001Please stand for the flag salute. >> 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 for all. We'll start tonight with the superintendence report. >> Good afternoon to everyone for joining us this evening. It's a pleasure to have you here. As SPR has sprung, the good news is that we have one emergency day that we did not use in the calendar. So tonight the board will be considering a motion for a calendar adjustment that our new day for students is Wednesday June 17th. It is the graduation date for FMS and middle school stays the same. So FMS commencement ceremony will remain on um June 17th and high school graduation will remain on the 18th. I hope everybody has
002noticed if you've been traveling FMS that the turf field project is well underway with a projected completion date of August 15th to be ready for the fall sports season. So we encourage you in your travels to take a look. The project is progressing nicely. Uh as um we will be recognizing all of the individuals in the district who have submitted retirement after wonderful careers here in the district and also some other districts in the state and we encourage you to join us after celebrating our retirees. We are most excited to celebrate the upcomers at our June meeting where we will be offering some uh insights and presentation into the class of 2026 and their college and career outcomes. Uh so we look forward to having you join us uh at those meetings and thank you
003very much for being here tonight. >> Thank you very much Dr. Nishi. uh intellect agenda. These uh are necessary for approval of retirement and 28 years of service 23 years or 23 years and Edgar Davis 13 years. On behalf of the board, I would like to wish them good health and enjoyment during retirement and some degree of structure in any organization is needed in order for meetings and operating procedures and policies to be followed. But so is flexibility. Today you will notice that the board of education voted to change the public comment po portion of our meetings for after presentations to better meet the our community's needs. So I would like to thank the board of education for their flexibility in approving this for from tonight on. And that's my report. Thank you. And uh
004now we have the student committee reports. So we'll start with our ladies first. >> All right. Uh good evening everyone. I hope everyone is doing well. My name is Daisy Zang and along with my partner Garrett Greger. We will be delivering tonight's student report. >> Good evening everyone. Uh as far as spring sports are going, they're well underway. Uh most sports are in the midway portion of their season. Uh the girls softball team is out to a 9-2 start on the year and the girls lacrosse team is also off to a good start sitting at a 6 and4 record ahead of their game against uh Pengri this Tuesday. The boys volleyball team won a 2- game against do today and will look to go on a win streak against Delartan later this week. Boys lacrosse,
005boys, boys and girls golf and boys tennis around the middle of their seasons with the boys tennis team off to a seven and three start with a sweep against P John. Additionally, the track team recently went to the Penn Relays, one of the largest high school track events in the country hosted at the University of Pennsylvania. This past week, the MHS Spectrum Jazz Ensemble won gold at West Milford and competed in state jazz finals for the fifth year in a row. The 33rd annual jazz night is May 7th at 7 p.m. in the MHS auditorium where jazz ensembles from the district will be joined by special guests in a professional ensemble to perform with our music students. The final concerts this year for band and orchestra will be on the 19th and 21st, respectively. Honor
006society induction and senior chord ceremonies have officially begun. International Thespian Society seniors received their yellow and blue cords on Friday, April 24th, with many more celebrations set for May, including the French Honor Society and National Honor Society. The Interact Club has a b a busy schedule ahead, hosting a variety of events this spring, including a bake sale and donation collection for courtappointed special advocates for CASA, a program dedicated to spons uh supporting children in foster care. Moreover, we would like to congratulate the technology student association, more popularly known as TSA, as they head to the New Jersey State Conference on May 2nd. We wish them wish them the best of luck as they represent our school. >> Additionally, the Heritage Club uh this past month had the Apollo performance, which was very well, our annual
007Apollo performance. Uh students greatly enjoyed that before spring break. And uh upcoming for the uh the heritage club is uh heritage uh ceremony where we will induct new teachers uh and new alumni into the wall of fame and the teachers corner. Um, as far as student government goes, in addition to our usual spring pep rally, uh, student government has dedicated their spring work towards a handful of events uh, that students in the organization are passionate about, including teacher appreciation week, a college merch clothing drive, a movie night out in the turf field, and our annual 5K fundraiser. Each of these events have groups of students within SIO working to plan them, helping to keep our meetings organized as we steadily approach the end of the school year. These events are a great opportunity for class
008governments and clubs to raise money, helping to defay the cost of school and club events. >> Decision day is this Friday, May 1st, and students are looking forward to revealing where they're headed the next four years. Special kudos to our Ivy League bound students headed to Princeton, Cornell, Brown, and UPEN. Senior celebrations continue as we officially recognize the class of 2020 uh validictorian and saludiatoran. These academic achievements reflect years of growth and we are so proud of the dedication shown by our seniors. Finally, AP season is almost here. While studying is getting intense, students are excited to take advantage of the new policy covering exam fees, giving everyone the equal chance to earn college credit for their hard work. With fewer than 10 Mondays to go, students are ready to bring their best and finish
009the year strong. That concludes this month's report. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. and uh student representatives, you may be excused since uh tomorrow is a school night, school day. >> Thank you. >> And next, we're going to have a presentation today by Mr. Anthony Lean for the 2627 budget hearing. >> Thank you. So this evening, the board has said to adopt the budget for the 2627 school year. Uh and our last meeting in March, we gave Dr. Muchai gave a presentation on the details of that budget. It's since been approved by the county office. We're recommending no changes to that. So the information is all the same. And just to remind the board, our tax levy increase for next year will be 3.5%. Bringing our total tax levy to 111.9 million. Uh due
010to rising costs in healthcare, we still had to make some cuts to the budget to get into that number. We cut roughly 21 physicians, saving $2.4 million. All those cuts are related to our reduced student count primarily at the middle and high school. And we also had to cut $1.8 million out of our other budget lines. Uh we took a hard look at all our estimates and we went through and cut supply budgets where we could. Uh the impact to the average home for Morristown will be an increase of $330.86 per year and $78.3 for the township. Are there any questions on our budget? All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh next we go into into public comments and I would like to uh read this to all before to public to you
011that the meeting is not video recorded and publicly aired. and encourages public comment. We ask that you be respectful, including every comments that you make about staff. The board does not endorse any comments made by a speaker of the board or any comments made by members of the public. The prevents the board from speaking about specific students and about personnel matters. For this reason, answer any questions on these subjects. Finally, the policy limits each speaker to three minutes. You respect this policy and the time of your fellow community members in concluding your comments once you reach three minutes. Public comment is open for until public comments are complete. whichever comes first. At this point, I would like to invite you to come forward and your full name and address. >> Good evening. My name is
012Chal Mendes. My address is 31 Road, Morristown. I'm the parent of three children in special education in the district and the president of CPAG. I want to begin by recognizing our assistant superintendent Diana Pinto Gomez who since joining the district nearly three years ago has had many meaningful impact on our community. Her leadership has brought structure and clarity to special education programs after the kas transition that we experienced three years ago. Improve partnership between child to teams and families. made with IEPs more collaborative with parents included in decisions. Build trust with families through actions and follow through. Increase autism and and neural diversity awareness through community events at our last autism awareness celebration in the month of April and help families feel heard and supported. The leadership matters and should be recognized and built upon.
013However, I'm here tonight because there are significant concerns that require transparency and board oversight. In the 267 preliminary budget presentation, the district stated that staffing changes have been driven by a decline of approximately 225 students in grade 6 to 12. However, what is not clear is why the rationale is resulting in cost to K to5 special education including theation of the K to5 special education service supervisor role. Even the students needs and staffing remain substantial in those range. K to5 containers requires support for approximately 10 CST members and 37 special education teachers. At the same time, the office of curriculum and instruction continues to maintain both a supervisor of the STEM and a supervisor of instruction computer science 6 to 12 to lead two positions in the same field because focus on an age group
014where enrollment is declining. So the question is simple. We work to supervisory positions beyond maintaining one academic area with a key special education leadership role serving over 900 student districtwide is being eliminated. A special education students especially in K to5 need a strong leadership because early intervention is critical. There is also a lack of transparency regarding the new director of a special education position. Today I'll receive a last minute invitation to participate in final interviews next Monday which meaningful parent partnership and feedback should be included early in decisions not after the fact. Merciful engagement requires transparency preparation and respect. It is also important that a special education remains represented at the right level of leadership. The current structure with an assistant superintendent has helped move needed changes more effectively across the district. and restructuring should
015clearly explain whether it strengthens or weakens a special education's voice at the leadership table. This combination of cuts limit the transparency of a stakeholder engagement creates real concerns about stability, consistency and long-term planning. And I want to be clear a special education is not discretionary. is a legal obligation that requires stable leadership, clear structure and special over oversight. We all are real inconsistent implementation, a staff strain, delayed progress and most importantly impact the student outcomes. We're not here to post change. We're here to ask for responsible transparent decision making. Today we has the board for five actions. Expand the opportunity for a new meeting in the K25 special education supervisor role. Program transparency on the new director of a special education role. Share clear organizational structure sharing how it aligns with the assistant superintendent model
016and support students with diverse learning need. Assess the network in the student services early intervention and compliance and formally include CPAT in future decisions before they are finalized. We believe requires transparency and right now that is what's missing. We have to support to ensure that special education in this district is left with a stability, clarity and collaboration because special education is not a item to just is a commitment we're legally and morally obliged to uphold. Thank you. I was taking notes, so I apologize if I missed some of the things that you mentioned because the last I know we were over the three minutes and it went kind of quickly. So, I'll also um stay after the meeting to more fully address some of your questions. But I want to first say the reason that
017you received an invitation from CPAG a little bit later was I missed a letter on your email and there must be somebody who has the same email without the first letter because it never bounced back. So when I didn't get your response, I resent the email. Um so it uh that was just a mistake on my part on an email address. um we have a tremendous commitment to our special education students and to all students. I want to thank you for recognizing that you see increased collaboration and recognition of programs that were not serving our students that were replaced that you mentioned at the opening um portion of your comments. We do have a clear rationale for um the change in administrative structure. As Mr. Lef Franco mentioned we had 21 positions including four administrative
018positions that were cut and when we looked at the rationale for the four administrative positions basically all of us are going to be doing a little bit more than we were this year and issues have been reassigned. Um so some of the positions that you mentioned are going to have additional responsibilities in the curriculum area and when we look to make adjustments in the budget we look at models that were previously successful in the district. So someone there will be a supervisor who will be responsible for K5 special education. However, um the model that the district functioned under for quite a long time was one director and one supervisor and that was roughly with the same number of students. It's a big conversation. So, I'd invite you to stay at the conclusion of the meeting
019and I can also take your comments in writing and um the five areas of rationale. I can give a more detailed explanation um to the five points that you asked, but our goal is to be transparent. Happy to chat with you tonight. Happy to also visit CPAG and go over this structure and um you know interview season where we're looking for a director that underscores our commitment to one dedicated administrator in the district for special education and nothing else. So I would hope that we can have a conversation together and after which time you would see that our commitment to special education is incredibly strong and I can answer um the questions of the group in more detail. Well said. Uh I will add that it was uh very thoughtful to have a dedicated director
020of special education uh position. That was something that was thought a lot about and that's what is will be happening. Okay. Any other public comments? >> My name is Rudy Simick. I'm here tonight on behalf of uh my daughter Karen and representing my granddaughter who's currently in the hospital. Um, and my daughter thought this was important enough for me to voice her opinion on this matter. Dear members of the board of education, I'm here tonight. Oh, Spencer Drive, Morristown, where she lives. I'm here tonight um because I'm compelled to express my concern regarding the proposed reduction in funding for special education services within our district. While I understand the difficult decisions that come with budget constraints, I urge you to carefully consider the real and lasting impact these cuts will have on students who rely
021on these essential supports. As a parent, I have seen firsthand how transformative these services can be. My 11-year-old daughter, who is on the autism spectrum, has benefited tremendously from the support she's received here in Mars School District, both academically and emotionally. It has taken adv advocacy and persistence, but much of the success comes down to the incredible people who step up every day. Right now, this is the way machine as I've seen in my eight years with my daughter that my daughter has been in the special ed system here and that's because of the people. Frankly, things brought most of about 2 and a half years ago during a period of poor transition planning that left my daughter along with others throughout the system struggling on their own. The abrupt dismantling of Kabis, a program
022called special needs disrupted her learning, left her feeling isolated, and took a toll on her mental health. That experience still concerns me as I fear we would come face we would face similar changes again. I want to recognize indiv individuals like Diana Pinto Gomez whose dedication and compassion were instrumental in helping my daughter transition to a safe and and supportive new school environment. Dr. Pinto and the staff at Normandy Park School demonstrated exceptional intervention professionalism and commitment making a lasting difference in my child's life. It's hard to imagine that level of support being compromised. decisions about funding are at the core decisions about priority. I respectively I respectfully ask that you prioritize the needs of our most vulnerable students and preserve the services that allow them to succeed academically and emotionally. Investing in special education
023is an investment in the well-being and future of our entire community. Thank you for your time, for your volunteer services, and your thoughtful consideration in this matter. the Simick family and Collins family. Thank you. >> Thank you for your time and comments. I hope that your daughter feels better soon. a reduction of some administrative and teaching positions. There is nothing in the budget that indicates any reduction in services or any reduction in programs for our special education students. So no impact on the classroom or elimination of uh as you're seeing in other districts the reduction of classroom aids teaching assistance in a way that would impact program but again um I will be staying after the business portion of our meeting here to chat with anybody who is interested informally and I'll keep a look
024of all of the questions and certainly can provide some detailed answers in and mailing to our families. So, thank you. Terara Solongo, 27 Edge Hill, Morristown. Good evening. My name is Tara Solongo and I'm a parent of a special education child in this district. I'm not here tonight with structure or a lot of data. I'm here as a parent. The comments around trust and transparency really resonate with me significantly. I have experienced mistrust in this district previously. Several years ago under a different leadership, I was not heard. I was told something in the 11th hour that appeared to be a decision based on budget, not my child's needs. After that, my guard was up. As you can imagine, I held this for several years, but the district made changes. They brought in leadership bringing in
025Diana Pinto Gomez to strengthen leadership and presence in speech specifically driving clear communication more collaborative approach. I began to feel that guard come down again and the trust started to grow. Trust that my child mattered. Trust that my voice mattered. Trust that we're not navigating this alone. But the trust is fragile. And when I feel like there's not transparency, then we lose this trust. Again, key roles are removed without clear explanation again in advance. Families not being included in the process and us not understanding what the changes are for. The trust begins to break. So, families might like mine, it can be frustrating and a bit unsettling. I'm asking you as a parent here today, please protect the progress that has been made. Please ensure stability in special education. Please include families in these decisions
026that directly impact our children because at the end of the day, all we want to know is that our children are supported, understood, and given ever opportunity to succeed. Thanks for your time. >> Thank you. >> Hi, Sher Flowers, Bishop Court in Mars Township. Um, good evening members of the board. My name is Sheri Flowers. I'm the parent of a child with an IEP in the Mars School District. And I'm here today to express my strong support for Diana Pinto Gomez and emphasize how important it is how important we as CPAC feel that she'd be able to continue her role as assistant superintendent and director of pupil services. When Dana first joined the district, I'll admit I was skeptical. She stepped into a challenging situation following the dismantling of the Cabbas program and at times
027initially relied on technical definitions such as co-eing that differed from what we were used to. However, Diana has distinguished herself with her willingness to learn, listen, and evolve. She's worked closely with CPAG, generally hearing parent concerns and taking meaningful action to address them. Her position in the school has allowed her to do so. For example, when families expressed that 40 minutes a day of in-class support for reading or math were not sufficient, she responded by increasing the support to a minimum of 60. Some classes there's actually room for them to be more. Um, this has made a huge difference. When it became clear that students social emotional needs were not being addressed adequately, she developed and implemented a comprehensive social emotional emotional learning curriculum for grades K through five. one that I've personally seen make
028a positive impact. Um, she actually met with us several times, went over the curriculum, had us give feedback, and made changes based on that. Beyond program changes, Diana consistently shows up for families. When a strang family is struggling, she's the first one to make a call, to reach out, to offer support. Above all, Diana cares deeply about the students in the district. Her leadership reflects not only professional competence, but compassion and commitment. Eliminating her position, especially replacing it with one which we would imagine would have less authority to make an impact would be a significant disservice to our students, families, and the Mar school district as a whole. Thank you for your consideration. >> Thank you very much. >> You're welcome. Um Harry Lago Marcino, um you may know her daughter Vienna is undergoing chemo
029treatment. Um she was not able to make it tonight. Would the board be okay if I read her her letter or do I need to have someone else read it? Well done. >> If that's more than 300, I can have someone else read it. >> Uh, no, it's not that. It's about uh reading for someone else. >> I don't know what >> she she would be allowed to do it if goes. If everyone else goes, then she could come back. >> Okay. Oh, I'll come back after. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> She's going to be public. >> Hello. Hello. Good evening. My name is Jackie Vega and I am a parent of a child in the school district. I want to speak about something that is harder to measure but just as important, trust
030and community connection. In the past, many families felt disconnected from the system. Communication was limited and it was difficult to know where to turn to for support. In the past, many families felt disconnected from the system. Um, since Ayanna Pinto Gomez joined, that has changed. We have seen increased community outreach and engagement, greater visibility and support through events like the autism and neurodiversity awareness initiatives, a stronger effort to meet families where they are with care, responsiveness, and action. Families talk to each other. And what we hear consistently is there is finally a sense that someone is listening and following through. That trust is not easy to build and it should not be taken for granted. When decisions are made without transparency or without including CPAC and families that trust is at risk. We are asking
031the board to ensure that the progress we've made on in building a stronger, more connected special education community continues through transparency, stability, and partnership. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Would you like to? We uh was just making sure that anyone else who wanted to speak they have opportunity to speak. >> Okay. So um Carrie sent this letter. She thanks everyone for listening. Um so dear members of the board, my name is Carrie Lagro Marcino and I'm a mother of two children in the district, one of whom has an IEP. I'm writing to express my deep concern and confusion regarding the recent changes in the positions particularly the creation of a new director of special services a role at a time when from a parent perspective progress feel progress feels finally within reach my
032son's early years in my son's early years he attended the kabesh program which was truly an exceptional model that focused on supporting the whole child when the program was quickly dismantled and students were returned to their zone schools it created what can be described as a sink or swim environment students went from a highly supportive 2 to 15 uh 2 to 15 teacher to student ratio to a 1:22 classroom with only 40 minutes of support for ELA and math. The lack of meaningful support needed for these children to succeed in that setting was alarming. It was felt that our Cabbas kids became an afterthought. It was after these changes that Diana Pinto Gomez brought into the district and her was brought into the district and her impact has been significant. Under Diana's leadership, everything has
033begun to feel more structured, collaborative, and purposeful not only through her own efforts, but through the team she has built and guided. She took the time to personally observe my son in his classroom, understand his needs, and work towards meaningful solutions. From the beginning, well before I became involved in CPAC, she's been a consistent and compassionate and responsive presence. Diana has shown unwavering unwavering dedication not only to special education families but also to ESL families within the district. That is why the decision to create a new leadership position and eliminate others is extremely concerning. Just as there is a growing sense of stability and collaboration between the families and administration, these changes in introduce uncertainty. It raises consern uh it raises concern about lack of transparency in how and why roles are created and eliminated.
034It is difficult to understand when things are finally moving forward in the right direction for our children. My overall concern is not the addition of new roles but also the potential elimination of positions that directly support our special needs community. We are a large district and reducing supports will inevitably place more pressure on teachers and staff while causing our children to feel again like once like less of a priority. The level of inconsistency within the district has been difficult for our children. My son has had several different case managers since seven different case managers since entering the school district. It has been incredibly challenging for a child who feels understood uh a child to feel understood and properly supported when the individuals responsible for advocating for cha for them change year after year. Diana has
035spent the past 2 and a half years actively listening to families, acknowledging concerns, and taking tangible steps towards improvement. That kind of progress should be protected and built upon, not disrupted. I'm deeply concerned that the possible current budget decisions may be unintentionally overlooking what our children truly need in order to thrive. Consistent, knowledgeable leadership, and appropriate support within their learning environments. Our children deserve stability, advocacy, and a district that prioritizes their success. I urge the board to carefully consider the impact of these changes, particularly on the most those most vulnerable students in our district. The progress that has been made has been meaningful and should not be jeopardized. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Carrie Lago Marcina. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments? >> Okay. I'm Christina Baron. I on Kembbo Avenue
036in Morris Township. Um, I have two kids in the district. One has an IEP since she was three and, uh, my son's in the process of getting a IEP. Uh, both on the spectrum. I am [sighs and gasps] expressing my deepest concerns regarding the recent proposal cuts to the special education budget and [sighs] decision to replace staff members who have provided outstanding support to our students over the couple years. Um, special education services are essential to to the success, safety, and emotional well-being of students who rely on consistent skills and compassionate support. The current staff members have built strong relationships with the students and fil uh sorry I'm also in special ed the uh sorry the rose uh contribution positivity to the students progress relation uh replacing staff who have provided their values over the
037multiple years uh raise serious concerns and continually of care the quality of service provided Budget cuts to special eds do not only affect staff, but they also directly impact students who already face significance to affect their educational progress and frequently changes can be disrupted and harmful to students outcomes. I respectfully ask the board to reconsider the budget decisions and staffing changes. Uh please explore alternative solutions that preserve essential services and retain experienced staffs who have made meaningful differences in our students lives. I'm sorry for how I read. I actually graduated high school on a fourth grade reading level and that's why I'm strongly about this because the district failed me and I don't want to fail my my kids. So, it took me a long time to get where I'm at. Thank you. >> Well
038said. >> Thank you. Anyone else? If not, we're going to close the public uh comment section of the board uh of education meeting and now we will uh do board committee reports. Uh first we'll start with curriculum. Meredith, would you please pass? >> Good evening. The curriculum back in April 15th. We started with approving field trips as is custom, which will see you will see on your agenda tonight in Ed Matters motion two. Proud to report we're nearing 200 field trips so far this year. Among the exciting trips, a couple of fairly new additions include a trip to Mount High School for a workforce development fair and a shame an opportunity for juniors interested in the CCM advanced manufacturing program. Both of these trips highlighted efforts to expand our career and technical opportunities for high
039school students. Um, next we approved class uh as part of the community school which you will see in Ed Matters motion number three. And there's motion four reflects changes to our summer programming previously discussed. In HR motion number six, you'll see a job description for a reading specialist at FMS. The primary role of this position is to work with students who are more than one grade level behind in English language arts. We discussed this position and during the committee meeting and the intended impact on student achievement at Freedenheisen. Um there were several otherformational presentations during our committee meeting reviewed staff reductions as part of tonight's budget motion. We discussed the current status of 2026 curriculum ling. Um uh committee members requested a spreadsheet highlighting specific updates for each curriculum document in August to facilitate our
040understanding of the rationale for each change. We also had a presentation on winter benchmark comparisons so the committee could compare 2026 winter results with 2024 winter results to better understand progress towards goals. Additionally, Kevin prek to 12 supervisor of English language arts presented on the supports we're putting in into place this year for uh the students uh mentioned above previously. uh prek and kindergarten teachers will visit one another in order to give teachers firsthand look at prek classrooms and vice versa in order to strengthen classroom practices and smooth the transition from prek to K. couple more we we had a lot of uh informational presentations which was um fantastic. Uh administrators also described the formation of a prek to two technology study committee that'll be examining the impact of technology use on early childhood learners
041and plan to develop a re researchbased developmentally appropriate recommendations to guide instructional practice resource allocation and district policy. Uh, last we touched upon a recent NJ.com article highlighting local districts NJSLA scores. And if anyone has any questions, uh, feel free to follow up with the committee or the superintendent. Uh, special thanks to Matt Kryley, the director of elementary education for always facilitating informative meetings. Um, our next meeting is a couple days from now on Wednesday, April 29th. >> Thank you, Meredith. And next, finance. Uh, [clears throat] Linda, >> thank you. Uh, we met on Monday, April 20th. One of the things that occupied um a lot of our conversation was a major driver in [clears throat] our budget challenges for this coming year having to do with increases in our health benefits plans. We had
042a presentation from Brian Riley from Centric Benefits Consulting who is our insurance professional um and he highlighted that this impact is um marketwide. It's not just our school. It has to do with hospitals and providers having renegotiated pricing. Um the market is so volatile. In fact, we had many companies who actually declined to quote because they weren't able to even meet the numbers that we already had. The net of it is the state plan is uh going up by over 50% this year for uh districts who are in the state plan. That's a big bullet to bite. >> [clears throat] >> um our own provider Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield was um in the range of 17% others were between those two and we with a lot of hard work on the part of Anthony
043Lefranco and Brian Riley were able to come up with um a proposal for the 2627 school year that will have us uh examining the possibility of switching plans to um Sigma from Horizon. Uh there's a lot of work for us yet to do. We have to talk with our bargaining units about this possibility and we are required of course to provide equal or better than for all of our employees. But we're excited about the possibility that we're going to be able to um get some control over this situation and um and offer a good plan for everyone who's working for the district. Um uh Anthony already spoke about the fact that we're approving the 2627 final budget. It's uh motion 20 on page 40 of the agenda in case you want to look at that.
044And as he mentioned, the tax levy, which is at 3.5, is because we have a statutory exception uh due to the healthcare increase. So, this is a this doesn't require voter approval. It's something that the state allows us to um to add because there's nothing we can do about it at this point until we finish the negotiations with another carrier. Um we uh are also adding um to our uh benefits the dental and vision capability for our employees uh which will be at no cost to the district and we are um adding an opportunity for uh parents to pay technology fees electronically through pay school. We'll set up a new account so they have a opportunity to do that directly uh in addition to the other payment options that we already have. available. Uh from
045a transportation standpoint, um we uh twice a year practice spring uh excuse me, bus evacuations. Um uh to the spring ones are underway. We also are um uh on schedule to receive five new 29 passenger vans from a new vendor, Van Con, which is a vendor based in the United States. They were ordered on October 1, are currently in production. Those of you who heard me talk about bus deliveries before know that sometimes it takes a year, two or even more to the last few u years to get things in because of supply chain issues. Uh everything's on schedule. We also are selling five of our older 54 passenger buses. Um and we expect to make over $150,000 on those. Uh we do a lot of indistrict trips that are not not just the um
046to and from trips for uh school but also for sports bands day trips um K5 special trips and so on. So in March we did 119 of those. Total so far in fiscal year 26 are 728. So our bus uh transportation folks are always busy. In addition, we provide support for um schools like Assumption and Mars Plains. Um also these extra trips and that has generated in this fiscal year uh almost u $69,000 for us. We have a number of um surplus items that are listed in the agenda on excuse me I have a there um the um surplus assets or business matters motion 8. You'll find those uh listed on pages 33 through35 in the agenda. We're also looking at completing some ei contracting um business motions motion 7 page 33. This is for
047cable vision light path network switches battery backups and so on. Um [clears throat] and we'll be um implementing a recommended uh meal increase of 15 cents per meal category is recommended by our food service provider Palmonian. Um and then there's a number of other bids that we're looking at which includes uh uh second phase of tree planting, security systems, boiler repairs, uh refuge removal, plumbing and so forth. So, lots of lots of work this time of year in our finance department and we thank the entire staff under um Anony's leadership for getting us to this point and we're actually very happy with where we ended up in the budget overall. It was a lot of hard work to get to that point. Um our next meeting is going to be um May 4th. >> Thank
048you, Linda. human resources. Alan, please. >> Good evening. What we discussed in our meeting recently was the revised organizational chart for the district of direct reports, the superintendent. Um, one to highlight is that we expanded the role of our director of human resources um to an executive director of HR taking on some really important um focus work that needs to be governed singularly. But what that does is free up capacity for Dr. Mucci to really have personal attention in areas that are particularly of importance of which we heard tonight. We still will have this director of special education services reporting directly to Dr. Mucci. And so we wanted to make certain that we didn't dilute her capacity by having too many direct reports. This way I think we have more focused attention so that Dr.
049Muchi can give time to those things that are most critically important for achievement of our students. That's it. >> Thank you, Alan. Uh for policy, B. >> Yes, sure. So, the policy committee meet met on April 17th. We had three um policies for discussion as noted in the um agenda and minutes. Specifically, we look uh at 5830, our student fundraising policy. Um essentially, we're looking at a global reigning in perhaps is a good word, and clarification um of our fundraising practices. So, in doing so, we have uh discussed and looked over a very first reddraft of our policy and regulation. Um after much discussion, uh we had decided that Dr. Dr. Mucci is going to be meeting with our building principles to discuss recommendations for the processes um including guidelines for athletics boosters HSA um
050possibly different measures for elementary as opposed to FMS and MHS. Um so more investigation to be done and more discussions to come as we continue to work on this policy. Then we had 5516 the use of electronic communication working devices and internet enabled devices. Woo. Um this policy was revised uh with additional um state mandates which really did not impact our already thorough and successful policy um as it stands today which was great. So that has been reviewed and approved for first read this evening. Um then we took a look at 511 eligibility of resident non-resident students. We just had to put in a little addition um with regard to clarification related to our specific prek requirements due our funding that has also been uh reviewed and approved for first read this evening. We had
051then for our normal review we had 14 total policies that we went over. Um you'll see that the first one 6113 was tabled for further investigation. and we'll get back to that, but the rest were um reviewed and approved for first read this evening. As always, we took a look at our district and individual school count reports as of March 27th and our 5K section counts where we did uh we had a brief discussion on our trends in incoming Morris plane class Morris Plains class sizes. Um and that just about does it for the highlights. Our next policy meeting is on May 29th. Thank you very much, Be. Next, we have negotiations, Melissa. Oh, yeah. Thanks, Ian. So, we still have negotiations meetings with our administrative team on April 15th and things are progressing as
052expected and our next meeting is tomorrow. And that is all I have to say on that. >> Thank you. And uh governance Katie. >> Um yes. Well, you all were all there at our retreat. Um, but just except one. Um, but you do have your new snazzy copy of the governance book which we will be reading as a committee, but invite you all to join us. Um, and we'll we'll follow up as we go along with that. Um, also drafted um, and thank everybody for the thoughtful conversation about um, goals and where we want to go as a board. So at our next governance meeting on May 8th, we will be um just finalizing the language of the goals that we all discussed um and obviously decided upon um the new order in hopes that
053um we can both um make committee um I'm sorry presentations available to the public um and um hear public comment um after those presentations. Um, that's all for me. >> Okay. Thank you, Kay. And, uh, before we move on to business senators, uh, Tina, uh, is there's a statement. >> Oh, >> no. No update for Morris. >> No, we meet tomorrow night. So that >> as a point of representative of the sending Morris Plane School District to the Morris School District Board of Education, I would like to clarify that my votes on tonight's business agenda items will relate only to those items that are identified as applicable districtwide to grades preK through 12 or to high school grades 9 to 12. I am abstaining from voting on any agenda items pertaining solely to the elementary
054and middle schools grades preK to 8. >> Thank you. And uh Linda, would you please >> Sure. minutes motions one through four. >> I'll second. >> Uh okay. Any discussion? And Anthony, could you please call the role? >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cole? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Davidson? >> Yes. >> Miss Perry? >> Yes. >> Miss Pipchuk? >> Yes. >> Mr. Smith? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Fota? >> Yes. >> Mrs. W? >> Yes. Miss Murphy. >> Yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez. >> Yes. Modern policy motions one through four. I'll second. Uh any discussion? I actually just had a question uh for motion to the 5516 uh use of electronic communication recording devices etc. So, in the policy, are we saying or um you noted no significant changes, but are we saying that um high school
055students will not be able to use their phones during the school day like for lunch? >> No, it things are going to remain as is. we were able I think there was enough push back right Ann on the proposals from the state that we did not need to impact our current um policy in really any major way whatsoever. So you won't see any changes in like the dayto-day. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> So um then uh Anthony could you please call the role? >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cole. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Davidson. >> Yes. Miss Perry, >> yes. >> Miss Pipchuk, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fota, >> yes. >> Mrs. Wall, >> yes. >> Miss Murphy, >> yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez, >> yes. >> Moving
056educational measures motion one through four. >> A second. Uh, any discussion? If none, Anthony, please call the role. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cole, >> yes. >> Mrs. Davidson, >> yes. Miss Perry, >> yes. >> Miss Phillipchuk, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pota, >> yes. >> Mrs. Wall, >> yes. >> Miss Murphy, >> yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez, >> yes. Moving people services motion one. Second. >> Any discussion? If none, Anthony, please call the role. >> Mrs. abstain. >> Mrs. Cole recused. >> Mrs. Davidson, >> yes. >> Miss Perry, >> yes. >> Miss Pchuk, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. FPOTA, >> yes. >> Mrs. Wall, >> yes. >> Miss Murphy, >> yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez, >> yes. >> Ming human resources motions 1 through 37. Second. Any
057discussion? If no, Anthony, please call the role. >> Mr. Doom. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cole. >> Yes. Mrs. Davidson, >> yes. >> Miss Perry, >> yes. >> Miss Kichchuk, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fod, >> yes. >> Mrs. Wald, >> yes. >> Miss Murphy, >> yes. >> Dr. Rodriguez, >> yes. >> Mrs. Smith, motions 1 through 26. >> I'll second. >> Any discussion? If none, Anthony, please call the role. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mr. Cole, >> yes. >> Mrs. Davidson, >> yes. >> Miss Perry, >> yes. >> Miss Pipchuk, >> yes. >> Mr. Smith, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fota, >> yes. >> Mrs. Wall, >> yes. >> Miss Murphy, >> yes. >> Dr. >> Yes. >> Okay, I think we covered every business matter. Uh, any new business from the
058board? New business? If not, I'd like to have a motion to adjourn. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Um, so I'd like to uh Yes. >> Okay. I >> thank you and good