators for the seven points not reaching 100% in curriculum instruction which again is very uh positive um there was one other markof in the um whole qac process and that was under operations that hit a 95% and there are 20 indicators on operations the one piece that fell short and it was a self assessment was the submission of all required NJ smart files by the due
015dates and has an error rate of less than 2% of each file so there was is a piece where we had pre-identification labels for njs testing and at the time um Reggie had told me that there was a zero errors but then the state came back and they used a different date and they came up with um an error um on the pre ID labels um so he has shared with me that the process of the doe and NJ smart with the submission of data has generated some errors that are way beyond our control and the only thing that we did not we were just weren't under the 2% for each file and that is the only piece under the 20 indicators under in operations that we self assessed oursel and said yeah it's it's
016higher than 2% but it is uh we believe it's for conditions that are beyond our control with the with the doe so long story short Monroe did very well um our audit took a course of three different visits from the state um where they usually coordinate in one day and these three uh different teams come in for some reason our teams um these these different areas were um reviewed independent of one another which is is good and bad I guess but ultimately we did very well and I want to commend the staff for all their help in um responding to my sometimes neurotic Behavior about dates and times and documents and this is why it's so important any questions from the board okay seeing none we will go to the approval of minutes for the
017public Board of Education meeting of May 88th 2013 a motion and a second so move Mr tesler second Mr Masters any comments or Corrections all in favor opposed extensions I have to abstain on May 8th Mr Po the closed session meeting of May 8th 2013 B move second Mr tesler Mr Masters all in favor I I opposed extensions Mr Po the special public Board of Education meeting May 22nd 2013 so moved Mr tesler is there a second second by Mr Masters all in favor hi hi we don't want to approve our minutes tonight all in favor I opposed extensions miss miss an Tellis the speci where are we this closed session meeting of May 22nd 2013 so moved Mr tesler said let that be light second Mr Masters all in favor I opposed abstentions Miss
018Anella so you abstaining on that one I'm sorry upan I'm trying to get back in sorry that computer guy the public Board of Education meeting of June 5th 2013 I'll move a second Mr tesler Mr Masters all in favor I opposed extensions none okay the Clos session meeting of June 5th 2013 so move second Mr Tess Mr Masters I don't even have to look uh all in favor opposed abstentions the public Board of Education meeting of June 19 2013 so moves second Mr tesler Mr Masters all in favor I opposed extensions abstain Miss sellis and lastly the closed session meeting of June 19 2013 so moves Mr tesler Seconds Mr Masters all in favor opposed extensions abstain Miss anelis okay we will go to number nine on the agenda committee reports are there any committees
019that need to report this evening Mr Kaufman sure we had a curriculum meeting this evening and uh very briefly we went over a few things uh we approved the internet marketing uh curriculum which is a new um an updated curriculum for next year uh we adopted a few new textbooks we uh approved a new a um economics book uh for for next year um and just so everybody's clear the the new textbooks that we approved tonight uh for the AP economics included both a hard cover and an electronic copy of the textbook um at this time this is the only way the publisher gives us uh this particular book and as it's a new course we do need to provide a book for the course because it's brand new uh so uh for this batch
020that we're buying for this course we get both the uh 6year license for the hard cover version as well as six uh yearly updates of the electronic versions which will be deployed on the iPads in addition to that we looked at uh two other books for the um biology keep me honest Jeff for the biology group one was for the regular bio which was about 800 copies as well as the honors biology for about something 150 and it was two years to verify what we talked about so 15 150 copies for a two-year site license correct um and those are electronic copies only uh there won't be no hard covers for those uh and where we can we are of course uh looking to and where it's economically feasible also to make sure that wherever
021we can uh we're using electronic uh ebook versions or iBook versions or whatever the appropriate flavor of technology is for that particular course uh we also went over a drug and alcohol survey and was determined that we're going to wait for the middle sex County survey which is going to be maybe next year instead of having to do our own as well as looking at uh some preliminary AP results for um social studies and science um test results so I think that pretty much covers the things we looked at today thank you anyone else have Miss analis we had a finance committee meeting on June 11th Mr Gorski presented a change in the state budget to make districts whole that may have suffered a net decrease in state aid for the 1314 school year and
022Mr Gorski stated that this could could be an additional $5 57,5 46 within the capital outlay budget which has restricted use Mr Gorski presented an update from the state whereas the reimbursement threshold remains unchanged by the legislator at $40,000 for in District and 55,000 for private placements um you want to can you can explain that a little bit Mr bski sure that's under the state aid category called extraordinary Aid and as Miss antelis mentioned the state had uh considered changing the thresholds which would have affected the award but left them consistent with last year uh reimbursing district for special education cost per pupil an excess of $40,000 for IND uh IND District students and 55,000 for added District students and that does go through a formula it's not a dollar per dooll reimbursement and uh
023the award that Monroe is to receive is 33,2 63 for 1314 slightly higher than what we had in the budget um partially because our budget was based on conservatism and we had more students who qualified due to IEPs thank you and last uh Mr Gorski gave an update that the fixed asset appraisal will commence throughout the district on Monday July 15th this process will inventory and appraise all district assets valued at $500 and higher and 2,000 and higher for insurance and accounting purposes the next meeting is on August 15th on Thursday at 6 p.m at the board office thank you Mr Tesla thank you yes we had a Personnel meeting and the one thing I want to bring to your attention to is that uh we got your you got your personel meeting notes last
024Friday in the confidential the one thing we're approving tonight is a job description for the accounting supervisor um we had a retirement in the bookkeeper position over at the business office and uh Mr dorski uh restructured that position uh got rid of the uh bookkeeper position changed it to an County Supervisor changed around the responsibilities uh got rid of a typen incorporate in the job description and um actually there's more responsibilities but there actually the starting salary is going to be I think approximately around $10,000 less than the old position so uh this gave us an opportunity to restructure the position to meet our needs now moving forward and save us his money as well and get rid of his typen because we don't like typing right no just kidding um so uh we just
025wanted to bring that to your attention uh and it's on the approval for uh tonight in the um I think the superintendent report Mr Masters you always come after Mr tesle yes tonight I was waiting for him to read something lengthy and honorous I'll read the job description if you like I'm waiting for it it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities we had a buildings and grounds meeting uh last night and very very good buildings grounds meeting I I'll read it out of order from the agenda for people that were there you might be a little confused uh the state has a rod Grant project that they're starting if you for capital projects if you apply and your uh project is accepted they'll pay for 40% of the cost of the project so
026we are submitting the uh the Middle School's roof work if you remember from some of the previous meetings uh we're also going to look into Paving some of the throughput in front of the school where there's some potholes and some dangerous areas and the tennis courts refacing the tennis courts over there uh all under the rod grants we've also looked into um applying for Rod grant for the uh front of the 73 Wing the front of the school the windows and some of the painting and the edging uh to see if we can get that included the Middle School's classroom expansion updates coming along well we're probably going to look at a net of nine total new rooms in that building when it's uh complete we okay a platform lift for the high school because
027it do some maintenance work and some safety issues the uh access swipe card expansion projects coming along on schedule and under budget oak tree is completely complete the director of uh security recommended a couple changes and a couple extra doors so we're going to look into putting those in uh and in the high school here the auditorium we're looking into removing some of the uh handicap platforms at the back because there's been some issues with uh with them that's it okay thank you anyone else have a report okay seeing none we will go to the 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 good evening I'm Steven Ryback 23 Riviera Drive um number one congratulations on the
028qack squads it's always nice to be able to say and hear good things um I have a qu two questions really one is on page 10 item four I noticed that we're looking to hire uh someone to complete EV valves CST evals uh and I was curious as to why that's being done especially a rate of $365 per AAL um It's Not Unusual Madam president sure um It's Not Unusual for us um particularly during the summer and uh evaluations that may have been received late and uh these evaluations have to be completed within a certain amount of time by according to federal and state regulations so we often have Consultants come in who specialize in certain areas based on the needs of those students who have been identified as needing certain assessments thanks for clearing
029that up and the last one at a prior meeting uh we talked about home home instruction and I noticed there was I think 32 students receiving home instruction I was curious if uh you were thinking considering using as per my suggestion retired Monroe teachers as opposed to Contracting out to private Source we actually are looking at that um I'll be meeting with the director of pupil Personnel Services tomorrow in fact and that's one of the items on our agenda how to restructure home instruction in general and even looking at some ways we may be able to do that by maximizing technology thank you thanks very much thank you anyone else from the public Robert Road JT mfield Boulevard uh page 18 F1 um regarding an Holmes I can uh would you please explain a little
030more about what she does and for that uh for those duties sure you want to take this one um our special ed director works closely with our board attorney in a lot of parent requests for special education Services generally outside of the district and our board attorney recommended the services of an Holmes who has uh specialized cred credentials in reviewing at a district program she'll actually go and visit a school and uh review their program to find out if it is equivalent to what we're offering or if the students's IEP demands are such that that out of District placement is really warranted and that helps the district um better serve the students by matching their needs exactly with the program in an efficient uh manner so this it deals with the special education children yes
031sir um can you tell me how much you have budgeted for her duties for the year there's nothing specific for Miss Holmes in the budget as this is a new placement but this would probably um come out of the general legal account where there is money appropriated for the use of specialists in different areas uh I wonder if you have anybody in house that could do those same types of Duties I don't believe so I don't believe so and that's why we're attaining plus there's a benefit to an outside person uh making these assessments as opposed to an in-house person who could be perceived to have a bias to the in-house programs I just to uh piggyback a little bit on what uh Mr Rybeck just said um with the uh using teachers uh you
032know for retired teachers I guess for the home study um I I assume you know we're paying the teachers I presume to go do the home people who are out sick or for whatever reasons um I know when uh my uh my grandchildren in East Brunswick uh they had they they one of them was injured in an automobile accident she had home study but my daughter had to pay for the for the teacher who was coming in to uh to tutor for the period of time she's out and I was just wondering whether you've given any consideration to the parent being responsible for that or whether you legally have to provide for it tutoring is different um if a a parent chooses if a youth student needs Tut tutorial Services then yes if they don't
033come after school then the parent is responsible for that but when a youngster is unable to attend school we do have a legal obligation to supplant their instruction and if that is by way of a medical excuse um that they are educated at home or in some other facilities that is our responsibility to do so thank you very much anyone else from the [Music] public good evening Tom not Stein 15 Nathaniel Street um my my congratulations also on the qack that was very impressive I just had some questions with regard to that I know Dr Hamilton you mentioned um that there were comparisons uh to other schools in that and that we rated very well is that accurate um is that across all DFG or is that just in our DFG well actually I haven't
034seen the report so this is just an oral uh conversation that that was exchanged and I was specifically interested in Middle sex County okay so that's B when you said compow since it was basically based on middle sex correct um also with regard to item h on page 16 the superintendent salary is that keeping with the guidelines established uh currently by uh Governor Christie with regards to our uh salary versus the size of the uh District yes yes it is because um this was grandfathered in before the law came out so the contract that Dr Hamilton has has been approved by the board before the the new law from the governor so this is actually higher than the new law yes it is I don't like the sound of that um why are we doing
035that if we're basically um we don't have a choice is what you're saying you want to to sure working with the county um on contracts I have specific knowledge on Dr Hamilton's matter and um when the law went into place anybody who had an existing contract would which is customary with just about all new laws coming from the state was allowed to enjoy the term of that contract um before they were subject to the provisions of the cap Dr Hamilton's contract extends further than the 1314 school year so he would not be subject to the conditions of the cap until his current contract expires and that expires June 30 of 15 at which time then he will be subject to the cap yes sir so that could be a reduction based on I'm I guess
036I'm want getting what is the cap for our district with the high school I believe it's 175,000 so theoretically in 2015 he's going to roughly go down to the cap theoretically yes theoretically okay thank you anyone else from the public okay seeing none we will go to the superintendance report Dr Hamilton yes um here we are okay enrollment data is listed in the agenda for you again I um consistently call your attention to 166 additional students When comparing last year June's report to June 30 uh 13 report um we anticipate that that Trend will continue and we have plans uh in place or we're beginning to develop plans um through the demographic study that's currently underway to respond to those kinds of increases that we are anticipating uh the enrollment for out of District placement
037in homebound is instruction is included along with the Safety and Security drills obviously in J the next board report will not have this information uh since it reports the the month prior to there won't be such data for the July report um moving on to um the Personnel report Madame board president and members of the Board of Education it is recommended by the superintendent that Personnel Action Personnel items a through DD be approved by roll call vote move Mr Braverman second second by Mr Masters any comments or questions by members of the board Mr Po there's a couple of items that I would just like some clarification on uh item K which on my agenda is on page eight talks about uh Peg Channel TV studio Summer Staff if just if you could elaborate on
038what that's all about sure the peg channel is the public educational and governmental access Channel um there are two people who historically have been assigned at least since we've had the peg channel to work in the summer and their responsibilities include obviously taping and placing the board meetings on the channel producing champions of Education episodes they also um produce um the television schedule for the year they upload the footage and change the programs um this has been in place for at least the last three years since we had the the channel and there are two people who are assigned to do it one of which is here tonight okay thank you uh item M on that same page uh we are being asked to approve nurses uh for uh afternoon time for the Summer band
039camp uh now my understanding was that the uh the tuition or pay whatever the charge is that the parents would be paying for their children to participate in this that it would cover the cost as that also cover the cost of the nurses that is correct okay all right thank you and um uh item n uh it it speaks of I know what the senior option is but but I was curious as to what is necessary uh for 25 hours of work this summer in terms of the uh summer prescheduling and development what is that all about the folks who are assigned those tasks are specifically going to be working with the Recruitment and placement of over 70 special ed students who will be working in some kind of partnership uh work Workforce ready partnership
040um and they and they will also be approving contracts for potential employees employers throughout the summer and making sure the students are placed so as they begin this the option uh in September these placements will already be in place and is that for special ed students only not exclusively no not exclusively some of them are gen ed students oh okay all right and uh uh also item p on the following page um we're approving a list of uh high school department coordinators uh and I did not see anyone listed for math is that because we're going to be dealing with that next month or that is correct as you know the current or previous uh math coordinator um was approved as the math supervisor so that now created a recent vacancy that we will be
041working to fill over the summer anyone else have questions or comments Mr proso yes page nine I item o uh could you explain the Falcon preschool pre scheduling program I'm sorry what page is that page nine you said n oh oh on the top the Falcons Nest Preschool yes the folks who are who will be working in the Falcons Nest Preschool program will be identifying students who are going to be placed in the developmental program at the high school and developing appropriate programs to them and this is going to be at their supplemental instructional rate uh as per the negotiated agreement anyone else thanks seeing none we'll have a roll call Mr Gorski Miss antelis yes Mr Braverman yes Mr calman yes Mr Masters yes Mr Po yes Mr proso Mr Tes yes Mrs K
042pit yes madame board president Personnel items a through Double D passes thank you and moving on to board action items on the superintendent report Madam board president members of the board of education is recommended by the superintendent that board action items a through P be approved by roll call vote so Masters Mr tesler any comments or questions for the um Dr Hamilton okay seeing none we'll have a roll call Miss anelis yes and recuse myself on item H so noted Mr Braverman yes Mr calman yes to all recq on H reu on H Mr Masters yes Mr Po yes Mr proso yes Mr tesler yes Mrs K panovich Madam board president board action items a through P passes thank you that concludes the super intendent report thank you Dr Hamilton at this time we'll go
043to the business administrator's report Mr Gorski Madam board president and members of the Monroe Township Board of Education it is recommended that board action items a through F be approved by consent roll call all moved Mr bra Mr Masters are there any comments or questions for Mr Gorski Mr proso Page 17 C substance abuse test and all of these other tests they're given at random or if they're requested uh yeah National safety compliance um serves a transportation department as required by law and there is random drug testing for drivers random and also if there's a suspicion of a driver being impaired they could also be subject to um be required to take the tests thank you anyone else okay we'll have a roll call Miss antelis yes Mr Braverman yes Mr calman yes Mr Masters
044yes Mr Po yes Mr proso Mr tesler yes Mrs kapano yeah yes madame board president board action items a through F passes thank you and that concludes my report thank you okay uh board president's report is going to be very short uh I've spent the last three three and a half weeks in Florida and been reading a lot of information on education down in Florida they have a county system down in Florida as opposed to a each City and one of the problems that they're incurring is the same as we're doing in Monroe with an influx of student population and not enough money coming from the state to support the new students that are coming into the districts so they're having a a hard time with their budgets they also have a mandated iPad oneon-one
045initiative I think it was mandated two years ago that by 2014 every student in Florida will have an iPad and they're also having a major po problem down there with trying to support a a new initiative State mandated without the funding so we're we're not alone in this um area It's seems to be something that a lot of people are having a problem with um we'll go to number 14 The Other Board of Education business is there anything from any member of the Board of Education Mr proso yes I getting back to home instruction uh the suspension part uh we're paying for those teachers correct yes is that the law or it's just the the health issues or the uh special needs children that we should be paying for if a child is suspended for
046any particular reasion we incur that cost yes the suspension removes a child from uh the school as a disciplinary or safety issue it does not preclude them from their eligibility for a free public education it's mandated then that we should do that that is correct also uh there was a curriculum meeting tonight and again I was not called This is maybe the fourth time that as an alterate I wasn't called to attend the the meeting so maybe we'd have a better system in finding out if the people are going to show up or not I'd like to attend if I'm the alternate yeah I did make an announcement at the last meeting that if somebody couldn't attend a meeting to please either call the alternate or Mr gorsky's office and we would have them call
047the alternate and you know what I should probably take responsibility for that because I received the call about 5 about quarter after 5 5:30 today and Mr zanski wasn't going to attend so I should have called you my apologies okay and at the last Finance meeting uh I requested and so did another board member for an monthly update on Mecca and the enrichment program but it was not on the agenda just could we keep that every month please yes we'll have it was not on do we have an update on Mecca um Madam uh in the finance committee meeting we went over the updated numbers uh for mecca for enrollment and and um those were as follows the mecca initiative has now 29 enrolled students and the early um kindergarten program has 37 and that's
048that's been on a steady increase as we've been reporting over the last few months the last Financial update that we gave was through May 31st and we are currently updating all funds in the district including uding this new proprietary fund for June 30th um and we'll have that completed shortly okay thank you and is is that it anyone else have any comments or other board business Mr poy uh yes uh I want to talk about a report that I sent to all the members of the board by email and I did ask that you not reply to all since it would violate the sunshine laws um I developed this report using information that's available on the New Jersey Department of education's website and I've done similar reports for the board uh prior to my being
049elected to the board at the beginning of this year uh I did a report to the board and as part of the public session in 2010 201122 and shared my findings as well as gave uh copies of those reports to the members of the board uh I remain concerned with the cost per pupil in most of the categor that the Department of Education uses uh for the past three years we have ranked the third highest in total budgetary cost per pupil in the county only New Brunswick and Perth Amboy spend more per pupil than we do and it's a well-known fact how much state aid uh New Brunswick and Perth Amboy get and how little we get our per pupil cost for classroom instruction which is one of the categories is higher than most districts
050in the county and we spend more than any other District in the county for supplies and textbooks but interestingly enough when it comes to classroom salaries and benefits our per pupil cost plac Monroe not at the top but in the middle of the 12 districts that I included in this report the total administrative cost here in Monroe has consistently been the third highest on a purpose pupil basis in the county and until this past year we were spending the most per pupil on extracurricular cost this past year we came in second because we were surpassed by a few dollars per student by South planfield in almost every category Monroe is spending more per pupil than the other districts of middlex County I'm uncomfortable with allowing our expenditures to increase without having explanations as to why
051we spend more than almost all other districts in the county we need to see what can be done to be better stewards of the taxpayers money I hereby move that this board direct our Administration to engage in a study to determine why other districts in the county spend less than Monroe this study should produce specific explanations in the various categories that clearly clear L explain why our expenditures exceed those of other districts and I'm asking my fellow board members to support this motion I [Applause] second any question yes I was just gonna comment a questions by members of the board and who do you propose should do this study who do you propose to do this the administration the central Administration and and what exactly like are you looking for isn't this something that around
052budget time we should be discussing well for the past three years I presented this board with this information and it appears that it's been ignored because I have heard no evidence at any of the board meetings nor read anything that they have taken those things into account and yes I absolutely feel that it should be part of the budget formulation and that is why I am raising the issue tonight because it will take them time to see why it is that Monroe is spending more per pupil on extracurricular activities than any other District in the county why are we spending more on textbooks than any other District in the county why is it that our administrative cost are the third highest in the county they can't produce those answers right off the cuff they're going
053to have to see what these other districts are doing that allow them to do it in many cases several hundred dollar less per student than we are spending so yes I I think it's timely because it's going to take some time for them to do that and I do know that budget formulation usually begins as early as September or October if I can comment sure um if I can make a suggestion U Mr Po and members of the Board of Education what you describe as a pretty lofty undertaking and um as we anticipate our board retreat this summer where we'll be looking at goals for 2013 2014 that may be an arena to flush out exactly what you seek um but I think think it is it's not feasible for us to be able to
054provide an explanation about the spending in other districts and I don't even know how we would access that information frankly but if if the desire of the board through that goal setting process is to establish a goal that would look specifically at a plan to reduce in certain areas or to identify what those expenditures are that may explain those I think that may be a better use of our time but to do that kind of study frankly would probably consume so much of our time that there would be little time for anything else anyone else I I I appreciate that comment and when I say I appreciate it's because I do understand that it is not an easy undertaking but I I would suggest that it be considered for the example in the area of
055extracurricular we have someone here in the district that is paid who is in charge of our extracurricular activities uh I would think that he and I don't know if he's a 12-month employee or not but uh I would think that part of his duties could be that he start making some phone calls and finding out uh how many sports do these various schools have how many coaches and assistant coaches do they have uh how often do they replace the uniforms and equipment uh all those various costs how many clubs do they have get a copy of their stiens I mean that's an easy thing that could be emailed or sent through the mail uh that's just one example uh um in terms of the operation of the plant yes we did expand the the district
056with the addition of the new High School uh with the opening of the Applegarth School uh but even prior to that we were running very very high in terms of our plant operation and maintenance very high compared to other districts uh I I think we just need to dig in to find out why are we spending so much more than other districts in the county uh so whatever whatever we can do to do that uh I think it's time that we did it uh we can't continue to just build the budget the way we've built it in the past uh because that doesn't seem to be changing how much we're spending on a per pupil basis and I want the the public to understand that when we say a per puple basis even though Monroe
057is getting larger which does increase the expenditures because it's on a per pupil basis then that takes into the account that we we are increasing the number of students so I I'm amable to to uh any any effort uh any change in this uh in terms of how we go about doing it uh just so long as it's done a and at least by this time next year uh we have a pretty concrete idea of where we could probably make some major reductions uh I know that it takes time to do this and it takes time to build a budget uh and I know it's not going to happen overnight but but I do believe we need to bite the bullet we need to take a look at this information that's available from the New
058Jersey Department of Education I think that's why it's there it's available to the public and that's why I was looking at it three years ago uh so I'm very amenable to a change but I I I want to maintain some kind of a motion tonight and I do want uh a vote on this motion that we undertake a study in terms of these very ious categories to see if we can ascertain get a better understanding of why it is that we are spending more money than most other districts and how we might go about reducing expenditures wherever possible I am not looking to reduce the quality of our program I am not looking to reduce the opportunity for students to participate in extracurricular I am looking to see why it is that we always seem
059to come out out so high in the expenditures per pupil moso did you have a comment Mr Coffman yeah I I think the the concept here is is valid and I think what I think what we want to try and do is because I know to to to answer one of your questions we have repeated and and reported through various board meetings since the Litany of time some of the anomalies that exist in Monroe Township that that do cause us to fall above and I think where Doug is going and correct me if I'm wrong is if for example we take a look at transportation for Middle sex County right and we know for a fact that you know Monroe happens to be extremely large and virtually 100% of our students are transported because of
060lack of sidewalks and lack of whatever and big distances um that in the area of Transportation Monroe is going to come out High because of these mitigating factors this is why for the transportation piece of the budget why Monroe sits up here uh if it comes into the category of maybe I don't know special education because it's course per Factor right and Monroe is disproportionately high in the number of special education kids that we have here versus a counterpart in another County or another District within the county this is another reason why we are coming up at a little bit higher and when you start adding these factors in th this is what kind of describes and defines why Monroe may be coming up a bit higher than some of the other districts within middle
061sex County and I think ultimately that's what we want to try and get to to Doug's Point not we're saying all right start cut cut cut cut cut but further definitively explain why these things exist and why the public would want to know okay Monroe is higher cost per pupil because of boom boom boom boom boom with other districts don't have as much cost or comparable for whatever reason I am I on target uh I believe I understand you uh Ken and uh I don't object to anything you're saying except what I do object to is our using soft uh information to support uh some of the statements or some of our cost I I think we need hard evidence as to why that is for example transportation is not even included in one of
062the categories here okay it's not even included even though what you said uh much of that is true although I I would imagine that we can find in some of the other districts in the township that they face some of the same obstacles we face in terms of they have to transport a high percentage of their students but it would be good to actually know that even though that's not part of these particular categories that they use here uh but in terms of special ed uh that is part of it and uh uh it's it's it's relatively easy to uh go to the state's uh State's uh website and see what percent of uh the student body in each district is classified as special ed I know when it comes to the state aid allocation
063and their formulas they they give every District the same percentage they they don't allow it to vary I I I think it's 14.9 or it's 16.9 but they use the same figure in their formulas for for the state aid calculation um so I'm just simply saying that let's let's see if we can't construct the data that supports those expenditures or that explains those expenditures a a as opposed to Simply what we think is the case what we think the explanation is anyone else Miss antalis yeah um and I understand where you're going with this I I share your concern um my concern is that you don't have a plan how many districts do they look at do they look at all the FG districts do they look at I districts do they look at just
064middle sex County do they look at districts comparable to us we need a plan we can't really just throw that at them and say hey go find out why we're spending this money so I think that what we need to do as board as a whole is get together and do goal setting and that be one of the goals that we have find out look through your paperwork and say why are we spending more some of these are only a matter of dollars um I I don't see some are a matter of a couple $100 and I understand that so I think that we'd be better off with as a board as a whole coming up with a plan that sort of uh directs the administration to where we want them to go not just
065a motion of go out and look for this so I'm going to ask that we table uh that motion till we have the whole board together we can set a date for a retreat and start um making these goals well the other the other problem is too that there's so many categories that you would want to look at that I don't think our Administration could do that and do their jobs well that if we broke it down to a this category this year and that category next year and use it as part of our school goals because we're already as one of our school goals from last year looking at clubs and sports and extra and we still don't have the results no we don't we still don't have the results and I think that
066is a shame but in terms of a plan the districts that are included in this study are the districts that are listed here you don't have to go out and create a new list okay there are the districts of middle sex County that have large high schools like we do some are more affluent some are less affluent but the data is all in terms of per pupil spending that's what puts the equality in all of those districts how much are you spending per pupil I'm amable to Let's reduce the number of categories but let's don't just do one category per year or my God we'll be here 12 years trying to get this thing done I I I mean that is unconscious in terms of the taxes that we are paying in Monroe we have
067to start looking at this we can't simply say it's business as usual as has been happening the past three or four years if I Madam Bo president if I may I just want to comment on the the goal um we don't have a plan for the goal because the goal was for this year to look specifically at technology when those goals were set last year last August as a matter of fact the board recognized it we would not get through assessing every effort and initiative in The District in one year so we were to look our Direction was to look specifically at technology which is what we were doing which is what we have done so I just don't want it to be on record that we don't have a plan has been Mr Braverman
068did you have a question i' like the second Amy's motion to table is until can't be a motion already I made a motion to table well the table the motion to table would come discussion should have been stopped at that point okay so need to go back to Dub's motion and a second before we table it well we don't know if it if he had support for the motion I second what's the question I'm sorry question yes okay that's what I thought so the motion to table precedes the motion that you made so we'll if there's is there any discussion on the motion to table if not I'm just the motion till the whole board is here that we can discuss goal setting and then look at these items and include it in our goals
069okay and it was second by Mr bra I I seconded that but what she's saying is she didn't put a timeline on this she put a condition on the motion which I'm seconding okay so is there any comments or questions on the motion to table if not we'll have a roll call Miss antelis yes Braverman yes Mr Masters no Mr Po no Mr proso no Mr tesler noo yes and you forgot cman Mr calman only yes yes that's for yes so the motion to table uh does not does not pass okay so then we'll go back to Doug's motion to wait a minute I think a tie it's 44 yes yes Mr poy I'm not certain of the Parliamentary procedure but uh I am willing to modify that motion and that would be that that
070we devote a major part of this retreat in discussing how we can go about looking at these categories and looking to see how we can determine what the data is so that we can start looking to see how we can reduce some of these per pupil cost so your motion would be to the motion would be you want to amend your motion to to have this discussion at the next board retreat at the next board retreat and and that a major goal of that meeting would be to deter to to set about a plan with a timeline as to how uh how we're going to arrive at knowing how Monroe is spending so much more than other districts in these various categories okay is there a second to the amendment to Mr Po's motion Mr
071proso is there any comments or questions yeah Mr I think I understand what you're saying my problem is each time a motion comes up for extracurricular activities for example I don't hear anybody questioning it it's just passed when the contract came up for the teachers which we comply with because that's the honorable thing to do I if I was asking the questions that you're asking the first thing I would do is compare our contracts with the other with the other school districts um maybe that's where it is but in looking over in looking over your notes and I I think these are these came from the same place Monroe's pupil per course compared with other districts Etc the the dollars in most of the categories were less were're we're spending fewer than the average for
072the areas for example um the state average for uh classroom salaries and benefits is $8,997 2525 and Marv not to cut you off but that's the only category where we fall so low wait a minute and and that's probably because I just happened to look at that this was not pre-plan okay okay can we just have one board member this wasn't pre planned hold on um the state average for classroom instruction per pupil is 8588 and our ours is 8223 so that's two categories um I think I'm going to ask Mr Gorski to respond to this question schools in the county Mr I'm sorry look at the schools in the county on that category we may be less than the state average but look at the schools in the county well the extracurricular course per
073pupil yeah we're uh were $6 higher than the state mean I'm gonna ask $6 Mr Gorski to respond uh thank you madam board president um I I certainly um very much appreciate Mr Po's interest in the taxpayer guide educational spending um as we've discussed at previous budget meetings back in um January and February Dr Hamilton and I are required each January to attend a budget a budget efficiency meeting at the County office where this taxpayer guide educational spending which Mr Po is extracting these metrics from is used primarily to review the efficiencies on our budget and we go through each category and we discuss uh the specific uh placement for Monroe and um ultimately the county this year again was satisfied with the efficient of our budget and allowed us to proceed that's not always
074the case he quite often asks for revisions certain items to get pulled out of different categories within the budget and modifications to be made we've never had to make one um I don't mean to temper um the presentation by Mr Po at all because I think there's certainly Merit by going through these metrics and um any efficiencies that we could make are certainly noteworthy but nine of the 15 categories Monroe was below the state median or average and that includes a lot of districts within that category that receive a lot of external funding sources such as state aid that Monroe does not have so their numbers consequently would be higher um so certainly there's metrics here where Monroe is you know one two or three in the county that deserve explanation certain categories are so
075small that one simple District initiative could place a district moving from the bottom all the way to the top in one year and there's there has been metrics like other purchase services for instruction where Monroe has um dropped from um first third to Third and um other categories like plan operation and maintenance we were very efficient being 8 and 11 where once we open the new High School in 11 and 12 we jumped to number three and number two so again in conclusion there is Merit to reviewing all of the indicators that Mr Po brings up um however this this may not be as dire and there certainly is plausible explanation when you consider uh the state median and average in monrose placement within those and certain external um categories like Mr calman brought up
076that are outside of Monroe's um control is there any other discussion on the amendment Mr Masters the amendment is to move discussion to The Retreat right um could we as part of the goal setting because this is it is very uh large and but I like the theory of it could we maybe carve out two of the categories or a subset of the categories think concentrate on them no I'm saying in Pre so we have the information ahead of time concentrate on that at the retreat cuz there's a couple on there I looked at and I said yeah I wonder why it's so high but it might be something extremely simple and a couple of these at least in my opinion now are low hanging fruit they seem more obvious than trying to dig into
077some really crazy stiens or budgets about other districts but for example the extra cricker cost per pupil might be something and hold on a second I would just have C you're throw me off sorry and maybe the classroom supplies in Texas I thought that was a great one just to dig in if only as an exercise in how we're doing things and maybe to uncover it I agree with you but I I do think this would be crazy to open up every one of these categories and start pulling through them okay but I I do agree if we're going to do it at the uh Retreat which is in when when we we're going to set a date after I don't know if we should do or try to because I think if you try
078to grasp every category we're going to accomplish nothing and I'm willing to acknowledge that that's the reason I was willing to to change the the motion that I had made so oh go ahead M which is why we need to get together with a treat Retreat that the whole board can discuss which areas we want to concentrate on well well the necessity of having the whole board I mean that's why you have a quorum we have a quorum here tonight and that's the very reason for that I don't think that that that to have the whole board is a substantial reason for delay anything if you have a quorum you have a quorum I'm not talking about delaying anything I'm talking about a retreat where the whole board is there talking about goal setting and
079which goals we want to go for not not doing it right now oh and and and I'm not suggesting that we do it right now either okay so there is an amendment on the floor to have the discussion that Mr Po is looking for and it's been seconded to discuss that at the board retreat and then if that passes then we will approve the amendment to have the discussion so um I don't get to vote I just have a question how I don't understand how that's different than what Amy recommended I I don't think it is I think she was just agreeing we would have this at The Retreat okay I just thought maybe I is that true Miss that's what I said okay so we will have a roll call to amend Mr Po's
080okay and correct correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the motion will read it is recommended to the members of mon Township Board of Education uh to present at the next board retreat um a timetable and a plan to address um knowledge about the specific metrics contained within the most recent taxpayer guide educational spending but the but the motion to the amendment is to have it is that motion but the amendment is to have it at the Retreat and not do it tonight so we have to approve the retreat part and then we have to approve the motion okay okay so this is just to have the the discussion at The Retreat okay does everybody understand that okay roll call Miss antelis yes Mr Braverman yes Mr calman yes Mr Masters yes Mr Po
081yes Mr proso yes Mr tesler yes Mrs kapano yes Madam board president the motion is unanimous to have it at the retreat okay now we have to approve the the original motion with the retreat in it to have this discussion at The Retreat a discussion in regard to the pupil per pupil spending okay Miss anelis yes Mr Braverman yes Mr calman yes Mr Masters Mr Po yes Mr proso yes Mr tesler yes Mrs kapano yes M Madam board president motion unanimously passes thank you okay are we um still on number 14 is there any other board of education business you want to set the retreat date oh that would be a great idea um we would have this in August outside of the regular board meeting correct so when when are you back whenever I
082need to be I'll to be back by the 21st which is the board meeting so anytime after that okay I'm not coming back until so we could do the this or anytime this week are are are would you be interested in doing this on a Saturday like we did in last year or do you want to do this in an evening August 24th yeah works for me August 24th morning August yes Saturday yes Retreat it's like an agenda stuff is on the agenda that's what we'll talk about the main goals of how we we'll have an agenda the agenda probably will it would be like a special Board of Education meeting just to have a retreat to discuss this topic topics of our goals it would be a goal setting meeting curriculum and raising scores
083would be in there too correct no it's a it would be a goal setting meeting and whatever you would want to bring up as a discussion then the board would decide maybe the two or three goals that they would plan not have for next year um we already have an ongoing um go uh goal that will be a multi-year goal so that would stay I think we have two that we've already approved and we have could eliminate this year and then we would add to that and we would also need to follow up on the Strategic plan with school boards as well so it would be a goal setting goal and one of the topics you would talk under goal setting would be to have the per pupil spending is um Saturday August 24th good
084with everybody for you 9 o' okay 9 o' am a yeah am am what is it August 5th August 24th need a motion to do that and then we would need a motion to accept August 24th 9:00 a.m. to have a goal setting meeting goal setting Retreat second I didn't make the motion he did oh he made I'm sorry I didn't hear you Mr Braverman Mr Braverman and then miss antelis got it roll call Miss antelis yes Mr Braverman yes Mr calman yes Mr Masters Mr Po yes Mr proso yes Mr tesler yes Paul Pono yes madame board president motion passes to conduct a special Board of Education meeting August 24th at 9:00 a.m. we'll call it a special Board of Education Retreat Retreat and that will be at the mono Township High School yes
085okay does that work yes ma'am okay is there any other Board of Education Miss s Tellis um I actually just happened to catch the last board meeting and I noticed there was a discussion about s237 I was wondering if we've heard anything um no I reached out uh to Senator Greenstein this week there is no current update for s237 or the assembly version of the same time well I I would like to thank Dr Hamilton you and Jill de Mayo you spoke eloquently um it was nice to see the turnout I do understand that when it goes to the senate floor they will be no testimony but when it goes to the assembly there will be and I hope we use a little bit more common sense about our speakers next time and that's all
086I'll say uh any other board of education business Mr Masters not to bring this up the the early K the 37 how much is that Mike roughly per it's like four or something Y how much tuition for early K 400 400 4 $100 a month and do they have to um tell us ahead of time their Mecca what how many days so do we know can we project out yes and put down deposit so so the numbers I presented before are substantiated with a significant deposit do we know the average for the mecca how much per you know what I'll email me that later well it's kind of hard to tell because you have some are two days and some are five days so um I'm not sure that how you would get an average
087but we we could send you the updated information any other board of education business Mr poy sorry it seems to be my night but uh I I did work on another report that I've just had circulate around the table I decided not to email this to you but to give you a hard copy it concerns the uh performance reports that the Department of Education uh developed this year uh which allows us to look at uh various metrics um or statistics in terms of Monroe uh something new this year was that they created this peer group uh for each School in the district not the not on a district basis but for each individual school and I was astounded when I saw the peer group that Monroe High School was in uh because it's a rather
088uh prestigious group of of high schools um we are one of the uh I think there's only two two districts in our peer Group which uh are ranked rather low socioeconomically but uh in terms of the performance and the peer group uh we're in the category with uh Milbourne uh and uh I believe it's um oh what's that other very good District that's up that way but there's several you can look it up on the website so it aroused my curiosity I started uh doing some digging and I started looking at the high schools in Middle sex County which I felt would be a bit fairer and uh I was comparing uh the performance of Monroe High School to the to other large high schools in Middle sex County uh I also decided that it
089would possibly be informative to compare Monroe High School to other high schools that are in our same uh socio economic category that DFG that we're in and so essentially I prepared a report rep I'm sharing it with you tonight uh I would appreciate it I hope that you will take some time to look at it uh it looks rather lengthy uh and that's because uh it's essentially the same group of schools but they are uh rank ordered according to each category uh and there is a summary uh I believe on the second page uh which shows for example that in the county uh we uh terms of the I think there's 13 high schools Al together uh in the county uh we did not do very well on the HSPA language arts or the HSPA
090math uh we did not do very well on our SAT participation uh we did not do very well on our AP scores that were three four or five uh or we did not do well on further education now that's simply on a comparative basis okay so you have to actually look at these statistics that are are here because in some cases it is just a matter of uh a few uh a few points one way or the other terms of the state we're kind of in the middle in terms of our peer group uh it's disastrous because as I said somehow or other uh we got put into a peer group that in my opinion is nothing like uh Monroe uh in terms of what I know about those communities uh but it's all here
091I I just hope that you'll take a look at this and possibly this is something else uh that we could include in that retreat in terms of uh what can we do to improve the uh academic performance of the students here in Monroe that's the the entire intention thank you thank you anyone else okay at this time we will go to close session resolution be it resolved that the Board of Education of the township of Monro hereby moves to go into closed session in accordance with Sunshine Law chapter 231 of the public law law of n uh 1975 njsa 10 colum 4-6 through 10 col 4-21 to discuss the following subjects Personnel legal matters student matters harassment intimidation and bullion incidents 44 and 45 the discussion conducted in closed session can be disclosed to the
092public at such time as the matters have been resolved uh motion and a second to go into close session so second who was the first Miss an MR bra second by Mr Masters all in favor post new language for the Clos session item regarding a legal email um should I read that yes okay I'm just going to um the legal matter explain the legal matters to receive attorney advice in the matter of the tenure hearing of amarie George School District of the township of Monro middle sex County agency docket 1266 dh1 sl13 okay we still have the motion is second all in favor opposed exstension and we will be going into close session and I guess it would be 20 minutes 15 20 minutes at this time the board will reconvene into public session and
093go to the number 16 on the agenda public forum anyone wishing to speak please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record whole F sh arm min9 Nathaniel Street uh first I'd like to ask about the um deliberation on the superintendent salary um first what was the salary increase compared to last year it was a 1% increase 1% increase okay when was the discussion held in close session um June okay so the discuss disc um but was there any deliberation in public about the superintendent's salary no it is a close session item okay that's incorrect um once you decide on a close session item the and it's been decided there is the public the whole point of the open public meetings Act is to have the public be present on all
094deliberations you could have had the discussion and decided on it but there was absolutely no deliberation in public that's a disgrace because taxpayers are paying the increase and deliberation after it's settled can be discussed in public and it was not done so I am I am really burdened by the fact that all of the board members did not open the discussion about the superintendent salary in public in a public form secondly um I want to thank Mr Po and Mr proso for their concerns about improving the academic standards in Monroe and I'd like to understand why it seems to me that there's a little bit of Mr Mr Po was shut down when other members uh could could quickly criticize the situation there seems to be a little bit of an imbalance about how you
095allow people when the deliberation time comes to do it and I also as a matter of protocol there was a resolution on the table I can't imagine how you can table something that the res that the resolution wasn't even decided on I mean so somebody needs to check the Roberts rules because there was a there was a resolution on the table and it was it should have been voted in up or down before anyone was able to table it and I think it's a disgrace to table something immediately when you're in the middle of deliberations I mean and the and I and Kathy konowitz I am I am sorry to say I feel that you were biased during that discussion towards the people who you favored uh in the in the discussion so I would
096hope that as the president of the board that you would properly um control the discussion and have respect for all board members I think it's an essential thing and oh and miss anellus you were so concerned about having a plan to go forward but when Mecca was was before us you weren't worried about a plan you didn't care that there was no plan it seems very hypoc critical that you're what Mr Po is is asking is not anything that's going to cost us money but Mecca has $300,000 you weren't worried about putting a plan together thank you for yourist and and Mr Po if you feel that I shut you down today then I apologize because I feel like I have given you to apologize to the public because if you shut people down who
097have leg yes ma'am please sit down I would like I would like you to understand that that the public has a right to hear proper deliberations and it's it's someone is asking to improve the quality time is up of education and I appreciate that and I believe I gave everybody the right to speak and I did not tell anybody that they were cut off and I'm sorry I did well I will anyone else from the public did I do that yes you did well I'm sorry you feel that way you know and I will look at that there order that need to be maintained at the meeting we talked about this hi Steve Ryback 23 Riviera Drive um Mr Po I really want to just follow up uh with complimenting you again with your your
098Zeal for Quality education and your sensitivity to the taxpayer situation in Monroe uh we need more of this we need all of you to get on board with him and support everything he said uh it's important it's your responsibility to do so um just one other item you uh it brought when you when you talked about Florida it brought something to mind because uh I came before you before talking about uh the problem we have with basically uncontrolled residential growth not only in Monroe but in other areas in Jersey and the the uh subsequent result of of increased taxes uh because of more kids coming into the schools Florida has impact fees they're legal there new New Jersey doesn't I think New York doesn't either illegal there uh in here illegal I'm sorry in New
099Jersey and New York uh I think we need to work not just with our state representatives but with other school boards in putting the pressure on our state representatives to reverse some of the laws that I think the builders Association has through uh lobbying uh achieved because they're really um having a negative impact on taxpayers and school boards uh you have no control of over developments that are receiving approval um but I think that we need to have more of a say so that Things become a lot fairer thank you good evening Tom notein 15 Nathaniel Street um just a question several finance committee meetings ago um it was mentioned that you were going to possibly do something with regards to the Jamesburg lawsuit uh I'm just wondering where that stands Mr Gorski would you
100like to respond yes um basing this on a conversation um that we had which um constitutes legal advice but I'll I'll give you the parameters that we're happy to share with the public um we're we're in a deposition and indog stage which is where all the documents and questions that are going to be raised in the challenge are accumulated by both parties and Monroe is working with our counselor to accumulate the documents that we've been asked to do and Jamesburg um was asked to do this first and I understand has submitted documents but they are not complete at this time and is being asked to provide additional information that'll probably extend into August um I I kind of had the impression at the last couple of Finance committees or the meetings prior to the last
101one um that there may be be some talk in closed session or um are you still going ahead with this lawsuit I guess that's that's the bottom line here it it seemed like there was some intimation that uh that may not be the be the case yes everything H is filed with the commissioner and still on schedule and did we have the legal advice in Clos session like you discussed we did receive legal advice on that matter yes okay he did okay great um also um tonight it was mentioned that uh it was discussed at the last finance committee meeting about Mecca um my agenda which is right here it's not on the agenda and correct me if I'm wrong but when um Mr proso brought it up it was mentioned that oh there's no
102need to discuss this because we're so much in the black and I'm just kind of got the wrong impression tonight when you brought up the numbers Mr President Oso's comments uh were critical of the recommendation to the board of education to make a $40,000 transfer from the general fund to the mecca proprietary fund um there is no requirement to discuss that at the committee level prior to coming to address it and recommend it to the board of education however previously at a public meeting we did mention that there was going to be probably another additional need for a transfer to cover costs um next month and that would have been that $40,000 one so there was notice provided it was not discussed at Finance it was not placed on the agenda um and it was
103subsequently passed by the Board of Education to transfer the funds actually that you're getting ahead of me because that's actually um wasn't really the question the question was tonight you mentioned the mecca update basically gave a student update and you said it was discussed at the finance committee because I was giving during Mrs anel's committee report I'm here to say it was not on the finance committee agenda the mecca update and it was my understanding that the board has requested that at finance committee meetings there be a Mecca update and that's kind of what I'm wondering I beg your pardon it was not on the finance agenda I believe a question was asked um why there wasn't a financial update at that meeting at which time we explained that it was in preparation and the
104enrollment current numbers were provided although as you pointed out it was not an agenda item okay but in in the future it's my understanding that will be and should be an agenda item is that accurate that's determined by the chair of every committee what's on the agenda and that's their prerogative okay and where do we stand with the business plan as far as be uh being put being public and putting it on the website an important part of the business plan that's still being deliberated upon is the repayment of the loan and I believe at the last public meeting meeting it was discussed and decided upon to wait until we see the September uh actualized numbers and get a financial statement in September before we determine a formula for the loan repayment with the retained
105earnings U and then that would conclude the business plan presumably okay thank you very much Robert roach J team your field Boulevard uh I think if you go back and look at the uh last June's board meeting you'll find out that Dr Hamilton indicated that by August 1st the mecca plan would be finished being quote deliberative and would be available to the public so there was not no indication by Dr Hamilton that it would not be public until after September 30th so that was a statement made at the last uh um board meeting uh the other issue that I want to make is that um um when Mr Po raised the issue about looking into the various uh categories as to where we stand uh the the board was a gas a lot of the
106members were a gas oh oh my gosh and here he is making a recommendation to let's see if we can uh Identify some areas where we can possibly save some money whereas when an item comes up to Let's spend some money the board for the most part is all for that type of thing so I find that very hypocritical thank you very much anyone else from the public seeing no one the next excuse me Madam president if I may make a couple of comments Mr Po all right uh just uh this someone mentioned about residential growth and I thought it might be worthwhile mentioning something that I just heard recently uh evidently one of our Builders and I understand it's Southfield Estates although I thought that one was completed but uh whichever Municipal board does
107this uh or agency uh they have given approval that with uh some of the new homes uh that they will be allowed to have uh two master bedroom suites um now I think the intention was by Building Homes of that nature that would allow uh some of the young families to have grandparents present in the house and I can see a lot of advantages to that particularly since I'm a grandparent but unfortunately people are using that uh in a different way uh and and I heard one person say in particular that they were going to be selling their present home and buying one of these homes so that one of their Rel reles could move in and they and the relatives have children as well so we essentially will have in these newer homes with
108two master suites bedroom suites it looks to me as if we will have uh two families residing in those homes uh paying the taxes for one house but uh getting an education for uh the children of two families uh I don't think there's anything we can do about it but I simply uh bring that to your attention because you know it could potentially have some adverse effects um and and I would based on the public comment uh that I've just heard uh I do want to say and I realize I'm sitting here and I'm engaged in the discussions uh and it's different when you're sitting there uh you know you see things differently uh but I I want to say that from my perception uh I did not feel that I was being shut down
109at any time by anyone um I do believe uh that we will sometimes disagree with one another and that's the way it should be uh and I do believe that there should be give and take in our discussions and I think it's unfortunate that sometimes at board meetings the give and take doesn't take place uh and I just believe that you know we should have the opportunity to do that because then we hear what other people are thinking and sometimes in some of the Committees these topics don't come up uh so I I just wanted to share that because I did not perceive that I was being shut down uh I do apologize that my original motion was maybe not worded as as well as it could have been and maybe even the uh amended
110motion wasn't worded as well as it could have been but I think everybody understands what my intent is uh and I think that uh the board essentially is looking to see how we can produce the best education possible at the best possible cost we may go about it in different ways but but I think that we are all unified in that particular Point thank you okay our next scheduled public Board of Education meeting will be Wednesday August 21st 2013 7:00 p.m. at the high school a motion to adjourn so move Mr Kaufman second second by miss analis all in favor opposed extensions and the meeting has been adjourned